1. Steve Austin
WWE.com"Steve is a lot of things to a lot of people. No question he is, if nothing else, the greatest WWE superstar of all time." - Vince McMahon at the 2009 Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Who are we to argue with Vince McMahon? He knows better than anybody and he was right to make a statement as profound as that. In the video package about Austin, there was also Ric Flair saying that Austin was the biggest star in the wrestling business that he's ever been around. That's another wrestling legend that should know. Austin's rise to the top wasn't like a Hulk Hogan or John Cena. It wasn't supposed to be him when he got to WWE. He earned it. When opportunity was in front of him, he took advantage of it. He became the hottest commodity in pro wrestling after the Austin 3:16 speech in 1996 and into 1997 with that legendary feud he had with Bret Hart. A year later he became the WWE Champion. His rivalry with Vince McMahon really offered up something different for fans. It was an employee that hated his boss so much that he didn't fear getting fired or arrested because he believed in what he was doing. That's why we got so many memorable moments like when he hit the Stunner on McMahon or drove vehicles to the ring. Everything he did felt cool because it was different than what we were used to. The reason Austin tops the list is because he was the main guy in WWE when they surpassed WCW. Nobody could touch him as a box office draw during his years on top in WWE. Fans bought his merchandise at an alarming rate so much so that there have been reports that he made upwards of $10 million in merchandise sales per year when he was at his peak. He was the guy that truly defined what the "Attitude Era" was all about due to his anti-authority behavior. We loved him for it. The only argument against him would be in how many years he was there. He started in 1996, competed into 2002 (missed most of 2000 due to neck surgery), then came back in 2003 and from that point on was in a non-wrestling role although he was still heavily featured on Raw even after he was retired. There are guys on this list that had more years than him, but did any of them change the business like he did? No. He was the main eventer that brought in the fans, he's the guy that got the loudest ovation for many years and he became the unquestioned top guy in the business. If he didn't have to retire early he probably would have continued on as a top guy and distanced himself from everybody else even more. With all due respect to everybody else, nobody can touch Austin in terms of what he did. He's definitely the most important star in the history of Monday Night Raw.