10 Most Universally Respected Wrestlers Ever

Some men command respect, others will beat it into you.

Harley Race Champ
WWE

More so than most industries, the professional wrestling world seems to be obsessed with respect. Men and women get it beaten into them, as the weird military-esque need to earn your dues gets taken way too far night after night. WWE history is full of stories of supposed disrespect being beaten out of individuals, and the stories aren’t pretty.

The Miz was famously denied access to the locker room at the behest of John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield, a fate that seems positively utopian when you think of the beating JBL and Ron Simmons gave to an apparently disrespectful Public Enemy. If fists aren’t flying then jobs are on the line, and something as innocuous as neglecting to shake hands can cost talent a chance at the big time.

Within this world, schoolyard squabbles can be found everywhere, and the rise of the wrestling shoot interview has seen backstage beefs come to the front of the camera. Finding individuals that avoid criticism is tough, but they do exist.

Certain performers are above criticism however, earning only hushed tones and reverent words of adulation and respect. Here are the 10 most universally respected performers in wrestling history.

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Contributor
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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.