7. Ricki Starr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFdpXCGCaa4 Ever wondered why wrestling video games feature ballerina moves in the Create A Wrestler section? If you have, then its high time you learned about Ricki Starr, the former ballerina who became a wrestling superstar... If you were going to scrape a living from the rough-and-tumble world of 1950s professional wrestling, you needed to be a tough guy. The stars of the first era of televised wrestling, guys like Killer Kowalski, Lou Thesz and Dick The Bruiser knew how to hurt a guy for real if the situation called for it. Ricki Starr was no exception. A boxer and champion amateur wrestler of some renown, ballet would seem a far cry from the macho pursuits one might reasonably expect from a man who beat the crap out of other men for sport. However, Starr was a successful ballet dancer, too. He toured Europe and featured in productions of Paint Your Wagon and Annie Get Your Gun. When he wasnt on tour, he wrestled professionally and when he wasnt wrestling, he danced and took dance classes. When he began to combine his ballet skills with his wrestling work in the 1960s, he became a superstar. Starr was an excellent technical wrestler and a great all round athlete, but he got over with audiences because nobody had seen a ballet dancing pro wrestler before... Starr was far too small to be a credible threat to the majority of his opponents, so the psychology of any match became that his foes would be dazzled and confused by his ballet dancing, which would allow Starr to get the pin. He was a success throughout America and Europe and, at the height of his 60s fame, was reputedly earning £35,000 a year (in 1960s money which would obviously translate into a lot more today).
A smart businessman, Starr had his shtick well worked out. He never wrestled long matches and he never overexposed his gimmick. In short, he did just enough to leave the fans hungry for his next appearance. Once Starrs popularity in the US had faded, he became something of a national icon in the UK and was featured here regularly during the heyday of British pro wrestling. According to this fansite, he was reputedly the reason that the rock n roll drummer Richard Starkey chose the stage name Ringo Starr...