10 WWE Wrestlers That Changed Everything

The professional wrestling industry sets itself apart from all other forms of storytelling in a lot of different ways, and one of the most prominent is its reliance on individual stars and performers. Where mediums such as most professional sports and film tend to focus on a team of people, wrestling often gives individual performers the spotlight to keep the business moving forward.

This has paid off since there have been plenty of occasions where solo performers dragged the industry into the future, even if the brass still trail behind. Since the wrestlers are the forefront of the product, they have a surprising amount of power when it comes to dictating the direction that it goes in.

The performers in this list have all made significant improvements/changes to the wrestling business in a way that has a genuinely profound effect. We've had plenty of stars, but the forward-thinking and ground-breaking developments that these individuals brought forth have significantly altered WWE in a way that most superstars can only dream of.

Being remembered as a performer who changed everything is quite a way to look back on a career...

Hart and Michaels are a pair that have indeed become synonymous with the each other, as their heated real-life rivalry poured over into the squared circle in many ways. They both had equally integral parts in the business and individually made incredible strides for the company, even if they couldn't draw the same amount of fans as previous stars.

Firstly their smaller statures and focus on legitimately impressive wrestling was trailblazing, in a way that feels like an ancestor to the standard modern wrestling style that we see today. They truly lived in a land of giants that was still recovering from the loss of their biggest star - Hulk Hogan. But their incredible charisma and in-ring prowess proved that wrestlers who weren't huge had a special place in the business.

Of course, the steroid scandal still bore an impact on their rise to the top of the mountain, but this shouldn't discredit the tremendous strides they took.

Additionally, the legitimate rivalry between the two that poured into the product changed a lot as it truly began to blur the lines between kayfabe and reality. Without the infamous Montreal Screwjob, the secrecy behind wrestling might be far more critical today.