2. Raven
One of the best independent performers over the last 20 years, Raven always brought something interesting and unique to the ring. Nobody else looked like him, nobody else talked like him and nobody else wrestled like him. He could be creepy, mad and hypnotic all at the same, often putting genuine fear into the audience. Raven made his name in ECW, becoming a hardcore legend in the process. He was a master of psychology in the ring and his feuds were often highly emotional and personal and back in the ECW days, he had classic rivalries with The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer. Both those feuds reached high levels of infamy for their graphic nature and cutting-edge storylines. The rivalry with The Sandman in particular attracted a lot of attention that climaxed with Raven crucifying Sandman on a wooden cross. Apart from the hardcore wrestling and intense storylines, Raven was a genuinely superb technician and master storyteller as he proved in a feud against a young CM Punk in Ring of Honor. As ECW was crumbling, Raven jumped shipped to WWE but was mostly misused during his three year stay there. The high point of his WWE career is undoubtedly his match against Big Show and Kane at Wrestlemania 17 for the WWE Hardcore Championship. A series of crazy spots and battles in the backstage area made it a memorable match and Raven more than held his own against the two bigger men. After WWE, Raven went to TNA and did his thing for many years, working well in front of a much lesser audience, though it was still exciting to see what new ideas he could come up with. A creative genius, Raven was one of ECW's greatest stars and sadly WWE never quite understood what kind of talent they had on their hands.