the man who could do it all.

[Hazardous]

so my question is who in wrestling (WWF/E, WCW, TNA) was the best all round?

by this i mean who was the best not only IN the ring, as in techniqal wrestler, ring awarness. but also could cut a good promo. be it serious, funny, or whatever it should be.

For me the answer is... A tie.

Kurt Angle: One of the best to get in the ring. the man can really move! could adapt to any style of match, and if this were 10 years ago or so, i think Kurt could have gone MMA just as Brock has. but, unlike Lesnar, kurt could cut a promo! Angle could be funny as hell (milk and cookies anyone?) or the milk truck thing HAHA. or he could be dead serious (seen a few promo's in TNA, one of the bright spots in the company)

Chris Jericho: now for anyone who has only just started watching WWE in the past few years, that pick might not make sense. but if you saw Jericho back in not only WCW days, but before that too? he was really athletic. not just anyone can to the Lionsault. His match against HBK at WM was one of either man's best matches of their career. and Promo wise? Jericho is argueably the best Promo man in the WWE at the moment.

who do you say?

 

[Miss Flawless]

I agree with you. But I would also add HBK in there. He showed he could be technical in the match against Bret Hart, he cuts great promos, funny, and serious. (Although I prefer his serious promos) He fits in with everything/everyone.

But my list would go like this:
1. Kurt Angle
2. Chris Jericho
3. Shawn Michaels.

I can't really name only 1. Cause, theirs a lot of different people who deserve credit.

 

[kris8524]

I agree with u that either of those men r candidates, but as much as i didnt like flair growing up,(I was a huge sting fan) the man had it all. He not only could talk, walk and wrestle like a champion he was the champ. He took a group of guys and created the foundation of what a faction should strive to be. The 4 horsemen was a wonderful group of wrestlers and I wish Arn could have stepped from the shadows and he could probly have been the man we are talking about. But if not flair then Angle, Jerico, Benoit, or even Rey due to being arguibly the best mexican wrestler ever could be one of the top.

 

[mral82]

1 Name to add is Eddie if still alive would and could go on a feud w/ any1 and make a star out of them like he helped w/ Batista, Chavito, Cena in his career. The dream feud w/ Eddie would of been if still alive would be The Miz. That who is it was then but now current is Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, C.M. Punk, A.J. Styles, plus "The Bizarre 1" Goldust he proves that he's still got IT all now.

 

[T Dub EPT]

Triple H certainly belongs on this list. He has run the gamut of characters, promos, and matches. Some people may "be tired of seeing him" or however the people wish to express it but, he is certainly a jack of all trades when it comes to Pro-Wrestling.
However i think Jericho would get the nod as "Most Complete Performer in Wrestling"

But thats just one mans opinion -TDub

 

[Find'er Woo'er Ryder]

eddie guererro sorry if i misspelled it he had it all the attitude, the skils (mic and ring). that guy had it all and i would have loved to c him fued with the miz....if only

 

[Ming]

In order:

HBK
The Rock
Chris Jericho
Stone Cold
Kurt Angle

HBK was always confident on the mic and of course is a fantastic peformer in the ring

For me (and I think a lot people) The Rock was so so good on the mic and is one of the most charismatic wrestlers who has ever lived, he werent too bad in the ring too

Chris Jericho is pretty damn good in the ring and can do good promos whether heel or face

Stone Cold wasn't bad in the ring but every time he interrupted McMahon and began pissing him off the crowd loved it

Kurt Angle, fantastic in the ring and could do promos but his in ring ability stands out for me

 

[#hamler]

Eddie Guererro. Eddie was a total package in the ring. Eddie could do numorus things in that's ring. Like I said in othr posts...eddie could get technical, submit, high fly, risk taking, work as a great face, and an even greater heel, one of the best at promos, could put on 60 minutes of pur action, could make ANYONE look good. Now the only other that comes close would be shawn michaels. But to me eddie really was a total package and to me the best all around wrestler. A hybrid wrestler. Eddies death is still the only wrestler's death that fucks me up from time to time. Rip eddie guererro.

Honorable mentions: kurt angle, shawn michaels, undertaker

 

[wushady]

There's many whom could do it all in the past like The Rock, HBK, Stone Cold, Guerrero, and Flair. Today there's not as many that are great wrestlers and great mic skills. Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Jericho are probably the best all around guys right now. The Miz may be there soon when is ring work improves.

 

[Hazardous]

my only issue with a few names so far, namely Austin, Miz, and to some extent the Rock (and hey, im a huge Rock Mark too.) is that they were not the most technical wrestlers. Steve was a brawler. that was his thing, walk in stomp a mudhole in you, drink beer, and leave. miz is good, dont care what anyone says, Miz has improved 200% from his first match, but he doesnt have the technical background that guys like Benoit, Eddie, Y2J, and Bret Hart do.

 

[waylon p]

chris jericho may well be my favorite ever. i love kurt angle, eddie, hbk, and flair. all these guys are on the short list.

there are other guys i think were overlooked so far, but there is one name that i feel i need to insert. curt "mr. perfect" hennig.
of everyone who "could do it all" hennig put the "all" in "do it all."

even his early mr. perfect promos proved it.

 

[smfiscus1]

Eddie Guerrero, hands down. He could go Lucha Libre, he could do mat work, and he could do hardcore and stip matches too. The man grew up, literally, from a baby in the wrestling business. He was and always will be the best on the mic too. Amazingly, he used to be the shy guy back when he tagged with Art, but that faded and he was VERY entertaining, not just with his technical prowess or his mic skills, but his ability to tell a story in the ring. The WWE REALLY needs to give Chavo a chance at an Eddie type role and see if he can do it because wrestling is REALLY missing Eddie Guerrero right now!

 

[Decarow]

I'm honestly going to say John Cena belongs on that list. I don't care what your personal views are on the guy. While he may not always show it, he's actually very good in the ring. He has amazing mic skills as well. He pumps up the crowd and entertains. That's what his job is and he does it very well. He might not be very technical, but he's not supposed to be, he's a brawler. He brawls and can kick ass. Not everybody can be the face of the company, and he's been it for years. That HAS to say something besides the fact that he "kisses McMahon's ass" (but so did HBK and HHH in the 90s and Miz is doing it now).

 

[Moonsault Madness]

I completely agree with Eddie and Shawn Michaels. I think Shawn Michaels is the hands down best all around wrestler of all time. There was never any doubt at any time in his career that he was weak in any part of the wrestling entertainment game. Couple of other guys not mentioned: Billy Kidman who is a bit under rated, Dean Malenko when a heel, the Road Dogg Jesse James when in DX (great mic skills and though some moves were cheesy, very entertaining in ring) and i know this next guy was not a "wrestler" in the ring, but Jimmy Hart was great at everything that he did. When it came to the ring he performed his managerly duties to perfection.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I would definately go with the 2 options suggested in this topic.

Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho

Both great athletes, both great wrestlers, both great on the mic.

In the ring I would give Kurt the slight edge, and on the mic I think Jericho is slightly better, but if you are looking for the complete package in wrestling today, I would point to these 2 as the top of the class

Honorable mentions to Triple H and Shawn Michaels as well

 

[Hazardous]

wow, im sorry Rod, but you are 1 in a million. to say that when it comes to who is the best in ring performer, technical wrestler, plus the BEST on the mic, and still said Cena?

so in your opinion then Cena is better on the mic then Chris Jericho? or CM Punk, Kurt Angle, HBK...

im sorry, i think you may have just mis-read the OP, you even said in your post

He might not be very technical, but he's not supposed to be, he's a brawler. He brawls and can kick ass. Not everybody can be the face of the company, and he's been it for years. That HAS to say something besides the fact that he "kisses McMahon's ass"

you're right, he is a brawler, but that wasnt the question asked in the OP, and it's fine that he may be the face of the company right now, but that really doesnt come into play here either, as seen by such good picks of Road dogg, Y2J, Mr. Perfect, hell i'll even throw in Owen Hart in the mix. none of those guys carried a company, but they were still some of the best all round technical wrestlers, who could cut KILLER promo's

 

[8thwotwATG]

One of the all time greats in the wrestling business(and also a guy that most don't even remember anymore) was none other than Ray"the Crippler"Stevens. Ray Stevens was a performer who could(and did do)just about anything in the ring. He was equally effective as a heel or a face, he could mat wrestle or brawl, and was,in fact a major influence on the style of many other performers in the business, not the least of whom was Ric Flair. Take a look at Flair's upside down flip over the turnbuckle, Ray Stevens did that years before Flair ever was in the ring. His timing and psychology inside the ring were also virtually impeccable. I am aware of some of the knocks against the man in that he didn't always seem to be as tuned into what was going on in the ring as some thought he should be, and having come from an earlier generatiion than ours, he was a bit on the small side by today's standards, but there is no doubt that Ray Stevens was one of the most well rounded performers n the history of the wrestling business.

 

[The Crock]

Chris Jericho. He is one of the best of all time and he isn't weak in any single aspect. He took a few years off and when he came back the fans loved him just as much and he was instantly one of the most over stars on the show. He is brilliant on the mic, good in ring, is a good heel... and good face. I've yet to see one thing Chris Jericho is bad at.

 

[Freddy4190]

Even though he's fell off the past year or so, Kurt Angle. The man could wrestle circles around every single person he stepped in the ring with. He could work any match against any man and have a good match. He could toss dudes such as the Big Show on the back of their neck with a sick German Suplex or he could take it to the top rope and hit that ever-famous PERFECT moonsault. The guy had the perfect mixture. Plus he did his thing on the microphone. I can't really see how anyone can disagree.

 

[The Holy One]

For me it has to be Shawn Michaels, the man could go techinical with the likes of Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle but he could also have high-flying matches with Rey Mysterio, Shelton Benjamin, and RVD. He's one of the best mic workers of all time. He can be funny like in D-X but also be serious like during his fueds with Chris Jericho and The Undertaker. HBK could also be a great face and heel which the complete wrestler should be able to do. Also, he can get hardcore and excel in gimmick matches. That's why for me, Shawn Michaels was the one man who could truly do it all.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

One of the all time greats in the wrestling business(and also a guy that most don't even remember anymore) was none other than Ray"the Crippler"Stevens. Ray Stevens was a performer who could(and did do)just about anything in the ring. He was equally effective as a heel or a face, he could mat wrestle or brawl, and was,in fact a major influence on the style of many other performers in the business, not the least of whom was Ric Flair. Take a look at Flair's upside down flip over the turnbuckle, Ray Stevens did that years before Flair ever was in the ring. His timing and psychology inside the ring were also virtually impeccable. I am aware of some of the knocks against the man in that he didn't always seem to be as tuned into what was going on in the ring as some thought he should be, and having come from an earlier generatiion than ours, he was a bit on the small side by today's standards, but there is no doubt that Ray Stevens was one of the most well rounded performers n the history of the wrestling business.

If we're going to take a trip into the realm of old school, then this argument deserves an appearance from Gorgeous George. Not the smokin' little blonde with Macho Man as part of his Team Madness: The ORIGINAL Gorgeous George, the recent WWE HOFer. He not only got it done in and out the ring but he brought forward a sense of flamboyance and arrogance shown later in wrestlers like Ric Flair, "The Model" Rick Martel, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis, HBK, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, and many others. Not to mention that he was the first to use real entrance music and he was also one of the pioneers of how a "cowardly heel" was to act.

 

[8thwotwATG]

Excellent choice, k-blitzko. George Wagner not only influenced the ENTIRE wrestling business as a true pioneer of wrestling as "sports entertainment" but his rap on the mic was so exemplary that it influenced a certain up and coming fighter in the 60's by the name of Cassius Clay, who as we all know went on to define the true meaning of trash talking in professional sports. I don't mean to get off subject and risk being infracted,as the scope of this thread is to discuss the various wrestlers who could do it all in and out of the ring. In this scope, there is no doubt that Gorgeous George Wagner desrves to be mentioned in this as not only on of the best, but a bona fide pioneer.

 

[Megatron]

Glad a few people already mentioned him, as my pick is one Eddie Guerrero. He could make you love him or hate him within weeks. He could also make you want to kill him or laugh at his antics. Let's not forget he was a great wrestler that could adapt to pretty much everything. You got aerial (w/ Mysterio in WCW), hardcore (JBL feud), technical (Angle matches), and just fun matches (random TV matches). This guy really was amazing at doing almost anything. Top 10 wrestler of all time.

 

[fraserbee]

For me it is a tie between two - Rick Flair and Kurt Angle.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Flair could have good believable matches in all sorts of situations, His technical matches with Steamboat, brawls with Funk, matches where he bumped around to put over the strong guy (Sting, Luger, Koloff), where he was the offensive guy (like against Ricky Morton), or fitting in nicely in wild wargames matches. During the period, he was a great heel, a beloved babyface and provided some amazing promos to go along with it all.

Angle is quite similar in many ways. He can have great matches with all sorts of opponents, big, small, fast, slow, old, young. Just off my head I can think of such diverse names he's had fantastic bouts with as Hogan, Lesnar, Mysterio, Shane McMahon and recently Mr Anderson. He can also work as the hard nut, the comedy guy, face or heel equally well and deliver fantastic promos either which are comedy gold or believably serious. A fantasic all rounder.

Michaels was great, but was always better wrestling against someone who had good offence that he could sell for, rather than someone whose strength was also bumping about. That's why I think his Summerslam 93 match with Hennig disappointed - both of their strenghts were being the guy who bumped and sold. Michaels was also often a bit weak on promos often just struggling to get the right word out in a logical way (altough there were times he excelled in this area too).

 

[WWEWrestleFest]

Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

No one else comes close. Sure, guys like Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, etc. were all great in the ring and could work the mic as well, but they never crossed over into mainstream America.

Not only could savage work a great match or cut brilliant promos, he's also a household name among non-wrestling fans.