Ric Flair - Greatest All-Time Wrestler?

[titsrock]

My Favorites
Ricky Steamboat
Kurt Angle
Macho Man
The Rock
Kane
Edge
HHH

 

[Skyraider22]

I would say have to say Hogan over Flair:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[darkwarrior3007]

Hell no, Bret Hart is miles better than Ric Flair.

 

[young_guns]

Hogan made the WWF(E) and then made WCW.

Star Power

and broke wcw

 

[darkwarrior3007]

Hogan made the WWF(E) and then made WCW.

Star Power

Actually Sting made WCW, Hogan just came in and fucked it up.

 

[young_guns]

Actually Sting made WCW, Hogan just came in and fucked it up.

exactly...only wrestling fans would really know this fact

 

[titsrock]

"Crow" Sting vs the nWo was a pretty kickass storyline....The thing I liked about WCW back in the day was they always left the show with a great cliffhanger. WWE didn't do that as well and they never do it anymore....

 

[zell]

exactly...only wrestling fans would really know this fact

That's kinda bullshit.

Sting,Flair and Lex Luger were the faces of the franchise back in the day.Luger,and Flair jumped between WWF and WCW a couple of times while Sting,as far as I know,never left and never wrestled for WWF.While you can say that Sting was the face of WCW,they weren't a ratings threat to WWF until Hogan went over and tuned heel(thank you Eric Bischoff).

When Hogan tuned heel and formed the NWO and all hell broke loose in WCW,their ratings went through the roof and WWF was left playing catch up.

To say that Sting "made" WCW isn't right.I'll give you that he was the face of it,but even if you want to go back even further,The Four Horsemen "MADE" WCW(NWA) more than anything or anyone else.Until Hogan,WCW was always a second tier promotion,plain and simple.

 

[BlueBalls]

When I used to watch it in the mid to late 90s my favourite was The Undertaker.

 

[kuruption]

I have to go with the Undertaker as well.

 

[STDiva]

That's kinda bullshit.

Sting,Flair and Lex Luger were the faces of the franchise back in the day.Luger,and Flair jumped between WWF and WCW a couple of times while Sting,as far as I know,never left and never wrestled for WWF.While you can say that Sting was the face of WCW,they weren't a ratings threat to WWF until Hogan went over and tuned heel(thank you Eric Bischoff).

When Hogan tuned heel and formed the NWO and all hell broke loose in WCW,their ratings went through the roof and WWF was left playing catch up.

To say that Sting "made" WCW isn't right.I'll give you that he was the face of it,but even if you want to go back even further,The Four Horsemen "MADE" WCW(NWA) more than anything or anyone else.Until Hogan,WCW was always a second tier promotion,plain and simple.

exactly. only real wrestling fans would know that though.

 

[Rinzo]

The way I see it, Flair was one of the greatest of his time and he left a great legacy in the wrestling industry. Still, he was hoplessly outdated and bland in his last few active years in the WWE; it was like watching your grandfather out there, wearing only tights in the ring. I know I may get some flack for this, but he could have retired for good even earlier and he would have looked better.

 

[Will E Worm]

I just watched a documentary on Ric Flair - was he the greatest all-time wrestler?

Yes :hatsoff:

You need to watch his match with Harley Race. (cage match)
Also, his matches in Japan.

He might be wrestling again in Japan soon and within a year he might be back wrestling in the US for TNA.

 

[The Joker]

Hogan had limited talent, in my opinion. His talent was connecting with the audience - and he was absolutely one of the best at doing that. As to wrestling - the only match that I've ever seen of Hogan's that I thought was great was the Rock-Hogan Wrestlemania match. The Rock was amazingly sensitive to the mood of the crowd - went in as the babyface, turned heel in the middle of the match cause the crowd was so pro-Hogan and coasted back to babyface mode as the crowd got behind him for not fighting their preferences.

Hogan's match against the Ultimate Warrior is proof enough that Hogan could indeed put on a good and entertaining match if need be. At the time, he wasnt over the hill and still could wrestle more than the usual 10-15 minute matches which quickly became the norm for him during his later WCW run, but personally I consider it something of an accomplishment considering he was wrestling the fucking Ultimate Warrior!!!

 

[broderic_randal]

Greatest character ill buy but as far as in ring he was great but wrestled the same match for 25 years.

a lot of the time his matches were super boring especially when he was using the figure four leg lock

IMO the best wrestlers and personalities of all time are:

Hulk Hogan
Stone Cold Steve Austin
The Rock
Mic Foley
Kurt Angle
Santino Marella

 

[PinkPanther21]

How do we define wrestler? If pure wrestling talent--I go with Ricky Steamboat, maybe Arn Anderson second. If we go with "the total package"--wrestling ability + character + charisma--then it's Ric Flair and Hogan above all. Hogan had about 3 moves in his repertoire so he's not a wrestler, he's an iconic figurehead. Charisma and character overwhelm his lack of actual ring ability. Ricky Steamboat had no "character"--he was such a Face that he was pretty much stuck on one plane. Same with Macho Man--he was such a great heel he couldn't take it to the next level.

Wrestling, today, is dead. It's basically a joke entertainment that will be replaced by MMA in about 3 years. I don't see WWE lasting much longer especially when Vince retires. He's basically holding it together and, as we've seen, he's doing a poor job at that. The only wrestlers I remotely care about today are Edge and Kurt Angle. Everyone else bores, basically...

I agree with you about the 3 elements needed to be considered "the total package"

Wrestlers that I consider to definitely be up there - HBK, Austin, Angle (with the right company - he bores me with TNA for some reason - I just think their story-telling sucks)

As to the "Wrestling Is Dead" - I don't agree. It's not in the heyday it once was, that's for sure. But it's a globally popular form of entertainment with millions of fans. MMA is replacing boxing, more than it is wrestling, in my opinion, though wrestling has to keep changing in order to compete for new fans and develop new ones. I'm going to see a WWE House Show in early February, can't wait!

 

[RogueWolf]

How can you make a claim for someone being the greatest at something when it's all fake?

(Waits for the howls of outrage to start)

 

[Will E Worm]

How can you make a claim for someone being the greatest at something when it's all fake?

(Waits for the howls of outrage to start)

Like I tell anyone who says this, step into the ring.

Then tell me it is fake.

Hollywood is more fake than wrestling.

The only thing a promoter does is determines the outcome the wrestlers have to put on the show. Wrestling has never been choreographed like dance moves.

 

[chase horner]

Hogan is a cartoon that made wrestling acceptable to the general public he was probably one of the worst "wrestlers" of all time he was just an incredible personality.As far as in ring believability i think Chris Benoit was one of the best.
.

 

[zell]

Like I tell anyone who says this, step into the ring.

Then tell me it is fake.

Hollywood is more fake than wrestling.

The only thing a promoter does is determines the outcome the wrestlers have to put on the show. Wrestling has never been choreographed like dance moves.

That's not true for the simple fact that if you attend any wrestling camp,like I have before,one of the things that they tell you over and over again is that that's exactly what it's like.

It's all choreographed,and it has to be,otherwise there would be more severe injuries and more often that they have now.