Top 10 pro wrestlers of the 80s

[JohnGalt2341]

It was hard back in the 80's to keep Arn Anderson and Mean Gene's cocaine addiction under control. I missed too many shows between 86 and 89 simply because of them two.

Mean Gene was a Cokehead??? Are you serious??? I always considered him one of the nicest and most likable guys in sports... especially when I was a kid. I suppose a cokehead could be a nice guy too. Is it true that Jesse Ventura gave him his nickname "Mean Gene"? I grew up in Minnesota watching the AWA every Sunday morning... Jesse is the first guy I remember calling him Mean Gene although I do recall Hulk Hogan calling him that many times as well.

[greenhippo]

It was indeed Jesse, as those of us in the know are aware when Gene didn't get his fix he made Lou Albano look like John Cena in comparison. One day Jesse was supposed to deliver the goods but he got the times mixed up with his supplier and had to come back empty. Okerlund took him out back and when they came back Jesse was wearing colorful boas and sunglasses straight out of the 1970's again, when we asked what happened, legend says all he could say was "he's Mean Gene"

[kisado]

Ricky The Dragon Steamboat was one of the best.

[edawg]

Jesse Ventura & Big John Stud

[White_Rodman]

Ricky The Dragon Steamboat was one of the best.

That's 3 votes for Steamboat...C'mon put him in !

[ttwarrior1]

steamboat at 9

[Regul8er]

Corporal Kirchner!

[DOMINATER]

miss whats her name looked innocent, true story was sad.

[SamDiamond]

No Ivan Putski, No Chief Jay Strongbow?

No Iron Sheik?

[ttwarrior1]

in the 80s? none of those are top 30 in the 80s

[TheMoneyShot]

TT forgot a lot of sh#$. Worst top 8 ever. Probably taking a dump when he thought of it.

[ttwarrior1]

then post your top ten, You can't have a top ten with players that had no world titles or close, sorry

[jackpot269]

Mr. Wrestling #2 and Tommy Rich

[hugh_morris]

Ricky Steamboat and Barry Windam deserve to be #9 and #10....Sgt. Slaughter deserves honorable mention, so does Sting and Arn Anderson.....hey TT, how about a hardcore list?.....peace

[SamDiamond]

Mr. Wrestling #2 and Tommy Rich

I remember Tommy Rich. He had the NWA belt for like 3 days before he lost back to Harley Race.

George the Animal Steele.

Srgt. Slaughter. I was just a kid when heAnd that he had that steel cage match with Backlund

[ttwarrior1]

70s and 90s coming

[SamDiamond]

70s and 90s coming

The 70's is a great time.

Think of all these names...

Haystacks Calhoun
Gorilla Monsoon
Greg "The Hammer" Valetine
Andre the Giant
Bruno Sammartino
Dusty Rhodes
Superstar Billy Graham
Blackjack Mulligan
Ivan Putski
George "The Animal" Steele
Lou Albano
Bob Backlund

The 70's had some great characters.

[Chi_archie]

brooklyn brawler

[gdoom]

Heart break kid and the man HACKSAW JIM DUGAN, ANDRE THE GIANT

[ttwarrior1]

top 10 of the 70s

candidates are
1 nick bockwinkle
2 harley race
3 bruno sammartino
4 terry funk
5 dusty rhodes
6 billy graham
7 dory funk jr
8 jack brisco
9 andre the giant
10 billy robinson
11 jumbo tsuruta
12 giant baba
13 antonio inoki
14 bob backlund
15 jimmy snuka
16 wahoo mcdaniel
17 stan hansen
18 mil mascarus
19 ivan koloff
20 ray stevens
21 stan stasiak
22 jackie fargo
23 tojo yammamoto
24 patt patterson
25 mad dog vachon
26 jos le duc
27 super destoyer
28 mr wrestling 2

[Swinging Johnson]

No Pedro Morales? Heavyweight champ for years in the 70's right before Bruno Sammartino I believe.

[Mr KLC]

Tommy Rich was the hottest thing around, and then just became totally irrelevant overnight. He had that 80's look, and the young girls loved him to death. A lot of people say that the very long feud with Buzz Sawyer is what did him in. It didn't help that he let himself go as he got older.

Before:



After:

[darrell74]

Jesse the Body Ventura

most successful

seriously, who else has been governor
compelling dude
super compelling

[daneblazer]

Arn Anderson?

[hankcream]

Ravishing Rick Rude
Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Ohrendorf

The Von Erichs were decent as well until they all went nuts

[hankcream]

How could you forget "The Crusher", Dick the Bruiser, and Abdullah "the Butcher" in your best of the 70's list

[mikefromsd]

Honky Tonk Man

[DudleyDawson]

brooklyn brawler

Steve Lombardi.......buddy of mines Dad grew up with this guy.

[DudleyDawson]

It was indeed Jesse, as those of us in the know are aware when Gene didn't get his fix he made Lou Albano look like John Cena in comparison. One day Jesse was supposed to deliver the goods but he got the times mixed up with his supplier and had to come back empty. Okerlund took him out back and when they came back Jesse was wearing colorful boas and sunglasses straight out of the 1970's again, when we asked what happened, legend says all he could say was "he's Mean Gene"

[Regul8er]

Ravishing Rick Rude..........he was a freakin riot. I don't think he came into play until 1988 or 89 though.

How about JYD?

[jackpot269]

Ivan and Nikita koloff - probably spelled wrong!

[CarolinaDaze]

Kinda off subject Warrior, but this past weekend i went to the Gators & Gamecocks game. While there i tailgated with a bunch of Gator fans, one of them was Jimmy "The Mouth Of the South" Hart( WWF Wrestling Manager). He was a really cool guy and a big time Gator fan. I got some cool pics with him, of course he had his Mega Phone shouting off insults about my team.

[ttwarrior1]

yes pedro and abdullah should be on list, thought i had thm, pedro might make top ten, but not abdullah

[neverstoppers23]

The only matches Andre the Giant ever lost were ones he agreed to
throw. Even when he was older (disease and back operation)
in the late 1980s there was no opponent he couldn't have wiped the floor
with any time he wanted.

yah brah wwf is so realz

[dstinger01]

before there was Jesse Ventura, and Hulk Hogan, there was Superstar Billy Graham! Nuff said!