The Piledriver Report 6.13.07: All-Time Fantasy Wrestling Federation Results
Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 06.13.2007
Join this week’s edition of “The Piledriver Report,” as we take a look at the top ten singles wrestlers and top eight tag teams from any era that will make up our roster for the All-Time Fantasy Wrestling Federation.
In the last edition of "The Piledriver Report," I discussed an idea that was brought on by an innocent comment made by Jim Ross on the WWE 24/7 Legends Roundtable show. Jim Ross mentioned that Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes would be on anybody's list of Top Ten Wrestlers from any era if you were starting a federation. I was determined to see if the fans agreed with JR, and what wrestlers the fans would choose on the Top Ten list. To make things more interesting, I also asked the readers to choose their Top Eight Tag Teams.
Before I present the list of who everyone chose, I will first give you my Top Tem Singles and Top Eight Tag Teams from any era if I was starting a wrestling promotion. My selections are not in any particular order.
My Top Ten Singles Wrestlers
Lou Thesz
Ric Flair
Ricky Steamboat
Bruno Sammartino
Andre the Giant
Hulk Hogan
Steve Austin
Dusty Rhodes
Harley Race
The Undertaker
My Top Eight Tag Teams Wrestlers
Road Warriors
Midnight Express
Rock and Roll Express
British Bulldogs
Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Gene and Ole Anderson)
Hart Foundation
Steiner Brothers
Crusher and Dick the Bruiser
The fans choices were as follows:
Top Ten Singles Wrestlers
1. Ric Flair
2. Shawn Michaels
3. The Rock
4. Steve Austin
5. Bret Hart
6. Triple H
7. Hulk Hogan
8. Kurt Angle
9. Undertaker
10. (tie) Chris Benoit/Andre the Giant/Ricky Steamboat/Randy Savage
Wrestlers who missed the cut: Lou Thesz, Harley Race, Curt Henning, Terry Funk, and Mick Foley
Top Eight Tag Teams
1. Steiner Brothers
2. Road Warriors
3. British Bulldogs
4. Tully Blanchard/Arn Anderson
5. Hart Foundation
6. Midnight Express
7. Hardy Boys
8. Edge/Christian
Tag Teams who missed the cut: Rock and Roll Express, Fabulous Freebirds, Dudley Boys, Hollywood Blondes of Steve Austin and Brian Pillman, and the Rockers of Marty Jannety, and Shawn Michaels.
While analyzing the results, it is interesting to note that both rosters are loaded with wrestlers from the eighties up until today. I was surprised to see that the only wrestlers who were "names" in the seventies that made the list were Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Andre the Giant. All three of these men, while stars in the seventies, became superstars in the eighties, like most wrestlers on the list.
It was also interesting to note that five of the tag teams that made the list were from the eighties golden age of tag team wrestling, and two of the remaining three teams (the Hardys and Edge/Christian) were at their height of popularity during a resurgence of tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era.
Ric Flair garnered the most votes of any wrestler on either the singles or tag team roster. If this were a real federation, he would be crowned our first World singles champion. Shawn Michaels barely beat out The Rock for the second spot in our singles roster. The "Heartbreak Kid" would be the first wrestle to hold our secondary singles title. In the tag team division, The Steiner Brothers held a slight edge over the Road Warriors in voting. Rick and Scott would become the first tag team champions in our federation.
While watching ESPN Radio/ESPN 2's "Mike & Mike in the Morning," they were talking about the USA Today turning 25 years old. To commemorate their anniversary, the USA Today has been putting together a series of Top 25 Lists, such as "Top 25 Sports Stories during the USA Today Years." One thing that "Mike & Mike" were discussing was that whenever a "Top" list comes out, debate is sure to follow. With that in mind, our All-Time Wrestling Federation list is complete. Let the debate begin.
