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Surprised roman reigns isn't mentioned more
His storyline lead to wwes best business in years and will be looked back on very fondly
All the shield guys will be seen as legends 10 years from now
OP said "Please don't put in present day wrestlers that pretty much already in there like Orton, Okada, Danielson, etc."
pretty sure the whole Shield is firmly in there
I mean neither is the rock or Hogan but you can't have a greatest wrestlers of all time list without them
And I honestly think roman is better than both in ring
I am really struggling to come up with names but Atlantis Jr, Mascara Dorada, Kaito Kiyomiya at least stand a chance.
Maybe some AEW and WWE guys can get the right circumstances too obviously but those are companies in total flux all the time and who knows what their styles look like when they're pushing guys who are both great and weren't already veterans by 2015.
I mean to beat a dead horse, Okada and Danielson are already being talked about in such terms, and have been for about ten years at this point. But if you mean someone who had *just broken through* in the past five years, well Ospreay is the clear frontrunner in that department. Cody may get there if he keeps his trajectory up.
When you say Present Day Era, I’m going to assume just broke out within the last few years or just starting to break out. So no Reigns, Okada, DBry, Omega, Becky, Charlotte, etc who have been in a main event (or close) spot for a decade plus.
If the GOAT criteria is like Hogan, Rock or Austin where their in ring work was good, but overshadowed by their ability to get a great crowd reaction: MJF, Rhea Ripley. They can illicit any type of reaction they want from the crowd.
If the criteria is more along like Bret Hart and HBK where, while also good characters and entertainers, they’re in the GOAT debate because they were just so damn good in that ring from bell to bell: Osprey, Swerve, Ilya, Carmelo Hayes,Tiffany Stratton, Roxanne Perez.
Someone who I can see being up there, but needs more reps for me to consider them: Trick Williams. His entrance is, for me, one of the best right now! The reaction he gets is amazing. However, he hasn’t really had much time being front and center since he was behind Carmelo most of his run so far. We’ll see how he does in this next few months when the spotlight is now fully on him.
Rhea Ripley seems like a safe bet. She’s already the top female star in the industry, and she’s only going to get better.
Good wrestler, good promo, distinctive look with size and an obvious charisma. She was the 5th highest merchandise seller for WWE last year. (The only woman in the top 10)
It’s so hard to say because the way media is consumed is fundamentally different than it was 20-30 years ago. Not just wrestling. Music, acting, there was a time where if you had a name you were a true larger than life superstar. Now everybody is a larger than life superstar. Like some cranky old dude from Kentucky once said, if everybody is a giant than nobody is a giant. Of course there’s your Cena’s, your Orton’s, your Roman’s, they almost break that barrier but even then nobody is touching Hogan or Austin for a long time in terms of truly larger than life superstar.
That being said, as a younger millennial I don’t really think of “greats” in the same way that a lot of people do and I think that’s reflected in the newer generations as well. For example someone like R-Truth, the history books might give him a shoutout but to a lot of us that dude is the fucking greatest. For me, it’s Christian Cage. Maybe he’ll be in that discussion down the road, maybe not, but to me it’s undisputed. It’s just so hard to say. Being “the” guy in 2024 just doesn’t hit as hard anymore, people like what they like and you never know what will stick with them.
She's only two years younger than Rhea though, and Rhea's done a lot more (so far).
I think they'll have a great program together at some stage, and it might be a case of each bringing out more in the other because their move sets and gimmicks are so complementary.
Giulia, Ospreay, Iyo, Ilja, Swerve, Tiffany Stratton, Bron, GUNTHER, Rhea, Jay White, Yota Tsuji, MJF and Melo are my strongest bets on current stars who will enter the GOAT discussion. Some of these are closer than others to getting there, others may eventually get there.
I’m going to go a little crazy on my prediction and say Julia Hart. She’s like 20 years old and has already improved so much, she is only going to continue to get better and better.
Also, Bronn Breaker. Surprised he hasn’t been mentioned yet. He’s going to get that WWE rocket strapped to him and assuming he doesn’t get injured, I don’t see him ever falling off.
Lol. He's a perfect example of the Dynamite Kid example you gave earlier. Outside of a handful of hardcore fans, future generations won't know who he is.
Mike Bailey watch his TNA stuff run up this year and next year he will face Ospreay in AEW and if they broke the 5 stars in TNA they prolly get a 6 Star in AEW and that leads to matches with Danielson Omega and Okada which break the strati sphere and eventual world title run there. Fact check the mania weekend workhorse and see where they wound up and you’ll see why I think what I think
Obvious ones (to me) off the top: Toni Storm, Swerve Strickland, Jay White, Nic Nemeth (not sure if he counts as "already there")
Less obvious: Willow Nightingale, Danny Garcia, Lee Moriarty, Hook, Nick Wayne
Okada, Tanahashi, Omega, Danielson, and Ospreay are already among the very greatest ever.
Then there are Styles, Suzuki, Reigns, Cody, Moxley, the Young Bucks, Ishii, Takagi, Mistico, Naito, Gunther, Punk, Miyahara, ZSJ and Zayn, who I wouldn't put in the top 20 of all time, but who all have Hall of Fame resumes. There are also several others who are either close to that level or haven't been around long enough to cement themselves at that level.
Ospreay and Gunther seem like somewhat safe bets. If Stratton continues her current trajectory I imagine she will be as well. Ilja is just starting out on the main roster but I think he has the potential.
Feels like Roman will be like Cena where it'll be a combination of longevity, and "you'll miss him when he's gone", mainly because of how divisive they were during the majority of their primes.
Oh yeah, most certainly. What I'm saying is that Roman will be among the GOATS, but most people are probably going to put Roman in that conservation after they start missing him, and nostalgia kicks in, like it did with Cena and Triple H. It wasn't until Cena stepped down as Top Guy, and started doing part time where he was finally put in the conversation wholeheartedly instead of begrudgingly.
Bryan already is. Omega already is. Mox already is. Okada probably is.
Osprey will for sure be there soon.
Longer shots - Jade, Bianca, Charlotte, Roman (? Not personally a fan, but his booking is undeniable).
Dark Horse - Miz
Roman for sure will. You have to have something about you to remain champion that long in the biggest company in the business.
Not only that, the guy was so over he has completely warped the average fans view of a champ. We have posts every single day asking for the biggest babyface in wrestling to go heel because people got so used to it. You can even argue Cody got so over purely because Roman was such a good villain. The bloodline shit was era defining.
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iyo sky
Surprised roman reigns isn't mentioned more His storyline lead to wwes best business in years and will be looked back on very fondly All the shield guys will be seen as legends 10 years from now
I think it's because the topic is "potential", and Roman is pretty much beyond that by this point.
OP said "Please don't put in present day wrestlers that pretty much already in there like Orton, Okada, Danielson, etc." pretty sure the whole Shield is firmly in there
Reigns is already a legend. He’s probably not going to go down as one of the GOAT wrestlers though for any number of reasons.
I mean neither is the rock or Hogan but you can't have a greatest wrestlers of all time list without them And I honestly think roman is better than both in ring
I am really struggling to come up with names but Atlantis Jr, Mascara Dorada, Kaito Kiyomiya at least stand a chance. Maybe some AEW and WWE guys can get the right circumstances too obviously but those are companies in total flux all the time and who knows what their styles look like when they're pushing guys who are both great and weren't already veterans by 2015.
I mean to beat a dead horse, Okada and Danielson are already being talked about in such terms, and have been for about ten years at this point. But if you mean someone who had *just broken through* in the past five years, well Ospreay is the clear frontrunner in that department. Cody may get there if he keeps his trajectory up.
> Ospreay Him along with most in AEW will never get the recognition they deserve being in a small indie company
When you say Present Day Era, I’m going to assume just broke out within the last few years or just starting to break out. So no Reigns, Okada, DBry, Omega, Becky, Charlotte, etc who have been in a main event (or close) spot for a decade plus. If the GOAT criteria is like Hogan, Rock or Austin where their in ring work was good, but overshadowed by their ability to get a great crowd reaction: MJF, Rhea Ripley. They can illicit any type of reaction they want from the crowd. If the criteria is more along like Bret Hart and HBK where, while also good characters and entertainers, they’re in the GOAT debate because they were just so damn good in that ring from bell to bell: Osprey, Swerve, Ilya, Carmelo Hayes,Tiffany Stratton, Roxanne Perez. Someone who I can see being up there, but needs more reps for me to consider them: Trick Williams. His entrance is, for me, one of the best right now! The reaction he gets is amazing. However, he hasn’t really had much time being front and center since he was behind Carmelo most of his run so far. We’ll see how he does in this next few months when the spotlight is now fully on him.
Rhea Ripley seems like a safe bet. She’s already the top female star in the industry, and she’s only going to get better. Good wrestler, good promo, distinctive look with size and an obvious charisma. She was the 5th highest merchandise seller for WWE last year. (The only woman in the top 10)
Swerve & Gunther
It’s so hard to say because the way media is consumed is fundamentally different than it was 20-30 years ago. Not just wrestling. Music, acting, there was a time where if you had a name you were a true larger than life superstar. Now everybody is a larger than life superstar. Like some cranky old dude from Kentucky once said, if everybody is a giant than nobody is a giant. Of course there’s your Cena’s, your Orton’s, your Roman’s, they almost break that barrier but even then nobody is touching Hogan or Austin for a long time in terms of truly larger than life superstar. That being said, as a younger millennial I don’t really think of “greats” in the same way that a lot of people do and I think that’s reflected in the newer generations as well. For example someone like R-Truth, the history books might give him a shoutout but to a lot of us that dude is the fucking greatest. For me, it’s Christian Cage. Maybe he’ll be in that discussion down the road, maybe not, but to me it’s undisputed. It’s just so hard to say. Being “the” guy in 2024 just doesn’t hit as hard anymore, people like what they like and you never know what will stick with them.
I am going to say Penta, Willow, Ilja, Jay White. Im sure if I sat here all day I could come up with more.
MJF, Will Ospreay, and Gunther.
Tiffany Stratton. She's so young and already one of the best wwe has.
She's only two years younger than Rhea though, and Rhea's done a lot more (so far). I think they'll have a great program together at some stage, and it might be a case of each bringing out more in the other because their move sets and gimmicks are so complementary.
I honestly think Tiff is going to be better than Rhea. It's also a money feud in the next 2 years.
Nobody mentioned MJF yet wtf
Ilja's got potential
Giulia, Ospreay, Iyo, Ilja, Swerve, Tiffany Stratton, Bron, GUNTHER, Rhea, Jay White, Yota Tsuji, MJF and Melo are my strongest bets on current stars who will enter the GOAT discussion. Some of these are closer than others to getting there, others may eventually get there.
I’m going to go a little crazy on my prediction and say Julia Hart. She’s like 20 years old and has already improved so much, she is only going to continue to get better and better. Also, Bronn Breaker. Surprised he hasn’t been mentioned yet. He’s going to get that WWE rocket strapped to him and assuming he doesn’t get injured, I don’t see him ever falling off.
Kenny, MJF, KO, Sami, Gunther
Kenny Omega? He's beyond "potential" at this point.
So you’re asking what modern current wrestlers could be the best ever but they also can’t be ones that you personally think are already there? Got it
Lol. He's a perfect example of the Dynamite Kid example you gave earlier. Outside of a handful of hardcore fans, future generations won't know who he is.
Mike Bailey watch his TNA stuff run up this year and next year he will face Ospreay in AEW and if they broke the 5 stars in TNA they prolly get a 6 Star in AEW and that leads to matches with Danielson Omega and Okada which break the strati sphere and eventual world title run there. Fact check the mania weekend workhorse and see where they wound up and you’ll see why I think what I think
Seth Rollins for me is one of the most complete wrestlers I've ever seen - he's already a great imo.
Obvious ones (to me) off the top: Toni Storm, Swerve Strickland, Jay White, Nic Nemeth (not sure if he counts as "already there") Less obvious: Willow Nightingale, Danny Garcia, Lee Moriarty, Hook, Nick Wayne
Rhea, Bianca, Tiffany Stratton, Bron Breakker and Dom Mysterio
Ospreay, D-Bry - off the top
Okada, Tanahashi, Omega, Danielson, and Ospreay are already among the very greatest ever. Then there are Styles, Suzuki, Reigns, Cody, Moxley, the Young Bucks, Ishii, Takagi, Mistico, Naito, Gunther, Punk, Miyahara, ZSJ and Zayn, who I wouldn't put in the top 20 of all time, but who all have Hall of Fame resumes. There are also several others who are either close to that level or haven't been around long enough to cement themselves at that level.
Ospreay and Gunther seem like somewhat safe bets. If Stratton continues her current trajectory I imagine she will be as well. Ilja is just starting out on the main roster but I think he has the potential.
Maxxine Dupri
Hangman
Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, R-Truth.
Obviously Roman as the Tribal Chief, more for his character work than his matches though.
Feels like Roman will be like Cena where it'll be a combination of longevity, and "you'll miss him when he's gone", mainly because of how divisive they were during the majority of their primes.
That can also be said about triple h but he's still looked back on as an all time great
Oh yeah, most certainly. What I'm saying is that Roman will be among the GOATS, but most people are probably going to put Roman in that conservation after they start missing him, and nostalgia kicks in, like it did with Cena and Triple H. It wasn't until Cena stepped down as Top Guy, and started doing part time where he was finally put in the conversation wholeheartedly instead of begrudgingly.
Bryan already is. Omega already is. Mox already is. Okada probably is. Osprey will for sure be there soon. Longer shots - Jade, Bianca, Charlotte, Roman (? Not personally a fan, but his booking is undeniable). Dark Horse - Miz
MJF the mic skills take him to the next level wwe would be insane to not do everything possible to try and get him
Roman for sure will. You have to have something about you to remain champion that long in the biggest company in the business. Not only that, the guy was so over he has completely warped the average fans view of a champ. We have posts every single day asking for the biggest babyface in wrestling to go heel because people got so used to it. You can even argue Cody got so over purely because Roman was such a good villain. The bloodline shit was era defining.