The All Time Greatest Pro Wrestler List is a composite list made up of numerous sources, ranking lists, Halls of Fame, and ratings sources. I considered only legitimate media sources and those compiled by recognized respected pro wrestling historians or by those who were transparent about their ranking process. I tried to avoid opinion pieces and stick only to those who took their listings seriously.
That being said, pro wrestling is subjective. Wins and losses are determined by promoters not, necessarily by athletic skill. Entertainment is a huge part of pro wrestling and giving weight to that results in a large disparity among those compiling these lists. Mainstream media sources tended to bias their lists toward the more recently famous. Historians tended to bias their lists toward historical wrestlers for whom video footage was limited or non-existent and, therefore, had to base their assessment on media that existed at the time or reports from people from that era who may have passed along their biases as well.
The pro wrestling press often bias their lists and opinions on match quality, which again, is very subjective. I tried to use enough lists to average out any bias that may exist to one extreme or the other. Furthermore, I gave a significant bonus to those who have been inducted into legitimate voter researched Halls of Fame such as the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame which, every year, is voted on by journalists, historians, wrestlers, promoters, and those involved in the pro wrestling business. It is, quite probably, the most vetted wrestling Hall of Fame, and thus credence should be given to its inductees.
Otherwise, I developed a point system from 1 to 100 and assigned each list I used a numerical number. For instance if you ranked number 100 on a list you got 1 point. 99 got 2 points, 98 got 3 points, and so on. The top 50 in every list got a slight bonus as did number one. For instance if you ranked number 1 on a list you got 350 points. Number 2 got 325 points, number 3 got 310 points, number 4 got 300 points and so on. This rewarded top spot getters who consistently placed in the top 50. This also prevented wild unsupported “favorite picks” which crept into a few lists, people who obviously didn’t deserve such a high ranking but were placed there because they were a list makers favorite.
Karl Stern compiled the list using the following sources and process.
1) The composite Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 of all time. Source
2) Bleacher Report Rating the 25 Greatest Wrestlers of all time. Source
3) Sports Illustrated 101 Greatest Wrestlers of all time. Source
4) Ainsworth Sports Statistic Based Rankings. Source
5) The 50 Greatest Wrestlers of All Time book by Larry Matysik. Source
6) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Source
7) Cagematch.net Points Based List. Source
8) Wrestling Perspective The Top 100 Wrestlers of All Time. Source
9) Wrestling Observer Top 100 Wrestlers All Time (John Molinaro & Dave Meltzer). Source
10) Men’s Journal 10 Greatest Wrestlers Ever. Source
11) Historian Steve Yohe’s 100 Greatest Wrestlers Ever. Source
12) Historian Joe Opiela’s 100 Greatest Wrestlers Ever. Source
13) Historian J. Michael Kenyon’s 100 Greatest Wrestlers Ever. Source
14) Historian Jim (Clawmaster) Zordani’s 100 Greatest Wrestlers Ever. Source
15) Historian & Podcaster Kris Zellner’s 100 Greatest Wrestlers Ever. Source
16) Wrestling Classics Cumulative 100+ Greatest Wrestlers Ever. Source
17) Pro Wrestling Only Forum Voted List of Top 100. Source
For non-list related accolades I awarded the following:
Wrestling Observer Wrestler of the Year List - 100 point bonus (1980-current). Source
Pre-1980 Steve Yohe’s Wrestler of the Year List - 100 point bonus (1901-1980). Source
Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestler of the Year - 25 point bonus (1972-current) Source
Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame - 100 Point bonus. Source
George Tragos / Lou Thesz Hall of Fame - 25 Point bonus. Source
Then, I factored in 3 WORST Wrestlers of all time lists, docking any that may have appeared on the cumulative list 5 points if they appeared on these “worst ever” lists.
The 15 Worst Wrestlers in WWF History. Source
Fans Rank the Worst Wrestlers in History. Source
Top 10 Worst WWE Wrestlers of All Time. Source
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