While the list is MY opinion, you wont get any unrealistic people on the list. For example - I love The Sandman, but he wont make this list over the people on it.
Firstly there are a few honourable mentions of wrestlers that i agonised over putting on this list, but could not commit to:
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Dolph Ziggler
John Cena
Arguably the most controversial person left out of the top 10, John Cena is the face of the WWE. Love him or hate him he has had countless great matches over the years and his a work rate 2nd to none. However, his character is so stale and so annoying i have been forced to leave him off this list. I don't mind John Cena, but the others on this list in my eyes are far greater.
Chris Benoit
Controversial right? One of the greatest EVER, but sadly with a now tainted memory after the events of his death. Chris Benoit was a master in the ring and would go on to be a true legend of the business. Winning the World Championship in a fantastic triple threat match at Wrestlemania 20 and giving fans one of the most haunting images ever when celebrating in ring with WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero, both have now sadly passed on.
In writing this, i realised there are so many greats that i won't be able to fit into one list. The likes of Kurt Angle, Goldberg, JBL, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Brock Lesnar, Batista, Randy Orton, AJ Styles and Sting are all absent from the top 10.
THE TOP TEN
10. Edge
One of the most popular superstars of the late 90's onward, Edge won 31 championships in WWE, including eleven world championships (the WWE Championship four times and the World Heavyweight Championship a record seven times), five Intercontinental Championships, one United States Championship, 14 tag team championships (a record 12 World Tag Team Championships and two WWE Tag Team Championships), the 2001 King of the Ring tournament, the inaugural Money in the Bank ladder match in 2005, and the Royal Rumble match in 2010. Edge retired in 2011 after a career threatening injury to his neck. His last match was against Alberto Del Rio for the World Championship at Wrestlemania 27, which he won.
9. Jeff Jarrett
Jeff Jarrett has held seventy championships in various promotions throughout his career. Within TNA, he is currently recognized as an eleven-time world champion, having been a six-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and one-time AAA World Heavyweight Champion. He achieved notable championship success in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), becoming a six-time Intercontinental Champion (a record from 1999–2004), and one of three men to hold both the Intercontinental and European Championships simultaneously. While he never captured the WWF Championship, Jarrett challenged for the title (as wel as Stone Cold Steve Austin refusing to work with him)and is recognized by the promotion as a four-time world champion, given his four reigns with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which is now a WWE trademark. He also wields wrestlings most lethal guitar.
8. CM Punk
CM Punk is a seven-time World Champion, having held the ROH World Championship and ECW Championship once, the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship twice. Punk has also won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston) and the WWE Intercontinental Championship, making him the 19th WWE Triple Crown Champion and the man to achieve this honor fastest at 203 days. Between WWE and Ring of Honor (where he is a two-time World Tag Team Champion), Punk has won a total of 11 championships. He was also the winner of the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches (the only wrestler to win the match twice in a row). He is recognized by WWE as the sixth-longest reigning champion of all time, and the longest-reigning since February 1988 (previously, multi-year title reigns had been standard) he was described by the organization in a December 2012 publication as "the longest-reigning WWE Champion in the modern era" as of the 3rd of January 2012.
7. Triple H
HHH has won 23 championships in WWE. He is a thirteen-time world champion, having won the WWF/E Championship eight times, and the World Heavyweight Championship five times. He was the first World Heavyweight Champion. In addition, HHH won the 1997 King of the Ring, the 2002 Royal Rumble, and was the second Grand Slam Championship winner. He was a founding memeber of D-Generation X and Evolution. HHH currently works in the offices of WWE, having almost retired from all in-ring action after a match with Brock Lesnar at Summerslam 2012. One of the greatest heels of all time, HHH gave WWE one of its greatest moments when returning at Madison Square Garden in 2002.
6. Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Guerrero's gimmick was that of "Latino Heat", a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catchphrase became "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!," which was used in one of his entrance themes. Guerrero was widely regarded as one of the most respected and gifted technical wrestlers in history and even after his death is still one of the most loved wrestlers ever. Guerrero won 23 titles during his career, including the WWE Championship in an emotional victory over Brock Lesnar.
5. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Described by WWE chairman Vince McMahon as the most profitable wrestler in the company's history, he gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF during the mid-to-late 1990s as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a disrespectful, beer-drinking antihero who routinely defied McMahon, his boss. This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping off McMahon and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, his finishing move. McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
Austin held twenty five championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is a 6-time WWF Champion as well as the fifth Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He was forced to retire from in ring competition in early 2003 due to a series of knee and neck injuries . Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as the Co-General Manager and "Sheriff" of RAW. Since 2005, he has continued to make occasional appearances.
4. Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho, is a WWE superstar, and is also well known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and internationally in Canadian, Mexican and Japanese promotions.
Jericho has won 30 championships between WWF/E, WCW, and ECW - the three most prominent American promotions in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is credited as being the first Undisputed WWF Champion, having unified the WWF Championship and the World Championship (formerly the WCW Championship).
In WWE, Jericho is a six-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship once, the WCW/World Championship twice and the World Heavyweight Championship three times. He is also a record nine-time Intercontinental Champion, and the fourth WWE Grand Slam Champion. Outside of wrestling, Jericho formed the band Fozzy, in 1999, as their lead vocalist. He is arguably the greatest "total package" in wrestling history.
3. The Rock
The Rock held the WWF/E Championship seven times and the WCW/World Championship twice, the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice, and the WWF Tag Team Championship five times. He is the sixth WWF/E Triple Crown Champion, and the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble. He was quickly pushed as a face in the WWF, originally billed as "Rocky Maivia", then as "The Rock". He turned heel as a member of the Nation of Domination in 1997. Two years after he joined the WWF, he won the WWF Championship and became one of the most popular wrestlers ever, primarily for his charismatic interviews and promos. Along with Stone Cold Steve Austin, he helped the WWF survive the Monday Night Wars.
2. The Undertaker
The Undertaker has performed under two contrasting personas. The first is the role of The Deadman, an undead, occult-like figure, which has consisted of many different styles. He debuted his original Deadman persona during his own on-camera debut at Survivor Series (1990). At this event, the Undertaker was clad as a Western mortician. Next, in October of 1998, the Undertaker appeared as the leader of the Ministry of Darkness (with similar apparel). Since WrestleMania XX, the Undertaker has appeared as a hybrid version of the Deadman character, using elements of the previous Deadman incarnations.
His other persona has been that of The American Bad-Ass, a biker, which he portrayed from May 2000 through November 2003. The Undertaker is also associated with various specialty matches: the Casket match, the Buried Alive match, the Hell in a Cell and the Last Ride match. An important part of the character is the Undertaker character's half-brother Kane, who has also played an important role in The Undertaker's character development. Kane was introduced in 1997, and has both feuded with The Undertaker and performed in a tag-team with him as the Brothers of Destruction.
The Undertaker holds an unrivaled record of being undefeated at WrestleMania, WWE's premier pay-per-view event, with a 20–0 record. Among other accolades, Undertaker has won the WWF/E Championship four times and the World Heavyweight Championship three times. The Undertaker is also a seven-time World Tag Team champion: a six-time WWF Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW Tag Team Champion. The Undertaker was the winner of the 2007 Royal Rumble and became the first man to enter the annual event last and win.
and number one.......
1. Shawn Michaels
Michaels began his wrestling career with Mid-South Wrestling, now known as Universal Wrestling Federation, and American Wrestling Association (AWA). During his time with AWA, he performed in partnership with Marty Jannetty, as The Midnight Rockers; winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice. Hickenbottom and Jannetty briefly signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987, while in contract with AWA. They returned to AWA, only to go back to the WWF in 1988.Michaels later worked as a singles performer, taking on a new persona of "The Heartbreak Kid" and, first as a heel and later as a face, became one of the industry's most prominent stars. He wielded considerable influence on booking decisions as the leader of The Kliq, a backstage group, which however fell apart in 1996. The following year, he teamed up with Hunter Hearst Hemsley, who often was referred to as Triple H (HHH), Chyna, and Rick Rude to form D-Generation X (DX). This group of wrestlers was known for their sophomoric crude humor. That same year, Michaels took part in one of the most controversial matches in wrestling history, dubbed as the "Montreal Screwjob." After a back injury forced him to retire following his WWF Championship loss at WrestleMania XIV, Michaels opened a wrestling academy, called The Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, in which he trained upcoming wrestlers.
He made his in-ring return at SummerSlam in 2002. In 2006, Michaels and Triple H briefly reformed DX, but after an injury that Triple H sustained, Michaels returned to singles wrestling. Although as of 2009, the duo reunited as a tag team once more, with the two capturing the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. At WrestleMania XXVI, Michaels was forced to retire from in-ring competition when he lost a career-threatening match. In December 2010, he signed a long-term deal with WWE, making his first live appearance at a WWE show since WrestleMania later that month. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. Following his induction, WWE said of Michaels, "Ask any Superstar on the WWE roster who the most gifted sports-entertainer of all time is and nearly everyone will have the same answer — Shawn Michaels."
Among other accolades, Michaels is a four-time world champion: a three-time WWF Champion and a former World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles and was the company's first Grand Slam Champion. He has also won the PWI Match of the Year Award a record eleven times. HBK currently resides in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children.
Link to a great tribute found on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9aTyc6vHd8
