JBL used to say, ‘If you were to build a pro wrestler from scratch, it would be like Randy Orton.’ So, I thought I would put that to the test. I made a list of what I think are the five most important characteristics needed to be a good modern day wrestler and assigned who I think is the best in the world from that characteristic. These were the results.
Technical Ability – Zack Sabre Jr
Technical wrestling looks more at the MMA side of pro wrestling, consisting of grappling, takedowns and submissions. Although Daniel Bryan has won the ‘Best Technical Wrestler Award’ a record eight times, Zack Sabre Jr is my choice right now. His submission ability is incredible as he has hundreds of ways to force a man to tap out. His arsenal of grappling and amateur wrestling skills seems to grow everytime I see him compete. If I was building a wrestler, I’d definitely give them his technical ability.
Honourable Mentions: Daniel Bryan, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida, Timothy Thatcher, Kyle O’Reilly
Highflying Ability – Will Ospreay
There are so many incredible highflyers in the world right now. However, I’d definitely take the highflying ability of Will Ospreay. There are some moves that he does that make me sit on my sofa and think, ‘How?’ The Sasuke Specials are definitely my favourite jumps from inside the ring to outside the ring. The Robinson Special is a move that I can never wrap my head around and there are so many other moves he does that leaves me in awe.
Honourable Mentions: Dragon Lee, Ricochet, Pac, Kota Ibushi, Bandido
Charisma – Velveteen Dream
In modern day wrestling there’s a lack of charismatic wrestlers. We’re in an era in which most wrestlers are athletes instead of performers. Even though that creates incredible matches, it does leave us with only a few wrestlers that have the ‘it’ factor. Dream is one of those few. Dream has a character that can draw anyone to him even if you hate him. His flamboyant nature, wild ring attires and cocky act is done brilliantly and he simply just gets it. If he stays out of trouble, he really has potential to be special in WWE and wrestling as a whole. He’s one of the few wrestlers in WWE right now that could live in the 90s and 00s era of wrestling.
Honourable Mentions: Tetsuya Naito, Chris Jericho, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Matt Riddle, Sasha Banks
Strength – Cesaro
Pound for pound, I don’t think there’s anyone that comes close to Cesaro in terms of strength in wrestling right now. We’ve seen him lift the likes of Braun Strowman, The Great Khali and The Big Show in his seven year WWE career. He’s able to bench press over 400lbs when only weighing 230. I’d definitely go with the strength of Cesaro if I was building the perfect wrestler.
Honourable Mentions: Braun Strowman, Keith Lee, Bryan Cage, Bobby Lashley, Big E
Promo Skills – Chris Jericho
This man can literally make anything popular. His ability to make stupid things funny and engage hostile fans in the process is unrivalled. I’m still confused how he got phrases such as ‘You just made the list’ and ‘It’ over because I’m sure if anyone else was given those phrases to say, they wouldn’t deliver it as good as Le Champion. There’s definitely a reason he’s been at the top of the wrestling business for 25 years. Even his commentary is amazing, which can’t be said for the majority of wrestlers in the world right now. I’d 100% take Jericho’s promo skills if I was building a wrestler.
Honourable Mentions: The Miz, MJF, Jon Moxley, Bray Wyatt
So that’s the ‘perfect wrestler’ built from the pool of wrestlers we have today. It’s interesting how a lot of the wrestlers that we’d argue to be the best in the world didn’t make it any of the categories (Okada, Omega, Adam Cole etc). Maybe it was my choice of what I think are the key characteristics are to be a great wrestler or maybe it’s because they’re good at everything and not excellent in one department.
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