Smark Out Moment

Welcome to the first edition of the Top Rope Lists segment of Smark Out Moment. This segment has been on my to-do list (along with many others listed here and some not listed) for quite some time, and we're finally ready to begin.

The Top Rope Lists segment is a rather standard listing type of article that you've seen pretty much everywhere. Sometimes, the categories will specify that you pick your "favorites" and sometimes it will ask you to put those feelings aside and choose what you think the "best" are in whatever particular subject we're discussing that week.

The number of choices per list will vary, but there will always be at least 3 that you need to pick by default. That is because the Top Rope Lists essentially revolves around the Bronze Medal (Bottom Rope), Silver Medal (Middle Rope) and Gold Medal (Top Rope) designations. Depending on the topic, some lists may expand to accommodate more discussion, such as this first posting.

Without further ado, I present to you the first Top Rope List:


10. Randy Savage

I was always a bigger fan of Randy Savage than Hulk Hogan overall. As a kid, I liked them both, but Randy Savage was the cooler of the two and I enjoyed watching his matches more. As an adult, I feel the same way. Savage looked interesting, he's always fun to try to replicate when it comes to his voice and mannerisms, and he was one hell of a performer as well.

9. Kane

I considered giving this spot to Mr. Perfect, but then I realized that I've followed Kane's career much more than I have Curt Hennig's. When Kane came onto the scene in WWE instead of the Isaac Yankem character, I instantly thought he was awesome. He's had hiccups of stupid gimmick changes and bad feuds over the years, but he's still someone I think needs to (and will) go into the WWE Hall of Fame for being so entertaining for such a long time.

8. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Back when I was a kid, if there was any person I had more t-shirts and merchandise of, it was Stone Cold. I had the chain wallet, I had the Austin 3:16 shirt, his wrestling figure, so on and so forth. Everyone liked Austin and I was no exception.

7. Owen Hart

Owen's always been someone that I bring up when people talk about their favorites because to me, he was always consistently entertaining no matter what program he was in. I'm not the biggest fan of randomly thrown together tag teams, but I enjoyed his tag team with Yokozuna mostly because of what Owen did. His feuds with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, and damn near everyone were made so much better just because Owen was involved.

6. Chris Jericho

There's no denying that Y2J becomes a focal point any time he's back on the roster. He's a cross between Owen Hart and Shawn Michaels in a lot of ways, so of course he'd be on my list. Jericho puts out some of the best promos and matches whenever he's wrestling and he's been doing it the entirety of his career.

5. Edge

Adam Copeland may be one of the most underrated performers when it comes to people listing who they think are the best of all time. Edge just killed it constantly. It's frustrating that his career was cut short as I was hoping we'd see Edge continue to do his thing well into retirement. In fact, I thought it was a sure thing that Edge would be one of those names like the current Ricky Steamboat and Sgt. Slaughter types that would pop up on a regular basis because he just loved to be out in front of the crowd having a ball.

4. Mick Foley

Let it be known that Mick Foley is the fucking man. Seriously. Mick is not only great to watch on the mic, and he not only gave us some of the most memorable moments in the history of the WWE, but he's also a fantastic person. He's the Hardcore Legend, Dude Love, Cactus Jack, Mankind, a saint outside of the ring, and he has all the respect in the world from me.

BOTTOM ROPE: 3. Bret Hart

Now we're in the thick of things. All three of these rope qualifiers are without a doubt my favorites of all time. Bret Hart was ALWAYS someone that I was rooting for and absolutely loved to watch. Like the other two on this list, I wore out his wrestling figure and had to buy a second one because it broke beyond repair - and rest assured, when I was playing with those figures as a child, Bret Hart won the majority of his matches.

MIDDLE ROPE: 2. Undertaker

The longevity of Undertaker's career when you think about the quality of his work is unparalleled. This guy has never faltered for the most part. He's always been awesome with his gimmick and he's always put on classic matches. The one thing I'm most excited about seeing when I go to WrestleMania this year is his performance. Hell, I dressed up as Undertaker for a project in school as a kid. It's going to be a sad, sad day when he officially retires, and I hope that day doesn't come for a long time.

TOP ROPE: 1. Shawn Michaels

The best of all time, hands down. Nobody is a better professional wrestler than Shawn Michaels. Some are close, but he beats them all. I've explained time and time again why he's my favorite, so I don't really need to repeat myself too much. He's just always been at the top of my list and I doubt anyone will ever be able to beat him in my mind for this spot. There's more than a few Top Rope Lists that are going to end with Shawn Michaels getting the gold Top Rope medal.