The Top 50 Wrestlers Of The 1990s (pt. 3) – #40-36: The countdown continues with Sid, Benoit, Guerrero, Sabu, Rey Mysterio

WrestleMania 34 is coming up, and being a wrestling fan, I tend to get a little more nostalgic for them olden days of when wrestlers didn’t have scripts with WWE verbage in front of them. DeLorean back to my early days of fandom during the 1990s and you had a product that was hotter than any Seth Rollins theme song (you know, ”Burn It Down?” Okay, I’ll see that bad joke right out the door).

So from now up until “The Grandest Stage of Them All” (with a little help from Wikipedia to fill in the blanks), I will release my Top 50 wrestlers of the 1990., factoring in their impact from the kid-friendly first half to the cuss-ridden, beer drinking second half to determine where exactly your favorite heel or face fall in rank.

So here we are at the Top 40. I’m starting to feel like Casey Kasem, but first, let’s see the first ten of 50:

#50. Ken Shamrock
#49. Dean Malenko
#48. Jeff Jarrett
#47. Big Bossman
#46. The Sandman
#45. Davey Boy Smith
#44. The Giant
#43. Taz
#42. Ron Simmons
#41. Rob Van Dam

Now, onto 40. “And he writes…”

#40: Eddie Guerrero
Hailing From: El Paso, TX
Finisher: The Frog Splash

Eddie is undoubtedly one of the most traveled in our Top 50. Before he found his “Latino Heat” in 2000s WWF, Eddie really laid the groundwork for a Hall of Fame career during his tenures in WCW, New Japan and ECW. However, in the early part of the 90s he was working in the top two Mexican-based promotions of CMLL & AAA. Under the mask of Mascara Magica, Eddie fought in the CMLL up until 1992, but then voluntarily unmasked himself (gasp) to leave for AAA.

He had two solid years with AAA before going to New Japan with another mask and another gimmick, donning the mantle of Black Tiger up until 1996 which he even ended up winning their “Best Of The Super Juniors Tournament”.

Eddie sure stayed steady with wrestling because it was also in 1995 that Paul Heyman used his talents in ECW where he snatched the TV strap from 2 Cold Scorpio in his debut. That’s when the famed series of matches between him and Dean Malenko (our #49 top wrestler of the 90s) really took flight. As mentioned before, Dean & he were pivotal in helping define ECW as a wrestling brand, rather than just an extreme brand, and having two guys like that go toe-to-toe in a two-out-of-three falls classic to cap off their extreme stay adds to the legacy of the promotion.

Then began one of the most under-appreciated runs in WCW.  Maybe it was the extreme mullet, but as a kid, I absolutely despised Eddie Guerrero as a heel. He always cheated and he was so nasty to his poor nephew Chavo. Granted, he did try to mentor him in the ways of lying, cheating and stealing, but ultimately failed considered his son went bonkers enough to lug around a hobby horse named Pepe.

Although winning both the Cruiserweight and the U.S. Championships, like most of the mid-card, Eddie was tired of not being in the main event mix. Unfortunately, he never got that shine in WCW despite being one of the most over acts in the promotion’s hottest time period, but as we all know, he got his rightful accreditation in the 2000s.

#39: Chris Benoit
Hailing From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Finisher: The Crippler Crossface

I do not want to spend too much time on Benoit, but to say he wasn’t a top 50 wrestler of the 90s would be highly inaccurate. He had a very similar career trajectory in the decade to Eddie Guerrero, starting off early in New Japan, then in WCW for a short stint during that time, joining ECW in 1994 and then back to WCW in 1995 for the second half of the decade. Along with joining the Four Horsemen, he had memorable feuds with Booker T, Raven and Kevin Sullivan. Out of the four Radicalz that left for WWF in early 2000, Benoit saw the greatest success in the 1990s. Before the horrific tragedy he was one of my favorites.

#38: Sabu
Hailing From: Bombay, Mich.
Finisher: Triple Jump Moonsault & Arabian Facebuster (Both with chairs)

If anyone was a keystone in helping to define the ECW extreme brand, look no further than The “Homicidal, Genocidal, Suicidal” maniac from Michigan (or Saudi Arabia, close enough), the man we know as Sabu. With his innovative moveset and unique look, the sky was the limit for “The Human Highlight Reel”. His extreme antics weren’t just a benefit of making him stand out, but they established his persona. All those tables you see people get put through nowadays? You can thank Sabu for that.

Because of his bloodthirst and tangibility with the crowd, Sabu feuded with everyone and anyone in ECW. From Terry Funk, to Taz, to RVD, Sabu enhanced and elevated his colleagues to their own level of notoriety and legacy. Heyman knew he had a star on his hands with Sabu so you’d see him with memorable title runs that including him winning the ECW Title from Terry Funk in 1995 and lest we forget his unforgettable tag team title spell with RVD. He also had a solid stint with NJPW in which he won the Junior Heavyweight Title, but it created a rift with him and Heyman in 1995 due to no-showing a match, and it got him fired (and publicly lambasted by Mr. Dangerously).

Sabu, however, had one flaw from the start. Being trained by The Sheik (not the Iron, but the regular one), Sabu wasn’t the keenest on taking losses, nor was he the warmest of personalities, so that had a great deal of him making much more money in the business, and when it came down to it, Sabu didn’t need the tables or the unprotected chair shots. His talent alone could have coasted him to stardom, but for better or for worse, Sabu was undoubtedly ECW.

#37: Rey Mysterio Jr.
Hailing From: San Diego, Calif.
Finisher: Hurricanrana

I became a wrestling fan in the second half of the 1990s, so 80%  talent at the time was new and unrecognizable to me, and one that remained relatively unknown to me at the time was Rey Mysterio Jr.

I just became invested in WCW when Mysterio just got put on the shelf by knee surgery, so all I had to go on him was word of mouth and highlights that Nitro showed me from time to time. That’s all I needed to know that this guy was the new standard bearer for cruiserweights in professional wrestling.

Being only 17, Mysterio got his 90s start wrestling for the Mexico promotion, AAA and then got his first run in the States with ECW in 1995. It wasn’t until 1996 when Rey started his very memorable WCW run (the good and the bad).

Rey went to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title a total of five times in the 90s (and in total), but his persona’s reputation took a sour turn when he was unmasked by the nWo in 1999. Mysterio would still be pushed relatively well after that, but him revealing his true identity is probably considered the lowest point of his HOF career (at least to me it was – sheesh – devil horns & shiny overalls?) That doesn’t stop him from being #37 on the list.

#36: Sid
Hailing From: West Memphis, Ark.
Finisher: Powerbomb

Sid isn’t this high up on the list because of his personality (and absolutely not his wrestling ability), but only because of how much promotions pushed him to be a main event star. His look was great, and his persona was good enough, but with injuries and unreliability, the guy just didn’t have it as a consistent headliner. That being said, he was a Four Horseman (ugh) and  had his feuds with Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Sting, Undertaker and the like.  He also won the WWF Championship twice and WCW’s United States Title during those ten, that ultimately, was an encompassing decade  for the big man (heck, dude even had a cup of coffee in ECW).

What do you think of the list so far? Am I off-base with some of this or am I hitting the ropes like a seasoned vet of the squared circle?

Follow me on Twitter @DominicDeAngelo and let me have it.