If you didn’t like pro wrestling at one point in your adolescence, you were either a girl or your parents hated you and did not let you watch violence on TV (thank god you’re not playing video games now!). Hours after I was born, my Dad likes to tell the story of how we were watching WWF in the recovery room as my Mom tried to sleep after 24 hours of labor. I grew up with the stuff, and even though I rarely catch the modern stuff (by my own choice), I still watch plenty of the older stuff and consider myself a fan.

I am far from a conventional fan, and decided to share my list of Top 20 favorite wrestlers with Dtoid. Like any list, I am sure not many will agree, and with this list, I have a feeling no one will agree but on the plus side, I guarantee that you will learn about a lot of very cool pro wrestlers that you might not have heard about before and you might become a fan too! I will keep the writing short since I really want you to watch the matches and highlights in this post to get a better idea of why I like these guys, since actions speak louder than words. So let’s lace up the boots, pull up your elbow pads and get it on!

20 – Amazing Red

Let’s get the spot monkeys out of the way early on! I first saw Amazing Red thanks to my local tape trader who also ran a pretty great wrestling promotion originally called ICW, which gave guys like Low Ki, Xavier and Red their starts. First match I ever saw was Red VS Low Ki in ICW, which you can see below. I am pretty sure this match was in the Elks Lodge in Queens, NY.



Amazing Red VS Low Ki - ICW

Red would also team with the SAT, Jose and Joel Maximo, and eventually made his way into NWA TNA in their early days where he had classic fast-paced and innovate matches with Low Ki, Jerry Lynn, AJ Styles and Chris Daniels to name a few. Red disappeared from around late 2003 due to a knee injury and sporadically wrestled on indy shows, but very rarely. He did not return officially until 2008 when he began to wrestle regularly for JAPW and then rejoining TNA earlier in 09.



Red is one of my favorites namely because he is just so tiny and proved size is not everything. When he first started wrestling he weighed 145 lbs! He did moves like I had never seen before and are still crazy! If you want a crazy spot, you need to see Red! Here is another match of his against Low Ki (who at this time weighed 170 lbs), from their TNA debut and you will not believe the spots in this match!


19 – La Parka

Me gusta La Parkaaaaa! With a unique look, fast-paced wrestling style and great charisma, the skeleton-masked La Parka is a guy that you can never look away from. La Parka debuted in 1992, although the wrestler portraying him had already been wrestling for a decade. He has not won too many titles in his time but has wrestled for the big names, AAA and CMLL in Mexico and the NWA and WCW, which is where he gained most of his fame. Nicknamed “The Chairman” because he always brought a chair to the ring that he played like a guitar, then smacked people with, whether they were on his side or not. He currently wrestles as LA Park since AAA owns the rights to La Parka, which is where La Parka Jr competes.



La Parka Highlight Reel

I like La Parka because he is just a lot of fun to watch. He never takes himself too seriously, has no problem breaking into a random “Thriller” dance mid-match or even dancing right before he is about to slam an opponent down on the mats. For a guy his size, you would also not expect him to move that way if you never saw Lucha Libre, and man can this guy move! If that is not good enough for you, his outfit should be because it is one of the best ever. Unpredictable, speedy and tons of fun to watch, La Parka es el major!



La Parka vs Sabu – MLW 2002


18- Mike Awesome

At 6’ 7” and 300 lbs, Mike Awesome was just awesome. Also called “The Gladiator” in Japan, Awesome wrestled all over the world and gained a lot of fame in FMW in Japan where he became Tag Team Champion multiple times as well a heavyweight title reign. He also started an insane feud with Masato Tanaka in FMW, that would continue when he became a permanent member of ECW in 1998, and in 1999 defeated Taz in a three way dance with Tanaka and become one of the most dominant wrestlers in ECW.



Mike Awesome VS Masato Tanaka – ECW 2000

Awesome jumped ship to WCW in 2000, while still holding the ECW title. He would have one last ECW defense at a show in Queens, NY against a surprise opponent, the man he first beat for it, Taz (who at the time was in WWE and took that belt with him to WWE for a week). As a WCW wrestler, he was buried as “That 70’s Guy” but after the WWE bought WCW, he had a second chance to go back to being a dominant force… at least for a little while. Awesome was released from WWE in 2002 and wrestled on the indy scene and retired in 2006. Sadly, Mike Awesome passed away on February 17, 2007 in Florida, an apparent suicide.



Highlights from Awesome VS Tanaka at ECW One Night Stand in 2005

Awesome is one of my favorite big men in the sport, and I am not a fan of big men usually. Awesome was 300 lbs. and was a master of the powerbomb, but he could also fly like a cruiserweight with springboard splashes and suicide dives. He could crush you in the ring with his size or fly at you with his speed and dexterity. He was dangerous from any angle and that is what made him awesome.

17- Hayabusa

While we are talking about FMW, let’s talk Hayabusa! I first found Hayabusa through a tape trader who said, you have to see this guy, he does a back flip into a 450 splash! In 2000, that sounded impossible to me and I had to see it. Lo and behold, I did, and after picking my jaw up from the floor, I watched more of this young wrestlers career unfold.

FMW was a “garbage wrestling” company early on, its main draw being ultra hardcore barbed wire matches, or even their infamous barbed-wire exploding cage matches. In 97, the company began to reformat to have more actual talent which included Mike Awesome, Masato Tanaka, Mr Pogo and Hayabusa.



Hayabusa VS Onita – Barbed Wire Exploding Cage Match from FMW

His career picked up after a match that many fans consider the passing of the guard in FMW, when Hayabusa wrestled top star and owner, Atsushi Onita, in a barbed-wire exploding cage match. It was technique VS hardcore, and showed the company had what it took to become a player. His smooth high-flying tactics made any luchador envious and his martial arts kicks made Chuck Norris stop and ask, hey, how did he do that?

Sadly, Hayabusa missed a spot in a match in 2001, going for a springboard moonsault and slipping on the ropes, thus landing on the crown of his head and becoming instantly paralyzed from the neck down. FMW folded with his departure, and Hayabusa began working on his musical career. Since then, Hayabusa has taught himself how to walk again and is on the road to recovery.



I am a fan of Hayabusa’s work ethic and much like La Parka, I enjoy his attire and personality as well as his in-ring maneuvers that separate him from the herd. It is sad his career was cut short by one loose ring rope, but for the matches he had, Hayabusa was a rising phoenix and even now, he continues to rise out of the ashes.

16- Jerry Lynn

One of the most underrated men in pro wrestling in the 90’s, Jerry Lynn worked for tons of indy feds in the late 80’s and mid-90’s, including Smokey Mountain, GWF, and even WCW, Lynn would gain prominence when he joined ECW in 1997. Lynn always put on solid matches with any competitor, and at “Living Dangerously” in 1999, he was given a shot at the TV title against Rob Van Dam, who had held the belt for a long time.



Jerry Lynn VS Rob Van Dam – ECW 1999 – Part 1 of 3

Lynn came close to grasping the gold and began to call himself “The New F’n Show” and quickly became a fan favorite. Lynn would eventually beat RVD but not for the title. Lynn was one of the last ECW heavyweight champs, and his final match saw him lose to RVD in the main event of the final ECW pay per view ever.

Lynn would join WWE for about a year before being released and joining NWA – TNA, where he had amazing matches with the young X-Division Talent and became a two-time tag team and X-Division Champion while guiding the younger talent. Since then, Lynn is active on the indy scene, especially ROH where earlier this year he became their Heavyweight champion.



Jerry Lynn VS Low Ki VS AJ Styles – TNA – Triple Ladder match for X-Title – Part 1 of 3

Lynn was always a solid wrestler who seemed to rarely get any attention for his actions. Maybe it was his lack of over the top personality in a time when that was what sold, once he got to a company that appreciated wrestling his career picked up. With Jerry Lynn, you always know he will go above and beyond the call of duty and put on a great match that will leave you wanting more.

So there you have the first quarter of this list, quick recap below.

20 – Amazing Red

19- La Parka

18 – Mike Awesome

17 - Hayabusa

16 – Jerry Lynn

So stick with me, you might not have known too many of these guys or even expected them on a list but watch their matches and tell me you don’t enjoy them! The names will get bigger and more recognizeable but this list is still full of plenty of surprises, so be prepared and I will see you next time with 15-11!