Wrestling Mount Rushmore: The Faces of WWE

#1 in a series ranking the top four wrestlers in different categories.

Two years ago I decided to watch every WWE PPV/PLE in order. It’s been quite the undertaking and it has changed my list of favorite wrestlers dramatically. There’s a difference in thinking someone is one of the greatest of all time because that’s the widely accepted opinion and actually seeing it for yourself. For example, Owen Hart is spoken of very highly by his peers for his in ring ability (and his pranks). But now that I’ve seen it for myself, he’s in my top five best pure wrestlers ever. Note that I didn’t say my top five favorite wrestlers or top five greatest of all time. For me, these are all different lists. Favorite, greatest, best of category A, B or C, I have so many lists compiled in my brain. I figure it’s about time I wrote them down and shared them with people that share my enthusiasm for professional wrestling.  While I could make these lists top ten, twenty or even fifty in some cases, I’m going to choose the format that gets wrestling fans all riled up, a top four list i.e., my Mount Rushmores. 

I was initially going to include two of these lists, but this one has taken on a life of its own and I don’t want to rush over things that I enjoy talking about. Obviously these lists are subjective and I would love to hear your opinions in the comments. As always thank you for supporting Touchdowns and Turnbuckles, the feedback I’ve received has meant the world to me and I’m so grateful for every like, comment and restack on these posts. 

The Faces of WWE

The real Mount Rushmore depicts four US presidents. Obviously not everyone will agree on who the best presidents are, just like opinions vary on the best wrestlers. However, there’s no debating George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Rosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln are four of the most well known presidents. When Gutzon and Lincoln Borglum carved their faces into the Black Hills of South Dakota, these four men essentially became the faces of the United States presidency. 

While they haven’t been enshrined on the side of a hill, WWE has had clear “faces” of the company. In fact, there’s been more than people realize. The most successful are very easy to identify, and like the presidents on Mount Rushmore are known worldwide, these specific men are known to even non wrestling fans. But every generation has its face that runs the place and I believe they all deserve a mention here. As I list them I will say if they have made the Mount Rushmore of the Faces of WWE and if they have, what spot they occupy.

Bruno Sammartino is the definitive star of the early WWWF. When Vincent J McMahon and Toots Mondt initially left the NWA they knew exactly who they wanted to hold their new world title. It proved to be a great decision as over the next eight years Sammartino brought in hoard of fans to watch him defend the title in Madison Square Garden. As the main attraction of every card he was featured on, Bruno sold out the Garden more than any other wrestler in history. The exact number is heavily disputed with some sources putting it as low as 60 and others claiming an astonishing 255. In his Hall of Fame speech, Sammartino himself said he sold out MSG 188 times. We will never know the exact number of sellouts, but we do know the exact number of days he held the WWWF World championship. His two reigns combined for a record 4,040 days. Because of his status as an all time great, and the original face of the company, Bruno Sammarito gets the George Washington spot on this Mount Rushmore.

Bob Backlund does not get the credit he deserves. In my opinion he was ahead of his time from an in ring perspective. Watching matches from this era can be tedious but Backlund wrestled with a speed and realism that modern fans can still enjoy. His feuds with Greg Valentine, Don Muraco, Superstar Billy Graham and Sgt Slaughter still hold up today. He wasn’t the biggest or the most charismatic of his era but that made him more relatable for many fans. He reigned as champion from 1978 until 1983 (Anotino who?) when the Iron Sheik defeated him via manager stoppage. His wrestling was phenomenal, however some of his promos are cringeworthy and he didn’t have quite the same drawing power as Sammartino. I believe Backlund is underrated as a wrestler and he is a forgotten face of WWE. But being sandwiched between Bruno Sammartino and the next man on this list kept him from making the top four. 

Hulk Hogan is arguably the biggest star wrestling has ever had. When Vince McMahon bought the company from his father in 1982 he wasted no time turning the WWF into a national powerhouse and, for better or for worse, destroying the territory system of the NWA. He could not have done it without Hulk Hogan. If you watch any show he is on from this time period you’ll see and hear nothing but roaring crowds and fans losing their minds for the Hulkster. He was the opposite of Bob Backlund. Loud, charmastatic and more entertainer/storyteller than professional wrestler, Hulk Hogan had a connection with the audience that hadn’t been seen before. While the likes of Ric Flair, Macho Man Randy Savage and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat had far more in ring skill than Hogan, this once in a generation crowd support made them all take a back seat. Even when he wasn’t reigning as champion he was the biggest name on the show. Were there some missteps along the way? Absolutely. Macho Man and Ric Flair should have been the main event of Wrestlemania 8 and the Sgt Slaughter feud that headlined Wrestlemania 7 almost stopped the Golden Era in its tracks. But turn on Andre the Giant vs Hulk Hogan from Wrestlemania 3. Or watch the storyline of the Mega Powers exploding. Listen to the crowd when he entered the 1990 Royal Rumble. There’s plenty of fair criticism thrown Hogan’s way but there’s no denying the WWF soared to heights never seen before with Hulkamania running wild. Because of his status as a founding father of the product we watch today, Hulk Hogan gets the Thomas Jefferson spot on this Mount Rushmore. 

We go from the highs of the Golden Era to the lows of the New Generation. While the characters from this era left a lot to be desired, the top spots were occupied by two of the greatest of all time. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are the co- faces of the New Generation era. Their matches and rivalries, against one another as well as others, were usually the lone bright spot on shows filled with uninteresting storylines and characters. Specifically their rivalry against each other was terrific. Bret was one of the first villains to be completely justified in his anger, while Shawn Michaels was wildly entertaining but came off as condescending and insincere. This was also one of the first rivalries where behind the scenes intrigue played as big of a part in fan investment as what played out on the screen. Their Iron Man match at Wrestlemania 12 is one of the most divisive matches of all time. I see it as a professional wrestling clinic that told a story of two men who were as evenly matched as possible. Some see it as an hour long match that didn’t live up to its stipulation and never moved into another gear like it should have. Whatever your opinion of that match is, we can all agree that these two had classic rivalries that defined the first post Hogan era in WWF. Undertaker, Razor Ramon, Owen Hart and Steve Austin, who was still lukewarm instead of the Stone Cold he would become, all had great matches with the co faces of the New Generation. But the federation was in a down period at this time and despite their talent, neither Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart could lift the company past WCW who was crushing the ratings with the NWO leading the way. They don’t make this Mount Rushmore but they helped elevate the next man who does.

Bret Hart helped him turn face, and Shawn Michaels put him over at Wrestlemania 14 to crown him WWF World Champion. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the perfect face of wrestling in the late ‘90s. The greatest anti hero of all time, the rattlesnake had a connection with the audience that hadn’t been seen since Hulk Hogan. If you grew up in this era, chances are Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon is your favorite rivalry. Nothing like this had been seen before on a wrestling show. Austin got arrested, the boss got stunned and everyone was wearing an Austin 3:16 t-shirt. Stone Cold had the benefit of working with a loaded roster including Kurt Angle, Undertaker, Booker T (price check on a jackass!), Chris Jericho and Triple H. Am I forgetting someone? Oh yeah, Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Rock is, in my humble opinion, the greatest rivalry of all time. The Bionic Redneck fighting the Great One was wrestling at its best. This feud alone gave us so many great moments, matches and memories. They made us laugh, scream and made our jaws drop at Wrestlemania 17 when Austin sold his soul to McMahon for the world championship. Stone Cold did things his way and changed wrestling forever. Theodore Roosevelt was another man that went against the grain, so Steve Austin gets that spot on this top four list. 

Wrestlemania 17 effectively ended the Attitude Era by turning Stone Cold heel. After that there was a slight limbo period that lasted until after Vince purchased WCW and the InVasion storyline ended. In this period WWF became WWE and lost its attitude. Stone Cold was forced to retire due to injuries and the Rock became Dywane Johnson and went to Hollywood. There are plenty of great matches and wrestlers in this period, and while it didn’t reach the heights it could have, the InVasion storyline did feature some fantastic matches and introduce stars like RVD and Booker T to the WWE audience. What the company lost in attitude, it soon gained in aggression.

The Ruthless Aggression era is my personal favorite period in WWE history, with the Golden Era followed very closely behind. However, from 2002 until Wrestlemania 21 the face of the company was one of the least popular ever. Triple H and his so-called reign of terror made a lot of fans tune out. It wasn’t all his fault either. We had heel champions have long title reigns before, but some of the storylines and matches Triple H was part of were just terrible. Katy Vick, Scott Stiener and Goldberg all contributed to fans growing incredibly tired of seeing Hunter Hurst Helmsley with the World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H was the man on Raw but over on Smackdown a star was growing who would eventually take that top spot and be the face of the WWE for the next two decades. 

This era was unintentionally built for John Cena. From the time he screeched those two words to Kurt Angle in 2002 until he won the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 21, Cena personified Ruthless Aggression. Winning the United States championship and getting experience with Kurt Angle, Big Show and other veterans allowed him to build up the in ring skills he needed, but like Hulk Hogan before him, it was his charisma and connection to the audience that made him a mega star. He is a 16 time World Champion, five time United States Champion, and has main evented Wrestlemania five times. His rivalries with Randy Orton, Shawn Michales, Edge, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, CM Punk and The Rock are all fantastic and feature both great storytelling and great in-ring action. Cena’s character morphed over the years and thuganomics were replaced by hustle, loyalty and respect, much to the chagrin of fans like myself. For the majority of his career fans were divided when it came to big match John but history will always look back fondly at the career of John Cena. For that reason, (Civil War jokes anyone?) he got the Abraham Lincoln spot on this list.

To sum up, the Mount Rushmore of the faces of WWE has Bruno Sammarito in the George Washington position, Hulk Hogan in the Thomas Jefferson spot, Steve Austin as Teddy Long, I mean Roosevelt, and John Cena in place of Abraham Lincoln. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I plan on making many more of these lists and starting a Mount Rushmore series, but this is most likely the only one that will specify what spot the selected wrestlers go in. This was the most fun I’ve ever had writing and I have everyone who is reading and responding to these posts to thank for that. 

The next piece I write will be predictions for the Bad Blood PLE this Saturday, and another piece next week with my grades and reactions to that show. 

I hope you all have a great day and spend it doing something to make your life better.