Professional wrestling reached an all-time high during the 1990s. It was the decade when wrestling truly broke through into the mainstream and became part of everyday pop culture. 90s wrestlers were as big as movie stars and just as marketable. Both World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), previously known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and World Championship Wrestling were on prime time and smaller indie promotions like Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) were beginning to make their mark.
The competition between the promotions resulted in the famous Monday Night Wars, where WCW beat WWE in the ratings for 86 straight weeks from June 1996 to April 1998. It was during this time that wrestling had the most juice, with superstars making millions of dollars as wrestling became a billion-dollar industry.
The 90s was a decade that produced some of the most iconic and legendary wrestlers of all time. From technical masters to high-flying daredevils, the 90s was a decade filled with a diverse range of wrestling styles and characters. While male wrestlers were the dominant force, the 90s introduced audiences to some of the great female wrestlers too. In this article, we will take a look at the 16 best wrestlers of the 1990s, from the Deadman to the Rattlesnake.
1. Stone Cold Steve Austin
The man who ushered in the Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the embodiment of rebellion against authority. His anti-hero character resonated with fans and catapulted him to become one of the biggest stars in wrestling history. Getting his start in WCW as “Stunning” Steve Austin, the Texas Rattlesnake soon found himself sacked after getting injured. Joining the WWE, it didn’t take long for Austin to make his mark.
Becoming an anti-authority figure, Austin clashed with WWE owner Vince McMahon, leading to some of the best segments and matches in wrestling history. Who can forget Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon in a steel cage, Austin vs. The Rock for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 15, or Stone Cold driving a Zamboni to the ring and attacking McMahon?
A six-time WWF Champion who also won the WWF Tage Team Championship (four times), the Intercontinental Championship (two times), and the King of the Ring (1996), Austin retired in 2003 and turned his attention to movies before coming back for one final match against Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania 38.
2. The Rock
The most electrifying man in sports entertainment, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a natural on the microphone and in the ring. His charisma and catchphrases made him a fan favorite, and his success in wrestling would eventually lead him to Hollywood superstardom.
Debuting as Rocky Maivia in 1996 to little fanfare, Johnson was repacked as the Rock and quickly found himself winning the Intercontinental Championship after just three months. The fans weren’t buying it though, and Rock soon turned heel, linking up with the Nation of Domination before aligning with the evil Vince McMahon as part of the Corporation. This is when he won the first of his eight WWF/WWE Championships, defeating Mankind at Survivor Series on November 15, 1998.
By the end of the 90s, the Rock had been the WWF champion three times and established himself as one of the top wrestlers in the company. He helped usher in the 00s before bigger things in Hollywood beckoned.
3. Bret Hart
The “Excellence of Execution” was the definition of a wrestler’s wrestler. Unlike the big stars at the time, Bret Hart was of average height and size, but his technical proficiency in the ring was unmatched. He helped create the template for a new generation of wrestlers who weren’t six-foot-six bodybuilders.
Hart was a main attraction in both the WWF and WCW throughout the 90s, although his best remembered for his time with WWF. He tagged with his brother-in-law and Jim Neidhart as the Hart Foundation and won the Tag Team Titles twice before the duo split and Hart found himself a solo star.
He had a miraculous run from 1991 to 1997, winning the WWF Championship five times, the Intercontinental Championship two times, and being judged the co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble. Although injury would put an end to his career prematurely, Hart is still remembered as one of the greatest to ever step foot inside the squared circle.
4. Shawn Michaels
Known as “The Heartbreak Kid,” “The Main Event,” “The Showstopper,” and “Mr. WrestleMania,” Shawn Michaels was one of the most technically gifted wrestlers to ever do it. His athleticism and showmanship made him a standout performer and his legendary matches with the likes of Bret Hart and The Undertaker are still talked about today.
HBK got his start tagging with Marty Jannetty before super-kicking him and putting him through a window in the infamous barber shop promo. Michaels then embarked on a solo career that saw him capture the WWF Intercontinental Championship three times, the WWF Championship three times, and the World Heavyweight Championship once.
5. Mick Foley
Mick Foley’s willingness to put his body on the line for the sake of entertainment made him a fan favorite in the 90s. Who can forget his Hell in a Cell match with the Undertaker at King of the Ring in 1998? Foley, wrestling as his alter ego Mankind (he also took on the persona of Cactus Jack and Dude Love), was thrown off the cage and through it, sacrificing his health and safety for the fans.
The King of Hardcore was a main player during the Attitude Era, winning the Tag Team Titles four times while also becoming a three-time WWF Champion. His feud with the Rock helped the WWF finally beat WCE in the ratings. Since ending his wrestling career, Foley has released several New York Times best-sellers and tours the world speaking about his experiences in wrestling.
6. Ultimate Warrior
He might have started his career in the 80s, but it was in the early 90s when the Ultimate Warrior became a two-time WWF Champion. His brief but impactful career saw the Warrior defeating Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania VI in a legendary match.
Known for his high-energy ring entrance, face paint, muscular physique, and bizarre promos, Warrior captured the fan’s imaginations with his boundless enthusiasm in the ring. While he wasn’t a great wrestler, his gimmick was massively over, which is why he found himself in major feuds with the likes of Randy Savage and The Undertaker.
The Ultimate Warrior was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014, just days before his unexpected death. Despite his controversial remarks and actions outside the ring, his impact on the wrestling industry in the 90s cannot be denied.
7. Sting
Steve Borden, better known as the professional wrestler Sting, rose to prominence in the 1990s, particularly in WCW. He began his career in the 80s but became a household name in the 90s thanks to his colorful face paint, charismatic personality, and high-flying in-ring abilities.
Sting was one of the pillars of WCW during the Monday Night Wars and would go on to have incredible rivalries with the nWo and his great nemesis, Ric Flair. A six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, after WCW went bust, Sting went on to perform with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), WWE and is currently an active member of the All Elite Wrestling (AEW) roster.
8. Chris Jericho
While he is still getting it down wrestling for AEW, it was the 90s when Chris Jerico established himself as one of the greats. Jericho is known for his charismatic personality, impressive in-ring skills, and ability to reinvent himself throughout his career. Known as Lionheart, the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla, and the Man of 1,004 Holds, Jericho performed in Mexico and for ECW and WCW before finding his footing in the WWE.
Although he didn’t join the company until 1999, Jericho had a track record for providing entertaining matches and was also known for his great mic work. A major player for WWE during the 00s, Jericho is also a successful author and lead singer of the rock band Fozzy.
9. Razor Ramon
“Say hello to the bad guy.” Razor Ramon (known to his mother as Scott Hall), was one of the great heels of the WWF in the 90s. Basing his character on Tony Montana from Scarface, Ramon was a cocky, toothpick-chewing bad guy who was one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time.
Razor Ramon’s in-ring abilities, particularly his finishing move, the Razor’s Edge, also contributed to his popularity. He left the WWF in 1996 along with Kevin Nash and joined WCW, forming the New World Order (nWo) and becoming one of the company’s top heels. Despite personal and professional struggles later in his career, his contributions to the wrestling industry in the 90s cannot be denied.
10. Eddie Guerrero
A member of the famous Guerrero wrestling family, Eddie Guerrero found early success wrestling for WCW and ECW. A technically proficient wrestler who combined high-flying movies with incredible charisma, Guerrero formed the stable Latino World Order and was a multiple-time Cruiserweight Champion while in WCW.
It wasn’t until the late 90s when Guerrero, alongside Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Perry Saturn, joined the WWF as the Radicalz. They would have great success as a team, but it was when the group split and Guerrero went solo that he became a fan favorite as Latino Heat.
Guerrero won multiple championships, culminating in his historic WWE Championship win at No Way Out against Brock Lesnar in 2004. His untimely death in 2005 shocked the wrestling world and he is still remembered and honored to this day as one of the best wrestlers of all time.
11. Macho Man Randy Savage
Macho Man Randy Savage had a storied wrestling career that spanned several decades, including the 1990s. He was known for his flamboyant personality, flashy ring gear, and signature catchphrase “Ooh yeah!” Although he first gained popularity in the late 80s when he wrestled with Hulk Hogan as the Mega Powers and won his first WWF Championship, Savage was still a large figure during the 90s.
He won the WWF Championship against Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII in 1992, married Miss Elizabeth at SummerSlam, and even got bit by Jake Roberts’ snake. After a short stint as a color commentator, Savage left the WWF for WCW where he would win the World Heavyweight Championship on four occasions.
12. The Undertaker
When it comes to icons, they don’t get any bigger than The Undertaker. Mark Calaway was one of the few wrestlers who remained in character throughout his nearly four-decade career, creating an aura around the Deadman that few superstars have achieved.
Taker made his mark during the 90s when he feuded with the likes of Mankind, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, and The Rock. As part of the Ministry of Darkness, he lent into the supernatural element of his character and was involved in a storyline involving the kidnapping of Vince McMahon’s daughter.
He won the WWF/WWE Championship four times during his career, while also capturing the World Heavyweight Championship on three occasions. Recently retired, The Undertaker’s legacy as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time saw him inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022.
13. Triple H
Now the Chief Content Officer and Head of Creative at WWE, during the 90s Triple H was one of the company’s biggest villains. Beginning his career as French-Canadian aristocrat Jean-Paul Lévesque in WCW, Triple H joined the WWF in 1995 as Hunter Hurst Helmsley, aka Triple H.
A co-founder of D-Generation X with Shawn Michaels, HHH was good value during the Attitude Era and a fan favorite. Similar to Stone Cold, Triple H was anti-authority, which led to him feuding with Vince McMahon and claiming his first WWF Championship when he defeated Mankind on a 1999 episode of Raw Is War.
A 14-time world champion (nine-time WWF/WWE Champion and five-time World Heavyweight Champion), HHH’s career continued to blossom in the 00s as he won multiple championships and asserted himself as one of the best.
14. Mr. Perfect
Arguably the greatest wrestler to never win the top prize in the WWF, Mr. Perfect lived up to his name during his in-ring career. There were few better technical and athletic wrestlers than Curt Hennig. The blond bombshell wrestled for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), WWF, WCW, and TNA and won multiple titles, including the Intercontinental Championship and WCW United States Championship.
A back injury in 1993 forced Mr. Perfect to retire from wrestling. He became a manager and color commenter before leaving WWF and joining WCW, where he surprisingly returned to the ring. Despite struggles with injuries and personal issues during the later years of his career, Hennig’s contributions to the wrestling industry in the 90s cannot be denied, and he is remembered as one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation.
15. Owen Hart
A practical joker who was also an excellent technical wrestler, nobody ever says a bad word about Owen Hart. Although he never achieved the success of his older brother Brett during his short career, Hart was loved by everybody, especially the fans. A fantastic wrestler who was also great on the microphone, Hart won the 1994 King of the Ring tournament, and the Intercontinental Championship twice, and was a four-time Tag Team Champion.
Tragically he died in 1999 when he fell from the rafters while making his entrance during WWF’s Over the Edge event. Despite this tragedy, Hart’s legacy as a talented wrestler and beloved performer lives on, and he is remembered fondly by fans and colleagues alike.
16. Ric Flair
The “Dirtiest Player in the Game” was a force of nature during the 90s. His short stint with the WWF from 1991 to 1993 saw Flair become the company’s biggest heel as he won the vacated WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble in 1991 before going on to feud with Macho Man Randy Savage.
It was when the “Nature Boy” joined WCW that he became a global star, winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship seven times during his eight years with the company. The leader of the Four Horseman was known for his flamboyant personality, often cutting passionate promos that captivated audiences. Flair was involved in many memorable feuds, especially with fellow legend Sting.
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