The Most Famous

WRESTLERS from United States

This page contains a list of the greatest American Wrestlers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,027 Wrestlers, 352 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the most number of Wrestlers.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary American Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous American Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of American Wrestlers.

1. The Undertaker (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 75.10, The Undertaker is the most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 61 different languages on wikipedia.

Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority of his career wrestling for WWE and in 2022 was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Calaway began his career in 1987, working under various gimmicks for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and other affiliate promotions. He signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1989 for a brief stint, and then joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1990. Calaway rebranded himself as "The Undertaker" when he joined the WWF. As one of WWE's most high-profile and enduring characters, The Undertaker is famed for his funerary themeing around an undead, macabre "Deadman" persona, which gained significant mainstream popularity and won him the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for Best Gimmick a record-setting 5 years in a row. He is the longest-tenured wrestler in company history at 30 years. In 2000, the Undertaker adopted a biker identity nicknamed "American Badass". Calaway resurrected the Deadman gimmick in 2004, with residual elements of the "American Badass" remaining. The Undertaker was known for his role in WWE's flagship event WrestleMania. He achieved 21 consecutive victories at WrestleMania, referred to in WWE as The Streak. He headlined the event five times (13, 24, 26, 33 and 36 – Night 1). He is also known for pairing with his in-storyline half-brother Kane, with whom he alternatively feuded and teamed (as the Brothers of Destruction) from 1997 through 2020. During his wrestling career under the Undertaker gimmick, Calaway won the WWF/E Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship three times, the Hardcore Championship once and the World Tag Team Championship six times. He also won the Royal Rumble match in 2007.

2. Dusty Rhodes (1945 - 2015)

With an HPI of 73.14, Dusty Rhodes is the 2nd most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation, later known as WWE. Rhodes was considered a star wrestler and presented the persona of an American everyman, the American Dream personified. Rhodes is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Rhodes was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and during his time in Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling, he was a United States Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time World Television, World Tag Team and World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. He also won many regional championships, and is one of seven men inducted into each of the WWE, WCW, Professional Wrestling, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Halls of Fame. His sons, Dustin and Cody, both pursued careers in professional wrestling, currently performing for All Elite Wrestling and WWE, respectively. Following his retirement from wrestling, he made occasional on-air appearances on WWE television and pay-per-views and worked as a backstage booker and producer in WWE's NXT developmental territory. Billed as "the son of a plumber", Rhodes did not have a typical wrestler's physique; his character was that of the "common man", known for the personality exhibited in his interviews. WWE chairman Vince McMahon remarked that no wrestler "personified the essence of charisma quite like Dusty Rhodes".

3. Dave Bautista (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 72.55, Dave Bautista is the 3rd most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 62 different languages.

David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. Regarded as one of the most prolific professional wrestlers of his generation, he rose to fame for his multiple stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. Bautista began his wrestling career in 1999 and signed with WWE (then WWF) in 2000. From 2002 to 2010, he gained fame under the ring name Batista, initially as a member of Evolution. He would go on to win the WWE Championship twice, the World Heavyweight Championship four times (with his first reign remaining the longest in history at 282 days), the World Tag Team Championship three times (twice with Ric Flair and once with John Cena), and the WWE Tag Team Championship once (with Rey Mysterio). He also won the 2005 and 2014 Royal Rumble matches and subsequently headlined WrestleMania 21 and WrestleMania XXX, with the former being one of the top five highest-grossing PPV events in wrestling history. He retired from professional wrestling after WrestleMania 35 in 2019. As an actor, Bautista is known for portraying Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2014–2023) and Rabban in Dune (2021) and its 2024 sequel. Bautista has additionally starred in Spectre (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Final Score, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (both 2018), Army of the Dead (2021), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), Knock at the Cabin, and Parachute (both 2023).

4. Darren Young (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 71.59, Darren Young is the 4th most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Frederick Douglas Rosser III (born November 2, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where primarily performs on the Strong brand. He is also a trainer at the NJPW Academy and a former Strong Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time with WWE under the ring name Darren Young. Prior to signing with WWE, Rosser competed in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions including Chaotic Wrestling, East Coast Wrestling Association, Independent Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance. Rosser signed with WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009 and participated in the first season of NXT in 2010. Later that year, he debuted on the main roster as part of The Nexus. In 2012, Young formed The Prime Time Players with Titus O'Neil, with whom he is a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion. Rosser was the first openly gay wrestler to compete in WWE.

5. Hulk Hogan (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 70.08, Hulk Hogan is the 5th most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 60 different languages.

Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physique, and his trademark blond horseshoe moustache and bandanas, Hogan is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide, the most popular wrestler of the 1980s and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Hogan began his professional wrestling career in 1977, but gained worldwide recognition after signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in December 1983. There, his persona as a heroic all-American helped usher in the 1980s professional wrestling boom, where he headlined eight of the first nine editions (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) of the WWF's flagship annual event WrestleMania. Hogan also was a regular headliner of Saturday Night's Main Event and its spin-off The Main Event. During his initial run, he was a five-time WWF Champion, with his 1,474-day reign being the longest of the WrestleMania era ever. He is the first wrestler to win consecutive Royal Rumble matches, winning in 1990 and 1991. His match with André the Giant on WWF The Main Event on February 5, 1988, still holds American television viewership records for wrestling with a 15.2 Nielsen rating and 33 million viewers. In 1993, Hogan departed the WWF to pursue a career in film and television. He was lured back to the ring when he signed with rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times, and holds the record for the longest reign. In 1996, he underwent a career renaissance upon adopting the villainous persona of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, leading the popular New World Order (nWo) stable. As a result, he became a major figure during the "Monday Night War", another boom of mainstream professional wrestling. He headlined WCW's annual flagship event Starrcade three times (in 1994, 1996 and 1997), in which the 1997 edition was the most profitable WCW pay-per-view in the company's history. Hogan returned to the WWF in 2002 following its acquisition of WCW the prior year, winning the Undisputed WWF Championship for his record equaling (for the time) sixth reign before departing in 2003. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, and inducted a second time in 2020 as a member of the nWo. Hogan also performed for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he headlined the inaugural AWA closed circuit supercard, Super Sunday in 1983, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) – where he was the inaugural winner of the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship – and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). During and after wrestling, Hogan had an extensive acting career, beginning with his 1982 role in Rocky III. He has starred in several films (including No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny) and three television shows (Hogan Knows Best, Thunder in Paradise, and China, IL), as well as in Right Guard commercials and the video game, Hulk Hogan's Main Event. He was the frontman for The Wrestling Boot Band, whose sole record, Hulk Rules, reached No. 12 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart in 1995.

6. Sting (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 69.25, Sting is the 6th most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959), better known by the ring name Sting, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he continues to make sporadic appearances since his retirement. Borden is best known for his time spent as the face of two American professional wrestling promotions: World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1988 to 2001 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2006 to 2014, as well as his retirement run in AEW from 2020 to 2024. Although the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) purchased WCW in 2001, Borden did not sign with them at the time; he would later sign with WWE from 2014 to 2020. Prior to WCW, he wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP)—which became WCW in 1988—the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA). Borden wore face-paint throughout his career, and in 1996, changed from the multi-colored paint of his "Surfer" persona to the monochromatic paint of the "Crow" gimmick; he also incorporated elements of the Joker in the later part of his time in TNA. Borden started his career in 1985 as Flash in the independent promotion All-California Championship Wrestling, where he was in a tag team with Jim "Justice" Hellwig (who would later become famously known as The Ultimate Warrior) as members of the Power Team USA stable, before he and Hellwig joined the CWA as the Freedom Fighters. In 1986, they joined the UWF as the Blade Runners, with Borden changing his ring name to Sting. His association with JCP and its successor WCW began in 1987, which saw him win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in 1990. He rose to main event status and is described as the WCW counterpart to the WWF's Hulk Hogan. Dubbed "The Franchise of WCW", he held 15 championships in the promotion, including six reigns with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and two reigns with the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, and made more pay-per-view (PPV) appearances than any other. Against Hogan, Borden headlined WCW's highest-grossing PPV event, Starrcade, in December 1997. Upon the WWF's acquisition of WCW in March 2001, Borden and rival Ric Flair were chosen for the main event of the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Borden would later face Hogan and Flair in their last televised matches, which occurred in TNA, defeating both, although Flair would later have one final match in 2022. Following the expiration of his contract with WCW's parent company AOL Time Warner in March 2002, Borden held talks with the WWF, but did not join the promotion and instead toured with World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA), winning the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, before joining the then-upstart TNA in 2003. Over the following 11 years, he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on one further occasion and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship four times. As a result, he became the only wrestler to have won the NWA, WCW, and TNA world titles. He was also the inaugural inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012 before leaving the company in early 2014. Previously described by WWE as the greatest wrestler never to have performed for that promotion, Borden finally joined the company in late 2014, making his first appearance at Survivor Series and having his debut match at WrestleMania 31 the following year. His last match in WWE came at Night of Champions in September 2015, which also marked his sole WWE pay-per-view main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. Borden headlined the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on April 2, where he announced his first retirement; he remained with the company under a legends contract until early 2020. In late 2020, Borden signed with AEW, making his first appearance at Dynamite: Winter Is Coming, subsequently coming out of retirement where he had his first match in over five years at the promotion's pay-per-view, Revolution, on March 7, 2021, a tag team victory with partner Darby Allin. Borden and Allin would continue to work as a team, going undefeated and winning the AEW World Tag Team Championship in February 2024. Sting then had his official retirement match at Revolution on March 3, 2024, retiring both as an undefeated tag team with Allin and as champion. Borden held 26 total championships throughout his career, including 22 between WCW, TNA, and AEW. Readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him "Most Popular Wrestler of the Year" on four occasions, a record he shares with John Cena. In 2016, Borden was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Slam! Sports wrote that he holds "a lofty level of prestige that few will ever touch".

7. Shawn Michaels (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 69.10, Shawn Michaels is the 7th most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of the NXT brand, the promotion's developmental territory. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is known by the nicknames "the Heartbreak Kid" (often abbreviated as HBK), "the Showstopper", and "Mr. WrestleMania". Michaels wrestled consistently for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed in 2002), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998. He performed in non-wrestling roles for the next two years, resuming his wrestling career with WWE in 2002 until ceremoniously retiring in 2010. He returned for a one-off final match in 2018. In 2016, he began working as a coach at the WWE Performance Center, and was a producer on NXT in 2018, before becoming the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative for the NXT brand itself. In WWF/WWE, Michaels headlined pay-per-view events between 1989 and 2018, main-eventing the company's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, five times (12, 14, 20, 23 and 26). He was the co-founder and original leader of the successful stable, D-Generation X. Michaels also wrestled in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he founded The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in 1985. After winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice, the team continued to the WWF as The Rockers and had a high-profile breakup in January 1992. Within the year, Michaels twice challenged for the WWF Championship and won his first Intercontinental Championship, heralding his arrival as one of the industry's premier singles stars. Michaels is a four-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship three times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once. He is also a two-time Royal Rumble winner (and the first man to win the match as the first entrant), the company's first Grand Slam Champion and fourth Triple Crown Champion, as well as a two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee (2011 as a singles wrestler and 2019 as part of D-Generation X). Michaels won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Match of the Year" reader vote a record eleven times, and his match against John Cena on April 23, 2007, was ranked by WWE as the best match ever aired on the company's flagship television program, Raw. Michaels has been a participant in several first installments of a number of WWE's signature gimmick matches—namely the first Hell in a Cell at the Badd Blood: In Your House, the first Ladder match during a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge (and subsequent first pay-per-view installment at WrestleMania X), both the inaugural (as part of The Rockers tag team) and first televised (at WrestleMania XII) Iron Man matches, and Elimination Chamber at the 2002 Survivor Series.

8. Rey Mysterio (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 68.71, Rey Mysterio is the 8th most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 54 different languages.

Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as both one of the greatest luchadors and cruiserweight wrestlers of all time, Mysterio is an inductee of the AAA Hall of Fame, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, and WWE Hall of Fame. The nephew and trainee of Rey Misterio, Mysterio began wrestling on the independent circuit in 1989 at the age of 14 before signing with Asistencia Asesoría y Administración in 1992. After brief stints with Extreme Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Association, and Wrestle Association R, Mysterio signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1996. In WCW, Mysterio helped popularize lucha libre in the United States, which led to the rise of cruiserweight wrestling divisions, winning the WCW Cruiserweight Championship five times; the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times; and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship once. He lost his mask in a Lucha de Apuestas against Kevin Nash, working unmasked until 2002. Following the closure of WCW in 2001, Mysterio wrestled for promotions including Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, the World Wrestling Council, and the X Wrestling Federation before joining World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002, where he resumed wearing a mask. He stayed with WWE until 2015, winning the World Heavyweight Championship twice; the WWE Championship once; the WWE Cruiserweight Championship three times; the WWE Intercontinental Championship twice; the WWE United States Championship three times, and the WWE Tag Team Championship four times, as well as winning the 2006 Royal Rumble. Mysterio departed WWE in 2015, going on to appear in promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Lucha Underground, and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. He returned to WWE in 2018, where he was joined by his son Dominik.

9. Jerry Lawler (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 68.49, Jerry Lawler is the 9th most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American retired color commentator and professional wrestler signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1992, he wrestled in numerous territories, winning many championships, including multiple World Heavyweight Championships, throughout his career. Lawler is a one-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion: he unified the titles by defeating Kerry Von Erich at Superclash III, forming the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, a championship which he held 28 times. He is also known for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman, and for portraying himself in the 1999 Jim Carrey film about Kaufman, Man on the Moon. In 2007, Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

10. Big Show (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 68.48, Big Show is the 10th most famous American Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 43 different languages.

Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name of Paul Wight. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1995 to 1999 as (the) Giant and his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later World Wrestling Entertainment and WWE) from 1999 to 2021 under the ring name (the) Big Show. Wight played college basketball at Wichita State University before transferring to other schools. Wight began his wrestling career in 1994. In 1995 he signed with WCW, where, due to his great height and large frame, he was known by the ring name The Giant (and was initially introduced as "the son of André the Giant"). In early 1999, he left WCW to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Between WWF/WWE and WCW, he has held 23 total championships - including being a seven-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWF/WWE Championship twice, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship twice and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, (making him the only wrestler who has won all four titles), and an 11-time world tag team champion, holding the WWF/World, WWE and WCW World Tag Team Championships multiple times with various partners. Having also won the Intercontinental, United States and Hardcore championships, he is the 24th Triple Crown and 12th Grand Slam winner in WWE history. He also won the 60-man battle royal at World War 3 and the 30-man André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WCW and WWF/WWE since 1995, including the 16th edition of WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania. Outside of professional wrestling, Wight has appeared in feature films and television series such as Jingle All the Way, The Waterboy, Star Trek: Enterprise, and two USA Network's comedy-dramas Royal Pains, Psych and the action-drama Burn Notice. He had lead roles in the WWE Studios comedy film Knucklehead and the Netflix sitcom The Big Show Show.

People

Pantheon has 352 people classified as American wrestlers born between 1881 and 2002. Of these 352, 296 (84.09%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living American wrestlers include The Undertaker, Dave Bautista, and Darren Young. The most famous deceased American wrestlers include Dusty Rhodes, The Ultimate Warrior, and Chyna. As of April 2024, 352 new American wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including The Undertaker, Dusty Rhodes, and Dave Bautista.