#38: John Cena

Real Name: John Felix Anthony Cena
Biggest Fan: John Rohner "Says 'you can't see me'. He has won so many matches. He can pick up the Big Show. He's an icon."

John Cena burst upon the scene in the WWE less than nine years ago, battling Kurt Angle in his first match and taking the former champion to the limit, even kicking up from the Angle Slam. This impressive debut, and the popularity of the white rapper gimmick he would soon adopt, made Cena an incredibly popular superstar early on in his career. So, it's no wonder that he's already done enough in only one decade of action to be ranked so highly on this list.

The timing worked out perfectly for John Cena to become a megastar in wrestling. John Bradshaw Layfield was the reigning WWE Champion for most of 2004 and the beginning of 2005. Nothing against JBL, but not one of our experts placed him anywhere on their lists, so to say that the opportunity was there for an exciting young talent to take over would probably be an accurate statement. So, at WrestleMania 21 (while Edge was winning the Money in the Bank briefcase that would ultimately result in the end of Cena's reign), JBL found himself on the business end of an F-U (the fireman's carry-esque finisher Cena employs) and dropped the title to John Cena.

Cena's first reign lasted for 280 days (tied for the 12th-longest in history with the JBL reign immediately preceding it and Yokozuna's lengthy post-Hulkamania run), but would be overshadowed in length by his third reign which lasted 380 days, the sixth-longest in the storied history of the WWF/WWE. Cena is currently the WWE Champion, his eighth time, and has been the top dog in the WWE for 994 days over those eight title runs. If he can retain the title for another five weeks, he will pass Pedro Morales and whittle down the list of men who have held the championship longer than him to three. At age 34, this superstar and 2008 Royal Rumble winner still has plenty of productive years ahead of him. But he's already done more than enough to secure a spot here at #38 on our list, and he may be the #1 active superstar in the world today.

#39: Ricky Steamboat

Real Name: Richard Henry Blood

Biggest Fan: John Rohner "He was one of the high flyers. He knows karate."

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat was a revolutionary in-ring performer: he participated in the Match of the Year (according to both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter) in 1987 and three of his matches with Ric Flair in 1989 were Five Star Matches.

Ricky Steamboat, in his pre-"Dragon" days, was immensely successful over an eight-year period in Jim Crockett Promotions of the National Wrestling Alliance. The newcomer was almost immediately matched up against "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, and this exposure helped catapult him up the ranks in the NWA. Between 1977 and 1985, Steamboat embarked on three NWA United States Heavyweight Championship reigns and six NWA World Heavyweight Tag Team Championship reigns (five of them with Jack Youngblood).

Steamboat jumped ship to the World Wrestling Federation, due to backstage tensions and creative differences with booker Dusty Rhodes, just in time for the first WrestleMania. At the event, he was victorious over Matt Borne (see #64 Doink the Clown below). Feuds with Don Muraco, Mr. Fuji and Jake "The Snake" Roberts were to follow. The feud with Roberts was particularly chock full of memorable moments, including Steamboat scaring Jake away with a komodo dragon and Jake performing a DDT on Steamboat on the arena floor that knocked "The Dragon" unconscious for real. Steamboat sustained a concussion.

Shortly after dealing with Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Steamboat was tabbed to become the new WWF Intercontinental Champion. After an intense buildup in the weeks leading up to their battle, at WrestleMania III, Ricky Steamboat and the "Macho Man" Randy Savage put on a showstopping match that was considered the best match of 1987, and is to this day considered to be perhaps the best match in WrestleMania history! Ricky Steamboat left the ring with the Intercontinental Championship, but he would only hold the title for a scant two months.

Steamboat returned to compete in WCW in 1989, and although he was only there for a year before announcing his retirement (for the second of several times), this stretch in the promotion was incredibly fruitful. He would capture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair in one of the aforementioned Five Star Matches, and he held onto the strap for 76 days until losing it back to Flair at the inaugural WrestleWar in Nashville, Tennessee.

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat would reemerge in the WWF breathing fire in 1991 and had another successful run in WCW from 1992 to 1994, but wrestling fans will certainly remember this high-flying superstar most for his exciting, industry-changing matches of the 1980s.

#40: Edge

Real Name: Adam Joseph Copeland

Biggest Fan: John Rohner "Was in a tag team with Hulk Hogan. He's beaten so much people. His favorite move is called the spear."

Adam Copeland grew up in Ontario a huge fan of wrestling; he was even in the crowd at WrestleMania VI to witness Ultimate Warrior battling Hulk Hogan. After high school, he won an essay contest whereby he was granted free professional wrestling training. In the mid-1990s, Copeland and his childhood friend, Christian Cage, formed a tag team, The Suicide Blondes, on the independent wrestling circuit. Copeland was spotted by Bret "Hitman" Hart, and this eventually led to Copeland securing a developmental contract with the World Wrestling Federation.

Edge, as Copeland would now be called, made his television debut on the June 22, 1998 episode of Raw is War. All the building blocks were in place for Edge to have a solid career. He had cool music, he'd make his way to the ring through the crowd rather than down the aisle, he was tall and formidable-looking, he had an array of high impact moves and great mic skills. Soon, Edge was joined by Christian in the WWF and they formed a vampire-themed wrestling stable called The Brood.

After being dumped by Gangrel, Edge and Christian together formed a very memorable and successful tag team. They captured the WWF Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 2000 for the first time in the celebrated Tables, Ladders and Chairs match that also featured The Dudley Boyz and The Hardys. The following year, at WrestleMania X-Seven, the three teams would participate in a TLC match again, with Edge and Christian winning again, capturing the title for their seventh time. Both of these matches were designated by Pro Wrestling Illustrated as Match of the Year, perfect bookends to the period when Edge and Christian dominated the tag team ranks together.

Edge would go on to become the 2001 King of the Ring tournament winner, cementing his place on the WWF roster as a major singles competitor. Edge soon turned heel, though, and further fueled the flames of hatred the fans had for him by becoming involved with Lita, Matt Hardy's ex-girlfriend. The newly-dubbed "Rated-R Superstar" went on to win the first of many "Money in the Bank" ladder matches, and he cashed this in nine months later at the perfect opportunity. After John Cena successfully defended his title at New Year's Revolution in 2006, he was stunned by the announcement that he would immediately be defending the belt against Edge. Edge's opportunism was rewarded, as he became WWE Champion for the first time after spearing Cena twice and scoring the pinfall.

Edge's other accolades include a 2010 Royal Rumble win, seven World Heavyweight Championships, four total WWE Championships, fourteen tag team championships, a reign as United States Champion and five times holding the Intercontinental Championship. Shockingly, during his seventh World Heavyweight title reign, Edge was diagnosed with spinal stenosis and forced to retire from professional wrestling two months ago. Seemingly in his wrestling prime, it's almost unbelievable that this superstar's career (it seems like only yesterday that it'd begun) has come to a close. Either way, though, Edge did enough during the last dozen years to secure his spot as one of the Top 100 Superstars of Wrestling.

#41: Lex Luger

Real Name: Lawrence Wendell Pfohl

Biggest Fan: Jamie Andrews "He did have an illegal weapon in his forearm at all times."

A two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Lex Luger was PWI's Most Popular Wrestler for 1993. And whether you prefer him to be clad in red, white and blue, or as The Total Package, or even as The Narcissist, there's little doubt that Lex Luger left an impact on the wrestling business during his 21-year career.

Although it seems like I've typed this before, Luger took up wrestling after his career with the Green Bay Packers failed to pan out. After training with Japanese legend Hiro Matsuda, the man who trained Hulk Hogan, Luger began wrestling in NWA Florida alongside Rick Rude and Percy Pringle. While working for the promotion, Luger (who chose his ring name because he loved the comic character Lex Luthor) battled such industry legends as Wahoo McDaniel and Bruiser Brody. He also fought NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair to a 60-minute time limit draw.

In 1987, Luger joined the roster of Jim Crockett Promotions (soon-to-become WCW), eventually earning himself a spot in Flair's Four Horsemen stable of wrestlers. That July, Luger defeated Nikita Koloff to capture the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship for the first of his record five times. This first stint would last only four-and-a-half months; Luger dropped the title to Dusty Rhodes at the 1987 Starrcade, JCP's first pay-per-view. Soon, Luger had a falling out with the Four Horsemen and embarked on an award-winning feud with Ric Flair.

In February of 1989, Lex Luger bested Barry Windham to capture the U.S. Heavyweight Championship again. Luger would hold this title for 809 of the next 874 days, only briefly losing the title for 15 and 50 days to Michael "P.S." Hayes and Stan Hansen, respectively. This stretch would include the longest title reign (over 17 months) in the history of the U.S. Heavyweight Championship, and ultimately the only reason Luger relinquished the belt for the last time was because he captured the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. After losing the WCW World Heavyweight belt to Sting, Luger left WCW and joined the World Bodybuilding Federation.

The WBF was about as successful as Vince McMahon's other non-wrestling venture, the XFL. Soon, Luger was employed by McMahon but there was no longer a WBF to compete in. So, Luger joined the WWF after recovering from a motorcycle accident (the reason he had the metal plate in his arm that our expert refers to above), first as The Narcissist and then as "Made in the USA" Lex Luger, traveling the country in his custom bus, the Lex Express. This was a time of huge popularity for Luger, as he would feud with Yokozuna and Ludvig Borga over national pride and stuff. After an unsuccessful bid to capture the WWF Title from Yokozuna, Luger embarked on a pretty hilarious feud with Tatanka over whether or not he had "sold out" to Ted DiBiase.

After a short time as one half of The Allied Powers (with partner Davey Boy Smith), Luger returned to WCW in a shocking surprise on the first episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Luger and his pal, Sting, were two of the main foes of the nWo during that exciting era in WCW. Luger ended up spending time in the nWo Wolfpac, bringing in Miss Elizabeth to be his manager, and winning tag team gold with Buff Bagwell before the WWF purchased WCW, effectively ending his time there.

Luger is arguably the greatest United States Heavyweight Champion of all time, altogether holding that belt for 948 days over five different reigns (nobody else is within 300 days of that total). He's been one of the more popular wrestlers in the industry and, although his recent life has been marred with tragedy and scandal, his superstar status is unquestionable. Yeah.

#42: Big Show

Real Name: Paul Donald Wight, Jr.

Other Aliases: The Giant

Biggest Fan: John Rohner "He's a big monster. He's wild. He was in a tag team with the Undertaker. And he's a legend."

When you make your wrestling debut touted as the son of André the Giant, it would be an understatement to say that you have big shoes to fill. But, Paul Wight, who WCW called The Giant when he arrived in 1995, comes about as close as you can with his size 22s. The Giant battled Hulk Hogan right off the bat, in some kind of monster truck showdown initially, then in a wrestling match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The Giant defeated Hogan and was awarded the title, becoming the youngest person to ever hold the title at only 23 years old.

The Giant would be a major player in WCW for the next four years, winning the World Heavyweight a second time from Ric Flair, feuding with the enormous Kevin Nash, joining the nWo and capturing tag team gold on three occasions. Unfortunately, like many of the younger wrestlers on the WCW roster, Paul Wight felt that the old guard of aging superstars were limiting his opportunities and causing him to be underutilized. In February of 1999, WCW's loss was the World Wrestling Federation's gain, and at their St. Valentine's Day Massacre pay-per-view, Paul Wight appeared to assist Mr. McMahon in his steel cage match against Steve Austin.

The Big Show's WWF career is still going strong after more than a decade. He has held both the ECW World Heavyweight Championship and the WWF Championship (on two occasions). He has been Hardcore Champion, United States Champion and WWF Tag Team Champion with four different partners. Big Show has competed in some memorable WrestleMania matches, as well. He took part in the exciting fatal four-way at WrestleMania 2000 for the WWF Championship, battled Akebono in a sumo match at WrestleMania 21, and took on Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in a No Disqualification Match at WrestleMania XXIV.

One of the biggest superstars of all time, the funny and personable Big Show has put together a solid career worthy of a place on our Top 100 list.

#43: Marty Jannetty

Real Name: Frederick Marty Jannetty

Biggest Fan: Jane Picard "Now this will be controversial. Marty vs. Shawn... without the Rockers there would be no Shawn Michaels, who is a true Superstar by definition. The Rockers were tag team gold so I had to saddle him up next to Shawn on my list."

"Ladies and gentlemen, The Rockers!" yelled Brutus Beefcake on his interview program, The Barber Shop. Audiences everywhere breathed a sigh of relief; The Rockers, sports entertainment's most exciting tag team, weren't breaking up. Everything was fine. But mere moments later, in perhaps the most shocking event ever to take place in the history of the galaxy, Shawn Michaels was flooring Marty Jannetty with his Sweet Chin Music and heaving him face-first through a plate glass window. It's one of a half-dozen moments that made me fall in love with wrestling, and although this event probably did more for the career of the kicker than the kickee, the spectacle of that segment is more closely linked to Jannetty than Shawn, in my mind.

Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels formed The Midnight Rockers in 1985. The high-flying duo was exceptionally talented and quickly captured several tag team championships, in the NWA, the AWA and the Continental Wrestling Association. Then, the tag team specialists joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1988. Their time in the WWF together featured no tag team title reigns, but they nearly won the belts on numerous occasions. In 1991, the aforementioned Barber Shop interview ended their union, and the fortunes of each half of this exciting tag team would be drastically different.

Originally, Jannetty's return to the ring after being attacked was supposed to happen much sooner, but Jannetty found himself unable to compete, as he was under house arrest for attacking a police officer. Instead, the WWF released him and the wrestling world slowly forgot about Shawn Michaels' scorned former partner.

Then, in October 1992, nine months after the attack, Marty Jannetty emerged from the crowd to attack Shawn Michaels and challenge him to a match at the Royal Rumble. Their match at the Rumble was considered a highlight of an otherwise underwhelming pay-per-view. Unfortunately, Jannetty again vanished from WWF programming for four months after the match.

In May of 1993, Jannetty reemerged from the crowd during Monday Night Raw and demanded a shot at Shawn Michaels' Intercontinental Championship. What ensued was PWI's Match of the Year for 1993, as Marty Jannetty captured gold in the WWF for the first time in his career. Marty would go on to capture the tag team titles later on as well, with his partner, the 1-2-3 Kid.

Marty Jannetty was a top notch in-ring performer who excited fans and gave audiences several thrilling memories. Although his personal problems away from the ring probably hampered his career, he was still a very colorful and successful superstar.

#44: Yokozuna

Real Name: Rodney Agatupu Anoa'i

Biggest Fan: Joe Reardon "Took over the WWF in a flash, winning the Rumble in his first try and the title shortly after in 1993. The Banzai drop is one of the most devastating finishers of all time. People likely have forgotten about his tag team success."

Our expert says it best: Yokozuna's meteoric rise to the top of the World Wrestling Federation was almost unprecedented. Within six months of debuting in the promotion, he had defeated Bret "The Hitman" Hart to become the WWF Heavyweight Champion and his perceived invulnerability during that time period was on par with many of the greatest champions of all time.

During the early part of his WWF career, Yokozuna was remarkably agile for a man tipping the scales at 500 pounds, routinely stinging his opponents with crescent kicks to the chin. Additionally, Yokozuna benefited from the wisdom of his legendary manager, Mr. Fuji. Of course, sometimes Mr. Fuji's contributions were greater than mere wisdom, like during the aforementioned WrestleMania IX match against Bret Hart when Fuji blinded the champion with a handful of salt.

Although his first reign as WWF Champion lasted only a few minutes, his second stint with the championship (which would begin at King of the Ring 1993) lasted 280 days (12th-longest in history). Yokozuna decimated the immortal Hulk Hogan that night, beating the Hulkster so thoroughly that he wouldn't be seen again in the WWF for nine years. Quite rightly, Fuji and Yokozuna declared that they had ended Hulkamania, a task that many before had tried to do and failed.

The summer of 1993 belonged to Yokozuna. His weight was creeping up to nearly 600 pounds, which led to Yokozuna issuing a "Bodyslam Competition" aboard the USS Intrepid on the Fourth of July. This event was monumental. Not only did the long string of wrestlers and athletes unable to slam Yokozuna make him seem all the more dominant, but Yokozuna was also able to do what seemed like an impossible task: make the fans care about Lex Luger. The red, white and blue-covered Luger would feud with Yokozuna through the summer and up until Thanksgiving Eve. At the Survivor Series, Yokozuna embarked on a feud with The Undertaker that would result in one of the most chilling WWF Championship contests in history at the 1994 Royal Rumble.

Yokozuna ended up losing his title to Bret Hart at WrestleMania X, but only after successfully defending his title earlier in the evening against Lex Luger. All said, between WrestleManias IX & X, Yokozuna took part in four matches for the WWF Heavyweight Championship!

Yokozuna's career from that point on consisted of more tag team action than anything else. His weight had increased to 700 pounds, and sharing ring time with a more, ahem, fit partner would be a huge benefit. (Although, Yokozuna did have a rematch with The Undertaker at the Survivor Series in 1994, featuring special enforcer Chuck Norris.) Yokozuna made a surprise return to action as Owen Hart's tag team partner at WrestleMania XI, and the new duo defeated the Smoking Gunns to win tag team gold. This unlikely team would hold onto the belts all the way until late September 1995.

Yokozuna was one of the greatest champions of the 1990s. During a time when the WWF didn't know which direction it was headed, Yokozuna emerged to give them stability. It's possible that only "Superstar" Billy Graham held the WWF Championship for a longer stretch of time as a heel than Yokozuna did in his second title reign. Sadly, this superstar's career and life were cut short when he passed away in October of 2000.

#45: King Kong Bundy

Real Name: Chris Pallies

Biggest Fan: Lucas Keyes "Cartoonishness"

Haters: Barry M. Reardon & Jesse Reardon

We're really getting into the exciting part of this list now, as superstars from here on up were pretty close to consensus picks for the Top 50. The entrant here, King Kong Bundy, is certainly deserving of such unity among our expert voters. The headliner of WrestleMania 2, all 468 pounds of him, was both charismatic and terrifying. Bundy was also famous for demanding that referees count all the way to five on his pinfalls.

King Kong Bundy wrestled in the WWF very early in his career. He was in the main event at WrestleMania 2, a steel cage match against Hulk Hogan, at only 28 years of age. He'd also squashed Special Delivery Jones in 23 seconds the year prior at the first WrestleMania. Then, at the third WrestleMania, Bundy bodyslammed and dropped an elbow on Little Beaver, getting his team disqualified in the process. That result makes more sense when you realize that Bundy was almost eight times the size of Little Beaver, who was a midget wrestler.

After a six-year absence from the WWF, Bundy returned as a member of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation in 1994. This stint in the federation was rather brief, although it did feature another WrestleMania match for "The Walking Condominium" against The Undertaker. The last several years have been spent wrestling in various independent promotions, acting and doing stand-up comedy. I'm sure wrestlers everywhere are grateful that this superstar spends his evenings slaying audiences in night clubs now rather than slaying his opponents in the ring.

#46: Kane

Real Name: Glenn Jacobs

Other Aliases: Isaac Yankem, Fake Diesel

Biggest Fan: John Rohner "Everyone feared Kane. He is the Undertaker's brother. He took the Undertaker's manager for a while."

If you skim down the list, you will find, at #84, Isaac Yankem the wrestling dentist. Consider this article on Kane to be a continuation of that tale, the next chapter, if you will, in the wrestling career of Glenn Jacobs.

In the fall of 1996, the WWF was still reeling from the loss of scores of its talent to World Championship Wrestling. Two individuals, in particular, left a particularly deep void in the active roster, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. To fill this void, and simultaneously put Jim Ross over as a heel, the WWF recycled the aforementioned defectors' gimmicks, Diesel and Razor Ramon. A man named Rick Bognar became "The Bad Guy" Razor Ramon, while Jacobs was tabbed as the new Big Daddy Cool, Diesel. This gimmick lasted for about five months and was tremendously unpopular.

In 1997, Jacobs was gift-wrapped a "can't miss" gimmick: the long-lost, half-brother of The Undertaker. With the new persona of Kane, a severely burned, masked wrestler hellbent on revenge against his brother, Jacobs finally found a character that he could hold on to for the rest of his career. What ensued was a classic feud that raged on for the better part of three years. Afterwards, there would be occasional alliances between the two brothers, but Kane was mostly left to his own storylines and angles from that point forward.

With 16 consecutive years in the World Wrestling Federation, Kane has managed to capture numerous championships in his career. A former WWF Champion, a former ECW Champion, a former World Heavyweight Champion, and a 2-time Intercontinental Champion, Kane has also held tag team gold on eleven different occasions (frequently teaming with X-Pac, Mankind, the Big Show and his brother). If that's not an impressive enough résumé for you, listen to these Royal Rumble records: most Rumble appearances (15), most eliminations in a single Rumble (11), most appearances in the final six (7), and quickest elimination of a competitor (tossing out Santino Marella a mere 1.8 seconds after he entered the ring). Those statistics and his amazing longevity make it no surprise that he's such a highly-ranked superstar on our list.

#47: Typhoon

Real Name: Fred Ottman

Other Aliases: Tugboat, The Shockmaster

Biggest Fan: Barry M. Reardon

Fred Ottman debuted in the WWF as Tugboat in 1990. An enormous super-heavyweight, Tugboat was quickly recruited into an alliance with the immortal Hulk Hogan in his ongoing battle with the 451-pound Canadian Earthquake and Dino Bravo. Tugboat enjoyed a stretch of remarkable successes in the ring during this period, but he soon developed a bad attitude and ultimately ended up aligning himself with Earthquake. This tag team, known as the Natural Disasters and managed by Jimmy Hart, tipped the scales at 852 pounds!

Typhoon, as he was now called, enjoyed great success again during this tag team period. The duo was quite fearsome, and they eventually defeated the legendary tag team, Money Inc., for the WWF Tag Team Titles. Unfortunately, the team disbanded in 1993 and Typhoon departed the World Wrestling Federation.

On August 18, 1993, at WCW's Clash of the Champions event, Sting, Dustin Rhodes and Davey Boy Smith were trying to solve a conundrum. They were supposed to engage in an eight-man tag team match against Sid Vicious, Big Van Vader and the Harlem Heat at the upcoming Fall Brawl pay-per-view, but Road Warrior Hawk was unable to participate as the fourth member of their team. Cue The Shockmaster! In the most ridiculous moment in an industry known for ridiculous moments, Fred Ottman burst upon the scene during an interview segment, donning a silver, sparkly Stormtrooper helmet and possessing some kind of weird powers to manipulate electricity, or something? I doubt we'll ever really know what amazing heights The Shockmaster might have reached, but I like to think that if not for a single misstep on A Flair For The Gold, this superstar might have been #1 instead of #47.

#48: Gorilla Monsoon

Real Name: Robert James Marella

Biggest Fan: Jane Picard "Do I have to explain why Gorilla Monsoon is high on my list? He is on there because of his longevity in the sport in one capacity or another. A lovable man who when you hear his name you think wrestling and just smile."

Gorilla Monsoon devoted a huge portion of his life to professional wrestling. Beginning his career immediately after graduating from Ithaca College in 1959, the 6'5", 401-pound monster from Manchuria (Marella actually grew up in upstate New York) terrified wrestling audiences wherever he went. In 1963, Vincent J. McMahon was creating the World Wide Wrestling Federation and Monsoon joined up with him in this endeavor, becoming a 1/6 shareholder and taking on booking responsibilities in several territories.

Gorilla Monsoon remained a major heel in the federation, battling Bruno Sammartino numerous times, often to time limit draws, and teaming up with Killer Kowalski. Monsoon's agility and stamina were impressive for a man of his size, as well. He battered opponents with hard chops, the vicious Manchurian Splash and his signature Airplane Spin, which he once famously used on Muhammad Ali in 1976.

By the time the 1970s arrived, Monsoon was tremendously popular and feuding with the new decade's most famous villains, such as "Superstar" Billy Graham and André the Giant. Then the 1980s arrived and Monsoon's role in the WWF was beginning to change. He lost a match to the newcomer, Hulk Hogan, in a match that lasted less than a minute. Fans were so irate that near-riot conditions ensued; police had to intervene to subdue the mob and rescue the Hulkster. Shortly thereafter, Gorilla lost a career-ending match to Ken Patera.

In 1982, Vincent K. McMahon purchased Gorilla Monsoon's shares in the company and guaranteed him lifetime employment. As the WWF was growing and developing more of an on-air television presence, McMahon needed a commentary team. Gorilla and Jesse "The Body" Ventura were assigned this responsibility. This dynamic announcing team revolutionized the way wrestling events were broadcast. The banter between the two men, and later Gorilla and Bobby Heenan as well, made each WWF broadcast a memorable and enjoyable experience.

Gorilla would eventually add on-screen WWF President to his list of roles, although he relinquished many of his commentary duties with the arrival of Jim Ross in 1993. Gorilla was the WWF President until 1997, when his health began to deteriorate. Sadly, the voice of the WWF passed away in October of 1999.

When you make a list of Superstars of Wrestling, it's important to note that through his booking and his announcing, Gorilla was responsible for creating, cultivating and building the legend of dozens of these superstars. He was called "one of the greatest men I have ever known" by Vince McMahon, and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame on June 9, 1994. His presence in the world of sports entertainment is sorely missed and it's a virtual certainty that the industry will never have another Gorilla Monsoon. A one-of-a-kind superstar... and a beauty!