#49: George "The Animal" Steele

Real Name: William James Myers

Biggest Fan: Barry M. Reardon "Because he is so hairy."

Of all the wrestlers on this list, perhaps the turnbuckle-eating heavyweight, known as much for his incoherence and furry back as his wrestling ability, is the superstar you'd least expect to hold a master's degree. But William Myers bears little resemblance to George "The Animal" Steele, the crazed villain with the green tongue who battled Bruno Sammartino and Chief Jay Strongbow in the late-1960s and 1970s. Myers is a very eloquent teacher and football coach, a member of the Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame, and he exemplifies the pageantry and showmanship that is really at the heart of sports entertainment, something that non-fans never seem to understand.

George "The Animal" Steele spent over two consecutive decades in the World Wrestling Federation, which is remarkable in an industry where wrestlers routinely shuffle back and forth between promotions. As a result, "The Animal" feuded with competitors across many generations, including a memorable storyline where he developed a crush on "Macho Man" Randy Savage's manager, Miss Elizabeth. Their feud included an Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 2, Savage's WrestleMania debut, that ended only when the Macho Man illegally used the ropes for leverage during a roll-up pin.

William Myers continues to make wrestling appearances when people least expect it. But George "The Animal" Steele has always been about doing the unexpected, and that's one of the reasons this superstar is #49 on our list.

#50: Terry Funk

Real Name: Terrence Funk

Other Aliases: Chainsaw Charlie

Biggest Fan: Joe Timmins

One of the most-influential brawlers in wrestling history, Terry Funk has emerged as the most famous of one of the sport's preeminent families. The son of Dory Funk, Sr. and brother to Dory (Hoss) Funk, Jr., Terry has been competing since 1965 and has stated he "never really truly will retire" from wrestling. It would probably take ten blog entries to adequately explain and describe all that Terry has done in and for sports entertainment. Unfortunately, we'll have to limit ourselves to the highlights (readers eager for more can rent Beyond The Mat, or Road House or Over The Top, for that matter).

During the early stages of Terry's career, he captured the NWA Heavyweight Championship (a title his brother had previously held as well) from the legendary Jack Brisco in 1975. He would not relinquish this title until 1977, dropping it to "Handsome" Harley Race. Success in Japan followed, as Terry and his brother would become the inaugural champions of the "World's Strongest Tag Team League", which was an annual round-robin tournament featuring some of wrestling's most legendary performers. The Funk Brothers won the tournament again in 1979 and again in 1982!

Terry and Dory ended up in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985, wrestling mostly as a tag team, and scoring an impressive win at WrestleMania 2 over the duo of Junkyard Dog (see #51 below) and Tito Santana (below at #65). The Funks, and Terry in particular, didn't spend a long while in the WWF. Terry has admitted to disliking Vince McMahon, and so most of his successes took place away from the world's most famous promotion.

At age 45, you might think that Terry Funk's best years in wrestling were behind him. You would be dead wrong. In 1989, Funk found himself back in the NWA battling Ric Flair for the NWA Heavyweight Championship that he'd lost a dozen years earlier. This rivalry was, according to both of the premiere wrestling publications of the time (Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter), the feud of the year for 1989. Additionally, at Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout (held in Troy, NY, the most terrifying city in the nation), an "I Quit" match between the two of them was deemed a "5-Star Match" by Dave Meltzer. Terry, himself, won Wrestling Observer's awards for Best Heel, Best Brawler and Best on Interviews in 1989. Also during this feud, Terry Funk nearly suffocated Ric Flair in the ring with a real plastic shopping bag; that just had to get mentioned.

That still wasn't the end for Terry Funk. In 1994, he legitimized the fledgling Eastern Championship Wrestling promotion by competing there and was one of the key reasons for the explosion of success they would experience in the 1990s. At the first ECW pay-per-view event, Barely Legal, Terry Funk became ECW's World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Raven. It took a match with barbed wire ring ropes for Funk to lose that title on August 9, 1997, but a month later he was awarded a championship belt (bought to him by the ECW roster) and declared Lifetime ECW World Heavyweight Champion.

Funk, inducted into almost every professional wrestling hall of fame there is, revisited the WWF as Chainsaw Charlie in 1997, returned to ECW in 1998, and formed the Old Age Outlaws in WCW to feud with the nWo in 2000. This millennium has seen a WCW U.S. Heavyweight Title reign, a pair of WCW Hardcore Title reigns, and appearances in the WWE, TNA, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling for the legendary superstar from The Double Cross Ranch. With 45 years of wrestling under his belt, Terry Funk has seen it all, and probably deserves to be a Top 20 superstar. But our experts have spoken and here sits Terry Funk at #50.

#51: Junkyard Dog

Real Name: Sylvester Ritter

Biggest Fan: Lucas Keyes "Robustness"

Sylvester Ritter, after his football career with the Green Bay Packers failed to pan out, began wrestling in smaller promotions such as Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling and Mid-South Wrestling (where he was given his Junkyard Dog moniker). While competing there, the JYD became one of MSW's most popular wrestlers, in spite of a less-than-stellar win-loss record. As his population grew, though, Junkyard Dog became more successful in the ring. He ended up being a four-time North American Heavyweight Champion, defeating Ted DiBiase to begin one reign and Butch Reed to begin another. He was also involved in a memorable feud with the Fabulous Freebirds who blinded him with hair cream, preventing a vision-impaired JYD from being able to see his newborn daughter. Like many of his feuds, this rivalry was put to rest only after JYD battled Michael "P.S." Hayes in a dog collar match.

Junkyard Dog departed for the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, where his popularity was put on display at a national level. At the first WrestleMania, JYD defeated the Intercontinental Champion, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, by countout. Seven months later, at a pay-per-view called The Wrestling Classic, the WWF staged an enormous 16-man tournament. Junkyard Dog ended up winning the event, beating The Iron Sheik (a former WWF Champion), Moondog Spot and Randy Savage (a future WWF Champion) along the way.

Tragically, the Junkyard Dog perished in a single-car automobile accident in 1998 when he fell asleep at the wheel returning home from his daughter's graduation. JYD was posthumously inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

#52: Bob Backlund

Real Name: Robert Lee Backlund

Biggest Fan: Barry M. Reardon

Bob Backlund's career in professional wrestling was preceded by a successful amateur wrestling career at North Dakota State University. After training to be a professional wrestler under the tutelage of Eddie Sharkey (called "The Trainer of Champions"), Backlund competed in the AWA and the NWA until 1977 when he signed with Vincent J. McMahon to compete in the WWWF. Backlund scored a controversial pinfall victory over the reigning champion, Superstar Billy Graham, on February 20, 1978, beginning his first title run. Backlund would hold on to the WWF World Heavyweight Championship until the day after Christmas in 1983.

Backlund's time as champion bridged the gap between the Sammartino Era and the Hulk Hogan Era, a time when wrestling was on the threshold of a plethora of changes. By the time Backlund returned to the WWF in 1992, the wrestling landscape was an immensely different place. The clean-cut, technically-sound grappler that fans were so fond of in the late-70s wasn't quite as over with the fans almost a decade later. It wasn't long before Backlund "snapped" during a match with Bret Hart in one of the industry's most shocking heel turns in history. The new, slightly crazed, Mr. Backlund ended up being a very engaging villain during this second WWF stint, and at the 1994 Survivor Series, more than ten years after the end of his original title reign, Backlund became a two-time WWF Heavyweight Champion. As impressively long as his first title run was, his second stint as the champ would be shockingly brief...

In the shortest WWF title match in history, Backlund dropped the title to "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel a mere eight seconds after the opening bell sounded. Backlund only held the championship for three days. This was also the last time the WWF Heavyweight Championship changed hands at a non-televised event. Altogether, November 26, 1994 was an historic night in many ways, although Backlund was certainly on the wrong end of most of those reasons.

In total, Backlund held the WWF Championship for 2,138 days. Only two men have ever been the World Wrestling Federation's top dog longer than that. The master of the crossface chickenwing is a one-of-a-kind superstar whose adaptability made him relevant again, against all odds, years after his late-70s heyday. What a superstar.

#53: Bam Bam Bigelow & Irwin R. Schyster (tied)

Real Name (Bam Bam): Scott Charles Bigelow

Biggest Fan: Joe Reardon "Headlined Wrestlemania 11. Extremely agile for a big man. A great name and a great look. His lack of title history is probably his biggest downfall."

Real Name (I.R.S.): Lawrence Michael Rotunda

Biggest Fan: Jon Baltos

This is the last spot on the list shared by two wrestlers. Finally, no more joint blog entries where the author struggles to find some common theme to associate two superstars who just happen to be tied in total votes from our experts. That said, the common thread between Irwin R. Schyster and Bam Bam Bigelow is pretty easy to find. Both of these superstars were prominent members of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation.

Mike Rotunda began his career tagging up with his brother-in-law, Barry Windham. Together they were known as the U.S. Express, and between 1984 and 1986 they would capture the WWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions. There was also a brief period where Windham was replaced by Waylon Mercy (then called Dan Spivey), but that version of the U.S. Express found little success in the WWF.

Bam Bam Bigelow's career started in much the same way. Bigelow joined the WWF very early on, departed for WCW in the late-1980s, only to return to the WWF in the early-1990s. Bigelow didn't hold any titles during that first run in the WWF, but he was chosen to compete in WrestleMania IV's Heavyweight Championship Tournament. He also outlasted his team captain, Hulk Hogan, at the inaugural Survivor Series, impressively eliminating King Kong Bundy and the One Man Gang before Andre the Giant pinned him to win the match.

After the aforementioned stint in WCW, Rotunda came back to the WWF as Irwin R. Schyster, an appropriate name to go along with his tax collector character. Benefiting from the insta-heat that you'd expect anyone associated with the I.R.S. to get, Schyster had no problem getting over as a heel. Clad in suspenders, dress pants and a tie, Schyster would berate fans for cheating on their taxes. Of course, moments later he would be illegally using the ring ropes for extra leverage on an abdominal stretch. Classic wrestling villain tactics. As exciting as I.R.S. was as a singles competitor, he eventually joined forces with The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase to form an even more exciting tag team duo called Money Inc.

Meanwhile, Bam Bam was returning to the WWF as well. He had a taste of championship gold while he was away, tagging up with Big Van Vader to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Bam Bam feuded with Tatanka and Doink the Clown upon returning, defeating the latter (and Dink the Clown) at WrestleMania X in a mixed tag team match (his partner was Luna Vachon). Bam Bam then spent much of 1994 teaming up with Irwin R. Schyster or Tatanka, as all three were now members of The Million Dollar Corporation and managed by Ted DiBiase (who had retired from the ring).

The 1995 Royal Rumble was monumental for both of these superstars. Irwin R. Schyster battled The Undertaker at the pay-per-view, losing the match but stealing the "dead man's" urn. Bam Bam and his partner, Tatanka, also lost their match that day, but after the bout Bigelow took exception with something NFL Legend Lawrence Taylor said and shoved the former linebacker (who was sitting ringside for the Rumble) to the ground. This act led the two men to a confrontation in the main event of WrestleMania XI. Bam Bam lost to Lawrence Taylor in the match, but the spectacle surrounding the event solidifies that night as the peak of Bigelow's career.

These two superstars had outstanding careers in the WWF and beyond. They were well-decorated (I.R.S. a 5-time WWF Tag Team Champion, with reigns totaling 548 days; Bam Bam a former ECW Heavyweight Champion), both competed in high-profile matches at WrestleManias, they both were talented in-ring performers and they both were awesome enough to be characters in Sega Genesis wrestling games. Indeed, these superstars had stellar careers. Sadly, Bam Bam Bigelow died at the age of 45, yet another superstar gone too soon.

#55: The Mountie & Sting (tied)

Real Name (Mountie): Jacques Rougeau, Jr.

Biggest Fan: Jane Picard "The Mountie made my list based on one match and one match only... we all know which match that is. His cries as he’s being hauled away to jail captivates my attention every time."

Real Name (Sting): Steve Borden

Biggest Fan: Joe Timmins

This spot on our list might expose, or at least illuminate, a slight WWF bias. Few would argue against the fact that Sting is the greatest wrestler of his generation who has never competed in the World Wrestling Federation. He has been selected by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers as "Most Popular Wrestler of the Year" four times, more than any other wrestler. Any hardcore WCW fan would probably be outraged to see Sting outside of the Top 50, but them's the breaks. Our panel of experts puts the 6-time WCW Heavyweight Champion here, tied with The Mountie, and arguing with a panel of experts would be a futile effort.

Speaking of futile efforts, trying to escape from The Mountie is another example of one. As his hilarious theme music proclaims, The Mountie always gets his man (possibly due to the fact that he's handsome, he's brave and he's strong). A former Intercontinental Champion and 3-time WWF Tag Team Champion, Jacques Rougeau's wrestling career (and presumably his law enforcement career) is one of the most successful of all time. Even before he was The Mountie and one half of the Mountie-themed tag team The Quebecers, Jacques was a member of The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers from 1986 to 1990. Probably one of the more underrated tag teams, the Rougeaus were exciting in the ring and also had a pretty amazing entrance theme.

Sting, too, started out as a member of a noteworthy tag team. Originally called Power Team USA, then renamed The Blade Runners, Steve Borden and Jim Hellwig (the future Ultimate Warrior) weren't particularly successful as a tandem, but both men would go on to have amazing singles careers. Sting competed in the main event of both the first and last ever episodes of WCW Monday Nitro, both against "Nature Boy" Ric Flair; the latter match was also the final wrestling bout in WCW history and ended with the two longtime, bitter rivals embracing in the ring.

The Mountie and Sting are both accomplished ring tacticians, charismatic personalities and bonafide superstars.

#57: Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Real Name: James George Janos

Biggest Fan: Lucas Keyes "Acting ability"

If you can parlay your wrestling career into acting roles in Predator, The Running Man and Batman & Robin, a full term in office as governor of Minnesota and a color commentary gig for a professional football league, then you better believe that you qualified as a Superstar of Wrestling! Jesse "The Body" Ventura is one of the most famous wrestlers of all time amongst non-fans of wrestling. His crossover appeal is indisputable, and it just adds to what was already an impressive career in the World Wrestling Federation.

Ventura first came to the WWF with his tag team partner, Adorable Adrian Adonis, after a successful run in the American Wrestling Association. The team was managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie after arriving in the WWF, but the duo soon split and each grappler entered singles competition. Ventura battled Bob Backlund several times, but was unable to capture the WWF Heavyweight Championship from him.

As much a superstar for his behind-the-microphone duties during the 1980s wrestling boom as his relatively brief in-ring career (blood clots in his lungs forced him into retirement in his early thirties), Ventura added more entertainment value to some matches than the participants in the match themselves. Jesse "The Body" Ventura, the color commentator, exhibited the same heel-like qualities that Ventura had as a wrestler. This was unprecedented; previous commentators had been mostly impartial, but Ventura openly rooted for the "bad guys". He would routinely serve as a foil to Gorilla Monsoon (together they were wrestling's all-time best commentary team) and advocate rule-breaking: "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat."

Jesse Ventura could have been a much bigger star in the ring if it hadn't been for his exposure to Agent Orange during Vietnam (he was part of the Navy's Underwater Demolition Team). We may have missed out on another decade of stardom from "The Body" in the ring, but we were treated to years of quality commentary, movies and political successes, and that catapulted this unique personality to superstardom.

#58: Goldust

Real Name: Dustin Patrick Runnels

Other Aliases: Dustin Rhodes

Biggest Fan: Barry M. Reardon

It must be difficult to grow up and follow in the footsteps of a famous father. Dustin Runnels' father, the incomparable Dusty Rhodes, certainly casts a wide shadow. Dustin, though, made sure to emerge from that shadow in a flash of falling gold confetti and donning a long robe and wig.

Goldust arrived in the World Wrestling Federation in 1995 (after previously having competed as Dustin Rhodes in the WWF and WCW). His arrival was preceded with a series of vignettes portraying Goldust as a flamboyant, movie-referencing Hollywoodite, but these brief glimpses did little to prepare us for "the bizarre one." From the get-go, Goldust made wrestling fans everywhere incredibly uncomfortable with his blatant flirting, aimed at Razor Ramon, and his overall provocativeness.

There are few, perhaps zero, examples of a wrestling gimmick being so perfectly executed as Dustin Runnels' portrayal of Goldust. His entrance music was amazing, his costumes were extravagant, his sexuality was confusing (Who wasn't baffled when Goldust showed up at the 1996 Royal Rumble with Marlena as his valet?), his interviews were unsettling and his success in the ring is unquestionable. Goldust is a three-time Intercontinental Champion and seven-time WWF Hardcore Champion.

Dustin Runnels is a legitimate superstar of wrestling. With the pedigree and talent to achieve unbelievable success in the industry, what's probably most surprising is that he doesn't rank in the Top 20. Then again, perhaps the wrestling world wasn't quite ready for the bizarre entertainer known as Goldust.

#59: Zeus

Real Name: Thomas "Tiny" Lister, Jr.

Other Aliases: Z-Gangsta

Biggest Fan: Jon Baltos

At #59, Zeus is proof positive that you don't need to actually win a wrestling match to be considered a Top 100 Superstar of Wrestling. Despite the unremarkable win-loss record, Zeus's reputation as an unstoppable monster overshadows his lack of pinfall victories. This 6'6", 300-pounder didn't feel the need to waste precious time or energy squashing mediocre opponents. He went right after the WWF Champion, and routinely beat him to within an inch of his life.

Zeus showed up in the World Wrestling Federation demanding a match against his co-star in the movie No Holds Barred, Hulk Hogan. Able to withstand an ungodly amount of physical punishment (clotheslines, chair shots, etc.), Zeus was a force to be reckoned with for the Hulkster. Even worse for Hogan was that Zeus aligned himself with Hulk's former friend, "Macho Man" Randy Savage. This led to a tag team contest (Hulk recruiting Brutus Beefcake as his partner) to headline SummerSlam in 1989.

Even a victory at SummerSlam couldn't rid the Hulkster of his formidable new foe, and Zeus aligned himself with Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase at the Survivor Series that autumn. In all likelihood, Zeus would have won that match had he not been disqualified for shoving the referee. Unfortunately, Zeus felt that his career prospects were greater acting in films than competing in the ring, and sadly, Zeus departed the WWF shortly thereafter.

The good news is that you can still see Tiny Lister in movies like The Dark Knight, Austin Powers in Goldmember, and The Fifth Element. That's the résumé of a superstar if ever there was one.

#60: Rob Van Dam

Real Name: Robert Alexander Szatkowski

Biggest Fan: Joe Timmins

Rob Van Dam is one of the most electrifying in-ring performers to ever step through the ropes and into a wrestling ring. His martial arts and kickboxing background combined with his array of revolutionary aerial attacks made every RVD match an instant classic. RVD was also in the right place at the right time to benefit from Extreme Championship Wrestling's explosion in popularity.

Rob Van Dam and his tag team partner, Sabu, were two-time ECW Tag Team Champions. The combined reigns lasted for 244 days, fifth-most in ECW history. Shortly after the demise of ECW, Rob Van Dam "invaded" the World Wrestling Federation and would end up having enormous success there. Between 2001 and 2007, RVD would hold the Intercontinental Championship six times. He would also capture tag team gold with three different partners, the European Championship, the Hardcore Championship and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (a belt which had eluded him while in the original ECW).

In 2006, at ECW One Night Stand, Rob Van Dam captured the WWE Championship from John Cena in a match where the "fan favorite" Cena was booed and heckled with chants of "You Can't Wrestle!" Although his reign was brief, the title run made RVD the 15th Triple Crown champion in WWE history and, since he was also the ECW Champion at the time, he looked really cool getting to wear two belts at once.

The 40-year-old Rob Van Dam continues to compete in the squared circle, and just last summer was Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's World Heavyweight Champion. The story isn't over yet, but it's clear that no matter what the last couple of chapters have in store for us, the title of the book will be: Rob Van Dam - Superstar of Wrestling.

#61: Chris Benoit

Real Name: Christopher Michael Benoit

Biggest Fan: Joe Timmins

Chris Benoit is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion, a five-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a four-time Intercontinental Champion, a four-time WWF Tag Team Champion, a three-time WCW Television Champion, a two-time WCW Tag Team Champion and a former Royal Rumble winner.

Sadly, Chris Benoit took the lives of his seven-year-old son and his wife before ending his own life in 2007.