10 Pro Wrestling Legends who are overrated

10 successful wrestlers who weren't all that good at it.

Note: The opinions expressed in the article are that of the author and not Sportskeeda

In the world of professional wrestling, there are stars. There are superstars. And then, there are legends.

How does one become a legend in wrestling? Obviously, it takes a great deal of fame and success. After all, if no one remembers you, are you really a legend?

One thing that you might think is necessary, if not absolutely vital, to becoming a pro wrestling legend is talent. Not just the ability to deliver a good promo or interview, but the actual physical act of performing the match.

As it turns out, it's not actually necessary at all. In fact, some of the most famous pro wrestlers of all time didn't know a wristlock from a wristwatch! Then there are other legends whose in-ring skills are just okay or so-so. Sure they get by, but someone on their level should be above average across the board, or so logic would seem to dictate.

But that is simply not the case. Here are ten legendary wrestlers who are vastly overrated in-ring workers.

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#1 Big Sexy Kevin Nash

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Kevin Nash has always been great on the microphone, but his wrestling skills are inversely proportional to his charisma during an interview.

Big Boot. Sidewalk Slam. Jackknife powerbomb--which to be honest is one of the weaker looking powerbomb variations--and that's it, other than a clothesline or elbows in the corner. To make matters worse, Nash didn't take the athletic portion of wrestling seriously and often broke kayfabe during his matches with his silly antics.

Kevin Nash has held the world heavyweight championship in WWE and WCW, though to be quite frank, it was a low point for both companies in terms of ratings and PPV buys. He was part of the NWO angle, which remains to this day the most successful and memorable storyline in wrestling. These things helped make him a wrestling legend, but when it comes to his in-ring ability or technical know-how, he's terribly overrated.

Why he was so successful anyway: Kevin Nash can work a microphone like nobody's business. This, combined with his towering height and impressive musculature, combined to make him a bigger star than his limited ring skills would otherwise allow. Also, Nash is well known for playing political games backstage, and often endears himself to whoever's in charge, and has famous and legendary friends to count on.

#2 Total Package Lex Luger

Lex Luger was an also-ran pro football player before his transition to wrestling. He was signed for a time with the Green Bay Packers, but never actually played a game. The most success he garnered was in the now-defunct American Football League.

Luger turned to wrestling when his football career fizzled and enjoyed a great deal of success. The Total Package has held every title available in NWA/WCW, including two reigns as World Champion. He and partner Sting also won the Jim Crockett Cup tag team tournament, a popular round robin event in the 1980s. He also has the distinction of being one of just two men to cleanly defeat Hulk Hogan on Monday Nitro; The other is Arn Anderson.

Luger's chiseled physique was one of the most impressive of the 1980s, and to be honest, his interviews were actually decent, too. You always felt like he really believed what he was saying.

But once the bell rang Luger was adequate, at best. Men like Ric Flair could drag decent performances out of him, but he is mostly remembered for the loud 'OOOW' noises he made when selling offense. He would never quite make it to Flair or close friend Sting's level in the industry but is still a man who main-evented a Wrestlemania and an 80s icon.

Why he was so successful anyway: In the 1980s, the more brawling style of the WWE spread to the independents and the NWA, so Luger wasn't even the worst technical wrestler active in this era. His amazing body and above average talking skills probably helped keep him at the top of the card, and earned him a legendary status in spite of his limited ring abilities.

#3 Kane

Kane is a WWE mainstay, and many fans have literally grown up watching him wrestle. His road to legend was not always a smooth one.

Kane began his career in the independent circuit as Unabomb. Not only was the gimmick offensively named--the Unabomber was a serial killer with political motivations who terrorized the US until he was caught--but his plain black trunks and lack of any real personality failed to resonate with fans.

Apparently, WWE had some problems figuring out what to do with him, because they christened him Issac Yankem, DDS. He was a dentist who had bad teeth. It's ironic, you see.

After the dentist gimmick inexplicably failed to get the seven-footer over, he turned to being...fake Diesel. The WWE tried to pretend like Kevin Nash never left and dressed Kane up in his old outfit.

When this fizzled, he was repackaged for the final time as the Undertaker's estranged brother. At first, Kane never spoke, then utilized a cancer harmonica to communicate. When he finally began to speak, he formed alliances and became a more conventional character.

Kane is a former tag team and world heavyweight champion. His feuds with Undertaker, Matt Hardy, and Big Show are the stuff of legend, despite his limited ring skills.

Why he was so successful anyway: Kane is slow and ponderous, but he's also gigantic. His willingness to put over other talent and his great attitude backstage have certainly helped as well. Loyalty to WWE and consistency in his performances--though they were never stellar--made him someone the company could rely upon, and he was rewarded in kind.

#4 Big Daddy Shirley Crabtree

Remember when we said some wrestling legends didn't know a wrist lock from a wristwatch? Well, we were talking about this guy.

Shirley Crabtree was a second generation wrestler, following in the footsteps of his father. Crabtree stood over six and a half feet tall and had a 64-inch chest at the start of his career. However, Crabtree trained less and less over time, preferring to get by on natural ability and reputation.

However, his size also limited the scope of his athletic ability. By the time he became UK hero Big Daddy, he had degenerated into a man who usually just sort of bounced his belly of opponents and utilized forearm smashes.

PWI has often categorized Big Daddy as one of the worst wrestlers to ever lace up a pair of boots. In spite of this, he was enormously successful, and can aptly be called the UK's Hulk Hogan.

Why he was so successful anyway: The British wrestling scene today is known for smaller athletes with top-notch technical skills, but in Daddy's era this was not the case. Many of the stars who wrestled in Europe were from America or Japan, and the UK really embraced the idea of their own 'homegrown' champion. His interviews weren't great but he had the ability to make fans become emotionally invested in his matches, and became a legend in the process.

#5 Goldberg

Bill Goldberg was only a few weeks out of his training phase when he debuted on Monday Nitro, defeating perennial mid-carder/ gatekeeper Hugh Morris.

Goldberg was athletic, to be sure. He was enormously strong, lifting up gigantic men like Ron Studd for his Jackhammer finisher. In addition, he had explosive speed and agility. Goldberg could even perform a back handspring flip no problem.

However, when it came to wrestling ability, Goldberg never progressed beyond being simply adequate. He could pull off his finisher well enough, as well as a nifty rolling prawn leg lock, but when it came to the fundamentals of wrestling he was terrible. Goldberg would often end up in the wrong part of the ring, or miss his cues, resulting in sloppy and sometimes dangerous work. Scott Hall was on the record as saying Goldberg needed more training before he should have actually been on TV. He also botched a superkick and ended Bret Hart's career.

Why he was successful anyway: Goldberg has a great look, even in his fifties. He looks like a chiseled assassin or Greek god. Also, he was given one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, pushes in the history of wrestling. His undefeated streak progressed until it was a bit shy of two hundred, and even when he lost it wasn't clean. Goldberg was presented as unstoppable, and much like Superman people reacted to it.

#6 Baron Von Raschke

Raschke was very much NOT from Germany but was billed there to generate heel heat. It's a good thing since when it came to technical wrestling he was not the most impressive by a long shot.

He was actually the thoroughly American James Donald Raschke, and his gimmick was all that kept his career going. Raschke was a large man, but not particularly athletic even though he had legitimate amateur wrestling chops.

His claw hold is rarely used today because it just looks silly, and Raschke's enormous success has little to do with his wrestling ability. Perhaps promoters were aware of his lack of ability because he never wore the 'big belt' of any wrestling company he worked for, though he did manage to win nearly thirty championships during his legendary career.

Why he was so successful anyway: Rashke is a good example of what happens when you create a compelling character. Then there's the fact that he was pushed as a monster heel, with many promotions 'censoring' his Iron Claw move because it was so 'gruesome'. The Baron shows what can be accomplished with just a little hype.

#7 Mick Foley

Mick Foley is not only a professional wrestling legend. He's also one of the most beloved figures in all of sports entertainment. Many critics have pointed out that even if you don't like his characters or his wrestling, you still love Mick Foley.

In a way, Foley is the 'audience participation character' for pro wrestling. He's not possessed of a muscular chiseled physique, nor is he particularly strong or fast or agile. And when it comes to technical ability, well, the less said the better. Even his main finisher, a double arm DDT, looks awkward and clumsy.

Once, Ric Flair called Mick Foley a 'glorified stuntman' for his propensity to take extreme bumps, like when he went through the cage of the Hell in a Cell.

Why he was so successful anyway: Foley gained a reputation for being able to take a lot of punishment and was willing to put almost anyone over for the good of the company. His mike skills and charisma are also tremendous, and you get the feeling that you're listening to someone who is deeply passionate about wrestling because he IS passionate about wrestling. The fans loved Foley so much they forgave him for his limited wrestling ability.

#8 John Cena

You know someone is not a gifted wrestler when they admit they only use five moves during an interview!

John Cena might have been the face that ran the place for much of the 2000s in WWE, but when it comes to wrestling ability he has always been sorely lacking.

Cena possesses a lot of strength and a finely chiseled body, both carryovers from his previous career as a bodybuilder. However, he lacks agility, or speed, or endurance, making his matches short and spot-heavy.

In spite of this, he is unquestionably one of the biggest modern wrestling stars still working today. Though he has mostly focused on his movie career and only wrestles part-time, he is still a multi-time world champion and wrestling legend.

Why he was so successful anyway: Much like Lex Luger, Cena was so physically impressive looking he landed a lot of opportunities others did not. Also, Vince McMahon was ardent, stubbornly invested in Cena, pushing him as the ultimate good guy unstoppable force even when a majority of the fans over twelve booed him relentlessly. Finally, John Cena is simply amazing with a microphone in his hand, skills that have translated well to his acting career.

#9 JBL

John Bradshaw Layfield is a former world heavyweight champion, tag team champion, and was one of the fixtures of the Attitude Era in his role with the APA alongside Ron Simmons.

Bradshaw was big, burly, and boisterous, all attributes that served him well in a wrestling ring. He cut his teeth in the GWF promotion, pretending to be one of Barry Windham's cousins.

This ruse continued in the WWE, where he was one of the BlackJacks. Barry Windham was legitimately the son of an original Blackjack, but JBL was grandfathered into the gimmick.

JBL's career really took off when he dumped partner Farroq and became the Texas two-stepping self-made millionaire character. His heel antics garnered him a massive push and the world championship.

However, JBL was never a great technical wrestler, not by a long shot. His Clothesline from Hell move was stiff and looked great, but like many big men, he struggled with agility and speed issues. When paired with Eddie Guerrero for their feud, JBL couldn't keep up and would be winded mere minutes into their matches. Despite all of this, JBL has become a wrestling Legend and icon, even if right now he's not terribly popular due to his bullying antics, for which he was fired from WWE.

Why he was so successful anyway: JBL has the size that pro wrestling promoters, especially WWE, crave. His loyalty to WWE and the fact that Vince McMahon is said to be a huge fan of his both professionally and personally probably helped make up for his lack of ring skills. When it came to interviews or announcing, JBL was just okay and not anything special.

#10 The Rock

He's currently the most highly paid movie actor in the entire world, a producer and family man. His appearances in Fast and the Furious were so popular he garnered his own franchise based in that world.

He was also once the biggest pro wrestling star on the planet, his popularity insanely high to the point where his merest gesture could engender massive approval from the fans.

But, he's also one of the most strictly below average in-ring workers in wrestling history.

Punch, stomp, spinebuster, People's Elbow, Rock bottom. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Rock's matches were pretty much always the same, had the same cadence, and the same tempo. In fact, Rock's wrestling was so mediocre when he first debuted as Rocky Maivia people chanted "ROCKY SUCKS" at the top of their lungs because he was being pushed in a Cena or Roman Reigns type way.

However, he turned heel and developed the genius character of the Rock, whose penchant for referring to himself in the third person and putting down interviewers, wrestlers, announcers, and even his own fans endeared him to the masses.

Why he was so successful anyway: During the Attitude Era, wrestling matches more closely resembled brawls. It was at this time the 'closed fist' rule became obsolete, and all of the wrestlers were throwing punches and stomps more than headlocks and suplexes. Also, his off the charts charisma and fantastic interview segments propelled him to legendary status.

There you have it; Ten legendary wrestlers who were vastly overrated. If you have comments, please leave them below the article and thanks for reading!