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Independent wrestling circuits predominated the Northern regions of America until the WWE consolidated the independents in an attempt to unify the product and market it in global monopoly. The allure of wrestling holds sway internationally for audiences and budding wrestlers alike with the WWE having always been receptive of talent from foreign lands swelling its ranks. Some of these wrestlers have served the company with commendable distinction.
Over the different eras of programming that the WWE has visited over time, various Superstars of foreign descents have impacted the landscape of the business in their own way. Some stars have had such a meteoric influence on the business that they have altered the WWE landscape for good.
Wrestling is certainly not the easiest business to thrive in and especially might not be so if a wrestler is from outside of USA, owing to the importance that nationalistic sentiments receive in the company.
However, the following superstars have displayed mental temerity in cementing their reputations and names in the audiences’ hearts and minds and they make our list of 10 best foreign Superstars in WWE history.
The list has been compiled with overall contributions of the wrestlers in mind, and not just the number of championship reigns that they may have enjoyed. That being said, a good number of wrestlers who have been left out could just as easily merit their place in this list and narrowing the entries down to just 10 wrestlers has been a fairly second-guessable process by and large.
Chris Jericho
Canada-born Chris Jericho would likely make the list of top 10 WWE Superstars of all time so including him in this list was a no-brainer. The extremely popular wrestler has all the attributes that a wrestler should have; in-ring ability, the gift of gab and a firm handle on the use of psychology.
His list of accolades include an unprecedented 9 Intercontinental Title reigns, 6 World Titles including being the first ever Undisputed Champion to unify the WWE and WCW titles after the Invasion Angle. Across the promotional spectrum of WWE, WCW and ECW, Jericho has held 30 major titles in total, making him one of the more decorated wrestlers in the industry.
For the past few years, Jericho has been elevating newer superstars and the fact that he can pull it off convincingly despite wrestling a part time schedule and rarely picking up any victories even when he does wrestle, speaks volumes about the credibility that he has earned over his glittering career.
In a public opinion poll conducted by the WWE, Chris Jericho beat out other Superstars such as Randy Macho Man Savage and Mr.Perfect to emerge with the honourary admission of being considered the greatest IC Champion of all time and surely warrants entry into this list owing to his all-round contribution to the industry.
Edge
Now trying his hand at acting, wrestling fans can concur with me that perhaps Edge should have enjoyed a more enduring career in the WWE, for certainly we as fans would have relished seeing him. With Daniel Bryan also relinquishing his IC Title in a segment recently that was eerily similar to Edge’s retirement segment in 2011, perhaps there also is a point to be made about WWE taking more conscientious care of the Superstars in its employ.
Either way, it does not take away from Edge’s achievements in the industry, with the Ontario-born wrestler having captured championship gold a total of 31 times in WWE, with a record 7 World Heavyweight Titles and 4 WWE Championship reigns counting amongst his most note-worthy achievements. The Rated R Superstar also served with distinction in the tag team division, winning the Tag Team Titles a mind-numbing 14 times with various Superstars, most notably with his partner-in-crime Christian and the Viper, Randy Orton.
When someone mentions Edge, my mind automatically transcends into memories of Wrestlemania 7 and I recall Edge launching into a spear from a 20 foot ladder, onto a Jeff Hardy precariously hanging on from a title belt. Apart from qualifying as an all-time “Holy Shit!” moment, it was also subtly significant of the nature of Edge’s contribution to this industry and perhaps equally reflective of why it was cut short abruptly.
Irrespective, his career highlights are numerous, and the Rated R Superstar can easily be considered one of the modern day greats in the business and It certainly didn’t hurt his cause that he used an immensely popular finisher in the Spear either!
Chris Benoit
The stigma associated with mental illness cannot find hope of dissolution as far as the WWE is concerned given the circumstances surrounding Benoit’s controversial murder-suicide. That however, does not take away from the immense contribution that Chris Benoit afforded the industry.
He is known as one of the finest grapplers to strut his stuff in the squared circle and has is widely regarded as one of the lynchpins of the Ruthless Aggression Era in the WWE. It is indeed ironic to note that he was scripted to win a title on the night when his mental threshold was breached and the travesty occurred. The delicateness of the situation may not be resolved as of present day and Benoit may still find himself conveniently ignored for the time being, but that does not imply that the Rabid Wolverine’s memory or his in-ring exploits have faded from fond fan reminiscence.
His trophy cabinet, although not habituated with championship gold like some other Superstars on this list, does include an impressive array of note. He has captured the World Heavyweight Title only once, but has adorned the US Crown a commanding 5 times along with 4 runs as the IC Champion as well. For headlining Wrestlemania XX with Triple H and Shawn Michaels, he also outlasted 29 other competitors in the Royal Rumble in 2004 after entering at number one!
Every year before the Royal Rumble event, WWE mentions the iconic records that are associated with the 30-man over-the-top-rope match, only for Benoit’s record to be conspicuously absent.
While it is understandable that WWE does not want to embrace his achievements for a fear of a PR nightmare, we as fans can assume the liberty of remembering and honouring one of WWE’s finest wrestlers in this list.
Andre The Giant
Forget the number of titles for a moment, despite the fact that he did win the WWE Title once and the Tag Team Championship once with Haku, but André René Roussimoff’s colossal French influence rang both literally and metaphorically across the landscape of the WWE.
Andre the Giant’s contribution to the industry is best reflected when one examines what the state of the industry would have been had it not been for Andre. Hulkamania may never have evolved into the phenomenon it is, for one.
Considering how intertwined the popularity of Hulk Hogan and the WWE was in the 80’s, perspective is offered unto the momentum that bodyslamming Andre lent Hulkamania’s advent.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal that annually plays out still keeps this icon for the ages relevant in present day WWE, honouring the first giant to ply his trade in the WWE and who marketed the novelty aspect of the WWE admirably to many new viewers.
As Jake “The Snake” Roberts later recounted on his feud with Andre, the giant was very choosy in allowing opponents to attack him. He was afforded the freedom to dictate the spots and he only worked with a wrestler if he was entirely convinced by him.
Andre The Giant stood towering above other men not only in size but also in stature and is one of the fore-most foreign stars to achieve success with the WWE. Naturally, Andre the Giant features in this list of the 10 greatest foreign stars to ply their trade with the company.
William Regal
William Regal, credit to him, has managed to eke out an incredible post-career of sorts in the WWE. That is not to say that his in-ring career with the company was unremarkable in any sense.
Despite a world title win being absent from Regal's resume, he has worn plenty of gold over the years in the WWE. Regal is a four-time Tag Team Champion, four-time European Champion, two-time Intercontinental Champion, five-time Hardcore Champion and he won the King of the Ring in 2008.
Regal has always been considered to be a stable, consistent and solid in-ring worker with credible microphone skills; an underrated and under-represented commodity in the WWE.
Currently, Regal serves as the General Manager in NXT, and as Triple H gives him credit for, is hugely involved in recruiting talent across promotions into the product. He serves as a prime example of how a wrestler, though he may not be main event material, may “make it” in the industry and establish himself through dedicated service behind the scenes and hence finds inclusion in this list.
Bret Hart
The Excellence of Execution, Bret Hart, considered by many to be the wronged protagonist in the saga that was the Montreal Screwjob, makes this list purely based on his in-ring exploits bereft of any attention that his reluctant involvement in the controversy might have generated.
Bret Hart was technically one of the most gifted wrestlers to ever wrestler in WWE and served as the prime and fitting example of a Stampede Wrestling product, a wrestling promotion owned by Stu Hart, Bret’s father in Canada. Other notable names to originate from this promotion include the likes of stalwarts such as Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Jake The Snake Roberts, Chris Benoit and Roddy Piper to name a few.
Bret Hart headlined the WWE landscape in the 90’s and has held the WWE Championship Title 5 times. His dominance throughout the 90’s is not sufficiently explained by statistics alone, for he was responsible in catalysing a paradigm shift in how fans viewed the product then. Taking over from the prototypical heavyweight as the face of the WWE, Hart infused in-ring dexterity into performances like never before and this made him immensely popular on a global level. Plaudits with respect to Hart’s in-ring ability have filtered through from some of the most respected names in the business and any list to do with successful foreign Superstars in the WWE would lack soul and integrity if Bret the Hitman Hart’s name were to be left out.
Rowdy Roddy Piper
Despite being portrayed on TV programming as Scottish due to his ancestral roots, Roddy Piper is yet another wrestler from Canada to have made his mark in the WWE. Famous for being a controversial character whose creation, The Piper’s Pit was crash TV before it’s time and any talk show that a wrestler hosts is inevitably compared to Piper’s pit even in present day programming.Piper’s bone to pick with ex-WWE writer Vince Russo, whom he blamed for the unsound writing that led to his cousin Owen Hart’s tragic demise, has been one of wrestling’s most interesting and debatable topics over the years.
He may not have held any major Titles in his WWE run, but Piper didn’t need to. He was a great heel, with mercurial oratorical skills and a keen wit; a combination that ensured that he fans would pay money to see him regardless of whether he held any championship gold.
Having survived 3 stab attempts by fans, Piper is one of the old-timers who have paid their dues so that the industry of wrestling can thrive and survive. Rightfully, his contributions to this industry are recognized and his name finds inclusion in this list.
Sheamus
The Celtic Warrior has been a constant feature in WWE in recent times and the Ireland-born powerhouse has already tasted a fair share of championship gold in the 9 years that he has spent with the company, in which a good portion of the first two years was spent honing his craft at WWE’s developmental, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).
Sheamus, in accordance with his flaming red hair, thick Irish accent and a gimmick that has revitalized the mean streak within him, possess all the attributes that a monster heel requires and his makeover could be the start of something special for the 2010 King of the Ring and 2012 Royal Rumble Winner.
Sheamus has also captured the WWE Championship twice, the World Heavyweight Title once and the US Title twice in his tenure. He is included in this list for being a legitimate ass-kicker who can pull off matches with other wrestlers regardless of weight class and fighting style.Now at the prime of his WWE career, The Celtic Warrior is sure to go on and achieve further accolades and recognition in the industry but what he has accomplished as of now still earns him a place in this list.
Bruno Sammartino
The WWE Universe was just plain lucky that a wrestler was still alive and well at the ripe old age of 77 to accept the WWE Hall of Fame induction that in all fairness he should have received at a much earlier instance. That it took till 2013 for Bruno and Vince to see eye to eye is inconsequential, but that fans worldwide might have forgotten Bruno in that time was unthinkable.
For Bruno Sammartino still holds the record for having the single longest reign as the then WWWF Champion of a mind-numbing 2803 days. That’s a stretch of 7 years and 245 days in a row of defending the title. In an interview, Sammartino recounts his grueling working days, when he would wrestle 6 times a week for 2 weeks in a month, and wrestle on all seven days of the week in the remaining two weeks. Through all of this, he defended his WWWF title with honour and distinction both in the ring and out of it.
Having escaped from the Nazis in Europe with barely his life clinging to a slight frame of 85 pounds, Sammartino went on to conquer the world of wrestling. By the time he was done, he had spent 4040 days as the WWWF Champion, an unconquerable feat that will likely stand the test of time.
A valid argument can be made in support of Bruno Sammartino as the greatest wrestler of all time, albeit it being a concept not lightly handled. That he makes it in this list though, is merely considered a formality then.
Jimmy Superfly Snuka
In terms of the influence that his legacy has bestowed upon the business, Jimmy Snuka easily makes this list. A Fijian, Jimmy Superfly Snuka was the first wrestler to really incorporate an athletic and high-flying style into wrestling back into the 80s.Snuka was introduced to WWE as a heel and was thrust into the limelight immediately as he engaged straightaway in feud with WWE Champion Bob Backlund. Owing to his charisma though, it wasn’t long before the tide of audience opinion changed and Snuka turned babyface.
His tryst with destiny came in 1983 in his feud with then Intercontinental Champion "Magnificent" Don Muraco. Audiences had never witnessed anything like that before then and that day in Madison Square Garden where Snuka performed his signature Superfly Splash from the top of the cage, 15 feet high, has gone down in WWE lore as one of the defining moments of the industry.
A defining moment that held tremendous impact, it has reportedly been THE tipping point for wrestlers such as Mick Foley in choosing their eventual career paths.
In what came to be regarded as the greatest streak in sports entertainment, it often passes under the radar that Jimmy Superfly Snuka was the first of the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania opponents and the starting point of the streak.
Despite having a career accosted with significance at each turn, Snuka never won any major titles at WWE, but that does not prevent him from being recognized as one of the stalwarts of the business to merit comfortable entry into this list.
