Undertaker Rates His Top WWE Small Guys of All Time 

rey mysterio

Everybody's up in arms over the fact that The Undertaker omitted Rey Mysterio from his "Mount Rushmore of 'little guy wrestlers'". I would like to start by saying that I respect everything that Rey has endured and has contributed to this business. Having said that, Rey Mysterio (in my opinion, with all due respect) is NOT a wrestler. He's an acrobat. That's what he's best known for. Not for real wrestling. Especially in his younger days, Rey Mysterio was an uninhibited acrobat. Phenomenal athlete (no pun intended). He's just not a wrestler. I remember when Lou Thesz (rest him, bless him) commented about Hulk Hogan in The Unreal Story of Professional Wresting documentary, "As a showman, I give him a 9 or a 10. As a wrestler, I give him a 1 or a 0 (zero). He's not a bad guy, he's just not a wrestler." That was the most apt and shrewd description of Hulk Hogan and his ability as a wrestler. Again, with all due respect, I respect everything that Hulk has endured and has contributed to this business. He's just not a wrestler. Not that anyone cares but here's my "Mount Rushmore": 1. Bret Hart - shouldn't even be debated. The best there is, was and ever will be. In and out of the ring. His career was cut entirely too short by that bafoon Goldberg. Not just a brilliant mind as a wrestler but is known to share his knowledge and wisdom with up-and-comers imparting nuggets of wrestling gold. I could go on and on but you get the idea. 2. Kurt Angle - again, undebatable. Olympic champion, 2x national champion, technical wizard. Bret Hart's dream opponent, as written in his book Hitman (great read, by the way). 3. Chris Benoit - double murder-suicide aside (I still don't think he did it), the most rugged and intense technical wrestling machine ever. Neck and neck with Kurt. I put Kurt ahead of Benoit due to his pure wrestling pedigree and the fact that Kurt won the Olympic gold with a "broken, frickin' neck"! Indisputable and unmitigated toughness personifed. RIP Benoit 4. Owen Hart - so ahead of his time, as (in my opinion) he was the precursor of the archetypal technical wrestler of his time's next generation. Had he lived, he would've been steeped in the main event level and would never have had to be relegated to mid-card due to his not wanting to put up with the Attitude Era nonsense. Taken far too soon. RIP Owen. *Sorry, Eddie (Guerrero). However, I do acknowledge you with an honorable mention. These men are WRESTLERS. Not "superstars", not "sports entertainers". Wrestlers. Another quote I remember. Not from a respected wrestler, but a line from a very powerful movie. Proximo, when advising Maximus to "win the crowd", uttered, "I wasn't the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me." That statement, in a nutshell, is the total indictment of us as fans of "sports entertainment". I'm a fan of WRESTLING. Two (or more) combatants displaying masterful storytelling through the highest form of human art and physical movement & expression. That, nowadays (most times), is what's sorely lacking in today's generation of "sports entertainment". Like it or not, you know it's true. And it doesn't help that upstart companies like AEW put on what I like to call "highspot crack" for the masses to get high off of and have no substance at times when they perform. I don't even watch AEW, as I prefer WWE (should still be WWF, don't even get me started on that). However, what I've seen while flipping through channels and coming across it at times or when perusing through social media, makes me wanna puke! AEW is Tony Khan's generic version of WCW. WCW is another clusterfuck for whom shouldn't even have existed. However, without upstarts like WCW and AEW, WWE wouldn't be who they are today. Even when their shows are not as entertaining as I would like them to be, WWE is still light years ahead of everyone else. I'm a lifelong fan, tried and true. Since 1987. And still going strong. Nuff said. The End. Period.

My top 4 small guys of all time 1) chris benoit 2) billy kidmen 3) Juventud guerrera 4) Ultimo dragon

Kind of hard for anyone to argue since none of us actually worked with these people. As fans, our choices are purely subjective whereas your views are more objective. I am curious about Bret not making the cut, if it's just that he missed the cut wrestling wise or size wise. (Wikipedia has him at exactly 6', the same as Kurt, but don't trust the internet)

I totally thought HBK was going to be the top spot. My list would be HBK Benoit Angle Jericho

Angle billed at 6’2 😂 Benoit billed at 5’10 which is quite accurate 5’8-9 real life

Angle is 5'10" but billed at 6'2"

Because wrestlers aren't as tall as they are billed

Angle was shoot 6’.

Kurt Angle was billed 5'10" in the Olympics. No way he was 6'.

"The incident" - the double murder. Benoit is a disgrace.

To tell you the truth I didn't expect Mysterio because a great deal of his moves were impressive but unrealistic. He would attack the legs and then make some impossible moves in a real fight to end the match. Benoit, on the other hand, in a dark alley, a bar, or in a ring... I would get naked to avoid a fight in any circumstances against him. Ps: Mysterio was fantastic to watch, don't get me wrong.

I have heard who his number 1 is yet but it has to be Rey.

There is such a thing as death of the author. His work can still be amongst your favourites.

@@gropatapouf5998Seeing Rey live is a whole different thing. I didn’t realize how good he was till I saw him in person.

What does it mean when people say "go over"

@@eessanasser8812Brock let Eddie beat him

Because Brock was on his way out of the WWE.

Eddie was 5"8 but yet never seemed like a small guy. He didn't look out of place against Brock.

Vickie Guerrero in a interview also said that in early 2010s. Brock gave Vickie a hug and said "I'm always gonna miss Eddie"

AJ Styles is one rare breed, to have legendary career in such a short amount of time in WWE. When Undertaker himself praises Styles it speaks volumes about Styles as a professional wrestler. Never imagined that a TNA legend will be the last person to wrestle Undertaker. Truly he will go down in history as the best Wrestler to put on the boots.

Taker finished his career with the phenomenal one and had a great match.

That’s separating the art from the artist

​@@PopPunkNerdWhich in this instance is wrong because his "art" is what caused the tragedy

I think the passage of time has been a factor there. It's been 16 years now, and I've seen more people reference his work without the asterisk. It's not something I think should be forgotten, but it's getting easier to separate from his work.

@@hermonymusofsparta that i can agree too

⁠​⁠@@hermonymusofsparta I don’t think so. I think even Chris himself would want others to put all the blame on him, not the business. In a 2004 interview, he went on a bit of rant about how wrestlers abuse drugs and how they could potentially kill themselves because of it with people blaming the wrestling industry for it. He says “the world doesn’t push into the depths of darkness, you do”.

@@namikstudiosWow u so cringe m8

​@@namikstudiossomebody's edgy today.

​@@namikstudiosThe hell are you even talking about?

@@lysergicpillamyd483 Katie Vick! Kane but no cigar... Ahh you WWE fans 😂Taker is kiddy! Well apart from those couple of years he became a bikie, that was a bit better at least.

@@lysergicpillamyd483 seriously though, I'm talking about this nonsense: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wTvmuaCcwvE.html Biggest pop in WWE history only to be buried from then on. DDP was too over for Vince so he got Taker to bury him and make him look as inferior as possible.

The whole story telling was top tier. The after match was a wholesome moment. Mad times. That version of the undisputed title was my fav

But Jeff is 6'1", so just a tad too big to be on the list. I would think Rey Mysterio was missed but who am I to argue with the Deadman!

@@dennisharry8408 I had no idea he was that tall

I had stopped watching for years. I was a huge HBK fan and just lost the interest in it. I happened to be flipping through channels and I saw the undertaker….but he didn’t look like the undertaker anymore, which was crazy to me. And it was a ladder match. Then came Jeff Hardy. Him not quitting no matter how many times taker beat him down hooked me again.

No Way Out 2096 was 👍

Oh man, that match was classic. It was like that match unlocked something for Taker, like we really got to see his style evolve in the ring when he started busting out the MMA submissions and such It was like the Wrestling Machine version of Kurt was so powerful he forced Undertaker to let loose his true ability in the ring, when against other opponents he could just rely on his size and strength to put them away.

That was supposed to be the wrestlemania match that year, but Vince wanted Kurt to end the streak but Kurt said no so they had it a month before.

That no way out match was an instant classic. I heard he wanted to lose the streak to Angle. I wonder if they would have had a match at mania that year if Eddie hadn’t passed away and Rey then obviously going on to main event mania and win the title.

@@decdeckers the original plan was Eddie vs HBK at Mania that year. They probably would have had Taker win the rumble and did the same match but at Mania. Rey woulda still been a mid carder like he was, they probably do him and Orton.

wtf lmao the real fredobang

@@giospagelmaoo crazy

U will bro. Jus Keep Droppin Heat! He Seems Like a pretty genuine guy. Just reach out, might get a reply

Fredo and taker legendary collab

If you watch WWE Shows every week then you have heard when they mention him having shows the same weekend in teh same city as some of their Premium Live Events. For a long time he did not do Autograph Signings and you never saw him do Autograph Signings. He does now that he has retired.

Which arcade?! 206 stand up

Still a murderer no matter what he did before I guarantee you this was a regular guy that committed double homicide suicide you guys will be calling him a monster

​@jamaljamal59 please stop! We all know what happened but you can't ignore WHY it happened. Just leave it alone

@@JDilla2285 he's a murderer

@jamaljamal59 no sir, he was sick. You can ignore that if you want. But he was sick. Proof! Had he just killed himself then he'd be in the HoF, and everyone would admit he had CTE.....BUT because his wife and child were killed, ppl now wanna ignore the facts that he had CTE. fact is, CTE has been around in boxing and especially the NFL before benoits incident. Benoit happened to be the very 1st CTE incident in prowrestling history. And the most severe case combined with football and boxing. Want more recent examples? Read about Jevon Belcher and especially Phillip Adams

@@JDilla2285he’s not wrong.

It's one of those things where whether we like it or not, Chris Benoit had a massive impact on the industry. He basically brought that high impact Japanese hard hitting style meets the Canadian technical style to a mainstream audience that so many people work now. He was influential on the wrestling we see today. Outside of the ring he is an unforgivable monster, but it's impossible to talk about modern wrestling without acknowledging the impact he had on it.

​@@knightshousegamespeople could say the same thing about Hogan lol. Yes he was unsafe worker, liar, racist and even boring with what he had but his impact on the business is still being mentioned whether I personally like the guy or not. Just thought I would put that out there

@@Snyper1405 I mean, it's not untrue. The difference is his influence on the business was mostly a negative one. We are only just in the last few years getting away from some of the worst stigmas he put on the business in terms of body image and what a "Main Eventer" looks like.

@@knightshousegames fair enough

@@Snyper1405You are comparing a man who murdered his young child and his wife… too A guy who talks shit and said the N word on camera once. Let’s get some perspective.

Right. Chris was an amazing wrestler. What happened happened.

I agree, but there’s no one the blame for his legacy being forgotten except Chris himself

​@@Havok999clearly wasn't forgotten if the Undertaker is talking

@@MrSilus2000 forgotten from wwe I meant

@@Havok999 more like buried by the company.

He didn’t work work with Rey as much… I’m sure that played into it.

@@TheLobMobnot true, they were two of smackdowns main eventers late 2000s and early 2010s they faced eachother alot

Rey broke Takers orbital bone👀

@@Viikk785probably why rey missed the list lol

​​@TheLobMob He didn't work with Benoit alot yet Benoit is on the list.

Idk how you leave off: Bret Hart. He was 6 feet tall on the dot. Owen Hart was 5’8”. Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, RVD, or the man of a thousand holds Dean Malenko. Those are all more worthy than AJ Styles imo BY FAR. But I had Eddie in at number 2 behind Bret, Shawn (so he was 6’1” 🤷‍♂️ As such I had to include Ric Flair. Also 6’1”). Bret, Shawn, and Flair are on my overall Mt. Rushmore alongside of course the GOAT, Mark Callaway aka The Undertaker, aka The American Badass! Honorable mention for 5th is without a doubt Terry Funk for my overall Mt. Rushmore. He wrestled professionally for 52 years! Reinvented himself every decade to meet the newer styles. In his 50’s, the man helped bring real hardcore wrestling to America and the west. IMO, him, Mick Foley, Sabu, and Tommy Dreamer deserve a Mt. Rushmore wrapped in barbed wire with weapons as the pupils of the eyes on a Hardcore Mount Rushmore!

Suprise no Michaels mention

he’s a Texan who worked with guys who worked with Eddie’s brothers so it’s not a shock he thought highly of Eddie…but Eddie did help the small guys get over huge in WCW and WWE which saved countless careers and inspired many others

@@tonyslicer7399 That’s bc he’s 6’1”

@@tonyslicer7399 The fact Bret Hart (6’0”), Owen Hart (5’8” MAYBE 5’9”), Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, and the man of 1,000 holds Dean Malenko were left off is the most shocking. Bc Michaels and Flair are both 6’1” so neither foots the bill for a 6 feet and under list. But all the other aforementioned names are far more deserving IMO than AJ. And I’d leave Benoit off the list bc murdering your family including your 7 year old son then killing yourself eliminates everything you did in your pro career. Don’t care what your pro accomplishments are. That’s a permanent deal breaker for me. Benoit is off of every list except for the stupidest and one of the most entertaining finishing moves ever 🤣 Jumping off the top turnbuckle to land a head butt to your opponents sternum hurts you far more than your opponent 😅 He does make my top 10 list of dumbest finishers ever

Yes man that my all time wrestling moment, even til this day watching it gives the chills

I was there for this!!!! 2004 my childhood

I was there. Madison Square Garden. It was a great moment. And also, it was the return of the Deadman gimmick. I bought a huge foam board Tombstone printed with his OG look on it.

Nevermind that the disgrace Benoit had already held the Big Gold Belt four years earlier in WCW. With hindsight we can say he did not deserve either.

Shit makes me cry everytime

Because they know it was a professional hit job

it hasn't been that way for a while now. you can watch his matches on peacock lol

Weirder that he remembers all these guys' penis sizes. Imagine Taker's orgasms though... OWWWWW MICHELLE

Fck that. Chris murdered his wife and children. Those are the facts.

😂😂😂😂

He really could cheat-lie-steal with the best of them!🌮

Add one more, and there’s the top 10.

​@@bMt5553Bret Hart

@@dethlady0 it appears I stand corrected, and I’m happy to be corrected on this.

I respect the Billy Kidman shout out. He always put on great matches.

@@joshuagumpert8910 Thanks for the reply! Yes I agree, Kidman is one of my favorites all time, fun to watch 😎

Tajiri has a good case for being the best male Japanese wrestler of all time. I probably ultimately would give it to Nakamura but Tajiri is definitely in the discussion.

@@joemckim1183 Kenta Kobashi, Misawa, Muta, Inoki, Rikidozan, Tiger Mask are all way above Nakamura and Tajiri. I do like Nak and Taj though.

RVD isn't really a small guy

He falls into Takers category, 6 foot or under. @@Querymonger

@TheTeddyGuy28 That’s a good list. Taker had some pretty good Hardcore matches with Taijiri and RVD during his Hardcore title run.

But it's also not excuse for his actions And also can't be proven that it caused it

Alcohol allergy is a thing, too.

​@@justinterry2926more believable than steroids. I'd say CTE and depression are 2 most believable and I agree theres no excuse for what he did. That said as a pro wrestler he was definitely a goat

CTE can only be detected after dissecting the brain. Last I knew.

You new to wrestling? Everyone gives Benoit's skills credit. He isn't celebrated loudly because he doesn't deserve to be. Regardless of what his circumstances were or weren't he's still a murderer.

Jericho and Angle aren't under 6', which is why I'm surprised to see Angle on the list.

@@JamesLarson47i guess its like the NBA. Its still “bigs and smalls” when the smalls are like 6ft- 6’3. Compared to the 7 footers they are small

​@@JamesLarson47 Being specific, the criteria was actually "6'0" and under." Both Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho are exactly 6'0" so they fit. And yeah it's like the NBA, where someone like Steph Curry, who is 6'2", would be considered a "small guy" if compared to other players. WWE is predominately a big man's world.

​@@JamesLarson47 He said "six foot and under" bud

@@JetWarriorare you stupid. Kurt was 5’10 in his prime and so was jericho now they are both just over 5’9

I’m with ya. Eddie had it all. Looking back, it’s really impressive the range he had. He could be the vicious heel or the lovable underdog baby face. His persona always felt believable and real. If I were a talent in the business today, that’s who I’d be trying to emulate.

Man when you put the roster on smack down with that perspective and names. What a banger of a show

I feel like if this list had been longer than he definitely would’ve been on. Probably number five if it was a top five.

Rey broke Taker's orbital bone

@@CosmikGamerand?

@@CosmikGamerwhat does that have to do with the list?

Rey is responsible for a lot of the trampoline garbage that Jim Cornette hates.

Angle and Benoit brought technical wrestling back to WWE in 2001. Two of my fav wrestlers.

Agreed. Taker's talking shop. As Paul Heyman once said: "Benoit as a performer; One of the best. As a human being: Horrid person for doing what he did". Taker's talking shop, so credit where credit's due I guess.

Gross.

What he did was inexcusable but i can still watch his matches and love it

​@@nicorojascastrocan someone with a mental condition really be horrid of it was out of their control? Was he of sound mind and body? I think there's alot about his condition that we truly don't know and are still learning.

You’re right no one will fully understand what happened, but the information that’s been found paints a good enough picture that people still claim as inexcusable when the man clearly wasn’t in the right state of mind where he had control over his actions. Something that happened because of years and years of head injuries because no one took them seriously until after what happened. Even though modern WWE isn’t all that great compared to back then, but at least they do everything they can to make sure there isn’t another situation similar to Benoit. Blame the era that didn’t take head injuries seriously.

It wasn't really the gear that killed Eddie. It was the hard drugs and heavy drinking. Most people would die if they took 100 percocets in a day, but he'd do that EVERY DAY and wash it down with a gallon of booze.

This would probably explain why he looked disproportionately jacked up top

Eddie had the best frog splash. I've never liked the other guy who felt the need to grab his chest and flop off the guy after his frog splash...

​​@@lemmymororhead1733RVD's version of the Frog Splash was 100x better than Guerrero. 2nd best was D'Lo Brown.

@atifqavi2054 are you serious? Your opinion... I detested him always falling off his opponent and grabbing his stomach... Eddie's was crisp.

I'm sure if undertaker could pick more he would of had Rey Mysterio on there. But it's not called a top 4 for nothing. Usually it's top 5, 10, 15 etc lol

He said his criteria was 6ft and under and Kurt is 6ft so....

​@@dcinsc6ft isn't really small though

I mean compared to a 6'10 guy it is.

I remember Rey Mysterio taking down Kevin Nash to win the WCW World Title. That shit was unreal! I loved it!

I was shocked also but then checked, Shawn Michaels is 6ft1, so he’s too tall for this list.

@@Vereid During his second run, Shawn was a small guy for sure. About 5'10 and 190 pounds. But pre back injury he wasn't small. In his match with Austin at WM14 he's easily 6'0 225 pounds and clearly on the juice. So I think Shawn only qualifies as small the last 8 years of his career.

@@crispycruiser4654 ah I see, that makes a lot of sense.

@@Vereid Yeah if you watch that match with Austin he's actually bigger than Austin, who was very lean at the beginning of his run. I think 1997 and prior HBK was just a shade over that small category. My cut off is about 6'0, 220 lbs. That is the standard Bret and Shawn both helped set in 1997. It was about as small as you could get while still being believable that you could still beat up the guy in the front row. You can't say the same for guys like CM Punk, Rey Mysterio or Daniel Bryan. These guys are REALLY small. We're talking 170 lbs and 2/3 are well under 6'0.

@@crispycruiser4654But Taker said 6 foot and under so Shawn still qualifies in that category

Bret and owen were above 6 feet weren't they?

Owen was 5'10 and Bret was 6'0.

I wouldn't consider Bret a smaller guy by any means.

Bret, Kurt and even Benoit are all around the same size, which is why I’m a little shocked Bret isn’t there.

Only a top 4 unfortunately

Calaway is no legend, he is a disgrace who disrespected a real legend - DDP.

Their two Smackdown matches from 02 and 06 were incredible also.

Helluva match

Definitely agree wish it was a wrestlemania match

@@Lostandtobefound 2002 or 2003? I think they had a match in 2002 with the infamous finish where Taker taps out while Angle's shoulders are on the mat which was alright, but their best SD match was in late 2003 although it suffers from a non-finish when Lesnar interferes. Similar fate to the 2006 match with Henry attacking Taker.

@@aaaa.7897 yes, apologies, 2003!

Except Kurt is not under 6' tall he is exactly 6' tall. Even in the Olympics he was listed at 6'

@@BBBYpsiAnd? Don’t shoot the messenger. Lol. Is he on Taker’s list or no? Write to Taker then, it’s his list, not mine. What I said stands, 6’ isn’t even tall in the industry. Kurt has also lost a little height-bumped into him back in 2018 here in Pgh. The man is a legend & he made Taker’s list for a reason.

@@hawkeyestiguy everyone looses height when they get older it is just a fact of life. I myself now 63 yrs old have lost 1 1/2 inches. I know some who have lost 3-4 inches or more.

@@BBBYpsi Obviously. Kurt has lost more from injuries, which is why I mentioned it. I’m not talking about natural height loss. As I said, Kurt is on Taker’s list, so if you don’t like it, take it up with him. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@BBBYpsi All this over literally an inch… 🤣

According to Bruce Prichard in a past interview, Eddie was supposed to face HBK at Mania 22 for the WHC, while Kurt Angle was going to face Taker

@@sancho578 Get absolutely lost. We're talking about his wrestling ability.

Chris Benoit sent a bunch of texts on Sunday, but the coroner said he died Saturday…and cops never found his phone. As well as Chris was found laying on the floor slumped against the machine…how did a dead guy get himself down? I’m not entirely convinced he did those things.

@@sancho578 that’s not why he has him on the list. I’m not condoning his actions but forgiving someone for what they did is not for them. It’s just saying that I’m finally in peace with myself on this tragedy & I’m ready to move on. Plus you can still love the wrestler & his work but hate what he did at the end of his life. Some people just want to remember his character & his work in the ring

I'm surprised Austin agreed to take them with all his neck problems.

Yeah, the wrestler was incredible, the human, not so much unfortunately

When Suplex city really started

@@AbridgimationThe man had extreme CTE. The act was horrible but that wasn’t him fam.

@@7reasons617 Yeah, it was his twin brother Charles Benoit