Stephen A. Smith's All-Time Wrestling Ranking Is Horrible. Goldberg At No. 1?

Between John Cena’s upcoming retirement and the death of Hulk Hogan, debates about the greatest wrestlers of all time have resurfaced across the sports world this year. Even ESPN host Stephen A. Smith has participated. 

On First Take Tuesday, Smith showed his all-time list to WWE superstar Dominik Mysterio. Suffice it to say, Smith’s list is … suspect.

He ranks Bill Goldberg No. 1, followed by Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Rock and The Road Warriors at No. 5.

Take a look:

While you never want to knock a man for his wrestling opinions, Stephen A.’s list is objectively bad. It’s horrible.

Look, Goldberg is a WCW legend who had a strong run. But he’s not a top-20 professional wrestler, let alone the greatest of all time.

Flair is absolutely in the top five, but No. 2 is aggressive. The knock on Flair has always been that he was never quite the mainstream attraction that Hogan, The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin were.

Speaking of Austin, Smith's decision not to include him at all is disqualifying. At his peak in the late 1990s, Stone Cold was the most popular wrestler in the history of the business.

For me, the debate for G.O.A.T. begins and ends with Hogan vs. Austin. Hogan was more influential and enjoyed a longer run. However, his ego helped sink both WCW and TNA as legitimate WWE competitors. Austin’s prime was shorter, but it represented the absolute pinnacle of pro wrestling.

You can’t go wrong with The Rock. His run was relatively brief — he left for Hollywood—  but among the memorable in wrestling history. To this day, no one gets a bigger pop than The Rock.

At No. 5, we can’t get behind The Road Warriors. Don’t get me wrong, they were iconic. But there are wrestlers with far stronger cases. Just to name a few: John Cena, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bruno Sammartino, Roman Reigns, Bret Hart, Andre the Giant, and Sting.

Stephen A. should leave the wrestling takes to others.