10 Best foreign superstars in WWE History
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!