The best wrestler from each of the 50 United States
My friends, get ready for a big one.
Professional wrestling has been a popular form of entertainment since the 1800’s. Starting out as a travelling carnival act in post-Civil War America, it eventually became the main attraction that drew audiences that could rival those of professional baseball games or boxing matches. Since then, there have been some ebbs and flows in the popularity of pro-wrestling, but nevertheless, it remains a well-known and respected art form.
Well, respected to some, but I digress -
Given that pro-wrestling has been around for such a long time in America, it would seem fairly obvious that people all across the country have wished to become a part of the act. And it’s true. In fact, there is at least one pro-wrestler (or pro-wrestling figure, as you’ll see later) from each of the 50 United States. Therefore, I'm going to list the best wrestler from each US state, as well as Washington D.C.
For this list, there were a variety of factors, including where the wrestler was born, where the wrestler was raised or spent most of their life, and where the wrestler was billed from. Naturally, I put a lot less focus on the latter, as some wrestlers are billed from areas that either don’t exist or that they’ve never lived in. So, sorry to anyone who was expecting to see Dude Love take New Mexico. I also focused on in-ring ability, but even more so on each performer’s impact on the industry.
Please keep in mind that most of these selections are opinion-based and you do not have to agree with me, so feel free to leave your selections in the comments below. Also, I would like to mention that a great number of states were an absolute nightmare to choose just one wrestler for (looking at you, Texas), so we will include a few honourable mentions if need be.
Anyway, before I bore you to death, let’s get on with the list! We'll begin with the capital.
WASHINGTON D.C. - Batista
Batista was a rather easy pick for this list. I mean, he was one of the biggest things to come out of the Ruthless Aggression Era, he was arguably the true breakout star of Evolution, and today he’s one of the most well-known former wrestlers in Hollywood.
In the mid-to-late 2000's, Batista was inarguably a "top guy" for the company. He won five World Championships across WWE and OVW, two WWE Championships, four Tag Team Championships, and two Royal Rumbles, being one of the only seven men to win the match more than once. It didn't matter that he wasn't a fantastic mic worker or a technical wizard - the ladies loved him, the men wanted to be like him.
Though many die-hard wrestling fans often criticize Batista, one cannot deny that he was a lot better than he had any right to be, and he was certainly one of the biggest WWE-bred stars in recent memory. For this, Batista is the greatest professional wrestler to come from the District of Colombia.