Ken Shamrock

[10.0] "This is a matter of personal preference, but the way Shamrock synthesized the nascent MMA style into pro wrestling was my favorite example of any such effort. Although I can be impressed by the technical wizardry of something like the RINGS promotion, my aesthetic ideal for how "shoot style" looks in worked wrestling can be summed up in what Shamrock brought to the table against Vader. For someone with so many stops, starts, detours and a near death experience along the way, Shamrock simply got pro wrestling. I've always been a peak over longevity guy in other professional sports, and this one is no exception. Don't let him get into his zone!"

[9.0] "If you ask me, Ken Shamrock absolutely ruled when he was in the WWF. He had an awesome look, a serious and believable moveset, and a way of executing his moves so that they looked just awesome. At least he held the Intercontinental and Tag titles and he was KOTR but man, it feels like a travesty that he didn't hold the big one at least once. Must have been because he was pretty terrible at cutting promos. He has never come off as the brightest crayon in the box, at ANY time, even during UFC press conferences. This is unfortunately probably what held him back but damn man, Shamrock was one of my legit favorites. I was also a fan of UFC back then and it's tough to be a fan of early UFC and not like Ken Shamrock. It was easy to buy him as unstable and on the edge and so it made the times he "snapped" or went "in the zone" believable. He was I believe the first to use the Ankle Lock regularly and his actually looked truly painful."

[6.0] "Shamrock is tough to analyze, because a lot of his positive aspects as a worker came from his potential. He was an undeniable attraction, and he did have the potential to become a truly great in-ring worker, but he just never put it all together. One of Shamrock's biggest flaws was that he felt like a typical WWE style pro wrestler with some MMA influence rather than an MMA fighter who could also work a psychology-heavy style, and there is a big difference between the two. Shamrock's matches often felt disjointed, he would put on some very good mat work, and then move onto getting in random spots that often seemed unnecessary. I don't think focusing on a more pro wrestler style is necessarily a bad thing, even for those with a shoot fighter background, but Shamrock simply did not display the psychology and ring awareness you would expect for a fighter of his caliber. Shamrock could put on good matches given that he had a solid hand in the ring with him, such as the Harts, or he worked a more traditional MMA style, but his lack of versatility and inability to truly a tell a story in the ring ultimately hampered his overall quality as a performer and does give him a firm midcard ceiling."

[9.0] "Shamrock is the type of wrestler that brings legitimacy with his MMA background. He was a great pick by NWA:TNA to be their first champion"

[8.0] "One of the best MMA competitors that transitioned into pro wrestling. He had a great WWF run with an amazing rivalry with The Rock in 1998. He also had a good feud with Owen Hart with the first Lion's Den match and the Dungeon match. His TNA run was very lackluster, but he became the first NWA champ under TNA."

[8.0] "Probably the best MMA star turned wrestler(Brock doesn't count since he was doing pro wrestling well before he started MMA)he had great intensity and a cool move set, he was hit or miss in the ring, but a lot of that could be due to the fact that the attitude era had shorter matches. I think he had world champ potential, but sadly he left before he could get over the hump"

[9.0] "Hands down the best MMA fighter to transition into pro wrestling (granted he had wrestled before). He brought martial arts intensity into worked matches like no other."

[7.0] "When he initially came into WWF, he was absolute money. He just looked like he would murder anyone who stood in front of him, and of course he could have for real. The introduction match against Vader was great (props to Vader) but the crowd didn't get and that seemed to sour Vince on him pretty quick and his potential was never realised in WWF and it wasn't really his fault. He had a great run in Japan before moving on to Pancrase where he was allowed to really showcase his style."

[8.0] "Coming from the MMA world, Shamrock adapted rather quickly to the pro wrestling business. He played an integral role in one of the best and most important matches in WWE history in Austin vs. Bret at WrestleMania 13, and he fit with the direction WWE were heading in during the late 1990s. Shamrock was never a great promo guy but he didn't need to be, as his unmatched intensity was what made him branch out in a roster filled with all kinds of different personalities. He could have a good match with anyone and his moveset was truly unique. Shamrock didn't reach his full potential through no fault of his own, but he still had a good run nonetheless."

[7.0] "When he was in the wwf he could of been a top guy, he probably just was not their long enough any other era I think Shamrock would be, , His rivalry with The rock elevated The Rock into becoming a star, his mma background an over the top temper when he got in the zone, was funny but probably very scary if you came near him, he was one of the best in ring wrestlers of the attitude era as he made matches look legit, just wish he stayed around longer, but real fighting was more important to him as it should be if your a an athlete"

[7.0] "Shamrock should have been a bigger star. He had the in ring skills, look and the legit MMA background needed to become a huge star. He did not have the charisma and promo skills but those could have been covered up."

[7.0] "One of the better "outside guys" transitioning into pro wrestling. Dude had the look like he could kick the crap out of anyone and his crazy psycho rage worked well. He was only lacking in the promo department. If he stuck around longer, he could have had a nice little feud with Kurt Angle over who is the better wrestler/shoot fighter. Left the WWF too soon."

[8.0] "A natural intense charisma that sometimes had me rooting hard, other times laughing possibly harder. Notably HIDEOUSLY BAD promo skills, one of the top ten terrible mic guys - but sometimes it's so laughable that it works. Insanely great physique that must be praised. In the WWF, he was a perfect fit for the moment and bowed out on his own terms - commendable!"

[7.0] "In another universe Shamrock becomes the Brock Lesnar of the 90's. Not perhaps as good, but he was getting there. He had some great atheticism and obviously had the look that promoters will stab other people to get working for them. And Shamrock was a big draw! In Japan, anyway. He was one of the biggest stars in PWFG alongside one of the most respected grapplers in the business, beating virtually everyone and almost never eating a clean job. Left there and went to Pancrase, became a big star there before going on to UFC and likewise. WWE was a last-resort and not something he was particularly interested in following though with, but I thought he did fine with what he had, even if he was mostly undercard fodder and because of the way matches were done at the time, the guy couldn't really adapt proper. He always felt a bit stiff in the ring, a bit clunky, and it was obvious this wasn't his main passion, because as soon as MMA started getting hot again he was out of the door. Never great in the ring as a result, and I felt like a guy with as much as he had could've been a lot bigger overall. The main issue was that, well, Shamrock couldn't talk to save his life. He wasn't a good promo at all, and you can quickly see how that effects his image as a badass when he can't even cut a basic 1/2 promo without a lot of awkwardness. While I'm amazed by the shoot-style stuff I've seen out of him, he never really hit those peaks again or could translate his work into a more general style like a Dan Severn or whatnot. Not bad, but never got truly great."

[10.0] "In my opinion, he was the original trailblazer for guys who started in wrestling, left it to conquer another sport (UFC/Pancrase), and then came back an even bigger star because 98% of the people never knew he wrestled before. They just thought he was a MMA superfight champion who came in, picked wrestling up quickly, and became one of the most recognized faces of the attitude era. Anyway, Ken was my exposure to the UFC, at one time he really was the world's most dangerous man -- there was no gimmick about it, and I don't think WWF used him to his full potential honestly. He was solid in the ring (especially if you consider most were under the mindset that he never wrestled before 1997), he was a consistent part of the storylines for the whole two years he was there, and yeah to my point whileago I thought he was underutilized in WWF. Felt like he could have had a run with Austin and even been WWF champion if they let allowed it."

[9.0] "A real life badass, legit shooter who back in his prime could beat up anyone, who wasn? t wearing pajamas, to choke him with. Yes, he was on vitamins, but everyone from Jericho, Bret Hart, Austin, plus absolutely everybody in the 80s (except Hulk Hogan, of course? he never took anything, I mean he said it himself! ) was on them too at one point or another, so what. He was not the most natural talker, but a very intense individual. It? s a shame that his stint in WWF changed his actual fighting style, as he stopped shooting for takedowns in his real fights, because of the injuries and tried to become a stand up fighter/striker, which didn? t work for him and his mma career took a turn for worse. He looked like a million bucks, he could legitimately beat you up, a real tough guy."

[7.0] "I struggle to rate this shooter/fighter/wrestler over his long career. How do we take into account his very green 'Vince Torelli' run? Looking at his rookie UWF work, how do we assess it? Do I weigh more heavily his shockingly good PWFG run, where Masa Funaki, Minoru Suzuki and Kenny Wanye ran shop and looked miles ahead of everyone else in that organization? Do we talk about the handful of worked matches he had in the mostly legit shoot Pancrase? Or do we talk about his overachieving WWE run where he was one of the hardest working men in the ring -- beloved by wrestlers who are now legends for the WWE like The Rock, Mankind and The Undertaker? He even had huge influence over them, in introducing The Undertaker to MMA, for better or worse. I just wish he took less unprotected chair shots FFS."

[6.0] "Shamrock is kind of funny because he was a real-life badass, but as a wrestler he was mostly ok. His moveset was pretty shallow and he had to dial back his striking a lot. His character work wasn't anything to write home about but he was fine. A solid midcarder for many years that sometimes masqueraded as a main event guy."

[7.0] "While his matches got to be pretty repetitive after a while given his shallow moveset, he executed what he knew really well and was surprisingly good on the mic. IMO he was never a fit for the uppercard matches, but he kept the middlecard steady and interesting for a couple years."

[4.0] "This rating is completely based on his latest run. He was never a great wrestler but he was at least good but not anymore."

[9.0] "This man is a steroided up psychopath and I love him. Ken Shamrock might've not had the deepest moveset but he had a lot of entertaining matches under his belt and a great character of just being violent as humanly possible."

[5.0] "He had the look, and he was a legit badass, his matches were nothing special though, and his promo and character work were pretty bad"

[7.0] "Another wrestler from the Attitude Era that was enjoyable to watch he was tough, dangerous and awesome to look at but never had the ? Vince Push? to hit the main event level (or at least stay there) but I loved Ken! Let? s not talk about the sister(real life) girlfriend angle!"

[8.0] "Coming from UFC back when that promotion was still a bit of a myth with how dangerous it was, Ken Shamrock had a great thing going for him right out of the gate. I remember seeing him on the ABC show where they dubbed him the "most dangerous man in America" and WWE certainly loved to throw around that moniker willingly. His intensity at the time was unmatched & being one of the first guys to have the shoot-fighter gimmick worked well. He ultimately never ascended to main event level, but he was consistently a great upper midcarder with well rounded skills. The chairshot he took in the face from Rock is tattooed in my brain."

[9.0] "One of the best wrestlers during the 1990s. He contributed a fair amount to the shoot-style scene in PWFG and Pancrase, and later showed his worth in MMA. His work in the WWF only confirmed his all-around ability as a wrestler and entertainer."

[10.0] "Very Innovative when he came to professional wrestling, Ken Shamrock was definitely underrated, he had great matches with The Rock, and his intensity has yet to be matched."

[8.0] "Had an aura and energy around him that allowed him to remain a serious threat to anyone on the roster for the duration of his WWE run. Between the runs with the IC and Tag titles and his King of the Ring victory Shamrock was a decorated performer in the Attitude Era and was clearly ahead of the times when you look at other UFC/MMA figures like Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey and Matt Riddle. He's been unfairly erased from WWE's history in my opinion and I think of a Hall of Fame induction could be justified. In addition to his UFC and WWE success, he had a brief run as the NWA World's Champion in the early days of Impact Wrestling. He certainly left his mark on the sport and should be remembered fondly."

[6.0] "As an MMA fighter, Shamrock was great for his time. But as a pro wrestler, Shamrock was limited, and he needed the kind of protective booking that the WWF simply didn't have the willingness or ability to provide."

[7.0] "A legendary MMA fighter. however, as a wrestler I don't feel that he's had that many standout performances. He's certainly not on the level of a Minoru Suzuki or even a Kazushi Sakuraba. Despite this, he is a decent worker who had a hard hitting style and good submission based offense and he played the "MMA badass" role well"

[10.0] "A legit badass that was very underrated, Shamrock should have gotten a longer run with the IC title. Also would have been a great fit for the WWF title in late 97."

[6.0] "I'm giving him a 6 based on his lack of charisma or mic skills. fun to watch in the ring, but just horrible on the mic. Would rather watch him fight in MMA to be honest."

[10.0] "One of my favorites. His gimmick, well was no gimmick. He was literally the best MMA fighter in the world at the time he came to the WWWF. He was a tremendous mat wrestler with an outstanding physique. His interviews were not exceptionally strong, but that was consistent with his real life MMA personna. He had a nice run with both the intercontinental and tag titles concurrently. Injuries and a burning desire to return to MMA ended what should have been a Hall of Fame career. Still time for a comeback?"

[10.0] "An absolute beast in the ring. Sure, he wasn't much on talking, but with skills like his, he didn't need to be."

[7.0] "He was certainly entertaining and a good athlete, but lacking in mic skills. He played the killer badass role well."