TOP FIVE LIST: The top entrances in pro wrestling from Ric Flair to Ultimate Warrior to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who made the best entrances

I often find myself having the time to write for this column on Thursdays or Fridays , which leaves the happenings on AEW Dynamite fresh on my mind. I am absolutely loving the recent access to Lucha Libre. As an admitted WCW fanboy, I was in my teen years when seeing the likes of Rey Mysterio Jr, Psicosis, and, while technically Japanese, Ultimo Dragon.

I saw these characters swing in and out on Monday Nitro and would listen to Mike Tenay talk about the history and the characters that made professional wrestling different south of the border of what I was accustomed to. I’d try to catch articles in Pro Wrestling Illustrated and pay attention when a new star would show up, but I never got all I wanted to know about most of them. I would still be left with questions. “Who’s this Super Calo guy? What makes him want to wrestle with sunglasses on? What was with the 90’s inspired hip-hop gear?”

Sometimes on the weekends, I would be able to catch AAA or CMLL on a local Spanish language affiliate, but I didn’t know the language to learn what I wanted to about the character. I am hopeful that with global growth we can see more companies embrace the ability to subtitle their products. In a post-“Parasite” and “Squidgames” world, it has become widely accepted to watch an entertainment program in a different language. Anime nerds were well ahead on this!

Leaving the show, the biggest impression left on me was Místico’s entrance. A very different presentation than what we’ve seen in AEW, and hopefully erases much of the collective memory of Sin Cara. I’ve always thought that MLW did a nice job helping their audience understand the gravity of how big of a star this performer is in Mexico, but – WOW!

This was next level. The crowd knew the song, when to cheer for the poses, and were in the palm of the hands of Místico for that entrance. There is so much that goes into a wrestler’s entrance. If it was just the song, this list would be easy, and Mark Henry coming out to Three 6 Mafia would be numbers 1-5. But one has to think about more than just the sounds of the song: What type of energy does the song give off? What is the character they are portraying, and does the tune, tone, and lyrics support that? How does one walk to the ring? When do they pose? Is there enough equity with the audience for them to care? Could you name that tune in one note?

Like any top five list, we all have our own criteria that we look at, but this is my column, and how I see them.

Ultimate Warrior

When writing about an aspect of someone’s presentation, you have the chance to deconstruct what it was that put them in the position they were in. In the case of Mr Warrior, first name… eh… Warrior? The character played by a man once legally known as Jim Hellwig was 80 percent what I am writing about today, an entrance.

When you would hear most talk about Warrior when he was alive, it wasn’t often positive. This isn’t a place to pick the man apart though, but rather seeing what it was that captured the imagination of millions of fans who enjoyed him.

The high-energy music, his matching energy in every mannerism – whether he was running, shaking the ropes, or simply making a facial expression – all came together with the body, the colors on his face and attire, as well as the television shows’ claims of this guy being the next big hero to pay attention to worked. There are still casual fans of a certain era who still consider him to be one of the greats.

“American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes

Sometimes it’s not the person who invented something that gets the credit, but the one who just does the best job with the creation. Cody Rhodes did not invent using a song with catchy lyrics, or to kick it off with a catchphrase. He is far from the first to have a specific predictable rhythm to how the entrance is laid out. Cody isn’t the only person who has used a rising platform or pyro either. Where Cody excels is doing everything better than anyone else.

The sing-along entrance song was popularized with him. No one sang along with Randy Orton’s songs all along. I don’t remember crowds learning every word to any of Triple H’s Motörhead tracks. He’s had good mentors along the way, most of all his father Dusty Rhodes. Read Dusty’s biography sometime and you’ll see why Cody is on top, and it’s because he’s learned things from the absolute best. When both kids and long time fans that can be cynical are all bought into the same thing, if only for a moment, lighting really was captured in a jar.

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“Nature Boy” Ric Flair

So many wrestling fans of certain ages knew the song that was played at graduations first because it was used by “Macho Man” Randy Savage, as well as the theme “2001: A Space Odyssey” because Ric Flair came out to the ring to the song. The way Flair would slowly make his way to the ring, often with that big gold championship title, and gave a presentation that you were about to see something special. The placement and pace at which he’d open and remove his robe made it seem like the song was written specifically for Flair’s entrance. I wouldn’t watch the film it was written for until many years later.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin

There are two obvious choices when writing this top five list. In the hottest era where everyone was watching the same things, based on availability, everyone knew that when you heard the glass break, whether you had Jim Ross on the call or not, that business was about to pick up. Steven Austin would walk out with a swagger in his walk as every step was paced with the rhythm of the song. It was brash and loud and started that way, perfectly setting you up to understand the character that is coming out.

Undertaker

I had a therapist for a while who told me a story of the time she went to WrestleMania. She was never into wrestling, but enjoyed it for what it was and was seeing a guy at the time who was very much into wrestling. When she told me that she joined him at a WrestleMania, I of course had all the questions for details as though I was my wife hearing about a baby being born. “What year? Where were your seats? What was your favorite match?”

To my surprise, and a little anger inducement because she didn’t appreciate it, she was at the WrestleMania where The Undertaker had his first in the two match series with Shawn Michaels. We figured it out based on the year and city, not because she was any good at answering my questions. She had very little memory of the show other than it was big, it was loud, it was a fun night out, and her boyfriend thought it was incredible.

She told me she only had one vivid memory from the evening. She said that she can close her eyes, think about it, and remember right where she was sitting for the smoke, the music, and the overall pageantry of The Undertaker’s entrance. She told me she could recall the temperature of the building and the way the venue smelled. That’s a lasting impact, a presentation of a character who knew who he was and why he was out there.

We are talking about a wrestler who’s supposed to be portraying a dead person who wrestled. Ask the WWECW Zombie how that worked for him. It was the man in that role that knew all the right choices for his character to be the right fit to become a legend among superstars.