greatest of all time?

At one time or another, we've heard these arguments. I'm pretty sure we've all been in this argument, at one point or another. Pretty safe bet we've all got different views on this. Is there any way of proving just who the greatest of all time really is?

After all, there are so many generations of wrestlers throughout the years. Most of them will eventually be forgotten, after enough time has elapsed. If you want examples, how many people are familiar with George Hackensmidt? Lou Thesz? Gorgeous George? Ed "Strangler" Lewis?

Most fans might be familiar with those names, but that's about it. Fans would generally have to Google their names to have any clue who they are.

Now, let's try newer names. Vergne Gagne? Larry "The Ax" Hennig? Nick Bockwinkel? The Crusher? Mad Dog Vachon? Older fans will likely have fond memories of guys like this at different events. Even my dad, who was more of a casual viewer, remembers seeing the old AWA stars at a gas station he was working, during the 70s. He has a harder time remembering who all of them were, due to so much time passing, but that's to be expected.

I have a few memories of the older stars, but most of them were at the point they should've retired years ago (when I was first watching) or they were just coming close. Most of them had long since been past their glory when I saw my first match in the 80's.

This brings me to the next few examples. Hulk Hogan? Ric Flair? Dusty Rhodes? Harley Race? The Von Erichs? Fabulous Freebirds? These names would've been well known to my generation. In the case of Flair, Rhodes, and Race, they would've been familiar with older fans as well. Slightly younger fans would probably remember Hogan when he jumped ship to WCW or helped to form the NWO.

For fans in my generation, we'll remember moments like Hogan slamming Andre at WrestleMania 3, the formation of the 4 Horsemen, Rhodes' "hard times" promo (I believe you can still find it on YouTube), and various other moments.

Add another 10 years or so and fans even younger will remember the formation of the NWO, the Monday Night Wars, the Attitude Era and many things more.

The current generation of fans might be familiar with many of the people I've named. Some of these guys are occasionally seen in managerial roles, such as Ric Flair. Some, such as Dusty Rhodes, they've seen in segments involving different wrestlers. Some may have watched old matches on the WWE Network, YouTube, or DVDs.

Speaking of greats, who are considered the greats now? John Cena? Randy Orton? Triple H?

Attitude Era fans would probably count Undertaker, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and others.

This leads me to ask the all important question. Can we accurately determine who the greatest really is? Not 100%. Most people that are being honest will admit that it's really determined on a generation by generation basis. With so many names to look up, there's no way most fans can accurately figure this out.

Historians likely can't answer this 100%. About the best anyone can do is give their opinions on who they think is the greatest, based off a variety of factors. This would include who were the biggest draws of their era, length of title reigns, how many titles they held, if they had memorable and/or historic matches and so on.

Even then, is there any way of truly determining who the greatest were? I doubt it. Perhaps, if time allows, I could go into why I feel certain people should be given credit.