By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. We’ve been counting down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit
5: Trish Stratus
4. Owen Hart
3. Edge
2. Chris Jericho

1: Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 234 lbs.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Greatest Match: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin – Wrestlemania 13 – Submission Match

“If wrestling is so real, then why don’t they post the results in the Sports section of the newspaper?” – Gordon W. Holmes Jr.

That’s the comment my dad liked to hit me with whenever I brought up wrestling as a kid. You see, my dad hates wrestling. With a capital “H,” underlined, and italicized the man hates wrestling. He hates the hype, he hates the costumes, but most of all he hates the fakeness.

Quick Question: Why do wrestlers get slapped with the “fake” label but the Harlem Globetrotters don’t? Why should Fred “Curly” Neal be more respected than Bruno Sammartino?

But in the late ’80s when the then-WWF would roll into St. Louis, my dad would do what all dads who’ve ever taken their kids to Miley Cyrus concerts have done; he scored a few tickets, paid a ridiculous parking fee, and was bored for a few hours just to make his kid smile.

It was on one of those trips that I first saw Bret Hart wrestle in person. Don’t get me wrong: I was there to see Hulk Hogan ram the Big Boss Man’s head into a steel cage and “Macho Man” Randy Savage defend his WWF Title in a street fight against Bad News Brown, but I was also very excited to see Bret.

Quick Aside: My neighbor was convinced that Bad News Brown was going to bring a gun to the street fight because “Everything was legal.” Being a kid is great.

Next to the Hulkster, Bret Hart was my favorite wrestler. This makes no sense because I was too young to appreciate technical wrestling and he was really only little more than one half of a mid-card tag team at that point.

But I do know this: When I’d wrestle my friends in my basement (then known as the Gordon’s Basement Wrestling Federation or GBWF), I went by the moniker Gordon “The Hitman” Holmes.

Legal Notice: Kids, don’t wrestle in your basement.

That’s why I never buy the knock that Bret didn’t have charisma. He obviously had something about him that drew a dumb kid like me in. Whether it was the contrast of his laid-back coolness in an organization of angry muscleheads or something else, he obviously had a lot of people hooked.

Now, odds are if you know anything about wrestling the first time you saw that Canadianoftheweek.com was doing a ranking of Canadian wrestlers you had Bret Hart pegged as the number one pick. And, the list of reasons why Bret deserves this lofty position were already discussed during last week’s Chris Jericho post.

However, if you’re new to this, I’ll lay them out for you…

• Bret was a five-time WWE champion back when that was an impressive accomplishment.
• Bret helped usher in the era of smaller, more technically sound wrestlers.
• While he may hate to acknowledge this, Bret was a big part of getting the freakishly successful “Attitude” era off the ground.
• Bret had amazing matches with a wide variety of talent. I chose Hart/Austin from Wrestlemania 13 as his greatest match, but could have easily been talked into Bret vs. Owen Hart from Wrestlemania X, Bret vs. Shawn Michaels from Wrestlemania XII, Bret vs. Davey Boy Smith from Summerslam ’92, or even Bret vs. Austin from Survivor Series ’96.
• Bret’s popularity (especially outside of the U.S.) was at or near the top of the heap during the ’90s.

So, that being said, let me lay out one more.

It was about halfway through his match with the Honky Tonk Man that night that Bret Hart was whipped chest-first into the turnbuckles. Now, if you’re any kind of wrestling fan, you know that’s how Bret tended to take his corner bumps. It’s swift, violent, and very impressive.

Even my father thought so.

I’ll never forget the look on his face as he watched Bret crumple into a ball on the mat. As the referee checked on Bret, my dad even said, “Is he OK?”

When the Honky Tonk Man eventually pushed the ref aside and started kicking Bret in the chest my dad realized he’d been had. It was all part of the show. My dad laughed, feeling kind of silly for buying into it.

To me that was one of the best facets of Bret’s work, it was always kind of real with him. Be it his crisp moves or the way he’d sell weird things like a finger, you’d always buy it.

Even the way he won the World Title from Ric Flair supports this statement. Bret’s first reign started after a shocking win over the champion in a throwaway show that never aired on television. If wrestling were real that’d happen all the time. There’s no way a champion could dominate a top challenger 25 times out of 25 attempts on a wrestling tour.

So yeah, Bret getting my dad to believe (even if it was only for a second) didn’t make it into the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s Sports page, but it was certainly news to me.

Oddly enough, the paper didn’t even cover the news that Bad News Brown had shot “Macho Man” Randy Savage to death en route to winning the WWE Title. Or so I would lead my neighbor to believe…

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit
5: Trish Stratus
4. Owen Hart
3. Edge

2: Chris Jericho
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 231 lbs.
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Greatest Match: Chris Jericho/Chris Benoit vs. Triple H/Steve Austin – May 21, 2001

When canadianoftheweek.com approached me about writing a list of the 10 best Canadian wrestlers of the modern era, two questions ran through my mind.

1. Why does a guy from Seattle run a site about Canadians?

2. If Bret Hart is obviously first, who’s second through tenth?

Quick Aside: Yeah, I gave away next week’s entry. Don’t act surprised.

Another Quick Aside: If I can get through next week’s entry without using the word “Montreal,” I’ll receive a special Internet award. Apparently it hasn’t been done since late 1997.

Yet Another Quick Aside: Yes, leaving Roddy Piper off of this list was intentional. The Roddy Piper from 1985 to 1987 belongs high on this list. From 1989 and on the only thing I’ve really enjoyed of his was his brief feud with Bret Hart over the Intercontinental title. From then on he’s been all Hillary Clinton jokes and brutally boring matches. And, as usual, that’s just one guy’s opinion.

It wasn’t until I sat down and hammered out who belonged where that I realized a strong case could be made for Chris Jericho taking over Bret’s top spot…a surprisingly strong case.

I know, blasphemy. But, stick with me.

I tried breaking the two down into parallels. Bret’s pre-WWE stay in Stampede Wrestling was marked by phenomenal matches with a wide variety of performers. Jericho had awesome runs in WAR, SMW, and ECW before finally making the jump to the big leagues in WCW.

Son of Quick Aside: I saw Jericho and some guy named Rob Van Dam square off against the Eliminators in Reading, PA in ECW. One of the best matches I’ve ever seen live.

After being ignored a bit, Bret and his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart (as the Hart Foundation) had a great run on the top of the WWE tag division. It could be argued that the WWE tag ranks were the most entertaining part of the late ’80s WWE. In comparison, Jericho spun his wheels in WCW when he first entered. However, he took off once he created his “Conspiracy Victim” persona, dominating the Cruiserweight title. It could be argued that the WCW Cruiserweight division was the most entertaining part of WCW in the late ’90s.

Bret eventually took off in the singles ranks, proving that smaller, technical wrestlers could get over in McMahon’s land of muscle freaks. This helped pave the way for Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, and others. Jericho eventually jumped to WWE and his popularity soared, proving to WCW wrestlers that WWE was the place to be for pushing new talent. This helped pave the way for Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and others.

After a long run at or near the top of the card, Bret Hart went on an extended hiatus after dropping a match to the next big thing Shawn Michaels. When he returned the landscape of the industry had changed and his face character wasn’t getting over like it used to. Bret revitalized his career by becoming the hottest heel the industry had seen in years. And while he was at it he turned in maybe some of the best performances of his career in his white-hot feud with Steve Austin.

After a long run at or near the top of the card, Chris Jericho retired after dropping a match to the next big thing John Cena. When he returned the landscape of the industry had changed and his witty, rock-and-roll character wasn’t getting over like it used to. Jericho revitalized his career by becoming the hottest heel the industry had seen in years. And while he was at it he turned in maybe some of the best performances of his career in his white-hot feud with Shawn Michaels.

With all of that being said, at the end of the day I did choose Bret over Jericho for two reasons. First, Bret was the main focus of the WWE for a time while Jericho’s biggest title reign (his Unified title run) played second fiddle to the nWo and Stephanie McMahon’s dog. And second, Bret’s freakish international popularity (in Germany in particular) is nearly impossible to top.

However, Jericho is still a top-notch performer. And who knows? Jericho’s still young, active and talented. He very well could overtake Bret one day.

And for those of you who think I was stretching with the Bret/Jericho parallels, here’s one more for you; they both won their most recent WWE titles after Shawn Michaels clobbered the Undertaker.

Creepy, I know.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit
5: Trish Stratus
4. Owen Hart

3: Edge
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 240 lbs.
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Greatest Match: Edge/Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz – Wrestlemania X-Seven

Question: What do Bret Hart, the Undertaker, Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, and Harley Race all have in common?

Answer: None of them have won as many World Championships in their long, illustrious careers as Edge has.

For those who aren’t keeping score at home, Edge has nine World Championship reigns.

Nine.

In fact, only three men have more World Title reigns than Edge: Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Triple H.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Gordon, those three guys aren’t Canadian. So, why isn’t Edge the greatest Canadian wrestler of the modern era?”

Well, I’ll tell you. Edge managed to amount that obscene number of World Titles in less than four years. This is due to three things: there are two World Championships, thus two World Champs at a time; titles change hands much more frequently than they used to (case in point: Jeff Hardy is a three-time champion and has zero successful PPV title defenses); and Edge’s “Ultimate Opportunist” gimmick.

The third reason may be the most damning. While I think the gimmick is very successful in generating heel heat, it may be hurting him in the long run. Of the nine World Title victories Edge has enjoyed, four fall into the “Edge Steals World Title In Surprise Matches” genre…

January 8, 2006 – Edge defeats John Cena by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.

May 8, 2007 – Edge defeats the Undertaker by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.

November 23, 2008 – Edge defeats Triple H and Vladmir Kozlov in a match in which Edge replaced Jeff Hardy at the last moment.

February 15, 2009 – Edge wins an Elimination Chamber match over John Cena, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Mike Knox, and Kane. Edge wasn’t originally scheduled for this match; he attacked Kofi Kingston before the match and stole his spot.

Surely seeing Edge win this many titles in such a short period of time under such cheap circumstances has to fall under the law of diminishing returns. (You know, you eat one Big Mac, you’re not as interested in having another Big Mac immediately afterwards).

So now Edge is in the midst of his first-ever face push toward a World Championship. Is it going to fall flat? Probably.

Does anyone, even the most hardcore Triple H fan in the world, still get excited when Triple H claims another title?

Doubtful.

The same holds true for Edge. If he spears Chris Jericho and claims his tenth World Title at Wrestlemania X-Sixteen (sorry, couldn’t resist) will anyone care? It certainly won’t hold even close to the same significance as Shawn Michaels’ “Boyhood Dream” victory or Steve Austin’s “Kicking Off the Austin Era” victory.

In this era where World Titles are being passed around the locker room like Missy Hyatt, this lack of strong pushes and lengthy reigns is killing newly minted main event stars like Edge, Jeff Hardy and CM Punk.

Just going by the numbers, Edge is head and shoulders over our No. 1 and No. 2 best Canadian wrestlers of the modern era (which are coming in the next two weeks). But when you look beyond the numbers, he’s a distant third.

Now, I don’t want anyone to take this article the wrong way — Edge is an extremely talented worker who cuts strong promos and portrays an entertaining character. But basically, Edge is the Barry Bonds of wrestling. He’s got the numbers, they just don’t mean as much as they used to.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit
5: Trish Stratus

4: Owen Hart
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 227 lbs.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Greatest Match: Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – Wrestlemania X

If this list was about the most beloved Canadian wrestlers of the modern era, you’d have had to wait three more weeks for the Owen Hart article.

Sure, some will say that people view Owen with rose-colored glasses since his unfortunate accident in May 1999, but I’d disagree. In a business fraught with con men, carnies, and creeps (how’s that for alliteration) you never really heard a bad thing about Owen Hart.

Maybe it was his legendary sense of humor. Seriously, if the WWE released a three-DVD set of former superstars telling Owen prank stories, I’d buy it in a second.

Maybe it was because he was a family man. In his book “Have a Nice Day,” Mick Foley tells stories about how Owen rarely went out after shows so he could save money. Apparently the only reason Owen wrestled was to make enough money so his family could live comfortably. Owen’s goal wasn’t championships or magazine covers, it was early retirement so he could spend his days with his kids in Calgary.

In fact, if the pay at the fire station had been equal to that of a WWE superstar, Owen would have rather done that and stayed home.

But alas, this list is more based on a person’s in-ring work, microphone skills, and overall influence than it is on their behind-the-scenes attitude.

As luck would have it, Owen excelled in all of those areas too.

In-Ring Work: Anyone who’s ever seen Owen’s matches with his brother Bret Hart, his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, or his family’s natural enemy Shawn Michaels will attest that Owen was in the upper echelon of workers in the ’90s. Tippity top on the list of Owen’s best matches would have to be his Wrestlemania X classic with Bret and his European Title tournament final against Davey Boy. Both matches are excellent examples of flow and storytelling without having to lean on gimmicks or weapons.

Microphone Skills: Owen may be responsible for one of the most memorable slip ups in interview history with his classic “Kick your leg out of your leg” miscue from the ’94 Royal Rumble, but other than that he was usually very solid. Both Bret and Owen had to walk a very fine line in their feud so as not to make Owen look sympathetic to his more successful brother, but they both pulled it off perfectly. And then there were the Slammy Awards…

Championships come and go, but once you win a prestigious Slammy Award they can never take it away from you. When Owen claimed his second award (I say claimed, he didn’t technically win it, he just took it) the bragging speech that followed was pure gold.

Overall Influence: Owen very well could have been the prototype for the geeky heel characters that were later perfected by Edge and Christian. You could even make the argument that the Blue Blazer persona that Owen was developing before his tragic accident (“I always take my vitamins, say my prayers, and drink my milk!”) was a big influence on Shane Helms’s Hurricane gimmick and Kurt Angle’s World’s Toughest Nerd character.

More important than that is Owen’s influence on North American wrestling. Owen helped usher in a style that was more focused on technical wrestling and highspots after the steroid trials forced out the muscle-bound brawlers of the ’80s. In fact, Owen helped pave the way for such smaller, Japanese Junior-inspired wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero.

Not bad for a guy that would have rather have been a fireman.

Now, normally I put my pithy ending at the end of these posts and call it a day, but writing this has made me realize how much I truly miss Owen Hart. If you were a fan back in 1999, do yourself a favor and dig up the clip of Vader trying to keep a straight face after Owen knocked a waiter onto him at the 1997 Slammys. If you weren’t a fan back then, break out a copy of Wrestlemania X and discover for yourself what the fuss over Owen Hart was all about.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit

5: Trish Stratus
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 125 lbs.
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Greatest Match: Stratus vs. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley – No Way Out 2001

If this were a ranking of the top women wrestlers of the modern era, Trish Stratus would be a no-brainer pick for the top spot.

Of the handful of women who have been legitimate draws in the past few decades, none of them have combined the superstar look, promo-cutting ability, and in-ring talent into one package the way Trish Stratus has. Sable had a million-dollar look but couldn’t talk or work. Lita could throw an impressive highspot or three when she needed to, but couldn’t cut a promo to save her life. And Chyna…well…I never quite got the appeal of Chyna…maybe the less said about her the better.

So, if Trish is the undeniable best female wrestler of the past twenty years, I think it’s fair to say she’s the Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, or Rock of women wrestlers.

But how do you rank a woman wrestler against male wrestlers?

Sure, the in-ring and microphone basics are the same, but from a business standpoint, the pressure and drawing ability of a female wrestler isn’t as great as that of a male wrestler. Not to open up a sexual politics debate, but from a money-making standpoint the Women’s Champion isn’t as important to the company as the male World Champion. The Women’s Champion rarely main events shows and is rarely given enough time to put on a classic match.

I’m not saying that’s the way it should be, I’m saying that’s the way it is.

Comparing Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and The Rock to Trish Stratus isn’t exactly fair. It’s like comparing apples to super hot oranges.

So here sits Trish, arguably the greatest female wrestler of all time sitting at the number five spot on a list of the best Canadian wrestlers of the modern era.

Is it fair? Probably not. Is that the way I’m going to leave it? Yes.

That being said, Trish deserves credit for much more than her wrestling character and in-ring ability. She was The Miz before The Miz was The Miz.

Wait, what?

Basically The Miz and Trish got their jobs based on something other than their wrestling-based talents. The Miz was a minor celebrity from his appearance on MTV’s “The Real World.” Trish was hired because she was a nuclear-hot fitness model.

Both could have coasted for a while and enjoyed some success without ever improving. We’ve seen it before. Yes, I’m looking at you, Maven.

However, neither was content to rest on their laurels. Both worked to improve all facets of the craft. And now, The Miz walks around with three championship belts and Trish Stratus is considered to be the best female wrestler of all time (or a close second to the Fabulous Moolah.)

So, why didn’t Trish follow the standard eye candy route that The Kat and Terri Runnels paved for her? Because she’s a wrestler.

While Diva Search contestants were signing with the WWE because it was a paycheck that kept them out of strip clubs, Trish signed because she was a wrestler.

And by wrestler, I mean someone who when they enter the ring and are about to do something violent doesn’t think “Gee, I hope this doesn’t hurt too bad.”

They think, “This better look awesome.”

It may sound simple, but it’s not a mindset many outside the business have.

As someone with a wrestling background, I’ve been asked several times why I’d allow myself to be smacked with a steel chair or thrown through a table. The answer is simple; the mental pain of something looking terrible is way worse than the physical pain of something that looked awesome.

I’m not special. I’d say 95 percent of wrestlers have this same attitude.

Trish Stratus is a perfect example of this. She’s missing a knuckle from a match with Victoria (now Tara). She never had it repaired because it looks cool and she likes to tell the story. When given the choice of experiencing a hand taser or a shooting taser on the dreadful reality show “Armed and Famous” she chose the more painful shooting taser because it’d look better.

And that’s just one facet of what Trish brought to the table.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say if Vince McMahon were allowed to head into a lab and create the perfect Diva; she’d have the looks of Trish Stratus, the attitude of Trish Stratus, and the work rate of Trish Stratus.

The only thing I’d change? The catchphrase: “Stratusfaction.” I’ve always kinda hated that.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian

6: Chris Benoit
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 220 lbs.
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta
Greatest Match: Benoit vs. Kurt Angle – Royal Rumble 2003

Editor’s Note: Truthfully, I wasn’t looking forward to writing this. I used to be a huge Chris Benoit fan. Now, I can’t stomach watching his work. That being said, the following article will reflect Chris Benoit’s work within the ring and not the horrific murder/suicide that occurred in June of 2007.

Chris Benoit was short, ugly, and terrible on the mic.

But when he stepped into the ring he was maybe the finest example of technical ability the industry has ever produced. There wasn’t a moment of wasted motion, every maneuver was fluid, every movement was crisp. Chris Benoit was a wrestling machine.

Even at his most popular in the winter of 2003/2004, Chris Benoit’s entrance didn’t elicit the kind of thunderous response that a Steve Austin or Shawn Michaels would receive. But once Benoit had a chance to win the crowd over during his match, he’d often receive a standing ovation – even in matches where he’d been defeated.

A perfect example of this took place on Jan. 25, 2004 at the Royal Rumble. From our seats high atop Philadelphia’s First Union Center (now the Wachovia Center) my buddy Zach and I watched as the sold-out crowd was transformed from mildly entertained by Benoit to rabidly rooting for him over the course of the one-hour Rumble match.

Of particular interest were two young fans sitting in front of us.

The two youngsters had been disappointed earlier in the evening as Rey Mysterio (the subject of their many poster board signs) had a criminally short match against Jamie Noble.

As the Rumble started and Zach and I erupted for the Canadian Crippler the two kids looked at us as if we were nuts. We chatted them up and learned that their Rumble hopes were pinned on Rob Van Dam and John Cena.

They also thought Chris Benoit was “Boring.”

However, over the course of the event their attitudes (along with the attitude of the other 17,000 in attendance) changed.

As the evening went on the 30-man Royal Rumble was eventually whittled down to a final six that consisted of Benoit, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, John Cena, Chris Jericho, and the Big Show.

What it boiled down to was each of the other five competitors trying to eliminate the enormous Big Show. They tried as a unit. No luck. They tried one by one and had even less luck. Eventually, Show started to toss them out. First Cena, then Van Dam, then Jericho, then Angle. Finally we were left with only Benoit and Show.

How on Earth was Benoit going to get the better of Show after he’d just man-handled four other top names?

It looked like he wasn’t going to. When the Big Show pressed Benoit over his head and made his way toward the ropes, the crowd in Philly (and our two new friends) stopped breathing. Benoit managed to weasel his way around to catch Show in a front facelook. As Benoit used his weight to gain leverage the crowd picked up on what he was attempting and started to buzz. When Show’s feet left the mat and he teetered on the top rope the noise built. And when Benoit finally managed to dump his gigantic opponent to the floor the place collectively lost their minds.

Perhaps Benoit’s ultimate in-ring legacy is that of a man who was born a few decades too late. Benoit simply wasn’t made for today’s quip-laden promos and four-minute television matches.

Even the World Championship that Benoit would go on to claim after winning the Royal Rumble was seen as more of a career achievement award than an effort to push him as a top name. During his reign he’d constantly play second fiddle to the Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels feud. Eventually he dropped the title to up-and-comer Randy Orton and was shuffled back down the card.

But, that doesn’t take away from what the man could do from bell to bell.
Just ask two Mysterio fans I know.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm

7: Christian
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 227 lbs.
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Greatest Match: Edge and Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz – Wrestlemania X-Seven – TLC Tag Title Match

When one member of a tag team goes on to become a bigger star than the other member, that less successful member isn’t referred to as “The Jim Neidhart” or “The Ray Rougeau.”

They’re known as “The Marty Jannetty.”

Maybe it isn’t fair for any wrestler to have to live up to the legacy Shawn Michaels has crafted for himself during his post-Rockers career, but such is life. After Shawn ended their tag team run by shoving Jannetty face first through Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake’s storefront window, Michaels went on to enjoy four World Championships and some quality time with Tammy “Sunny” Sytch in her prime. Meanwhile, poor Jannetty was left to bounce around the independent circuit.

So, when the WWE was enjoying a bit of a tag team renaissance around 2000-2001, me and my friends would debate who would become the Shawns and who would become the Martys.

The charismatic daredevil Jeff Hardy? Future superstar. His more fundamentally sound, yet microphone challenged brother Matt? Less so.

The angry redneck with a fetish for smashing women through tables Bubba Ray Dudley? Maybe not up to Shawn Michaels’ talent level, but seemingly destined for bigger things. His testimonial-requesting half brother D-Von? Not so much.

Then there was Edge and Christian. Surely Edge had to be the Shawn Michaels in this scenario. He had the cool gimmick of the club kid who would stalk the arena and enter the ring from the audience. He had the double awesome Stanley Cup-inspired trophy he received after winning the 2001 King of the Ring tournament. And, he even had a brief Intercontinental Title reign before he ever began teaming with Christian.

This theory was seemingly proved shortly after the team broke up in the Fall of 2001. Edge would quickly go on to unify the WCW U.S. Title and the WWE Intercontinental Title while Christian was promptly lost in the shuffle of the WCW/ECW Alliance mess.

Surely, Christian was on his way to a plate-glass facial.

But something funny happened on the way to the Barber Shop. Christian managed to survive misguided angles such as throwing temper tantrums after every loss and Steve Austin dubbing him a “Creepy Little Bastard.” In spite of all of that, he found his groove.

The nickname “Captain Charisma” and the catchphrase “That’s how I roll” started to catch on. Signs from fans proclaiming themselves to be one of his “Peeps” started to show up in the audience. And his feud with Chris Jericho over the lovely Trish Stratus was one of the highlights of the WWE’s very strong 2004.

From there, Christian enjoyed a successful run in TNA which helped him hone the character we’re seeing today.

Christian may not be among the higher echelon of WWE superstars today, but I wouldn’t bet against him eventually getting there for one reason; he can make the fans care. Watch a Christian match; even when he’s paired with a questionable worker like Ezekiel Jackson, the fans are into the finish. He clearly has the talent to carry the move, catchphrase, or angle that’s needed to finally propel him through the glass ceiling.

(OK, I swear that’s the last glass-breaking metaphor.)

So, does all of that make Edge the Marty Jannetty? Absolutely not. But I will say this about Christian; everyone else you’ll see on this list will probably stay in their spot until someone bumps them lower. Nothing against those workers, they’ve just either retired, reached their peaks, or passed on.

But if we revisit this list in a few years, Christian is the only one I can see in a higher position.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta

8: Lance Storm
Height: 6’
Weight: 228 lbs.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Greatest Match: Lance Storm vs. Edge – SummerSlam 2001

My buddy Mike likes to hit me with random questions every now and then. Nothing too heavy, just the kind of questions Gordie would ask Vern around the campfire in “Stand by Me.”

Who’d win in a fight between Mighty Mouse and Superman? Where were they going in the show “Wagon Train?” What the hell is Goofy?

The one that always stuck with me was: If you had to give up either pork or chicken for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Upon first hearing this question, I reasoned that I eat chicken far more often than I eat pork, so I’d probably choose to stop eating pork.

Mike countered by saying, “Chicken is always good, but pork has more potential to be great.”

What does this have to do with Canadian wrestlers? Well, I’ll tell you…

Lance Storm is chicken.

OK, let me rephrase that so I don’t have a super kick waiting for me from an angry retired wrestler. Lance Storm was a consistently good wrestler, I don’t recall ever seeing him have an off match. But, he was rarely great.

You could argue that Lance Storm wasn’t given the opportunity to be great. For as technically sound as his matches were (and Lance’s work was second to none) he was never truly given a sustained push or a super-heated feud.

I think that’s a shame, as when he was given the ball during the dying days of WCW he definitely ran with it. For those of you who weren’t following WCW during 2000, (and there weren’t many of us) Storm managed to win the U.S. Championship, the Hardcore Championship, and the Cruiserweight Championship in a little over two weeks.

Fun Fact: In the storylines, Storm renamed those titles the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, the 100-kg-and-Under Championship, and the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title.

Even the bizarre booking of his match against Mike Awesome at New Blood Rising (Lance was booked to drop several falls in front of his hometown crowd) and the adding of American “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan to his Team Canada stable wasn’t enough to truly derail him.

By the time WCW folded in the spring of 2001, Storm was still one of the organization’s top heels and was one of the bigger names that made the transition to WWE in the Invasion storyline.

Unfortunately after a brief reign as Intercontinental Champion, he spent the majority of his time in tag teams with Shane “Hurricane” Helms, Christian, and William Regal and never again had the opportunity to break through to the upper level.

After Mike’s good vs. great answer to the chicken vs. pork question I changed my initial decision. It’s always nice to have the good, but you truly appreciate the great. Lance Storm is the best of the chicken, the next seven Canadians you’ll see on this list are pork.

And Goofy is a dog.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

Wrestling fans, Monday night was a big one in Bret Hart’s journey back to WWE and the road to Wrestlemania 26.

Hart came face to face with Vince McMahon, whom he’s been mad as hell at since “The Montreal Screwjob” 12 years ago, and, well, check out the recap from our friends at InsidePulse.com for the rest.

With all the buzz about Bret Hart’s return to WWE and what it might mean for Wrestlemania 26, another Canadian is mounting a comeback of his own and sealed it with a Royal Rumble victory on Sunday night.

While Canadians Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Michael J. Fox and Michael Buble were taking home Grammys, Edge was putting the finishing touches on a victory in which he outlasted Shawn Michaels, John Cena and Batista for the Royal Rumble title.

This might begin to pave the way for Elimination Chamber and Wrestlemania 26 storylines. See what our friends at InsidePulse.com have to say about it here.