The thing about Mount Rushmore lists is that they’re subjective — especially so when it comes to an entertainment entity.
But when it comes to Stephen A. Smith’s list of his five favorite pro wrestlers, the First Take host pushed that theory to the limit.
After being asked for his pro wrestling Mount Rushmore on an episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show earlier this week, the host obliged. And while he noted that he was naming his four favorite pro wrestlers of all time (as opposed to the four best pro wrestlers of all time), it’s clear that he has unique taste when it comes to sports entertainment.
First on Smith’s pro wrestling Mount Rushmore: Goldberg.
“He was phenomenal and I loved his entrance. It’s my all-time favorite entrance, even though The Rock was a close second,” Smith said. “I love me some Goldberg. He was my all-time favorite.”
To each his own, but you likely won’t find many wrestling fans who would list Goldberg as their all-time favorite. While he was undoubtedly very popular in the late-1990s, his peak in pro wrestling was relatively short and based largely on his presentation as opposed to his in-ring work or mic skills.
(To be fair to Smith, however, his entrance was pretty awesome.)
Next up on Smith’s list, was a much less controversial choice in Hulk Hogan. Despite his many personal controversies, the Hulkster is likely a staple of any pro wrestling Mount Rushmore that factors in popularity and/or impact on the industry, for better or worse.
Lest anybody question his pro wrestling bonafides, Smith proceeded to accurately sing Hogan’s original WWF theme song, “Real American” while flexing.
https://t.co/BiuQhCxYQI pic.twitter.com/T2UbbXgiyU
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) December 19, 2023
Smith continued with an even less questionable choice (at least from a wrestling perspective) in Ric Flair, who despite his own controversies, is considered by many to be one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, both in the ring and on the microphone.
Now was Smith really a big Flair fan or did he just want to use the opportunity to do his best impression of “The Nature Boy?” Who’s to say? But his fondness of Flair has been well documented.
https://twitter.com/shannonsharpeee/status/1615062977815904256
For his last spot, Smith made another polarizing pick, going with the legendary tag team The Road Warriors. Any list of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history would be incomplete without Hawk and Animal. But including them on a list of your four favorites of all time? Again, Smith is entitled to his opinion — you just won’t find many wrestling fans who share it.
Smith didn’t explain his final pick, but he did offer some further insight into his pro wrestling chops by naming the wrestlers who almost made the cut for him, including The Rock, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A., Randy “Macho Man” Savage and The Ultimate Warrior. Polarizing picks aside, the segment did provide an interesting look into what kind of pro wrestling fan Smith actually is: one who values presentation over everything else, as well as one who appears to have not watched the product in 25 years.
