In today's world of professional wrestling, it seems there is almost an emphasis on high flying action, breathtaking moves, and daredevil stunts in matches. However, as exciting as all of those things are, they are not what makes wrestling great to watch for mainstream fans. These fans need stories.
RELATED: Andre The Giant: 5 Reasons He Was Better As A Babyface (& 5 Why He Was Better As A Heel)
When two wrestlers (or more) tell a good story leading up to the match and then put on a showing where that story plays out in the match, it creates some of the best moments in professional wrestling. Some of the greatest professional wrestlers in history are not the men who pull off the most death-defying moves. It is the men and women who fans remember by their characters, and that is where the special attractions in wrestling reign supreme.
10 Andre The Giant
The biggest and most successful special attraction in the history of professional wrestling was Andre the Giant. Before he finished off his career in WWE, he was someone who could travel the world, hit any territory he wanted to, and become the biggest draw there.
Companies would build up a heel and then bring in Andre to bring them back down to size. By the end, Andre worked with Hulk Hogan in front of one of the biggest crowds in professional wrestling history.
9 The Undertaker
By the time the Attitude Era was underway, Undertaker was just another wrestler. He won multiple world titles and was one of the top wrestlers on whatever brand he worked. However, when he started his career in WWE, Undertaker was a special attraction like no other.
His zombie persona made him someone that wrestlers were built up to fall to. Undertaker became a special attraction again in his later years, only coming out for WrestleMania events or big shows in Saudi Arabia, outside of rare exceptions.
8 The Fiend
The Fiend is the modern era's answer to Undertaker. Much like Undertaker early in his career, The Fiend is not someone who wrestles much on free TV at all. Bray Wyatt gets regular TV time with his weekly segments, but he rarely wrestlers on TV anymore.
The Fiend is a character that comes out for special matches, almost exclusively on PPV events, and most of the time, they are spectacles rather than regular wrestling matches.
7 Giant Baba
Giant Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling and was its top star for its first 10 years. However, during that time, he was also the booker and built himself into Japan's biggest star. In Japan, Baba was similar to Andre the Giant, a larger-than-life star who could sell out arenas no matter where he worked.
RELATED: 5 Wrestlers The Undertaker Took Under His Wing (& 5 Who Triple H Did)
Giant Baba won a lot more titles than most special attractions in wrestling, but he also had a three-decade career and wrestled over 5,700 matches.
6 The Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were the tag team versions of Andre the Giant. Before they ended up settling down in Crockett Promotions and then went on to a stint in WWE, they were a team that could travel the world, wrestle everywhere without putting down stakes, and never lost.
No matter where the Road Warriors went, they were the main event, which was unheard of for tag team wrestling. They ended up flaming out somewhat after they tried their hand in WWE, but before that, there was not a better tag team on the planet.
5 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar, for the first few years of his career, was a regular wrestler. He worked television, and while he seldom lost, he was there week after week. However, after Lesnar left WWE and ended up winning a legit heavyweight title in the UFC, he came back and has been a special attraction ever since.
Unlike most special attractions in professional wrestling, Lesnar was a world champion and only showed up for big cards. His sole TV match during this run lasted mere seconds against Kofi Kingston.
4 Bill Goldberg
Bill Goldberg was on TV every week when he was in WCW during the Monday Night Wars. He then left wrestling after WCW shut down before signing with WWE. He went on a run there before he finally retired from wrestling.
RELATED: Brock Lesnar's 5 Best WWE Title Matches (& His 5 Best For The Universal Title)
However, Goldberg came back to WWE and became the latest special attraction along the lines of Brock Lesnar. He won a couple of world titles but only showed up on a minimum basis before competing at a major PPV event. That is his role in WWE to this day.
3 Abdullah The Butcher
Abdullah the Butcher was an anomaly in professional wrestling. He was a big man who couldn't do anything in the ring other than work hardcore matches, usually cutting himself and his opponents open with foreign objects.
He is an acquired taste and was memorable enough to get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Most of his career was spent with Abdullah going from promotion to promotion as a monster, leaving broken bodies in his wake.
2 Sting
Sting used to be a full-time wrestler in WCW. He was one of the top stars there, but then he picked up a new role when the Monday Night Wars started. He painted his face like The Crow, went into the rafters, and didn't wrestle for over a year. He was there, the biggest star in the company, without ever competing in a match.
When he arrived in WWE, he was once again used as a special attraction, although he lost both of his major matches. Now, he is a special attraction in AEW, although he has been there more often than not.
1 Yokozuna
There was no one like Yokozuna, and that is sadly what did him in. He was a giant man, a member of the Samoan Dynasty who worked as a Japanese superstar and went on to win world titles in WWE.
He also worked as a tag team wrestler, but for a man his size, WWE had to limit his work schedule and used him much of the time as a special attraction due to his appearance and skillset. Sadly, he lived his gimmick and grew too large for WWE to keep on the payroll. He eventually died at the age of 34.
