When you think of the sport of wrestling you either think of WWE or Olympics.  Which brings me to this question.  Who is the greatest champion in each style?  Is it longevity or is it being an underdog defying all odds? 

Here is a quick Bio on both styles to help you answer the question below:

US OLYMPIC:


Rulon Gardner- defeated Alexander Karelin, a three time Olympic champion, hadn't lost a match in 13 years, hadn't lost a point in a decade.  This win is called the "Miracle on the Mat".  He also won a Bronze in 2004.

Cael Sanderson- Four-time high school champion. Four-time NCAA champion at Iowa State and Olympic Champion.  He is also the only undefeated four time NCAA champion.

Steve Fraser - The first U.S. Olympic gold medal winner in 1984 and All American wrestler at Michigan.  Fraser has served as coach of the US Greco Roman team since 1997.  Rulon Gardner credits Fraser's instruction as a large part of his wrestling success.

Kurt Angle - Angle captured the gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Olympic Games.  He also was a six time WWE champion as well.  As an ameteur he won 2 NCAA titles and he won a gold medal at the World Championships in Atlanta.



WWE:

Bob Backlund- WWE champion for just under six years from 2/78 to 12/83 (2,135 days).  Backlund's second reign,  lasted a mere three days in November 1994.

Hulk Hogan - WWE champion for four strat years from 1/84 to 2/88 (1,474 days).  The Hulkster has won the WWE and WCW Championships an unprecedented six times each, with a near 20-year span between his first and last title victory. He has also held the World Tag Team Championship with Edge, and won back-to-back Royal Rumbles in 1990 and 1991.

Bruno Sammartino- Bruno had two long title runs.  He also has the record for the longest reigning  WWE champion as well.  From 5/63 to 1/71 a record 2,803 days and from 12/73 to 4/77 1,237 days which earned him the nickname the "Italian Superman"

Fabulous Moolah - Moolah was the Womens champion almost 28 years.  From 9/56 to 7/84 she held the title like no other ever has.  A champion from the 50's to the 80's!



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    We have entertainers come through our cities along with pro and college athletes.  Most people will think only about how much money someone is making for delivering to us entertainment for our money.  What most people never think about is life on the road.  What good does having all the money in the world if you have to keep working harder and harder at what you do?  So many end up having all the things in life money can buy, but none of the things it can't.

  Let me give you an example of a few types of life on the road.  One is the rock band life on the road.  Life on the road as a rock star more realistically is the everyday grind of travel.  Have you ever been stuck in an airport?  Think about being stranded  20 times in a year or more.   The road traveled between cities can be rough too.  Rock bands don't usually get the best drivers for the tour bus.  Think about how hard it would be to find a bus driver to drive a party bus from city to city for six weeks, away from their family, and free of full-time employment before departure.  At least you party every night and get to trash hotel rooms city to city!   But anyway who cares about rock bands anyway, this is a sports blog!!

Different sports have diffrent types of road trips.  Baseball may be the hardest.  You start off the season with 5 weeks on the road in Florida or Arizona for spring training.  Some teams when they do get back home and get ready for the season they start the season ON THE ROAD!  Baseball also has series when they play someone.  You may end up with a road trip of over a week at a time as a regular occurance.

Football may have the best.  They only play once a week and when they do go on the road, it is only for two days.  They are home a minimum five days of the week.  Hockey and basketball have similar schedules but road trips usually only max out and 5-7 games on the road.

Life on the road as a pro-wrestler is strange as well.  For instance WWE Superstar Ric Flair  said in his biography that he had wrestled Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat over two thousand times in a five year period, most of which were one hour draws.  They were on the road over three hundred days a year and Flair insists he wrestled eight times a week (twice on Saturdays) everyday for two years.  In 1975 in a effort to start to cut travel time down Flair had a guy with a small Cesnna airplane that ended up crashing and breaking his back.  He is still on the road today because his life has been spent on the road.  Life on the road for Flair has been stylin' and profilin'.  Adam Copeland spent a lot of time on the road.  He said part of his yearly trips through Canada included a two hour drive across a frozen lake to get to the next city.  Copeland who is known in WWE as "Edge" has paid his dues like many before him and many after him will do.

Life on the road for me as a wrestler throughout my life has been a great one.  My trips were almost always weekenders.  I loved traveling from city to city and state to state to test my skills and meet new competition.  My type of wrestling in not what you see on T.V. at all.  I was a freestyle wrestler.  The kind you or your buddy was in high school.  I started my adventure at seven years old, a 52 pound grapler, ready learn how to be a wrestler.  If you were a young wrestler in the midwest from 1981 to 1992, wrestled in extra tournaments, I may have twisted your head off or broke your will to compete, I am sorry, yeah right.  Now I spend my time as an adult as an instructor for a wrestling camp hosted by the U.S. Olympic coach Steve Fraser. That is a lot of time away from home but it is a great experience.  Sometime life on the road is great because you get to go away for a while and do what you love to do. 

If life on the road still sounded sweet to you, think about the fact that most athletes don't even live in the city they play.  Remember it is a business.  You don't know if you are going to finish your career with anyone.  So they will get a condo or rent a house and still live where ever they always have.  Look at Roger Clemens.  He lived this way his whole career.  His family in the Houston area and him playing in Boston, New York, and even worse........TORONTO!  When all your toys are at home and you live on the road, what is so great about that?

Hey this is just another way to look at something you may have never thought about.  I didnt even hit on hockey parents life on the road either.