Jack Brisco has been outed by old timers as a heavy drinker and smoker who got away with it because he was so talented. He's hardly an archetype of a perfect athletic physique.

 

If you want to see what the natural limit looks like you should go back to the early 20th century with George Hackenshmidt and other early bodybuilders/wrestlers who didn't even have access to steroids or other drugs used by bodybuilders today. Whether or not it's possible to come close to those physiques while wrestling hard matches every night and constantly traveling is a different matter, though. Natty limit for WWE wrestlers is probably CM Punk.

This entire thread reminds me of the Seinfeld "not that there is anything wrong with that" bit

Always was impressed with Paul Orndorff. Even after his bicep injury, he stayed well proportioned. Ultimate Warrior also should be in the conversation.

Personally, for me, the best wrestling physique was Nobuhiko Takada in his prime. Obviously great condition while still looking athletic.

For me it's Cesaro.

 

I also enjoyed Cena and Orton's bodies in that mid 00s period when they were at their leanest, before they got older and bulky.

 

Also, Arn Anderson, the big bear.

Kiyoshi Tamura

I personally find the lean/muscular guys like Rude and Del Rio appear too skinny in that they appear almost breakable. I prefer guys to have a sort of thickness to them that allows them to absorb bumps. I think Orndorff is a good example of that build even if he can be a little too jacked for my liking. I prefer Piper at the time as being obviously muscular but not bursting from the seams. Vader also has a great big guy physique with some belly hang but not sloppy 'falling over the tights' fat. He looked like a NFL lineman.

For a less purely aesthetic body I'd say Daisuke Sekimoto is build to be the ultimate wrestler he has the power and speed to do almost anything in the ring. He is also intimidating.

Daisuke looks like someone pushed down on the top of his head until he became a foot shorter and twice as wide.

Daisuke looks like someone pushed down on the top of his head until he became a foot shorter and twice as wide.

He looks like a tall oompa loompa.

Late 70's to early 80's - Tony Atlas

 

Mid 80's - Kerry Von Erich

 

Late 80's to early 90's - Warrior or Luger

 

Mid 90's - Luger

 

Late 90's - Goldberg

 

Early 00 - Eddie Guerrero

 

After that I guess Cena

Odd that Eddie in the early 00s has been mentioned a couple times now. He didn't look healthy at all, way too much mass for his frame, bacne, veins popping out. And we all know how that turned out.

I always liked Scott Norton. He wasn't always chiseled but he looked like a beast and that he could lift the hell outta some heavy things. Like no one is picking on that guy in the street. Dude's chest was huge.

 

I remember thinking the same about Kenta Kobashi at one time too. But I've always been a huge dude myself, so I could never relate to someone like Rick Rude or Lex Luger.

GARY STRYDOM 1991-1992 WBF CHAMPION

Kiyoshi Tamura

Yep - same idea as Takada.

Before Bix or Kris get in: Dale Veasey, Jeep Swenson and The Warlord.

GARY STRYDOM 1991-1992 WBF CHAMPION

You beat me to it lol

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4va0yanY_z4

Before Bix or Kris get in: Dale Veasey, Jeep Swenson and The Warlord.

 

an occasional poster here once mentioned to me that when he was trading tapes, he got a lottttttttt of scott putski requests from that crowd

 

makes perfect sense, and it's weirdly impressive that he's pulled off that kind of appeal in 2 different ways: as a ridiculously lean 8-pack-abs guy in the WWF, then as a big ol' musclebear in WCW