One of the most naturally powerful wrestlers ever, Nikolai Volkoff escaped from the Communist Yugoslavia to the United States.  Although he wasn’t Russian, he portrayed an evil Soviet competitor with more realism than anyone else ever could.  Although most wrestling fans saw him when he was older, Volkoff was actually quite agile in his younger days and even though he was not in his prime during the Rock and Wrestling days, his singing of the Soviet National Anthem prior to every match allowed him to be a successful heel for years.

The next choice generated more debate from us in terms of their genre and not so much in terms of the band itself. Mötley Crüe was one of the many Metal bands to come out of L.A., but they were likely the band most closely associated with Hair Metal, and the debate we had is just how worthy that genre is. 

Anyone who has heard the Iron Sheik lately should be amazed that there was no set incident during his induction speech from 2005.  All jokes aside, the Iron Sheik may have been a surprise WWF World Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Bob Backlund, but the Sheik brought to wrestling a very legitimate amateur background that he parlayed into a fluid wrestling game.  Excellent on promos, the Iron Sheik was easily among the best rule breakers of his day.

It is common on this list to talk about how important being a great live act is. Perhaps there is no other group on this list that had their career defined by that strength than Cheap Trick; whose take on Power Pop made them a must see attraction in the late 70’s.