There were many ups and down in the wrestling business back in the 1990s but the ups were some of the highest that the industry has ever been. At it's peak in the last few years of the decade stars such as Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, and many others led the push through the "attitude era" where professional wrestling was seen as more of a mainstream hobby
When looking back at the greatest parts of the decade however, it's important to remember that longevity matters. While the aforementioned stars may have shone brighter than most others they were short lived compared to the true workhorses of the time. It's a near impossible to task to firmly rank the top ten in such a category so we'll break them down by company/region instead
10 WWE/WCW/Japan - Hulk Hogan
It's hard to argue that there is a wrestler that had a bigger impact on the industry in not just the Nineties, but in the history of professional wrestling, than Hulk Hogan. Hulk started off the decade defending his WWF Championship against The Ultimate Warrior in one of the most iconic WrestleMania contests of all time.
Hogan had multiple reigns with the WWF's main title in the early Nineties before moving over to the competition and dominating that main event scene throughout the majority of the decade. Whether clad in yellow and red or black and white there was one main constant, Hogan in the main event.
9 WCW/WWE - Ric Flair
Ric Flair went from being the face of the NWA for countless years, to being the first official WCW Champion in early 1991. It wasn't long after that he butted heads with some of the executives and wound up working for the WWF later that same year. It also wasn't long for Flair to find success in the new company quickly winning the WWF Championship in what many consider the best Royal Rumble of all time in early 1992. Flair stayed near the top for the rest of his time in WWF before returning to WCW in 1993 winning the rest of his 16 world titles throughout the decade.
8 WCW - Sting
Sting is one of the very few wrestlers throughout history that have been able to adapt to the times and keep themselves relevant for over a decade. Starting as "Surfer" Sting with bright trunks and even brighter face paint, Sting started the Nineties off by feuding with Ric Flair over the NWA Championship and winning the WCW Championship, a feat that he would accomplish not only with his original persona but again when he re-debuted as "Crow" Sting.
As a menace to fight back against the NWO, Sting reached heights that every wrestler would envy as he managed to stay on the WCW matinee throughout the entire decade.
7 Japan/WCW - Keiji Mutoh
The American audience mainly knew him as The Great Muta, Mutoh is a Japanese legend whose impact in the business can still be felt to this day. The trainer of future NJPW star, Sanada, Keiji experience some main successes of his own winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship three times from 1992-1999 while also making sporadic appearances for WCW when they needed some legitimacy. Mutoh introduced the world to the "Shining Wizard" and helped popularize the famed Asian Mist to the face that's been a constant for Asian wrestlers ever since.
6 Japan - Mitsuharu Misawa
Starting the Nineties under the famed Tiger Mask gimmick, Misawa was tagged as the next face of All Japan early in 1990 when his teammate and future rival Toshiaki Kowada unmasked him following a tag match. Misawa was put into a main event position almost immediately after the unmasking, getting his first Triple Crown Championship match in July of 1990, in which he was unsuccessful. Misawa stayed in the main event scene earning multiple opportunities before finally breaking through in 1992, leading to a full decade of incredible matches that pushed All Japan to the top wrestling company in the world from an in ring perspective.
5 Japan - Kenta Kobashi
Kenta Kobashi may not have as prominent of accolades of the others on this list but he had to be included due to his amazing technical prowess. On top of the titles Kenta did win, including nearly every title AJPW has to offer, Tokyo Sports awarded Kobashi three match of the year awards between 1995-1998, as well as wrestler of the year in 1996 and 1998.
The master of the Burning Hammer was praised by the fan voted Wrestling Observer Newsletter as well, winning Match of the Year in 1992, 1998, and 1999 as well as most outstanding wrestler in 1993 and 1994
4 Japan - Toshiaki Kawada
Despite spending most of the early Nineties as part of a tag team, Kawada consistently found himself earning title opportunities as one of the most trusted workers on the planet. There was a vicious cycle of dominating the tag team scene before failing as a solo act on the main stage until 1994 where Kawada finally won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, the first of three such victories from 1994-1999. As part of the three main players, along with Misawa and Kobashi, to push All Japan to new limits it's hard to discount the overall impact Kawada had
3 WWE - The Undertaker
There is no wrestler that can compete with the overall career of The Undertaker. From debuting at Survivor Series in late 1990 throughout the last day of 1999, The Undertaker was there. Constantly evolving his character whenever the time called for it and never leaving to work for competition Taker showed that there was still loyalty in the business.
It says a lot that there isn't even a need to go into what accomplishments he piled up over the decade as the impact that he left on the business as a whole was much larger than championships.
2 WWE - Bret Hart
Starting out in The Hart Foundation, Bret Hart was slowly gaining a name for himself with steady in ring performances and a growing connection to the audience. Hart finally got the chance to strike out on his own in 1991, claiming his first singles title by defeating Mr. Perfect at Summerslam that same year. From there Bret kept growing bigger and bigger and was in a constant spotlight with the then WWF winning the world title on five separate occasions. After an exit with the company Hart joined WCW where he was cooled down considerable but still racked up more title wins and stayed at the forefront of the business until getting literally knocked out of it by Goldberg.
1 WWE - Shawn Michaels
In the beginning of the Nineties, Shawn Michaels was nothing more than one half of a popular young tag team doing whatever they could to get noticed. Everything changed for Michaels on December 2nd, 1991 though when he turned on his partner infamously throwing him (or Jannety jumped to try and escape depending who you ask) through the plate glass window of the barbershop. From that moment on Shawn quickly climbed the ranks holding every title imaginable, including three world title wins and back to back Royal Rumble victories, throughout the decade while putting on world class performances seemingly night after night.