One of the prevailing narratives in professional wrestling is that old-timers don’t know when to quit, and hold on too long at the expense of wrestling's younger talents. Indeed, there are cases in which this dynamic did seem to be in play, including WCW featuring and protecting top names like Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Roddy Piper for much of its last five years, instead of pushing young stars.
Whether it was the choice of the creative team, or the wrestler himself, though, there are those times when an established veteran had an eye out for helping along a newer star.
10 Randy Savage Put Over DDP
Diamond Dallas Page gained momentum in WCW for his charisma and his signature Diamond Cutter. Indeed he was that rare star who effectively stood up to the New World Order--not to mention one of WCW's top stars who never joined the nWo.
Page never fully arrived as a top guy, though, until Randy Savage put him over. The Macho Man feuding with DDP and treating him like an equal, in and of itself, legitimized Page as an upper card guy. DDP has told the story in a number of shoot interviews, though, of them talking over a match and The Macho Man volunteering that he wanted to eat a Diamond Cutter and take the pin that night.
9 Chris Jericho Put Over Orange Cassidy
Chris Jericho was arguably AEW’s most important star for the first year of the company. Yes, he was still a good bell to bell wrestler and a good talker on the mic. More importantly, though, he joined the company as one of the most respected men in the business—a guy who had main evented WrestleMania and collected multiple world titles, who then chose to take his talents to the fledgling promotion.
Jericho entered arguably one of the best storylines of his career opposite Orange Cassidy. Though Cassidy had enjoyed successes in AEW up to that point and gathered a groundswell of support from fans, it was legitimately holding his own with Jericho that got him over on the next level. It was all the more important when he bested Le Champion at in a Mimosa Mayhem Match at All Out.
8 John Cena Put Over Daniel Bryan
By summer 2013, John Cena had been the face of WWE for eight years. While still a polarizing figure, there was no denying his status as one of the most famous professional wrestlers to have ever lived, one of the most successful wrestlers in terms of kayfabe accomplishments, and, indeed, as a legend.
Cena has explained in shoot interviews that he talked to Vince McMahon and suggested that one of the wrestlers he respected the most was Daniel Bryan. Moreover, he cited Bryan as an ideal challenger for his WWE Championship. Maybe management already had their eye on Bryan, but Cena pushing for him did seem like an important choice that set up their SummerSlam 2013 main event, and all the more so Bryan winning the match cleanly.
7 Brock Lesnar Put Over Drew McIntyre
Brock Lesnar has spent roughly half of the last six years as a world champion in WWE, and that's in addition to three world title reigns in his original WWE tenure and other assorted accolades. There's no mistaking it: The Beast is a legend.
Lesnar not only took a pin from Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36, but did so cleanly, decisively, and in under five minutes. McIntyre joined the list of wrestlers who overcame bad gimmicks to become a world champion; the way Lesnar put him over made him not only a champion but "the man."
6 Hollywood Hogan Put Over Goldberg
Hulk Hogan was a legend based on his run as the face of WWE from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. He further cemented his place as arguably the most important star in wrestling history, though, with his run in WCW, and particularly his work as the heel leader of the New World Order.
While Hogan has a reputation for burying younger talent, in reality, he did help get some new stars over. In particular, rather than slowing the momentum of Goldberg's iconic undefeated streak in WCW, Hogan added his name to the list of foes Goldberg had vanquished. The Hulkster ate a Jackhammer to put over the new champ.
5 Mick Foley Put Over Edge
Mick Foley was a veteran, and arguably already a legend when he was so instrumental in putting over The Rock and Triple H as new top stars during the Attitude Era. Foley further demonstrated his selflessness when he came back to put over Randy Orton.
Foley took things to the next level two years later, though, when he came out of retirement to face Edge. Edge was getting over, and successfully cashing in the first Money in the Bank briefcase for a world title reign put him on the map as a main eventer. Foley cemented Edge’s place on top through a provocative feud, highlighted by a new addition to the list of Foley's most brutal matches, with their war at WrestleMania 22. When Edge speared Foley through a flaming table, it felt like he was taking a big leap forward into his own future as a legend of the business.
4 Randy Orton Put Over Jinder Mahal
Over the summer of 2017, Randy Orton faced the unlikely situation of defending his WWE Championship against a totally unproven main event star in one Jinder Mahal. Even more unlikely—Orton was tasked with putting him over.
No, Mahal never did pick up an entirely clean win over Orton, but neither did Orton pick up a clean win over The Modern Day Maharajah. More importantly, Mahal pinned Orton to win the WWE Championship, then successfully defended it against The Viper in a Punjabi Prison Match.
3 Triple H Put Over Batista
The fundamental principles of the Evolution faction were all about legendary Ric Flair and inveterate champ Triple H taking two young talents under their wing, and ultimately putting them over. Despite his sensational look, Batista wasn’t proven as a singles wrestler when Triple H took the leap of faith in putting over The Animal for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 21.
It was The Game’s faith in Batista that brought him to the dance as a member of Evolution, and there’s little question that Triple H putting him over was the single most important victory of The Animal’s standout career. Batista went on to thrive as a face and as a heel, arriving as a wrestling legend himself.
2 Roddy Piper Put Over Bret Hart
By spring 1992, Bret Hart had already spent months as the Intercontinental Champion and the better part of a year proving himself as quite arguably the best in-ring performer WWE had.
An early 1992 storyline saw an ill Hart drop the Intercontinental Title to The Mountie, who in turn lost it to the legendary Roddy Piper. Piper was already an icon, and he used the reign and the story in service of putting over Hart. Their WrestleMania match was a great one, with Piper taking the clean pinfall to a clever, creative technical reversal. Hart drew one step closer to his own main event destiny.
1 Faarooq Put Over The Rock
The Rock turned heel and joined The Nation of Domination at a pivotal moment in his young career, going from a relatively generic young face to provocative blue-chip heel. He was still cast, however, in a supporting role to group leader Faarooq.
The writing was soon on the wall that The Rock was the hotter act than his mentor. The Brahma Bull overthrew Faarooq, then beat him in the ring. While Faarooq was never a full-fledged main eventer in WWE, he was a respected veteran who brought with him the legacy of having been the first African American world champ in WCW. So, putting over The Rock was a key step in the younger talent's journey to megastar status.