It used to be that wrestlers could be easily pigeonholed into certain places. Technical guys were there to work scientific matches to wow fans while the bigger guys handled brawls. But even then, some guys could balance between the two extremes quite easily. It's astounding to see some workers are easily able to balance the two sides out and move from one match to another. It seems odd some technical guys can work an extremely wild match, but it happens more than you'd think.
It helps when the workers tend to be very well trained and highly skilled, making them able to adapt to each match style. Some leaned far more for technical matches which made their brawling fights more remarkable. Amazingly, some guys can get Match of the Year candidates out of either type of match to prove their greatness. These 10 technical workers could be as hardcore brawling as any ECW veteran to prove how well some can work any kind of match.
10 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar has always been a fascinating contrast. He's a man who seems like the usual musclebound figure but could give Kurt Angle a run for his money in pure technical wrestling. Brock's career in MMA showed he could handle an actual fight, and he's proven it in wrestling.
Few guys can do both Iron Man matches and Hell in the Cell as easily as he does, and just as it looks like he's settling into a regular Extreme Rules match, he can bust out some actual wrestling moves. The Beast is a true monster in either style of matches.
9 Johnny Gargano
"Johnny Wrestling" lives up to his moniker as one of NXT's most amazing stars. Holding every title on the brand at least once, Gargano has proven his expertise in some top-notch wrestling matches.
But fans also remember how his TakeOver: New Orleans war with former partner Tomasso Ciampa is one of the greatest matches in NXT history. Johnny Gargano has pulled off some epic wars while also producing four-star classics with most of NXT. In either style of fighting, Gargano is one of the best NXT can offer.
8 AJ Styles
AJ Styles has bucked the odds in WWE. Some doubted they would do right by him, but instead, the Phenomenal One has had reigns as champion and a major push. Styles is known for his great expert battles against Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, and others.
Yet look up his TNA work, and Styles can also be a terrific fighter against Abyss and cut loose against Kevin Owens among others. He handles an "extreme rules" match as well as a straight-up fight and is a lot tougher than he looks. Anyone who survives the brutal battles of Japan proves he has what it takes to be a top brawler in wrestling.
7 Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat is one of the few guys to stay a babyface almost his entire career. Revered for his technical work, The Dragon could get down and dirty if he had to. Steamboat proved himself early on as he and Jay Youngblood had some terrific fights with other teams, including a wild Starrcade 83 match with the Briscoes.
Steamboat could do some great brawls in his singles work, from cage matches to a WarGames battle. He preferred a straight-up match, but The Dragon was more than ready to work a brawl as efficiently as any of his technical masterpieces.
6 Shawn Michaels
It can be overlooked what a skilled technical wrestler the Heartbreak Kid is. In his younger years, Michaels was capable of fantastic work, and his comeback was tremendous. But that doesn't take away from how genius HBK is when it comes to a brawl.
His SummerSlam 2002 battle with Triple H remains a marvel, and he is the man who helped make ladder matches a huge deal in WWE. It's more impressive some of his best brawls came after his comeback, such as his WrestleMania 22 battle with Vince McMahon. Shawn famously got into scuffles behind the scenes but held his own in the ring well.
5 Bret Hart
"The Excellence of Execution" seemed to prefer being in regular wrestling matches. Yet the Hitman could indulge in a pretty good brawl. His classic WrestleMania 13 encounter with Steve Austin is nothing but a full-on war with barely any actual wrestling, yet it's a marvel.
Bret cut his teeth in Stampede in bloody battles, including one of the first ladder matches. He also wasn't afraid of blading now and then for a WWE battle. He preferred a standard wrestling bout, yet Bret could more than hold his own in a brawl.
4 CM Punk
"The Best in the World" always lives up to that mantra. In ROH, CM Punk proved his worth as a man easily shifting from a technical marvel to a table-smashing brawl which served him well in WWE. He can wonderfully shift from TLC matches to a five-star bout with Daniel Bryan.
Punk loves to brag about his greatness yet backs it up in the ring with his actions. He loves to yell "it's clobbering time!" before a match, and Punk does his best to clobber away in any type of bout he's in.
3 Harley Race
The first man to hold the NWA World Title seven times, Harley Race was a master at shifting up his game for opponents. Race could handle a terrific technical match against a submission master then turn into a wild fighter for a tougher opponent.
He was legitimately tough, taking brutal injuries but kept on going with his intense schedule. Even in his later years, Race could keep it up as during a 1988 TV match with Hulk Hogan, he went through a table (not a common sight back then). No matter the type of fight, Race handled it well.
2 Ric Flair
When you call yourself "The Dirtiest Player in the game," you should be good at a brawl. Ric Flair was astounding in his work with some wild fights and his physical conditioning was astounding. Few in his time could go from a 90-minute technical masterpiece to a bloody cage match in back-to-back nights, but Flair did with ease.
That continued in his later years as Flair claimed to dislike "hardcore" wrestling but had no problem hitting low blows or other actions to attack an opponent. Flair is hailed for his five-star classics but could get wild in a brawl too.
1 Terry Funk
Most automatically associate Terry Funk with his tenure in ECW and amazing fights. It's forgotten that in his younger days, Funk was an amazingly skilled technical worker. He even reigned as NWA World Champion for a year and could do 60-minute battles with ease.
It was in his later years that Funk transitioned to a hardcore icon with his brutal and bloody battles. That he was able to keep it up into his 50s was astounding as Funk was a fantastic warrior in the ring. Yet all those crazy brawls ignore how Funk could be a technical master as well.