Aleksandr Karelin

[Highway99]

Can anyone speak on his ability as a wrestler?

Aside from his freak of nature status.

 

[selfcritical]

My dad wrestled at Oklahoma State around the same time as John Smith, and was absolutely adamant when I was a kid that Karelin was the greatest wrestler who ever lived.

 

[jack36767]

Freak or no freak, you don't win 11 straight world titles. And wrestling is a TRUE world championship. Without knowing technique and how to wrestler as well as being a freak athlete

 

[Badger67]

Skill wise he is very good. Strength wise...any man who can lift a 250lb resisting man off the ground and back arching suplex them is a beast among beasts. Gardner only beat him on the tail end of his career, Karelin is the GOAT.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Greco-Roman GOAT. With people who are that far to the edge of the curve on physical ability, 'technique' becomes a weird thing because what might be bad technique for you and me because we're not freaks of nature might be a reliable go-to for a guy like Karelin because he can literally do it to anyone in the world. This is not to say that Karelin was only strong, far from it. Just that when you look at how the real athletic extremes do things, it's not always wrong if it looks weird, or wrong because it's something you could never do.

 

[SuperLuigi]

He wouldn't have stood a chance against a prime Hulk Hogan or The Rock.