10 Best foreign superstars in WWE History

Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino still holds the record of longest reigning WWE champion

The WWE Universe was just plain lucky that a wrestler was still alive and well at the ripe old age of 77 to accept the WWE Hall of Fame induction that in all fairness he should have received at a much earlier instance. That it took till 2013 for Bruno and Vince to see eye to eye is inconsequential, but that fans worldwide might have forgotten Bruno in that time was unthinkable.

For Bruno Sammartino still holds the record for having the single longest reign as the then WWWF Champion of a mind-numbing 2803 days. That’s a stretch of 7 years and 245 days in a row of defending the title. In an interview, Sammartino recounts his grueling working days, when he would wrestle 6 times a week for 2 weeks in a month, and wrestle on all seven days of the week in the remaining two weeks. Through all of this, he defended his WWWF title with honour and distinction both in the ring and out of it.

Having escaped from the Nazis in Europe with barely his life clinging to a slight frame of 85 pounds, Sammartino went on to conquer the world of wrestling. By the time he was done, he had spent 4040 days as the WWWF Champion, an unconquerable feat that will likely stand the test of time.

A valid argument can be made in support of Bruno Sammartino as the greatest wrestler of all time, albeit it being a concept not lightly handled. That he makes it in this list though, is merely considered a formality then.

Jimmy Superfly Snuka

An iconic and legendary image of Jimmy Superfly Snuka ready to pounce from 15 feet

In terms of the influence that his legacy has bestowed upon the business, Jimmy Snuka easily makes this list. A Fijian, Jimmy Superfly Snuka was the first wrestler to really incorporate an athletic and high-flying style into wrestling back into the 80s.Snuka was introduced to WWE as a heel and was thrust into the limelight immediately as he engaged straightaway in feud with WWE Champion Bob Backlund. Owing to his charisma though, it wasn’t long before the tide of audience opinion changed and Snuka turned babyface.

His tryst with destiny came in 1983 in his feud with then Intercontinental Champion "Magnificent" Don Muraco. Audiences had never witnessed anything like that before then and that day in Madison Square Garden where Snuka performed his signature Superfly Splash from the top of the cage, 15 feet high, has gone down in WWE lore as one of the defining moments of the industry.

A defining moment that held tremendous impact, it has reportedly been THE tipping point for wrestlers such as Mick Foley in choosing their eventual career paths.

In what came to be regarded as the greatest streak in sports entertainment, it often passes under the radar that Jimmy Superfly Snuka was the first of the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania opponents and the starting point of the streak.

Despite having a career accosted with significance at each turn, Snuka never won any major titles at WWE, but that does not prevent him from being recognized as one of the stalwarts of the business to merit comfortable entry into this list.