10) Chris Cole

Chris Cole became a pro skater in the mid 90’s. Cole is on this list because he has been labeled the “skate ambassador” of his generation, meaning he’s the best and most influential. Cole became well known for pulling off insanely hard tricks at insanely hard places. He did a 360 flip and Switch Frontside flip down the staircase at Wallenberg High School in San Francisco. Cole did a Backside 360 Kickflip at the infamous Carlsbad gap. He also did a Backside flip, a Switch Frontside flip and a Backside 360 Ollie down the Love Park fountain in Philadelphia. These tricks are legendary in the skating world. Cole’s sponsors throughout his skate career include World Industries, Enjoi, Circa Footwear, eS Footwear, Zero, Fallen Footwear and many more. Cole won Thrasher magazine’s Skateboarder of the Year in 2005 and again in 2009. He has won many skating competitions, including 2 gold medal at the X Games. He is also a really good BMX rider.

9) Mark Gonzalez

Mark Gonzalez is another great pioneer of the sport, who, if he hadn’t ever skated, street skateboarding would be like 5 years behind what it is today. Nicknamed “the Gonz,”, he was one of the first skaters to attempt grinding down handrails or jumping down flights of stairs. Before him, skaters didn’t even think to try it. When you watch his video parts now, it probably just looks like what everyone else is doing, nothing special. But you got to understand that he was one of the firsts to skate like that. His style and technique dawned a whole new era of street skating and influenced many future pros. You can’t have a ‘best skaters list’ without paying respect to the Gonz. Period.

8) Nyjah Huston

Nyjah Huston got his first sponsorship when he was just 7 years old by Element. His parents owned a skatepark so he was there a lot. Huston was known as the little kid with long dreadlocks who was insane at street skateboarding. Now, he is the highest paid skater in the game. His practice sessions last at least 5 hours where he forces himself to land every trick he knows before he learns new ones. Huston has won 5 medals in the World Skateboarding Championships, 12 medals at the X Games, and many 1st place finishes in Street League. Huston still puts out insane video parts that never ceases to amaze his fans. He is the youngest on this list at just 24.

NSFW: Swearing in video

7) Andrew Reynolds

You can’t have a top 10 skaters list and not have Andrew Reynolds on it. Reynolds came on the pro skater scene in the early 90’s and was signed to Tony Hawk’s company Birdhouse. Reynolds was one of the top street skaters on the team, which meant he was one of the top skaters in the world. He is known for the amount of tricks he can pull off in a single video shoot. Reynolds’ talent is both quality and quantity.

In 2000, Reynolds co-founded the skateboard company, Baker and now he is the sole owner. Baker has remained a top brand in the business consistently for almost 20 years. Reynolds collaborated with Emerica skate shoes and put out 13 signature pairs. Reynolds is also the head of design of Altamont Apparel. He has proved to be just as good at business and branding as he is skating.

6) Eric Kolston

Eric Kolston was born in Bangkok, Thailand, but was raised in San Bernardino, California. He started skating when he was 11 years old and even dropped out of high school his sophomore year to dedicate all his time to skating to eventually go pro. It didn’t take long for Eric to reach his goal, he rode for H-Street with Danny Way, Girl, World Industries and éS. As of now, Eric is sponsored by Nike SB, Spitfire Wheels, Independent Trucks, Diamond, Supreme, Oakley and more. He co-owns Fourstar clothing. Eric is well known for how perfect he does his tricks. He has been described by other pro skaters as the Delonte West of skateboarding. Rodney Mullen is said to be the Godfather of street skateboarding, the torch was passed on to Eric who set the bar even higher.

5) Danny Way

Danny Way is famous for being one of (if not the most) daring skateboarders of all time. He was able to jump the Great Wall of China (a 60 foot gap!) without the help of motorization (using a mega ramp), he jumped out of a helicopter onto a vert ramp and jumped several high walls. He also jumped from the famous ginormous guitar statue at the Hard Rock Cafe & Casino in Las Vegas (82 feet in the air) onto a ramp. Danny was a lead pioneer of the mega ramp. A totally new level of skating most pro skaters don’t even think of doing.

Most of the time Danny was doing his crazy stunts with some type of injury. Danny was known for always getting hurt because he was so nuts. Every pro skater and skateboarding fan gives Danny props for what he has done for the sport. He’s been to several X Games and won Thrasher magazine’s Skater of the Year twice. Danny does not skate too much anymore, he’s now a rally race car driver like Buck Lasek.

4) Bucky Lasek

When Bucky Lasek was 12 he lost his bike so he started skateboarding to get around. Fast forward 5 years and he was turning pro, winning many skate competitions. Despite having lots of injuries throughout his career, Bucky took part in 10 X Games, placing in the majority of them. He is considered one of the most dedicated and consistent skateboarders of all time. He also is one of the most famous too, making it on the cover of ESPN magazine. Bucky is a multi-talented athlete and is also a professional RallyCross racer. He made it to the Global RallyCross Championship in 2012.

3) Bob Burnquist

Bob Burnquist is a professional Brazilian-American skateboarder known for his trick technique, his switch stance and his innovation of crafting new or improved vertical tricks. Bob has competed in every X Games in its history and has won 26 medals, earning him the record for most X Game medals. He is also the second highest scorer in the X Games. Bob is famously known for being the first skater to land a fakie 900. He also did a 50-50 grind into the Grand Canyon. Bob’s signature trick is the “one-footed Smith Grind.” In 2000, he won the X Games best trick award for the fakie 5-0. Bob is super fun to watch because his trick technique is so spot on. He takes existing tricks then makes them more precise and harder to land because of his switch stance.

2) Tony Hawk

Everyone and their mother knows who Tony Hawk is. Tony is not only one of the greats, (greatest vert skater for sure) but he is perhaps the most famous skateboarder in the sport. Nicknamed the “Birdman,” Tony was a pro-skater at just 14 years old. He quickly rose to the top and stayed there for many years. He was the Skateboard Association title holder for 12 consecutive years. His skateboard company, Birdhouse became one of the most profitable. Everything Tony did, he did to near perfection. He is the father of modern skateboarding. One of his greatest feats was becoming the first person to do a 900 on a skateboard. Tony is held in regard of being one of the most influential skateboarders of all time.

1) Rodney Mullen

Rodney Mullen takes first place on this list, not only because of his great talent but his undoubtedly immense influence on skateboarding as a sport. Rodney’s nickname is “the Godfather of Street Skateboarding.” If Rodney had never picked up a skateboard the sport might not have ever taken off like it did.

Rodney started skateboarding at the age of ten. His father only let him practice in the garage so Rodney practiced freestyle skateboarding, which is doing tricks on the flat ground instead of on a vert ramp. He practiced for hours a day, completely obsessed, and when he was just 14 he was a world champion.

When street skateboarding came around in the late 80’s, Rodney took what he knew from freestyle and translated it to street. Rodney invented 50+ street skateboarding tricks; the flat ground ollie, kick flip, heel flip, 360 flip, casper slide, dark slide, primo slide, Ollie finger flip, 540 double kick flip and many others. It’s hard to say that Rodney is just a great athlete, the way he approached skateboarding was that more of a artist. Skateboarding would not be what it is today without him. He is the greatest skateboarder of all time.

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