Now That "The Merchant Of Death" Is A Free Man, Let's Rank Some Of The Greatest Nicknames Of All Time
Great point by Dan this morning. One that really got the mind churning and thinking of some other gems. Many come to mind. Mostly old gangsters (see below), and athletes, back when they were cool in the 70s and 80s. (Also see below).
But there have been some Average Joe nicknames that I've heard over the years that are too good for words. And I can't be alone.
There's nothing like a great nickname. Ones so good they stick and you refer to that person by it for the rest of their life, without ever looking back. It feels like they're going the way of the past nowadays, thanks to political correctness and all.
Whatever ones I left out from this long list I got from Wikipedia, Twitter, etc. please throw in the comments. And if you have one of your own, or one of your buddies, even better.
Best Gangster Nicknames Ever
Albert "Tick-Tock" Tannenbaum
Israel "Ice Pick Willie" Alderman
Anthony "Joey Batters" Accardo
Donald "The Wizard of Odds" Angelini
Joseph "Joey Bananas" Bonanno
John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico
Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio
Joseph "Junior Lollipops" Carna
Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik
Salvatore “Sammy The Bull” Gravano
Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo
Kevin “Two Weeks” Weeks
Ciro “The Artichoke King” Terranova
Philip “Chicken Man” Testa
Angelo “Quack Quack” Ruggiero
Greg “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa
Vincent “The Oddfather/The Chin” Gigante
Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski
Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso
Albert “The Lord High Executioner” Anastasia
Louis "Cock-Eyed Lou" Fratto
George "Butterass" DeCicco
Anthony "Whack-Whack" Indelicato
Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone
Peter "Horseface" Licavoli
John "Porky" Zancocchio
Harry "The Hump" Riccobene
Girolamo "Jimmy Dumps" Palermo
Ronnie "One Armed Ronnie" Trucchio
Richard "Shellackhead" Cantarella
George "Georgie Neck" Zappola
Best Athlete Nicknames Ever
Christian "The Nigerian Nightmare" Okoye
Deion Sanders- "Prime Time"
Stu "The Grim Reaper" Grimson
Andrei "AK-47" Kirilenko
Allen Iverson- "The Answer"
Calvin "Megatron" Johnson
O.J. Simpson- "The Juice"
Kobe "Black Mamba" Bryant
Jack Tatum "The Assassin"
"Butterbean"
Walter Payton- "Sweetness"
Andre "The Hawk" Dawson
"Marvelous" Marvin Hagler
Pete Rose- "Charlie Hustle"
Billy "White Shoes" Johnson
Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns
Ted Williams- "The Splendid Splinter"
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Craig "Ironhead" Heyward
Ozzie Smith- "The Wizard of Oz"
"Super" Mario Lemieux
Orlando Hernandez- "El Duque"
Randy Johnson - "The Big Unit"
Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson
Gordie Howe- "Mr. Hockey"
Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain
David Ortiz- "Big Papi"
Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway
Reggie White- "The Minister of Defense"
Michael "Air" Jordan
"Iron" Mike Tyson
Chuck Bednarik- "Concrete Charlie"
Bobby Hull - "The Golden Jet"
Matt Ryan "Matty Ice"
Curtis Joseph- "Cujo"
Gary Payton- "The Glove"
Dick "Night Train" Lane
Karl Malone- The Mailman
Reggie Jackson- "Mr. October"
Lou Gehrig- "The Iron Horse"
Wanderlei Silva- "The Axe Murderer"
Mark Fidrych- "The Bird"
Jerome Bettis- "The Bus"
Clyde "The Glide" Drexler
Robert Parish "The Chief"
"Sir" Charles Barkley
Hector “Macho” Camacho
Stan "The Man" Musial
Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon
David Robinson-"The Admiral"
Jack Nicklaus- "The Golden Bear"
Fred McGriff- "The Crime Dog"
"Sugar" Ray Robinson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Ed "Too Tall" Jones
Dominik "The Dominator" Hasek
Dale Earnhardt - "The Intimidator"
James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell
Julius "Dr. J" Erving
William "The Refrigerator" Perry
"Broadway" Joe Namath
Wayne Gretzky- "The Great One"
George "The Iceman" Gervin
Robert "Tractor" Traylor
Jake "The Raging Bull" LaMotta
Frank Thomas- "The Big Hurt"
"Mean" Joe Greene
"Pistol" Pete Maravich
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson
(Best Athlete Nicknames Given By Chris "Boomer" Berman)
Joseph "Live and Let" Addai
Todd "Highway to" Helton
Harold "Growing" Baines
Sammy "Say It Ain't" Sosa
Moises "Skip to My" Alou
Greg "Math" Maddux
Bert "Be Home" Blyleven
Eric "Sleeping With" Bieniemy
Scott "Supercalifragilisticexpiali" Brosius
Miguel "Tejada They Come, Tejada They Fall"
Carlos "1 if by land 2 if" Baerga
Bernard "Innocent Until Proven" Gilkey
John "I am not a" Kruk
Jeff Conine "The Barbarian"
Vince Workman "My Way Back To You Babe"
Mike "You're In Good Hands With" Alstott
Von "Purple" Hayes
Andre Bad Moon Rison
Tim "Purple" Raines
Mike "Pepperoni" Piazza
Chuck "New Kids on The" Knoblauch
Jake "Daylight Come and You Gotta" Delhomme
"The Well Dressed" Amani Toomer
Darryl "Green Eggs and" Hamilton
Curtis "My Favorite" Martin
Mike "Nova" Scioscia
Octavio "Don't Ask" Dotel
Eddie "Eat Drink and be" Murray
Jeff "Brown Paper" Bagwell
Jeff "Philadelphia" Feagles
Matt "Stump the" Schaub
Albert "Winnie The" Pujols
The Best WWF/WWE Nicknames Ever
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
The Deadman — The Undertaker
The Mouth of the South — Jimmy Hart
The Excellence of Execution — Bret Hart
The All-American American — Jack Swagger
The Ayatollah of Rock ’N’ Rolla — Chris Jericho
The Beast From The East — Bam Bam Bigelow
"The Texas Rattlesnake" - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
The Heartbreak Kid — Shawn Michaels
The Bad Guy — Razor Ramon
The 8th Wonder of the World — Andre the Giant
MISCELLANEOUS
