The Most Famous

WRESTLERS from Netherlands

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This page contains a list of the greatest Dutch Wrestlers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,027 Wrestlers, 9 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 22nd most number of Wrestlers behind Azerbaijan, and China.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Dutch Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Dutch Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Dutch Wrestlers.

Photo of Anton Geesink

1. Anton Geesink (1934 - 2010)

With an HPI of 59.25, Anton Geesink is the most famous Dutch Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Antonius Johannes Geesink (6 April 1934 – 27 August 2010) was a Dutch 10th dan judoka. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Championships, a feat he accomplished in 1961 and 1965. He was also an Olympic Champion, having won gold at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan, and won a record 21 European Judo Championships during his career.

Photo of Wim Ruska

2. Wim Ruska (1940 - 2015)

With an HPI of 53.18, Wim Ruska is the 2nd most famous Dutch Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Willem "Wim" Ruska (29 August 1940 – 14 February 2015) was a Dutch judoka and professional wrestler. He is the first athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in 1972. He later worked as a professional wrestler in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation, both as a singles wrestler and as a tag team partner of Allen Coage.

Photo of Mark Huizinga

3. Mark Huizinga (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 38.61, Mark Huizinga is the 3rd most famous Dutch Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Mark Huizinga (born 10 September 1973) is a Dutch judoka and Olympic champion. Huizinga was born in Vlaardingen, South Holland in Netherlands in 1973. He won the gold medal in the men's under 90 kg class at the 2000 Summer Olympics by defeating Brazil's Carlos Honorato by ippon. He took bronze at the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Other laurels include five European Championships and a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships. Huizinga retired after the 2008 Olympics.

Photo of Edith Bosch

4. Edith Bosch (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 32.90, Edith Bosch is the 4th most famous Dutch Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Edith Bosch (born 31 May 1980) is a Dutch judoka. Her Olympic debut was at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney where she finished seventh. She won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the middleweight division. She was also European champion that year. Bosch became world champion in the same ‍–‍70 kg category at the 2005 World Judo Championships in Cairo, Egypt. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she defeated Ronda Rousey in a quarter final match and won a bronze medal. In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she once again won the bronze medal. Bosch has a HEAO (Dutch: Hoger economisch en administratief onderwijs) diploma in commercial economy from Randstad Topsport Academy, she is also a master in Sport Management from Johan Cruyff Institute, and currently works as a team manager for the Nederlandse Spoorwegen. During the 2012 Summer Olympics, Bosch was watching the final of the Men's 100 metres when a man threw a plastic bottle onto the track. Bosch punched the man, and he was detained by stewards. Bosch retired from competitive judo in April 2013. She subsequently took up CrossFit. In 2013, she appeared on Dutch reality TV programme Expeditie Robinson 2013, which she won. She lost 16 kilograms (35 lb) over the programme's month of production.

Photo of Dennis van der Geest

5. Dennis van der Geest (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 30.70, Dennis van der Geest is the 5th most famous Dutch Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Dennis van der Geest (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdɛnɪs fɑn dər ˈɣeːst]; born 27 June 1975) is a Dutch judoka, who won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight (+100 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was born in Haarlem, North Holland. In 2005, he became the world judo champion in the men's open division by defeating Russian Tamerlan Tmenov with ippon in the final. In 2000 and 2002, he became European Champion in the over 100 kg event. He won three bronze medals and one silver medal at previous world championships. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Van der Geest was eliminated in the first round by Tamerlan Tmenov. He sustained a minor fracture during the match when Tmenov fell on his arm, but he was able to finish the fight. Van der Geest planned to finish his Judo career after the 2008 Summer Olympics to pursue a career in the music industry, but after his unexpected defeat, he was quoted as considering entering the World Championship in 2009. However, on 7 May 2009 Dennis van der Geest announced his retirement from top sport, owing to his lack of motivation. Outside his sport he was the ambassador of his favourite football team Feyenoord Rotterdam in the 2005/06 season. Next to that, he released his first single, "To The Sunshine", on 8 August 2008. This track was released under his stage name of Ippon, and is a collaboration with producer Ronald Molendijk. His younger brother Elco is also a judoka competing at the highest level. In 2011 and 2013 he appeared in episodes of the television game show De Jongens tegen de Meisjes. In 2019 he played a role in the film Brugklas: De tijd van m'n leven.

Photo of Ruben Houkes

6. Ruben Houkes (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 30.38, Ruben Houkes is the 6th most famous Dutch Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Ruben Houkes (born 8 June 1979 in Schagen, North Holland) is a Dutch judoka.

Photo of Anicka van Emden

7. Anicka van Emden (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 27.95, Anicka van Emden is the 7th most famous Dutch Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Anicka van Emden (born 10 December 1986) is a Dutch retired judoka who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (shared with Yarden Gerbi). She also won bronze medals at the 2011 and 2013 World Judo Championships. Since 2007, van Emden works 16 hours a week as a radio diagnostic technician at the Haaglanden Medical Centre in The Hague.

Photo of Aleister Black

8. Aleister Black (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 26.96, Aleister Black is the 8th most famous Dutch Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Tom Büdgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs as leader of the House of Black stable under the ring name Malakai Black and is a former one-time AEW World Trios Champion. He is also known for his work in WWE, where he performed as Aleister Black from 2017 to 2021. Prior to signing with WWE, Büdgen worked extensively under the ring name Tommy End for promotions across Europe, the United States, and Japan. He most notably wrestled for Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Progress Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), holding numerous championships such as the wXw Unified World Heavyweight Championship, wXw World Lightweight Championship, wXw World Tag Team Championship, ICW Tag Team Championship, and Progress Tag Team Championship. Büdgen joined WWE's NXT brand in April 2017, debuting at NXT TakeOver: Orlando. He won the NXT Championship once and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic once (with Ricochet) before he was moved to the Raw brand, and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand. He then appeared sporadically before being released in 2021, and joined AEW a month later.

Photo of Sanne van Dijke

9. Sanne van Dijke (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 25.61, Sanne van Dijke is the 9th most famous Dutch Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Sanne van Dijke (born 21 July 1995) is a Dutch judoka. She is the 2017 and 2021 European gold medalist in the 70 kg division. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's 70 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She is also a two-time bronze medalist in the women's 70 kg event at the World Judo Championships (2021 and 2022). In 2020, Van Dijke won the silver medal in the women's 70 kg event at the European Judo Championships held in Prague, Czech Republic. She also won the silver medal in her event at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv held in Tel Aviv, Israel. Van Dijke won one of the bronze medals in the women's 70 kg event at the 2021 World Judo Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. She also won one of the bronze medals in the women's 70 kg event at the 2022 World Judo Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. On 12 November 2022, Van Dijke won a silver medal at the 2022 European Mixed Team Judo Championships as part of team Netherlands. Van Dijke lost her bronze medal match in the women's 70 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. She is openly lesbian and she is in a relationship with Natalie Powell from 2018.

Photo of Diamantino Iuna Fafé

10. Diamantino Iuna Fafé (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 0.00, Diamantino Iuna Fafé is the 10th most famous Dutch Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Diamantino Iuna Fafé (born 10 June 2001) is a Bissau-Guinean freestyle wrestler. He is a four-time medalist, including two gold medals, at the African Wrestling Championships. He competed in the men's 57 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.

People

Pantheon has 15 people classified as Dutch wrestlers born between 1934 and 2001. Of these 15, 13 (86.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Dutch wrestlers include Mark Huizinga, Edith Bosch, and Dennis van der Geest. The most famous deceased Dutch wrestlers include Anton Geesink, and Wim Ruska. As of April 2024, 6 new Dutch wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including Diamantino Iuna Fafé, Frank de Wit, and Michael Korrel.

Living Dutch Wrestlers

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Deceased Dutch Wrestlers

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Newly Added Dutch Wrestlers (2024)

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