Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal Debate Wrestling’s GOATs

Actors Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal recently sat down with Complex to promote their new movie, The Accountant 2, and the conversation took a fun detour into pro wrestling territory.

The duo discussed the "GOATs" (Greatest of All Time) in various fields, and when the topic of WWE came up, both Affleck and Bernthal seemed pretty knowledgeable about the golden era of the 1980s.

Here’s the full exchange:

Affleck: GOAT WWE wrestler?

Bernthal: Oh man, I got a couple on that one. I would say the Junkyard Dog.

Affleck: The J Y D!

Bernthal: I would say Hillbilly Jim, I really like Macho Man and I also really like Roddy Roddy Piper.

Affleck: Oh man yeah, I was going to go Ric Flair. Piper is great, Sergeant Slaughter, the Iron Sheik, you know was like definitely the classic era.

Bernthal: Big John Studd… yeah that's a conspiracy you know Leaping Lanny Poffo, you know you remember him? You know he passed and that's Randy Savage's brother. You know that they were brothers, they were both wrestlers and and and I mean it's kind of a conspiracy theory about what happened to him really.

While the list brought out some deep cuts and old-school fan favorites, it’s a little surprising that Bernthal didn’t mention Kurt Angle—who just so happens to be his uncle-in-law, as Bernthal is married to Angle's niece, Erin Angle.

As for the "conspiracy theory" Bernthal mentioned regarding Lanny Poffo, it’s unclear exactly what he was referencing. There has been some speculation and mystery over the death of Macho Man Randy Savage (Poffo’s brother), whose passing in 2011 was officially ruled as a heart attack while he was driving, leading to a car crash. However, nothing specific about Lanny Poffo’s death (which was publicly reported as due to heart failure in 2023) has circulated widely.

Regardless, it’s always fun to hear unexpected wrestling talk pop up among A-list Hollywood stars. Watch the exchange below.