25 years ago if you did a poll asking who the best skater in the world is, 90% of the vote would have probably gone to Tony Hawk. But since Birdman doesn’t really do too much in the way of contest skating on TV anymore, I’m assuming he’s fallen off in the public’s mind as “the best.” So in today’s Zaturdays I’m shouting Tony out as the still current best skater of all time no matter what anybody did, does or ever will do on a skateboard. Here’s why. What Gonz did for street, Tony did for transition, and with the resurgence of bowls, parks, pools, and vert we’ve had a chance to revisit the significance of it all. Hawk was a pioneer and an innovator. It takes a certain type of person to invent skateboarding tricks, and it’s one thing to add a tweak or a revert to an existing move, but to create tricks out of thin air? That’s another matter. The stalefish, the 720, the 9, frontside hurricanes, Madonnas, varials, fingerflips, airwalks, frontside 540s, kickflip McTwists, and on and on and on.

This TWS article by Mackenzie Eisenhour about the history of the stalefish is a must read. Even the follow up article is a must read:

The Tas Pappas doc dragged Tony’s name through the mud to help make the movie sell, and it worked, but all the conspiracy theories about Tony keeping Tas out of the Xgames or stealing the 900 is a fantasy. Tony has always been the ultimate diplomat and let his skating do the talking. That’s another reason why he’s the best.

But just saying Tony is the best and that he invented a bunch of tricks doesn’t tell the story. The thing that sets him apart from everyone who has ever been considered a top guy is that for all intents and purposes, he NEVER failed in 30 plus years of being in the spotlight. Even when he did “fail” he came back and succeeded in such dramatic fashion that everything leading up to it was forgotten. Example: when he built that vert ramp in the bullring in Mexico so he could end his Birdhouse part (The End) with a 900. He didn’t make the 9 and they had to have Bucky “blow up” the arena to cover for it. But then he went and did the first 900 at the ’99 Xgames, which just happened to be a few months before the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, which went on to sell what, a billion copies? Winning! There were also rare moments when he didn’t win a contest, or slammed on something random (like doing the loop in a monkey suit), but when the pressure was on, and the expectations where sky high, Birdman nailed it time after time after time.

And another thing. Sure Tony could rip when it counted, on the perfect ramp with the eyes of the world on him for motivation. But he could and did rip on the nearly unskateable parking lot demo ramp, the dusty mini ramp at the state fair, the sketchy launch ramp at the demo behind the mall in Wichita. He did next level skating, every time, in all of those situations day in day out. And it’s not that it came so easy, he wasn’t cruising, and that’s another reason why he’s the best. He’d go for it, always, whether he was skating for 2 million people or 2000, or 20. And you know how you sometimes need to warm up for 30 minutes before you feel like you’re getting in your groove? Or how it might take an hour, or two, or even all day to get used to some weird ramp or bowl? Try one run for Birdy. Caballerials, invert fakies, and 540s were his warm up moves. Backside 360 ollies, frontside gay twists, and varial fives were the big guns he’d save for later.

If Tony had a sprained ankle, he’d still make magic happen. I’m not exaggerating here, but he’d even make magic happen on two sprained ankles. I saw it with my own eyes on a Birdhouse tour in 1996.
And you’d think the guy who spent as much time on transition as Tony wouldn’t be able to so much as push properly on street. Not Hawk. I saw him lipslide a 10 stair handrail, the first day of a tour, with about 8 feet of run up and no one was even filming.
After EVERYTHING he’s done Tony could have flown off to some tropical island, built a 30,000 square foot compound and retire for all eternity. But he hasn’t. Instead he’s skating, and filming progressive video parts to this day, even as he creeps on 50. He continues to live in North County SD, has a bowl in his backyard, and never stops. He’s demoing, helping get more parks built via the Tony Hawk Foundation, hitting the occasional bowl contest, making appearances, etc. He also hooks up his friends, family, and anyone he’s stoked on with every opportunity he can. What a legend. So even though he’s widely acknowledged as the best, I still think he’s underrated.
Oh, and Tony Hawk also discovered Andrew Reynolds. -Paul Zitzer