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)

Giphy Images.

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