Mick Foley. Onita. Terry Funk. Sabu. New Jack. Tommy Dreamer. Zandig. Abdullah the Butcher. Mr. Pogo.
Many others associated with hardcore wrestling you could add to the list. But who is THE Icon of hardcore wrestling?
For me it's Foley. He was the guy who exposed me to that style of wrestling starting with him as Cactus Jack in WCW. But my interest really peaked when the WWF did those interview segments and they showed footage of the death match tournament he had won. Now prior to that interview I had seen a little of FMW and Big Japan in PWI magazines so I had an idea about Cactus, Onita, Mr. Pogo, etc. But the WWF stuff really made me seek it out.