Ronaldhino and Edgar Davids inspired thousands,especially with their nike ads
when 2zani's 1st video was released (i think it was 2002) ,youtube wasnt that popular then but we saw someone taking it to the next level.
billy wingrove and jeremy lynch (even though many people blame them as not real fss) had great impact back then.so did Palle ,nam and many others.
however freestyle expolded when people started watching freestylers at top skill lever doing sick combos(while themselves couldnt pull off a single atw) ,such as skora and michryc.(sorry if my english suck)