Is Austin equal to Hogan?

[Dark Age 0]

Compare Dude Love/Austin after watching Rock/Hogan, or Hogan/Warrior, or Hogan/Andre, then get back to us with that comment.

Exactly.

 

Ask 1000 people how many remember Hogan/Warrior and then ask 1000 people how many remember Dude Love/Steve Austin. It wouldn't even be close. THAT'S the difference between Hogan and Austin.

What a stupid comment. You're comparing one of Austin's "lower-level" matches with some of Hogan's most memorable. A better comparison would be Austin/Hart to Hogan/Andre. Austin/Rock to Hogan/Rock. Austin/Shawn to Hogan/Warrior, and so on. I'm not arguing Austin's case; I understand (and agree with) what point you were trying to make; Hogan's matches are more memorable, more well known, to non-wrestling fans than Austin's are. However, to use Austin/Dude Love as an example in why Hogan is more mainstream than Austin is idiotic.

Read my statement in context to the question I was replying to.

In that case, my apologies to you Hass Of Pain. The original comment, though, shall remain stupid (even if you didn't make it).

[Dark Age 0]

Compare Dude Love/Austin after watching Rock/Hogan, or Hogan/Warrior, or Hogan/Andre, then get back to us with that comment.

Exactly.

 

Ask 1000 people how many remember Hogan/Warrior and then ask 1000 people how many remember Dude Love/Steve Austin. It wouldn't even be close. THAT'S the difference between Hogan and Austin.

What a stupid comment. You're comparing one of Austin's "lower-level" matches with some of Hogan's most memorable. A better comparison would be Austin/Hart to Hogan/Andre. Austin/Rock to Hogan/Rock. Austin/Shawn to Hogan/Warrior, and so on. I'm not arguing Austin's case; I understand (and agree with) what point you were trying to make; Hogan's matches are more memorable, more well known, to non-wrestling fans than Austin's are. However, to use Austin/Dude Love as an example in why Hogan is more mainstream than Austin is idiotic.

He used Austin/Foley cause someone else mentioned how much hotter crowd was for Austin during the match than for Hogan during his prime.

 

And, just to be a prick, Hogan/Andre is MUCH more known than Austin/Hart and Hogan/Warrior is MUCH more known than Austin/Shawn. The Rock matches are pretty much a push.

I'm not arguing that they aren't more well known. I was using Austin's most memorable matches to rival Hogan's as opposed to matches like Dude/Austin - I wasn't saying that they were more well known, or more memorable. It's just that it'd be a fairer argument to compare Austin/Bret with Hogan/Andre as opposed to Austin/DudeLove.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

It isn't fair to compare big matches today with big matches back then, because far more of them happened back then. If you ask 1000 people whether they remember Austin/Foley and 1000 people whether they remember Strike Force/Demolition (or Warrior/Honky or Snake/Rude or various other midcard matches), you'll probably get a response in favour of the tag match simply because huge matches back then were so rare.

[Si82 0]

Only wrestler to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated

Actually, Danny Hodge appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in April 1957. That's 28 years before Hulk Hogan did.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Only wrestler to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated

Actually, Danny Hodge appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in April 1957. That's 28 years before Hulk Hogan did.

Trying to cover-up: that was when wrestling was treated as a real sport. Hogan on the cover in the 80's is a lot different.

[Guest Trivia247]

It has been brought up earlier but i'll agree with it anyway..

 

not taking anything away from Austin's popularity and the obvious Contribution he did to Revamp interest in Wrestling Specifically from Wm14 onward (Since I believe that was the actual time when both Causal and Wrestling Fans once again took notice to the WWF)

 

But its basic Mathamatics.

 

No matter how wildly popularly or how loud the crowd pops, or the catchy catch phrases people chant back WHAT WHAT WHAT, Austin's popularity height from what 1998 to deep into 2002 before he started to stop wrestling and got more into the On air role where like Babe Ruth he'd come out wave his little hat and go back to the Dug out stage, Does not outweigh Hogan's Popularity stretching In JUST WWF 84-93 and the Short revival when he came back to the WWF and the Montreal Crowd sacrificed their Souls to him at WM 18 and went dead for every match after.

 

You can go into the Smarkest uhhh but he isn't a bigger draw I have the rating sheets downloaded from some rinky dink cable station dating back to 84 and compares it to Austins because I have that Much Time on my hands... But in reality, its the crowds the people buying the merchandise and the so forth that count. Not numbers on a sheet representing them but the people themselves. Austin is Awesome in front of a crowd no question, people will forget his off camera antics, pretty much the same way like...People would excuse babe ruth's lovely behavioral Abnormalities as Long as they entertain you. and so would I probably if Austin decided to Make a come back (If he actually wrestled. But no matter what biases in your head on the Hogan you probably got use to in the Mid 90's in WCW or his backstage dealings and power plays he did in the nWo angle, you can't excuse the insanely popular history he had.

 

Pontiac Silver Dome, WM 3, you could say 93,000 + came to see, oh Savage vs Steamboat, that would be a uniform smarkish Answer, you could even say they came to see the Hart Foundation and Danny Davis vs Bulldogs & Tito Santana, or you could be silly and say they all just wanted to see the Mixed Midget match... But in Reality in the dark of night you have to admit 93,000 + people a Indoor attendence Record for that Day CAME to See Hogan vs Andre.

 

 

Now I equated Austin to babe ruth simply to the last few years of his involvement was basic window dressing of On air non wrestling Roles that he played. Or the Occassionals Stunners he felt he had in him to deliver. But still you would have to equate obviously the Babe Ruth analogy to Hogan to, in not only the Markest way that people would to how great he may be, but also the same ways with Austin, where Hogan SHOULD be window dressing at his stage in life. He should come out on special occassionals, Rip up a tear away shirt, and cup his hand to his ear for the pop. (Though babe ruth never tried to stay in the spot light by trying to leeach his popularity to his Daughter's career)

[Guest LooneyTune]

What leeching? How many people actually have heard of Brooke Hogan that isn't a wrestling fan? Besides, she's only 16, so he's protecting her. It's not like he's jumping on stage whenever she's doing something and going "Wha'cha gonna do brother, when the biggest lungs in the world mesmerize you!?".

 

You make a good point on everything else though.

[Guest Thrashist]

Hogan by far.

 

I don't mean to downplay Austin's contribution to wrestling, because the dynamic of Austin vs McMahon was the most important angle of the late 90's wrestling boom. But realize that it was indeed McMahon's involvement that made it so important, so the credit must go 50/50. No one else has played that role as well as Austin (as many have tried to emulate since, but failed) and no one has played that role as well as McMahon (as many have tried to emulate since, but failed).

 

Also, that entire period had so many other sources of popularity going for it to further fuel Austin's success, like DX, the Rock, and most notably, the nWo (led by a certain orange man). Meanwhile, the magnitude in which Hogan dominated the wrestling industry for so many years is uncanny. More or less, Austin rose to prominence mostly in 97, was on top 98-99, was injured most of 00, and had a poor heel turn in 01 (well I LOVED it, but it's perceived that way) and that's that. Two or three years of really being on top. I do think those 2-3 years had 1000000x more impact than any 5 years of the entire Hogan run.

 

So basically I think it comes down to longevity.

[Precious Roy 0]

McMahon, The Rock, DX and The Undertaker definitely share a lot of credit, but Austin without question got the ball rolling. People came to check out Austin, and they discovered the other characters as a result.

[LessonInMachismo 0]

<<ontiac Silver Dome, WM 3, you could say 93,000 + came to see, oh Savage vs Steamboat, that would be a uniform smarkish Answer, you could even say they came to see the Hart Foundation and Danny Davis vs Bulldogs & Tito Santana, or you could be silly and say they all just wanted to see the Mixed Midget match... But in Reality in the dark of night you have to admit 93,000 + people a Indoor attendence Record for that Day CAME to See Hogan vs Andre.>>

 

Actually, there were closer to 78,000 people at the SilverDome. The 93,000 number was a bloated number by WWF. Even if it had been the actual number that they announced, The Pope drew several hundred more than that at the SilverDome.

 

What is more impressive than the live audience is the closed-circuit/PPV numbers for WM3. They used to have closed-circuit big screens at arenas around the country and people would pay to come and watch shows on them. I remember the Stockton Civic Memorial Auditorium was sold out just to watch WM3. I stayed home and watched it on PPV, and it was the first one I ever ordered. I wasn't a fan of Hogan at the age of eleven, but I was becoming a fan of wrestling, and WM3 was just huge in terms of buildup.

 

I actually wrote about it in my column this month:

 

Column

[Guest Trivia247]

<<ontiac Silver Dome, WM 3, you could say 93,000 + came to see, oh Savage vs Steamboat, that would be a uniform smarkish Answer, you could even say they came to see the Hart Foundation and Danny Davis vs Bulldogs & Tito Santana, or you could be silly and say they all just wanted to see the Mixed Midget match... But in Reality in the dark of night you have to admit 93,000 + people a Indoor attendence Record for that Day CAME to See Hogan vs Andre.>>

 

Actually, there were closer to 78,000 people at the SilverDome. The 93,000 number was a bloated number by WWF. Even if it had been the actual number that they announced, The Pope drew several hundred more than that at the SilverDome.

 

What is more impressive than the live audience is the closed-circuit/PPV numbers for WM3. They used to have closed-circuit big screens at arenas around the country and people would pay to come and watch shows on them. I remember the Stockton Civic Memorial Auditorium was sold out just to watch WM3. I stayed home and watched it on PPV, and it was the first one I ever ordered. I wasn't a fan of Hogan at the age of eleven, but I was becoming a fan of wrestling, and WM3 was just huge in terms of buildup.

 

I actually wrote about it in my column this month:

 

Column

Well the Pope is a Different Catagory than a Wrestling event..

 

I think the quote for when they did the number was it was a Record Indoor number for a Sporting/Entertainment event. Something along those lines...

 

Don't think the pope was on Tour with Ozzy at the time.

[Jericholic82 0]

Look i didnt mean that austin/love had the most heat of all time. I was just mentioning how I had just watched the match and was surprised at the amount of crowd support for austin throughout the match.

 

hoenstly you can really compare the two cuz they were from different eras. Hogan made the WWF, austin took it out of the dumps in the late 90s.

 

and as much as austin needed mcmahon, mcmahon needed austin. I dont think the crowd would have been that much behind McMahon vs say... Shamrock or Owen Hart(who probably would have been the choice if austin was still out due to the montreal thing)

 

and its just everyones opinions stop getting so negative on each other. I understand that we are all passionate about wrestling and thats why I come to these boards. But lets not fight over every point. we are discussing this issue not arguing it right?

 

Look I made a poorly worded comment that got misconstrued and I apologized for it a couple times already. YIKES

 

there is no right answer here. It is all just a matter of your own personal opinions.

 

and I also wasnt saying that Hogans ooponents were all anti-american. I was saying that was a constant plot point over the years at various points. Mcmahon came up with the Hogan formula for a world champ. Build up a big (sometimes big fat) heel have him attack Hogan BOOM INSTANT TOP FEUD Then he tried to repeat it with Bret Hart, Diesel,HBK before realizng it didnt work without Hogan and the times had changed as well (which is why we got attitude era-well besides from ripping off ECW).

[cameron chaos 0]

When Austin was on Nash Bridges he got a spin off series offered to him. If he'd taken their offer and it had went well Austin might be in a better position to claim the title as most mainstream wrestler.

 

As is Hogan is the biggest name of all time, Rock is currently the most mainstream, and Austin was responsible for the late 90s wrestling boom that indeed made wrestling popular, but never put him ahead as a genuine A list celebrity in the mainstream, drawing fans to wrestling rather than putting his celebrity status to use to get into other mediums (aside from the TV spots on Nash Bridges, but then Bret, Lita, Undertaker, Nash have all had similar appearances on shows). that's what puts Austin further down. He's a Flair, Hart or Thesz rather than Hogan or Rock: no doubt a big name to wrestling fans that could draw, but a genuine star not to the general media.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Rock is more successful in main stream. Hogan has appeared in countless movies and TV shows, but most of his movies, in a nutshell, sucked. I guess it balances out, although I'd probably give Hogan the nod since it helped WWF when he was appearing on talk shows and TV spots in the mid 80's when wrestling was still taboo while Rocky is just doing his thing.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Hollywood Hogan is the most recognizable mainstream wrestling figure ever.

 

Next would be Andre the Giant.

 

Next would be "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

 

Next would be The Rock.

 

Next would be "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

[Jericho2000Mark 0]

Hollywood Hogan is the most recognizable mainstream wrestling figure ever.

 

Next would be Andre the Giant.

 

Next would be "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

 

Next would be The Rock.

 

Next would be "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Goldberg was more of a mainstream celebrity than Austin or Savage. Even Chyna was.

[Nighthawk 0]

You've forgotten the Ultimate Warrior as well. I'd place him third. They even mentioned him in the Beethoven movie.

[Guest Loss]

I'd probably say Hogan if I was looking at this objectively. Austin's peak was amazing, but very short compared to Hogan's. Hogan's drawing power tended to go up and down depending on how he was portrayed and the current wrestling climate (just like anyone else), but he was a big draw on shows as early as 1982 and as late as 2002. Austin was no longer Superdraw the minute he turned heel, and his babyface runs in 2002 and 2003 didn't really set business on fire. Austin has probably sold more gimmicks, but Hogan has easily headlined more high-grossing PPVs and dome shows. Hogan was also a key player in two wrestling booms in two decades and drew internationally.

[Shanghai Kid 0]

Hollywood Hogan is the most recognizable mainstream wrestling figure ever.

 

Next would be Andre the Giant.

 

Next would be "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

 

Next would be The Rock.

 

Next would be "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

WTF?

 

Ric Flair man, Ric Flair. EVERBODY knows Ric Flair.

 

And you know who else was very mainstream at one time?

 

Roddy Piper, They Live I believe opened at #1 at the box office.

[Highland 0]

Keep Ric Flair out of this, he's the most over-rated worker ever; he isn't even in the same league as Hogan or Austin. Outside of wrestling and the South, who knows who Flair is? Nobody.

 

Hogan is bigger than Austin, in fact it could be argued that without Hogan, there wouldn't be a Rock or a SCSA.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Outside of wrestling and the South, who knows who Flair is?

Who's that guy who runs America again ? Oh yeah, the President.

 

And who was his father again ? Oh yeah, ex-president Bush.

 

And who was that wrestler guy they've both asked to speak to their party ? Austin ? Hogan ? Oh yeah, Ric Flair.

 

In fact it could be argued that without Hogan, there wouldn't be a Rock or a SCSA.

 

Only if he fathered them both.

[LessonInMachismo 0]

I live in what was once a hotbed of wrestling. Flair has shown up at Wal-Marts here to sign autographs. On my desktop, I have a shortcut to a MP3 of Flair doing the "Like it or not!" line. I use it when my people start bitching.

 

Anyways, no one knew who the speaker was. I told them. They still didn't know. I then showed them a pic on the net of Flair. They recognized him. Now, there are certain areas where Flair will be known, but even there, non-fans will not know who he is. With Hogan, everyone knows who he is.

 

Don't get me wrong...I love Flair. I dislike Hogan. But Hogan is a true household name. Flair might be in the southeast, but not nationally.

 

Too bad Bush wouldn't use the line:

 

"The Democrats don't like my plan for Social Security, well...like it or not, learn to love it, because it's the best thing goin' today."

[Highland 0]

Who's that guy who runs America again ? Oh yeah, the President.

 

And who was his father again ? Oh yeah, ex-president Bush.

 

And who was that wrestler guy they've both asked to speak to their party ? Austin ? Hogan ? Oh yeah, Ric Flair.

 

Where did all three come from? The South? Thank you.

[Special K 0]

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763803/

 

 

 

EDIT: Since when did Hogan come from the South?

[Highland 0]

I was refering to Bush Sr. and Jr. and Flair.

[Nighthawk 0]

Neither Bush are really from the south. W plays like he is, H didn't, really. He was just looking for oil.

[Jericho2000Mark 0]

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763803/

 

 

 

EDIT: Since when did Hogan come from the South?

Isn't Hogan from Florida?

[LessonInMachismo 0]

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763803/

 

 

 

EDIT: Since when did Hogan come from the South?

Isn't Hogan from Florida?

I think he is from Georgia originally.

[Special K 0]

No one thinks Santo was as big as Hogan or Austin?

[Nighthawk 0]

It's hard to judge something from a culture you've never experienced, compared with one you have.