Hogan interview draws heat from internet marks..

[Vern Gagne 0]

I'm don't here much anymore so i'll take your word for it.

[Guest bigm350]

I said in another thread,  Austin was probably the biggest draw, but Rock is going to be a bigger national media star than Austin could ever even dream of being.  I agree, by 99 people were definetly tuning in to see the Rock maybe just as much as they were Austin.  The thing about Rock is he was such a great heel.  Rock's heel stuff is just more entertaining to me than anything Austin or Hogan have ever done.  And some of his promos are on another level than anything Austin or Hogan could do.

 

Austin's character is not timeless.  I think alot of his popularity comes from the crazy stuff he did, all the great moments he had vs Mcmahon.  Yet I don't think the character itself is even close to the timeless/eternal feel of Hulkamania.  Austin was perfect for the attitude era, but I don't see drinking beer and giving the finger as anything timeless.  It wasn't even original if you consider Sandman was doing it first.  I'm not even sure if I see in 10 years Austin getting one of those pops where he just stands in the ring and the fans cheer the hell out of him.  Those ovations Hogan gets when he's in the ring are all about respect and love, I don't know if Austin commands that.  Maybe its cause in reality Austin didn't really stand for anything 'good'.  Beating up your boss, drinking beer, fighting authority, that is good but it only appeals to a certain group of people.

 

I think Ric Flairs persona will be remembered and respected more than Austins.

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You said that Austin ripped off the Sandman, which is somewhat true, but didn't Hogan rip off Superstar Billy Graham?

[RedJed 0]

I said in another thread,  Austin was probably the biggest draw, but Rock is going to be a bigger national media star than Austin could ever even dream of being.  I agree, by 99 people were definetly tuning in to see the Rock maybe just as much as they were Austin.  The thing about Rock is he was such a great heel.  Rock's heel stuff is just more entertaining to me than anything Austin or Hogan have ever done.  And some of his promos are on another level than anything Austin or Hogan could do.

 

Austin's character is not timeless.  I think alot of his popularity comes from the crazy stuff he did, all the great moments he had vs Mcmahon.  Yet I don't think the character itself is even close to the timeless/eternal feel of Hulkamania.  Austin was perfect for the attitude era, but I don't see drinking beer and giving the finger as anything timeless.  It wasn't even original if you consider Sandman was doing it first.  I'm not even sure if I see in 10 years Austin getting one of those pops where he just stands in the ring and the fans cheer the hell out of him.  Those ovations Hogan gets when he's in the ring are all about respect and love, I don't know if Austin commands that.  Maybe its cause in reality Austin didn't really stand for anything 'good'.  Beating up your boss, drinking beer, fighting authority, that is good but it only appeals to a certain group of people.

 

I think Ric Flairs persona will be remembered and respected more than Austins.

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You said that Austin ripped off the Sandman, which is somewhat true, but didn't Hogan rip off Superstar Billy Graham?

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Agreed but Ausin's persona wasnt JUST drinking beer, which would mean he didnt just copy the Sandman and that was that. He got over predominantly intially because of the DTA gimmick and generally just being a badass rebel, giving everyone the finger and the well known taglines that got him over also. I dont think he even started the beer drinking routine until Austin/McMahon came along, and he was already drawing somewhat before that. Same with Hogan, some elements were derived from Graham, but the persona/gimmick of Hogan back in the day was more than just a blatant ripoff of another wrestler past. I think what got Hogan over more than anything back in the day was his connection to the fans as the "Real American" type of character - once he got in there with the Sheik and then beat him, it lauched him off something huge.

[WrestlingFan4Ever 0]

All I know is that everytime Austin has been on WWE TV lately he has been boring and stale AS FUCK.

[cabbageboy 0]

It's funny that the Iron Shiek has such a rep considering he was merely a transition champ between Backlund and Hogan.

 

One thing about Austin is that he always was feuding or doing notable angles with excellent performers, be it the Rock, the obvious long running Vince angle, Foley, UT, etc. I mean note than when he started feuding with HHH (who at that point was pretty mediocre I thought, this being the Summer of 99) it seemed like interest in Austin was starting to wane a bit.

 

Hogan didn't really wrestle much of anyone worth a shit during the 80s, just Orndorff and Macho (Andre I suppose was a money feud but Andre was so deteriorated at that point the matches were awful). Either way Hogan still drew money against George "the Animal" Steele, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, and so on.

[RedJed 0]

It's funny that the Iron Shiek has such a rep considering he was merely a transition champ between Backlund and Hogan.

 

One thing about Austin is that he always was feuding or doing notable angles with excellent performers, be it the Rock, the obvious long running Vince angle, Foley, UT, etc.  I mean note than when he started feuding with HHH (who at that point was pretty mediocre I thought, this being the Summer of 99) it seemed like interest in Austin was starting to wane a bit.

 

Hogan didn't really wrestle much of anyone worth a shit during the 80s, just Orndorff and Macho (Andre I suppose was a money feud but Andre was so deteriorated at that point the matches were awful).  Either way Hogan still drew money against George "the Animal" Steele, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, and so on.

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Bundy was the only guy out of those three he worked a significant program with and drew money against. Steele never even happened (he was a babyface when Hogan was over in WWE) and Studd was a semi-decent draw and worked occasionally with Hogan but nothing long term to decifer if he drew money against him IIRC.

 

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT. You guys are comparing apples to oranges. Guys like Rock, back when Austin started to feud with him, were virtual upstarts of sorts and werent drawing money. Rock started to draw WHEN Austin started to work a program with him. Foley also wasn't a draw particularly up until he started going against Austin and Taker in 98.

 

Bottom line is Austin and Hogan both have proven they can draw against various workers, be them also draws or not - that much is clear. Make NO MISTAKE about it. Lets not act naive about that fact.

[Guest jackie fargo]

George the ANIMAL Steele was a heel for about two years in WWE, Hogan wrestled him several times, including a 1984 Match in St. Louis where Hogan was disqualified..

[RedJed 0]

George the ANIMAL Steele was a heel for about two years in WWE, Hogan wrestled him several times, including a 1984 Match in St. Louis where Hogan was disqualified..

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Yeah but the fact is still that Hogan didnt draw money against him compared to the likes of an Andre, Orndorff, Piper, etc when business was booming and really taking off. That was my point.

[Angle-plex 0]

Hogan and Austin can't really be compared because of their different eras. Austin in 98-99 drew more money for the company than anyone EVER. Hogan was a draw for fifteen years in FIVE different promotions in the United States and Japan. I'd lean towards Hogan as being the biggest draw ever, but like I said, it's really tough to compare.

 

Rock and Austin is a little easier. Austin as a face champion drew more for the company than ANYTHING from 97-2003. Austin as a heel champion bombed because people didn't want that. Rock, in 2001, was STILL a face, no changes to his character whatsoever, and he drew ratings of high 4s. Austin was the bigger wrestling draw, no question.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

PWTorch.com reader Ross sent in the following rough transcript of Hulk Hogan's comments about Shawn Michaels during an interview yesterday in Anthen, Ga. on Rock 103.7...

 

The host asked about Shawn Michaels "breaking from script" on Monday. Hogan said the following...

 

"Well, I mean the whole deal is, y'know, I know Shawn is a little bit (of a) different person than he was before, where he's found the Lord and he's been saved and that's all great stuff, but, at the end of the day when it comes down to business, Shawn Michaels still has that Heartbreak Kid attitude inside as far as the wrestling business goes, and from day one everybody all the way through the last 15-20 years has said Shawn Michaels is jealous of you. That's some ... that's hard, it's kind of pompous to accept an excuse like that, that someone's jealous of you, but at the end of the day, he kind of is, I mean. It's something that's eating at him, it's something that's always ate at him. He never was the headliner at WrestleMania in front of 94,000, he never sold out Madison Square Garden 57 times like Hulk Hogan did. There are a lot of things he'll never do, at places I went that he's never been. This is like his one shot to even the score up, his one shot to say Shawn Michaels is really the Show Stopper, or whatever he thinks he is, and it's kind of like a jealousy thing, so at the end of the day he can do all his personal stuff that he wants and tell everyone how great of a person he is, but as far as the wrestling business goes, it was a straight-out cheap shot and that's where he's coming from - the lower tier, or the bottom-feeder position, so, at the end of the day, I have a feeling that he bit off a little bit more than he's ready for."

[Guest fanofcoils]

Honestly if the Rock was a full time main eventer and just like he was in 1999 (heel) or 1999/2000 in 1998, then I think he could be comparable to Austin. While the ratings I believe were the same or better in 2000 than 1998/1999, the buzz just wasn't there compared to 1998/1999, and that's just my opinion. I think the Rock was hurt by being on top in 2000 instead of 1998.

[zyn081 0]

In my mind, I pereceive Hogan as being higher than Austin.

[SuperJerk 0]

In my mind, I pereceive Hogan as being higher than Austin.

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I didn't know steroids could get you high.

[Perfxion 0]

two things are missed in this thread.....

 

1: DRAW and money MADE have to be two different things. Hogan is the bigger draw. Austin made more money. Simple fact: Austin worked 12 PPVs a year, 104 TV shows a year, and an expanded house show circuit. Something like 290 shows a year. PLUS there is t-shirts to think about. Hogan worked 27 PPVs in 10 years as the top draw in the AWA and WWF. The PPV market was smaller and cheaper. WM3(8.0 buy=1.5 million viewers) was like 15 bucks while WM17(3.2 buy=1.5million viewers) was like $50. Hogan had like 4 shirts out in his WWF drawing run, the old yellow hulkamania shirt, the grey one with the 86 title, the hulk rules shirt, and the made in the USA one. Austin had 6 shirts come out since his retirement in 2003.

 

2: Wrestling was in two different states durring these eras. Hogan was big in the mid west and the northeast. But the WWF couldn't break into the south because the NWA was big there. Austin had the whole fucking country to work off of. Granted both are major in Canada, but Hogan didn't become a draw in the south until WCW. WWF was going national durring Hogan's run.

 

One more thing, Hogan was a big name pretty much by his own right in the AWA, WWF, NJPW, and WCW. Austin only big in WWF. Austin would have never been a draw anyways if Bret wasn't screwed. As great as the WWF was in 1997, it was being blown out of the water by the stale NWO.

[zyn081 0]

In my mind, I pereceive Hogan as being higher than Austin.

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I didn't know steroids could get you high.

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Let me say it this way then, since your trying to be funny: I perceive Hogan as being number 1, and Austin as 2. Hogan is just a bigger star in my mind, but not by much

 

And no urine or shit jokes please.

[Guest Wisdom]

What would Nick Bockwinkle say?

[Ripper 0]

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT. You guys are comparing apples to oranges. Guys like Rock, back when Austin started to feud with him, were virtual upstarts of sorts and werent drawing money. Rock started to draw WHEN Austin started to work a program with him. Foley also wasn't a draw particularly up until he started going against Austin and Taker in 98.

 

I am sorry but that is just not true. There is noway that you can claim ONE man was the reason behind the WWE getting big numbers when there were TWO guys that were huge draws. Rock was JUST as popular as Austin pretty soon after the whole Vince/Austin thing. The Rock was one of the few guys that didn't need the title to be a huge draw. Hogan, pretty much was the biggest name in wrestling and was drawing in the people. Austin did it along with The Rock, like it or not. The Coorporation thing put the Rock in the ME, but he was definately was drawing them in before that. Thats why he was put into the ME.

[Promoter 0]

Jim Ross has gone one record saying HOGAN SOLD MORE TICKETS, while AUSTIN MADE MORE MONEY. Make your own conclusions from that. BTW, Hulk Hogan was basically responsible for jumpstarting TWO BOOM periods. I think the question in terms of pure name value is no question.

[Guest jackie fargo]

Jim Ross has gone one record saying HOGAN SOLD MORE TICKETS, while AUSTIN MADE MORE MONEY. Make your own conclusions from that. BTW, Hulk Hogan was basically responsible for jumpstarting TWO BOOM periods. I think the question in terms of pure name value is no question.

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Excellent post Promoter-I think that sums it up better than any other response I've read..