Face of the Franchise

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

This is a topic idea that I essentially stole from one of those crappy ESPN promotions. However, I thought that adapting it to wrestling might be a lot of fun. Essentially the idea is to pick the one person that defines the company. That is, who is the one person that you think of first when you hear the words "WWE" or "WWF".

 

I've avoided making this a poll so that we can get some discussion. Defend your choice.

 

Some suggestions:

 

Hulk Hogan - Probably the runaway favorite, he was the face of the company's national expansion in the '80s and defined the look of WWE superstar in the McMahon world.

 

Steve Austin - The star of the Attitude era and the top character during the company's most successful period.

 

The Rock - WWF's first true crossover celebrity.

 

Vince McMahon - The owner, voice and booker for the company for the last 25 years.

 

Bruno Sammartino - For all the old school fans that never got into Rock n Wrestling.

 

The Undertaker - The company's most consistent star. A major part of the promotion for close to 20 years.

 

John Cena - The most recognizable star in the company today.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

The Rock, no contest. The only person up there who always gave entertaining promos and delivered in his matches. Not to mention the biggest star out of everybody who is listed.

 

I miss that guy.

 

When I think of WWF/E, my mind usually wanders to the Attitude Era, and all of the greatness that the Rock delivered during that period.

[The Truthiness 0]

I kind of agree with Mellowhelpful, but without Austin there is no Rock.

 

If I had to make the choice on who's the face of the WWE, I'd have to go with Triple H. I know people don't want to admit it, but he has been the face of the company the last decade. We all know how he got there, but hey, this is pro wrestling, the scummiest business on the planet. Trips road too the top, isn't half as bad as most of the other superstars of the past, Flair, Nash, Michaels and Hogan would be the best examples of this.

[Hawk 34 0]

When it comes to public perception, the face of the company is Vince McMahon. As far as proclaiming someone to be the franchise of the WWE empire, that's strictly a generational thing. Bruno, Andre, Hogan, Warrior, Bret, Shawn, Taker, Rock, Austin, Triple H and John Cena all reach a different generation and in some cases, a different part of a generation.

[Jingus 0]

All-time? If you just say the letter W, W, and F in that order, Hulk Hogan's still the first face that comes to mind. Stone Cold could be an acceptable second place. I don't see Rock that way since he left the business and got more famous doing movies, under his real name.

 

Now? Sadly, it's Cena. He's way more recognized by the general public than any of their other current stars. If I had to name a runner up, Undertaker easily. Let's face it, outside of wrestling fans, pretty much nobody knows who the fuck Triple H is.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I agree with Jingus with his Hogan pick, however I take exception to the "now, sadly Cena". I get you don't like the guy, but he's great when it comes to charity stuff, promotional stuff, bringing in kids & women as fans, and you never hear a bad word about him regarding his public image or backstage politicking. He's everything & more that you can ask for in your top guy.

[The Truthiness 0]

I agree with Jingus with his Hogan pick, however I take exception to the "now, sadly Cena". I get you don't like the guy, but he's great when it comes to charity stuff, promotional stuff, bringing in kids & women as fans, and you never hear a bad word about him regarding his public image or backstage politicking. He's everything & more that you can ask for in your top guy.

 

And he's a awesome wrestler

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I agree with Jingus with his Hogan pick, however I take exception to the "now, sadly Cena". I get you don't like the guy, but he's great when it comes to charity stuff, promotional stuff, bringing in kids & women as fans, and you never hear a bad word about him regarding his public image or backstage politicking. He's everything & more that you can ask for in your top guy.

 

And he's a awesome wrestler

 

Let's not get carried away here and start another Cena war with an over the top statement. Guy's done a great job in his role, but he's still fairly limited in the ring. He's far from an awesome wrestler.

[The Truthiness 0]

No, Cena is an awesome wrestler, that is something we all need to agree on, but I don't feel like arguing right now.

[bob_barron 0]

Let's not get carried away here and start another Cena war with an over the top statement. Guy's done a great job in his role, but he's still fairly limited in the ring. He's far from an awesome wrestler.

 

No, Truthiness isn't getting carried away at all. Cena's an awesome wrestler.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

"Cena is a great worker, not a great wrestler. He's good at entertaining but really, he's not much of a shooter at all. I mean Billy Robinson could probably tie Cena up into a pretzel."

 

- Any old rassler who's last match was 10+ years ago

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Cena is an awesome worker.

[Garbageman 0]

Okay, everyone who says Cena's an awesome wrestler, what matches should I watch to convince me of this?

[Timmy8271 0]

Oh boy here we go.

 

The answer is Hogan by the way.

[TheFranchise 0]

Cena is an awesome worker.

 

[Scroby 0]

Okay, everyone who says Cena's an awesome wrestler, what matches should I watch to convince me of this?

WWE is giving Cena the Hogan treatment when it comes to Wrestling.

 

Before Hogan's WWE(WWF) matches became so typical, it was pretty known Hogan could work any type of match and could actually wrestle. Cena's the same way. It has been said by many a pro wrestler that Cena can really work, but WWE really limited his wrestling style and limits.

[goldengreek 0]

THE ROCK

[jwpeer 0]

WWE is giving Cena the Hogan treatment when it comes to Wrestling.

 

Before Hogan's WWE(WWF) matches became so typical, it was pretty known Hogan could work any type of match and could actually wrestle. Cena's the same way. It has been said by many a pro wrestler that Cena can really work, but WWE really limited his wrestling style and limits.

 

Agreed on this.

 

For Hogan, all you need to do is watch some of his matches from Japan to see that he could bring the workrate. He was also just as entertaining/charismatic in the process.

 

I don't know how many high workrate matches Cena has had as I wasn't watching when he was first breaking in, but I do remember his US Title feud with Carlito (When Carlito was fresh and actually gave a damn) had some decent matches. That was right before he shot up to the main event and was forced to conform to the 'Five-technique moveset' WWE loves on their main eventers.

[TheFranchise 0]

It depends what you've seen of a wrestler before you can judge what he can do. There's a guy at my work who recently told me Austin was the worst wrestler of all time.

 

I told him to check out his WCW and even his ECW work, but he was having none of it.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The answer, to me, is quite clearly Hulk Hogan. I can see younger fans finding the Rock or Cena more identifiable because they represent the modern era, but Hogan and WWF are synonymous in my mind.

 

He was the face of the company during the national expansion and was the company's primary headliner from 1984 to 1993. Wrestlemania, which is now the backbone of the WWE product, was built on Hogan vs. (insert heel) for its first nine installments. Not sure that any of the other guys have his longevity, or his peak.

[CanadianChris 0]

Come on, it's Hulk Hogan. He WAS wrestling in most people's minds for the longest time. The guy was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, for chrissakes.

[Diamonddust 0]

Come on, it's Hulk Hogan. He WAS wrestling in most people's minds for the longest time. The guy was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, for chrissakes.

 

Agreed. As much as I don't like Hogan, I'll be the first to admit he was the public face of the WWF/E when it was trying to create a public face. They might have had people carrying the torch after him, but he was the first.

 

If you built a Mt. Rushmore for the WWE, you put his face on it, Vince's face, Andre the Giant's face, The Rock's face, and Austin's face.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

If you built a Mt. Rushmore for the WWE, you put his face on it, Vince's face, Andre the Giant's face, The Rock's face, and Austin's face.

 

Bruno Sammartino? He basically was the WWF from its inception up until the Hogan era.

 

Also, is it just me or is Andre much more revered by the current generation than he was during his own era? Not that I want to downplay the historical significance of Andre, but he wasn't that crucial of a figure in the WWF gaining and sustaining its popularity in the '80s. I blame Wrestlemania III and the WWE rhetoric that surrounds the event for increasing Andre's place in history.

[Diamonddust 0]

If you built a Mt. Rushmore for the WWE, you put his face on it, Vince's face, Andre the Giant's face, The Rock's face, and Austin's face.

 

Bruno Sammartino? He basically was the WWF from its inception up until the Hogan era.

 

Also, is it just me or is Andre much more revered by the current generation than he was during his own era? Not that I want to downplay the historical significance of Andre, but he wasn't that crucial of a figure in the WWF gaining and sustaining its popularity in the '80s. I blame Wrestlemania III and the WWE rhetoric that surrounds the event for increasing Andre's place in history.

 

Good point about Bruno, but if we're talking about the modern-1984 and beyond WWF, he'd be left off... and I doubt he'd be disappointed considering the bad blood between him and McMahon.

 

As for Andre, he was still the first big mega-star wrestling had, specifically people who weren't wrestling fans knew who he was. He kind of provided the final template for the "wrestling celebrity" that Hogan would become, although people like Blassie and Gorgeous George provided earlier models. I also put him on there for not only headlining the WMIII main event with Hogan, but people also forget him and Hogan wrestled in the most watched match in television history as well.

 

You ask anyone, fan or not, to name two wrestlers in the 1980s, and chances are they'd be Hogan and Andre.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Perhaps you're right, but I never felt Andre was that important in the grand scheme of things, as far as WWE is concerned. He was a major sideshow attraction across the country in the '70s and headlined some monster shows (Shea Stadium and Mania III), but his success in the WWF is overstated.

 

Perhaps I'm just clouded because I grew up on this stuff and I don't recall Andre being at that transcendent superstar level. If we are talking about '80s superstars I'd be tempted to put him behind Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Piper and Orndorff.

[Diamonddust 0]

Perhaps you're right, but I never felt Andre was that important in the grand scheme of things, as far as WWE is concerned. He was a major sideshow attraction across the country in the '70s and headlined some monster shows (Shea Stadium and Mania III), but his success in the WWF is overstated.

 

Perhaps I'm just clouded because I grew up on this stuff and I don't recall Andre being at that transcendent superstar level. If we are talking about '80s superstars I'd be tempted to put him behind Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Piper and Orndorff.

 

Andre was definitely a novelty/sideshow act in a sense so you are right about that. The way he was booked, however, got people wanting to see him more and more because they knew it was a special event if Andre wrestled. He never had to be the champion or focal point of a promotion, but he still could be the biggest star of the show. Yeah, he was on the decline in the 80's, but as I said, his emergence as a cross-over star in the 70's definitely paved a big chunk of the road McMahon used when the WWE went national.

[Wally Balls 0]

This is a hard question to answer.

 

I don't think there is just one face to the company. In a public relations standpoint, it's Vince.

 

But overall, I don't think you can argue that Austin, Rock, and Hogan were more popular than the other. Rock is the biggest crossover star without a doubt. Ric Flair says that Austin is the biggest star professional wrestling has ever seen, and it's hard to disagree with him. Austin brought the WWE to heights that it will probably never see again, or at least for a very long time. Look at the WWE today and look at it when Austin was at top of the mountain. I'm not saying the WWE needs to go back to that formula, but wow...whatever it's doing now needs to change. It might please a few smarks, but it's not pleasing enough people according to that 2.7 rating.

 

I've always been partial to the WWE and always could find it entertaining, but now, even I'm running out of reasons to watch.

[Toxxic 0]

Hogan. Of course I'm 26, so he was right in my timeframe, but it's Hogan. He wrestled, he made TV appearances, he appeared in magazines, he made many (bad) movies, but he was the star, not a supporting actor. For Christ's sake, this was the man who told the fuckin' Gremlins to behave themselves! You don't have a reality TV show called 'Austin Knows Best', do you?

[RepoMan 0]

Pure speculation, but I think Austin would be in showbiz if it weren't for the whole wife beating shenanigans.

[bob_barron 0]

This is a hard question to answer.

 

I don't think there is just one face to the company. In a public relations standpoint, it's Vince.

 

But overall, I don't think you can argue that Austin, Rock, and Hogan were more popular than the other. Rock is the biggest crossover star without a doubt. Ric Flair says that Austin is the biggest star professional wrestling has ever seen, and it's hard to disagree with him. Austin brought the WWE to heights that it will probably never see again, or at least for a very long time. Look at the WWE today and look at it when Austin was at top of the mountain. I'm not saying the WWE needs to go back to that formula, but wow...whatever it's doing now needs to change. It might please a few smarks, but it's not pleasing enough people according to that 2.7 rating.

 

I've always been partial to the WWE and always could find it entertaining, but now, even I'm running out of reasons to watch.

 

Go back to what formula? The Crash TV? The Attitude Era is over, it's done with. Just because it worked in 1999, doesn't mean it will work it in 2008.

 

The 2.7 was against the most watched game in ESPN history. Ratings mean nothing in the long run, given the immense profitability of the company.