Was Hulk Hogan the biggest star in professional wrestling?

[Halifax]

So many dumb shits in this thread misusing the term "worker"

Filthy casuals misunderstand the meaning of being a good worker, they think it means being able to do a lot of good moves really fast

No, it literally means to work the marks, work them to the ticket booth, work them into the building, work their butts into seats and the money outta their pockets and into yours, thats what being a good worker means

It doesnt matter how you do it, could be in the ring, could be on the mic, could be by standing out in front of the building with a sign promising free blow jobs in the back, it dont matter how ya get em there as long as you got em

And Hulk Hogan was one of the best workers of all time

Your definition doesn't match how many wrestlers use the term worker . Its not exclusive to working marks. Your are confusing worker with "Over"

In many books, well known wrestlers say Hogan couldn't really work much, but he had size and charisma so he could get over.

Im talking Dynamite Kid, Bret Hart, Eric Flair, who were considered the best workers

Austin himself mentioned when his neck was broken he couldn't really work or take bumps, but he was still over enough to come out every night get the crowd going with his non working skit bits

 

[Pittie Petey]

Your definition doesn't match how many wrestlers use the term worker . Its not exclusive to working marks. Your are confusing worker with "Over"

In many books, well known wrestlers say Hogan couldn't really work much, but he had size and charisma so he could get over.

Im talking Dynamite Kid, Bret Hart, Eric Flair, who were considered the best workers

Austin himself mentioned when his neck was broken he couldn't really work or take bumps, but he was still over enough to come out every night get the crowd going with his non working skit bits

Never been a better worker than Eric Flair, what a master he was, second only to Chip Bockwinkel if ya ask me

 

[Halifax]

Never been a better worker than Eric Flair, what a master he was, second only to Chip Bockwinkel if ya ask me

Phone typos are a hell of a thing lol

But yeah lol. Best Worker is generally spoken of by wrestlers and wrestling minds as "best in ring performer/technician"

 

[HereticBD]

Your definition doesn't match how many wrestlers use the term worker . Its not exclusive to working marks. Your are confusing worker with "Over"

In many books, well known wrestlers say Hogan couldn't really work much, but he had size and charisma so he could get over.

Nah, it just means you're able to work a match, and in turn work the crowd. You could have all of three moves, but you have to know when to use them for maximum effect. Hogan was a master at it. That's why he was a great "worker", despite having limited abilities. You could be the greatest technical wrestler in the world, but if you don't know how to work it into a pro-wrestling match and hit all the right beats to get the crowd into it, it means nothing. It's why a lot of young flippery-do guys will never make it big, despite being far more impressive in ability than a Hulk Hogan or a John Cena possibly could be. They think it's all about big spots and little else. They don't know how to actually tell a story in the ring.

 

[Halifax]

Nah, it just means you're able to work a match, and in turn work the crowd. You could have all of three moves, but you have to know when to use them for maximum effect. Hogan was a master at it. That's why he was a great "worker", despite having limited abilities. You could be the greatest technical wrestler in the world, but if you don't know how to work it into a pro-wrestling match and hit all the right beats to get the crowd into it, it means nothing. It's why a lot of young flippery-do guys will never make it big, despite being far more impressive in ability than a Hulk Hogan or a John Cena possibly could be. They think it's all about big spots and little else. They don't know how to actually tell a story in the ring.

Oh I agree he had charisma and the look.

Maybe this is just habit of wrestlers and personalities in how they talk about what makes a good worker, but....

Wrestlers in their books tend to call Hogan a mediocre worker who was a great pro wrestler, which is a step above warrior who they all call a shit worker. On podcasts when it's discussed "who was the best workers of the 90s," wrestlers and managers almost universally say Bret and Shawn and don't even register stone cold or The Rock, both of whom could work very well, far better than Hogan technically, and had massive charisma and ability to improvise and read and work the crowd

In the wrestling business, the definition of being a good/great worker when they talk about it in their books and interviews is synonymous with technical skills, believability and ignores and mic skills.

Most of them will say Hogan was a Jedi at connecting with crowds and charisma, but say his work was subpar and never mention him in best worker convos

 

[GolovKing]

Hogan is the most famous wrestler of all time, especially if you are talking guys becoming famous from what they did during their actual wrestling careers. Dwayne Johnson would be number 2 but the thing with him is he became more famous during his acting career than he did during his wrestling career. Stone cold was bigger than the rock was during their actual wrestling careers so either him or the rock could be second depending on how you look at it. Fourth is undeniably John Cena, even though I was never a fan of his and his era marks the period where I stopped watching wrestling.

Then second tier would be guys like undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Ric flair, macho man. Maybe Brett Hart, Roman reigns, sting or Goldberg as well, but I kind of feel like those last four guys I mentioned either didn't have much crossover appeal or they weren't relevant for long enough

 

[Ballsaque]

Test

 

[Pittie Petey]

Phone typos are a hell of a thing lol

But yeah lol. Best Worker is generally spoken of by wrestlers and wrestling minds as "best in ring performer/technician"

Youre being polite so Im gonna cut out my goofball neckbeard snark and just explain that the term working the marks was around a lot longer than these 90's rasslers were, it comes from the old traveling carnival days of the 1800's and has been in professional wrestling ever since

Of course someone like Bret Hart, who is well known to be obsessed with the glory of Bret Hart, is gonna define best worker as best in ring worker because thats what fits his agenda, thats whats important to him, but he also thinks doing that stupid fucking front facing run into the turnbuckles every dang match was a great move when in reality it killed kayfabe a little more every time he did it

Bret sucked on the fucking mic(and dont @ me to disagree, you piece of junk 90's rasslin fans cause your garbage ass Attitude Era opinions dont mean shit) so in his mind "best worker" equates to best in ring work and not the guy who sells the most tickets by any means possible cause that definitely aint him, WWF almost went outta business during his reign on top

And now all the fans and newer rasslers that came along in the 90's, the first real era of dirtsheets and internet message boards, where these terms were first misused over and over again, were taught that it meant something else by a bunch of other neckbeard dumb shits that were obsessed with star ratings

So, yes, the term has evolved over the decades, as language always does, but that doesnt change the fact that anyone saying Hulk Hogan is a bad worker because he never did flippy shit doesnt know what the fuck theyre talking about because he was the best there ever was at working the marks into the buildings, which is the only work that mattered for decades in the rasslin business


Boom


Mic drop

 

[GolovKing]

Cena was JOHN Cena …He’s not remotely Macho Mans level of popularity or personality , he’s known in his era Id say he’s not massively popular as an icon few know him unless they are die hard fans . Most ppl even remember Machos slim Jim commercials more then Cenas entire career .

Macho Man may have been the guy in WWE if Hulk and Warrior weren’t there , modern pro wrestling just sucks compared to what it once was trust me if you weren’t around in the 80”s , The first wrestling match I saw on T.V was the Legion of Doom the Road Warriors in the NWA in 1981 , I was like 7 and thought it was real up until I was like o.k this can’t be real a few months into watching it .

Wrestlers are definitely more athletic and can do more high flying stunts today but it’ll never have the stage presence or gimmicks it once had those days are gone , many wrestling just look like random dudes today the problem is they tried to make it more sophisticated and it’s mostly crap really . Brock and Taker kept it somewhat still intriguing but what’s after them ? It’s just a must see t.v thing anymore it’s replaced with fast paced action not an actual wrestling match .

Cena and macho man are both pretty similar in terms of how relevant or famous they are with non wrestling fans. Cena moreso with younger while macho man would be with older. But as far as actual wrestling among wrestling fans you can't put macho man above Cena. Macho man was never even the top guy. Cena was the number one guy for a decade plus

 

[GolovKing]

I think The Rock should be the bigger overall star because he was able to cross over successfully and made some returns back to wrestling. He isn't really a human being anymore. He is more like the face of a brand name. I watched some of his interviews and he doesn't seem like a real person even when he isn't in character. The Rock was probably on the same level as Austin when they were wrestling. They were big and sold PPVs but came and went.

Hogan didn't quite cross over successfully even though everyone knew him. Hulk was on fire during a time without social media and during the peak of wrestling which was in the 80s-90s. Wrestling was still culturally relevant at that time. Hulk wasn't really an exceptional athlete but he knew how to get the crowd hyped with hulking out, ripping his shirt, wagging his finger and finishing the match. Even his finisher wasn't something crazy. It's just a leg drop but it got everyone hyped. He didn't have to do crazy stuff like the Rock.

The rock wasn't as big as Austin when they were both just wrestling. Hogan was much bigger than both. No he didn't have crossover appeal with movies because he sucked at acting and his movies were terrible but he was still more popular than anyone else and was a pop culture icon. Bautista had a more successful career in Hollywood than Hogan also, so is he a bigger star as well?

 

[NoSmilez]

The rock wasn't as big as Austin when they were both just wrestling. Hogan was much bigger than both. No he didn't have crossover appeal with movies because he sucked at acting and his movies were terrible but he was still more popular than anyone else and was a pop culture icon. Bautista had a more successful career in Hollywood than Hogan also, so is he a bigger star as well?

The Rock is garbage at acting and his movies aren't great either. You completely underestimate how popular The Rock is. He is almost at 400 million on social media and Hulk Hogan is at 3 million. Austin is at 7 million. Hogan's prime was before social media. He doesn't have as much reach as The Rock. The Rock can sell shoes, drinks and other random junk. He is only wrestler outside of management that is close to a billion dollars in terms of net worth.

Dave Bautista acted in movies but he didn't have many lead character roles.

 

[Spounman]

Yes, Hulk Hogan was the biggest. Andre the Giant, The Rock, and Stone Cold are also massive but none quite reached Hulk Hogan level.
I was Hollywood Hogan for Halloween one year. I was on vacation last week and we lost Theo, Ozzy, and Hulk Hogan. I'm never going on vacation again

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Stan Hanson isn’t a wrestling Icon so that’s not really a realistic comparison . The voice , look , character ,charisma would be all advantages for Savage over Cena just the fact he was one of Hulks major rivals puts him over bc that’s the real golden age of pro wrestling and will always be it’s not how much I like them it’s just a fact .

He just factually wasn't a bigger star by any metric other than you liking him more, that's the issue.

 

[GolovKing]

Hulk, Austin, Rock, Undertaker.

I'm absolutely shocked Bret Hart only has 3 votes though.

Brett Hart was one of those forgotten guys because he didn't have the most memorable gimmick or lines to make his character as memorable long term or to give him as much crossover popularity. He's kind of like one of my favorite wrestlers sting who was in that way. I mean I haven't seen one person mention sting yet even though he and Goldberg were the two top stars WCW ever produced in terms of peak popularity which was I think bigger than a lot of people realize. But unlike Goldberg sting actually had longevity because he was a big name already even before his career took off with the crow gimmick. And he remained a name in wrestling for many years even after WCW went down. Also unlike Goldberg, sting was actually a good wrestler

 

[Pittie Petey]

He just factually wasn't a bigger star by any metric other than you liking him more, that's the issue.

Fact

 

[GolovKing]

The Rock is garbage at acting and his movies aren't great either. You completely underestimate how popular The Rock is. He is almost at 400 million on social media and Hulk Hogan is at 3 million. Austin is at 7 million. Hogan's prime was before social media. He doesn't have as much reach as The Rock. The Rock can sell shoes, drinks and other random junk. He is only wrestler outside of management that is close to a billion dollars in terms of net worth.

Dave Bautista acted in movies but he didn't have many lead character roles.

Hogan's movies were a whole other level of garbage. You need to go back and rewatch those if you think the Rock's were even close to being as bad. With the social media stuff you said it yourself, Hogan is from a pre-social media era so why even bother comparing those metrics? You know how many current nba players have more followers than Michael Jordan?

 

[NoSmilez]

Hogan's movies were a whole other level of garbage. You need to go back and rewatch those if you think the Rock's were even close to being as bad. With the social media stuff you said it yourself, Hogan is from a pre-social media era so why even bother comparing those metrics? You know how many current nba players have more followers than Michael Jordan?

It is the amount of reach and popularity. It's the magnitude. You are acting like The Rock wasn't pre social media too. He was able to reinvent himself and crossed over. There are kids that don't even know The Rock came up as a wrestler.

You can even check the past google trends for the past twenty years or so. I listed The Rock vs Hulk Hogan and for comparison I also looked up Jordan and Lebron. There is no comparison between The Rock and Hulk for the past twenty years. Jordan and Lebron are comparable in terms of averages. Lebron had higher peaks than Jordan. I understand it doesn't directly reflect popularity but it shows interest over a time period.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=The%20Rock,Hulk%20Hogan&hl=en

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=Michael%20Jordan,Lebron%20James&hl=en

 

[Deaths Head]

Cena and macho man are both pretty similar in terms of how relevant or famous they are with non wrestling fans. Cena moreso with younger while macho man would be with older. But as far as actual wrestling among wrestling fans you can't put macho man above Cena. Macho man was never even the top guy. Cena was the number one guy for a decade plus

Macho Man was the second most popular wrestler in the golden age , stating he wasn’t the top guy doesn’t really make sense bc Hulk Hogan was there ? He also had true Icons of wrestling to complete with The Warrior, Legion Of Doom , Ric Flair , Andre the Giant the list goes on …….

Triple H was actually more popular then Cena and dominated that era more so ?

Either way Cenas gimmick was weak in comparison to Macho Mans there’s really no comparison you got a larger then life character far better entrance, get up , etc etc vs a random big dude with denim shorts a tee shirt and baseball hat that throws signs with his hands ….sorry but this is just obvious to me who is what .

I like Cenas movies I thought the Marine was good but I wouldn’t remotely watch his wrestling unless he wrestled the Undertaker ( another real Icon in Macho Mans era but in his prime unlike after the 1990”s ) or Lesnar over Macho Mans it’s just not the same .

 

[Scerpi]

I would have never guessed Rick Flair would have outlasted Hogan

No one partied harder than Flair

How many times did he pass out just like this...

 

[Scerpi]

Hogan's movies were a whole other level of garbage. You need to go back and rewatch those if you think the Rock's were even close to being as bad. With the social media stuff you said it yourself, Hogan is from a pre-social media era so why even bother comparing those metrics? You know how many current nba players have more followers than Michael Jordan?

They were garbage...

But Hogan's promos in the 80's and early 90's

And his look.

But my god... that stupid leg drop as a finisher

However... he did somehow pick up Andre and didn't severely injure himself