Who was more over for their time period

[Road Warriors]

I'm looking to see who you think was the most over in their respected time period.

In wrestling it really comes down to 3 names when you think as being the most over with the fans and the crowd pop they received.

Here are the 3 most popular of there time period.

70 - Bruno Sammartino
80 - Hulk Hogan
90 - Steve Austin

[Callum1993]

Hogan I'd say

[Raine]

Stone Cold for me, I watched the RAW when Foley beat the Rock for the title the other day, Austin comes down and hits Rock with a chair for the ending, the pop Austin got when his music hit was incredible, nothing like any modern day wrestler gets.

[Deleted]

IMO its very close but the fevered pops Austin got coupled with the frankly incredible sales of 3:16 shirts puts my vote with him.

however Hogan was obviously VERY popular too and hugely over.

[jammer311]

That's tough to say, for the simple reason Hogan had a pretty long run as being the TOP guy. If you count his AWA run in 83, all the way to 1993 when he left the WWE, that's 10 solid years of being 'the' guy.

If Austin hadn't gotten injured, it makes me wonder how long he would have been over (just cause The Rock seemed to take over when Austin took that year off in 2000). I also wonder how long the Attitude Era would have lasted with Austin being healthy and around.

[Daniel F'n Bryan]

Austin, it's always going to be Austin in my opinion. Kids loved him, Adults loved him, EVERYONE loved him. He got the loudest reactions from 98 to 01 and even now when he makes appearences he gets reactions that are second to no one on the current roster. Go back and watch any WWE from 98 or 99 and all you see are Austin and DX shirts. Thats saying something.

[Johnny Wrestling]

Stone Cold Steve Austin is the most over wrestler this industry has ever seen.

[jasonphoenix1]

Hogan brought in more kids during that run.

Austin brought in more teens to adults.

But I would say both was over but I would say probably Hogan.

[Raine]

Would have loved to have seen Austin/Hogan as WM18 or 19, just to see if the crowd would have turned on Austin like they did with Rock

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2012 16:21:45 GMT -5 Raine said:

Would have loved to have seen Austin/Hogan as WM18 or 19, just to see if the crowd would have turned on Austin like they did with Rock

yeah thats the "Million $$ Question" isnt it?I guess we will never know.

[Stinger TNA]

Stone cold for me. The pops were huge and still are if he makes an appearance

[Deleted]

Hard to argue who was more popular. Hogan or Austin.

Both are household names. Both made wrestling mainstream. Both sold mass quantities of merchandise.

However, I give the edge to Stone Cold. Even in the mid-late 80s wrestling has NEVER been as popular as it was in the late 90s.

[jakksking1]

I would give the slight edge to Hogan. He had a lot more crossover appeal and his name has become synonymous with wrestling.

And if we are comparing each wrestler to their time period, Austin was hot, but there was a period in which the Rock was just as hot as Austin, if not hotter. Hogan had no equals during his run.

[xtremeperil]

I feel bad for Bruno, nobody even has acknowledged that his name was in the mix. Which is understandable, but I think Bruno should be looked at. If I recall correctly, when he lost the title, they didn't even announce or present the title to whoever beat him (can't remember) because they were afraid of a riot. I also believe their were a lot of people crying at the end from the crowd (from what I read). Which is incredible to me, considering he must've been around that popularity for the majority of his some seven year title reign. Anyway, I'm not sure who I'd go with though.

[kazoosandstreamers]

I would think Hogan.
Austin is well known, but when the general population thinks of pro wrestling, they think Hogan.

[Nivro™]

I think its really hard to compare Hogan and Austin. One because Austins run was a lot shorter then Hogans but also Austin came in a time where getting a hold of an Austin shirt or hat was as simple as two clicks....or even a drive to the store. Hulkamania shirts bandanas werent easily available. So from a sales perspective, I think if you gave Hogan the "electronic" era...He'd sell just as much as Austin. The reasoning I have for that opinion is for every Austin 316 shirt you saw in the crowd, there was an nWo shirt that matched it. Sure nWo wasnt all Hogan but he WAS the main guy. As for "pops" and just time at the top. Its all clearly Hogan. He was the man from 81-83 in AWA, 84-93 in WWF and 96-00 in WCW. That's nearly 20 years of domination. And thats just when he was the main guy.

[jakksking1]

Jan 14, 2012 1:07:58 GMT -5 Nivro™ said:

I think its really hard to compare Hogan and Austin. One because Austins run was a lot shorter then Hogans but also Austin came in a time where getting a hold of an Austin shirt or hat was as simple as two clicks....or even a drive to the store. Hulkamania shirts bandanas werent easily available. So from a sales perspective, I think if you gave Hogan the "electronic" era...He'd sell just as much as Austin. The reasoning I have for that opinion is for every Austin 316 shirt you saw in the crowd, there was an nWo shirt that matched it. Sure nWo wasnt all Hogan but he WAS the main guy. As for "pops" and just time at the top. Its all clearly Hogan. He was the man from 81-83 in AWA, 84-93 in WWF and 96-00 in WCW. That's nearly 20 years of domination. And thats just when he was the main guy.

Thats a good point, I was trying to think of a way to make that point. Austin may have sold more merch than Hogan, but it was heavily in part because of masssiveee proliferation of goods. Back in the 80's, Hogan had a yellow t-shirt, bandana and a couple of LJN figures and couple of other things. By the late 90's, Austin had 20 different t-shirts, new Jakks action figures were being released every 2 weeks, and Vince was putting his superstars on anything and everything. By 1999, the WWF also had 4 or 5 weekly shows, 12 PPVs a year and the benefit of the internet. Austin had a great hype machine behind him whereas Hogan had to help establish the hype machine (WM1).

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2012 1:07:58 GMT -5 Nivro™ said:

I think its really hard to compare Hogan and Austin. One because Austins run was a lot shorter then Hogans but also Austin came in a time where getting a hold of an Austin shirt or hat was as simple as two clicks....or even a drive to the store. Hulkamania shirts bandanas werent easily available. So from a sales perspective, I think if you gave Hogan the "electronic" era...He'd sell just as much as Austin. The reasoning I have for that opinion is for every Austin 316 shirt you saw in the crowd, there was an nWo shirt that matched it. Sure nWo wasnt all Hogan but he WAS the main guy. As for "pops" and just time at the top. Its all clearly Hogan. He was the man from 81-83 in AWA, 84-93 in WWF and 96-00 in WCW. That's nearly 20 years of domination. And thats just when he was the main guy.

great points there man.

[ASR (therockisback)]

Jan 13, 2012 14:54:15 GMT -5 Johnny Wrestling said:

Stone Cold Steve Austin is the most over wrestler this industry has ever seen.

[Deleted]

few people mentioning the Rock here......yeah he got over huge when Austin was away from Nov 99 to Sept 2000 but dont forget this......

1)he was built up to the top guy from July 99 when Vince knew Austin was gonna be done.Austin was used sparingly after SSlam(in ring)

2)when Austin came back Rock was not as popular as him.when theyn said Austin would be back at backlash 2000 the crowd chanted "we want Austin" non stop for the first 5 minutes of the match.Austin chants also broke out sporadically during the match.

3)he was more over in the run in to WM17 too.I know WM17 itself was in texas but during the run up Austin had the edge with crowds.

the stupidty of his two heels turns(especially the second)defy F*cking belief IMO.

the man had no equal popularity wise in the Attitude Era.