Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 12:35:15 GMT -5
Love him or hate him, there's no question that Hogan is the guy who made professional wrestling a household name. But my question is, why? How was it that someone who was pretty damn ugly appeal to such a huge audience?
If I look at a guy like Savage or Warrior, they both had what Hogan had plus more. Warrior in particular had an awesome look and unbelievable intensity. How was it that he didn't captivate the masses like Hogan did?
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Revy
Superstar
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Post by Revy on Sept 30, 2014 12:54:57 GMT -5
Well, things were a lot different back then. Hogan had been over long before Savage and Warrior got themselves over with the crowd. Warrior was over big, but I think to the older fans, he came off a little cartoony with his promos and whatnot. Another thing is by the time Warrior was on top, the business was changing. People started respecting the "actual wrestlers" more than the muscled up characters. I think timing was and how the business was is basically the answer to your question. To me Savage was a zillion times better than Hogan, but with Hogan being established and with him being the face of it, McMahon wasn't jumping off that gravy train. This is only my first reaction opinion. Im sure others will add a little more depth, but that just my thought.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 13:15:59 GMT -5
Well, things were a lot different back then. Hogan had been over long before Savage and Warrior got themselves over with the crowd. Warrior was over big, but I think to the older fans, he came off a little cartoony with his promos and whatnot. Another thing is by the time Warrior was on top, the business was changing. People started respecting the "actual wrestlers" more than the muscled up characters. I think timing was and how the business was is basically the answer to your question. To me Savage was a zillion times better than Hogan, but with Hogan being established and with him being the face of it, McMahon wasn't jumping off that gravy train. This is only my first reaction opinion. Im sure others will add a little more depth, but that just my thought. Yeah I realize that Warrior and Savage arrived after Hogan, I was just using them as examples of guys who were more appealing than Hulk. The main point of this thread is moreso about why fans even responded so well to Hulk in the first place? |
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Post by Last Trent Barreta Fan on Sept 30, 2014 13:23:12 GMT -5
Because there wasn't Internet back in the 80s
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 13:39:26 GMT -5
I liked Warrior.....but neither Warrior or Savage(especially Savage) were more appealing to me.....no f*cking way Pedro. quite frankly neither were on the same planet as Hogan when it came to getting the crowd onside or selling an angle.
Now both faced obstacles while on top.....Savage was made champion soley so he could turn and feud with Hogan this is not speculation......at NO point did Vince ever dream of replacing Hogan with Savage, only the squarely delusional will think or say otherwise..... THE most successful era of Machos career was while he was paired with Hogan from March 88-August 89.
Warrior had nobody to feud with. Rude had already been beaten comprehensively by Warrior so fans weren't that into it..... and the original choice to feud with him was injured-Randy Savage. instant ME cul de sac for Warrior
Warrior should have been given Earthquake....but then again I genuinely believe Vince truly never bought Warrior as his guy.....and in the wake of business declining post the unbeatable Hogan vs Savage feud he knew Hogan vs Earthquake after the "pearl harbour" would bring in the $$$$$$. Hogan suggested the feud and wanted it. Vince gave it to him....no question.
In both cases the crowd were not conditioned to buy either Savage or Warrior as anything more than short term replacements.....I think that may be the simplest answer of all.
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Devilkiller
Main Eventer
WFWF. Go see about it.
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Post by Devilkiller on Sept 30, 2014 14:02:16 GMT -5
Well, things were a lot different back then. Hogan had been over long before Savage and Warrior got themselves over with the crowd. Warrior was over big, but I think to the older fans, he came off a little cartoony with his promos and whatnot. Another thing is by the time Warrior was on top, the business was changing. People started respecting the "actual wrestlers" more than the muscled up characters. I think timing was and how the business was is basically the answer to your question. To me Savage was a zillion times better than Hogan, but with Hogan being established and with him being the face of it, McMahon wasn't jumping off that gravy train. This is only my first reaction opinion. Im sure others will add a little more depth, but that just my thought. This right here. Just for fun too add: I always find myself liking the non-mainstream guy. Everyone loved Hogan, I loved Savage. Everyone loved Austin, I loved Rock (though I  ing love Austin too) Everyone loved Bret, I loved Shawn. I don't know. Just thought I'd share. |
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Post by marino13 on Sept 30, 2014 15:41:14 GMT -5
Hogan was booked like a superhero. He was Rambo. No matter the insurmountable odds, he always came out on top. One man against an army, and that one man came out on top. He was larger than life. I was always more of a Warrior, Piper, or Savage guy, but there is no denying that Vince put all his eggs in Hogan's basket. And he was gonna make sure it worked even at the detriment to everyone else on the roster.
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Post by Roman Bellic on Sept 30, 2014 16:32:11 GMT -5
lets not forget the finish in the Yokozuna-Bret Hart match
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Post by K5 on Sept 30, 2014 18:16:04 GMT -5
pure booking and marketing. look at hogan's audience in the wwwf before he exploded with hulkamania - they're not going bat crapcrazy for him, now are they? all that would change in a few short years.
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Post by Next Manufactured’s Sweater on Sept 30, 2014 18:41:47 GMT -5
In terms of the WWF, it was because he was an extremely charismatic superhuman and the audience had just gone through years of terrible Bob Backlund.
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torriefan4life
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Post by torriefan4life on Sept 30, 2014 18:48:07 GMT -5
And one reason....People just liked him! Hulk was so easy to like back then and I have never turned my back on the Hulk. It takes more than being "GREAT" in the ring to be popular, and Hulk performed in the ring to a level that got him by just fine. He had his signature moves (just like every wrestle has), and he had his bag of other moves. Hulk was easy to like and it boggles my mind to this day why so many just don't want to give Hulk the respect he deserves, because without him there would probably be no WWE.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 18:52:58 GMT -5
pure booking and marketing. look at hogan's audience in the wwwf before he exploded with hulkamania - they're not going bat crap crazy for him, now are they? all that would change in a few short years. Well he also hadn't appeared in Rocky III at that point, either. In terms of the WWF, it was because he was an extremely charismatic superhuman and the audience had just gone through years of terrible Bob Backlund. And as much as I'm a huge fan of Backlund...he was a pretty terrible top babyface champion. Hulk came along and had a ton of personality, his matches weren't long and tedious, his promos were great and he could pop an entire crowd just by shooting them a look. That's a goddamn top babyface. |
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Post by mikey1974 on Sept 30, 2014 19:51:31 GMT -5
1) The Cold War/American Pride - we were still in the Cold war with the USSR,and had just gotten done with the Iranian Hostage Crisis a few years prior, so an American sense of antagonism against those 2 entities was still prevalent in this country. it's no coincidence Vince had Sheik beat Backlund so Hogan could take the title from him,nor that one of his first big opponents was Volkoff. couple that with a renewed sense of American pride,in the days of Ronald Reagan's Presidency and "Born in the USA" all over charts, and here comes Hogan as America's hero,waving the Flag all over. to boo him at that point was akin to treason!
2) Marketing. Vince saw the potential with his newly-minted American Hero,and he ran with it. you gotta understand how completely new the idea of merchandising in pro wrestling was back then. and it took off,each fueling the other to greater and greater heights.
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Post by JC Motors on Sept 30, 2014 20:24:01 GMT -5
Hogan was booked like a superhero. He was Rambo. No matter the insurmountable odds, he always came out on top. One man against an army, and that one man came out on top. He was larger than life. I was always more of a Warrior, Piper, or Savage guy, but there is no denying that Vince put all his eggs in Hogan's basket. And he was gonna make sure it worked even at the detriment to everyone else on the roster. He was the John Cena of his day |
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Post by Prophet of Ash on Sept 30, 2014 20:31:21 GMT -5
the "smart" crowd really DIDN'T react well to Hogan. They just didn't watch WWF. There were alternatives and if you didn't want to watch Hogan wrestle the same 6 minute main event on every show, you had Flair and Steamboat and Sting on the other show doing incredible things. The NWA was decidedly an "older" crowd who could see through Hogan's nonsense.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 5:52:19 GMT -5
1) The Cold War/American Pride - we were still in the Cold war with the USSR,and had just gotten done with the Iranian Hostage Crisis a few years prior, so an American sense of antagonism against those 2 entities was still prevalent in this country. it's no coincidence Vince had Sheik beat Backlund so Hogan could take the title from him,nor that one of his first big opponents was Volkoff. couple that with a renewed sense of American pride,in the days of Ronald Reagan's Presidency and "Born in the USA" all over charts, and here comes Hogan as America's hero,waving the Flag all over. to boo him at that point was akin to treason! 2) Marketing. Vince saw the potential with his newly-minted American Hero,and he ran with it. you gotta understand how completely new the idea of merchandising in pro wrestling was back then. and it took off,each fueling the other to greater and greater heights. This is a great point. I guess I missed that due to not being alive (or American) at the time lol. So it really was a case of the perfect storm. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 8:30:26 GMT -5
Love him or hate him, there's no question that Hogan is the guy who made professional wrestling a household name. But my question is, why? How was it that someone who was pretty damn ugly appeal to such a huge audience? If I look at a guy like Savage or Warrior, they both had what Hogan had plus more. Warrior in particular had an awesome look and unbelievable intensity. How was it that he didn't captivate the masses like Hogan did? What I'm gathering from this is you're wondering why an ugly guy(Hogan) went further than a pretty guy (Warrior). I'm not trying to mess with you or anything but are you wondering why someone went further than the other based on looks? I totally could've read your post wrong. But some clarification would be much appreciated. |
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Post by ZMaster on Oct 1, 2014 8:54:46 GMT -5
1) The Cold War/American Pride - we were still in the Cold war with the USSR,and had just gotten done with the Iranian Hostage Crisis a few years prior, so an American sense of antagonism against those 2 entities was still prevalent in this country. it's no coincidence Vince had Sheik beat Backlund so Hogan could take the title from him,nor that one of his first big opponents was Volkoff. couple that with a renewed sense of American pride,in the days of Ronald Reagan's Presidency and "Born in the USA" all over charts, and here comes Hogan as America's hero,waving the Flag all over. to boo him at that point was akin to treason! 2) Marketing. Vince saw the potential with his newly-minted American Hero,and he ran with it. you gotta understand how completely new the idea of merchandising in pro wrestling was back then. and it took off,each fueling the other to greater and greater heights. That probably right there is your answer. We have to look at what was going on during that time frame. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 9:23:11 GMT -5
Hogan was booked like a superhero. He was Rambo. No matter the insurmountable odds, he always came out on top. One man against an army, and that one man came out on top. He was larger than life. I was always more of a Warrior, Piper, or Savage guy, but there is no denying that Vince put all his eggs in Hogan's basket. And he was gonna make sure it worked even at the detriment to everyone else on the roster. He was the John Cena of his day Nope he most certainly was not. Hogans main event feuds were SERIOUS business. He wasn't tittering & giggling like a f*cking clown when trying to build an angle. Cena wishes he could connect with the crowd like Hogan could..... |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 10:29:04 GMT -5
Love him or hate him, there's no question that Hogan is the guy who made professional wrestling a household name. But my question is, why? How was it that someone who was pretty damn ugly appeal to such a huge audience? If I look at a guy like Savage or Warrior, they both had what Hogan had plus more. Warrior in particular had an awesome look and unbelievable intensity. How was it that he didn't captivate the masses like Hogan did? What I'm gathering from this is you're wondering why an ugly guy(Hogan) went further than a pretty guy (Warrior). I'm not trying to mess with you or anything but are you wondering why someone went further than the other based on looks? I totally could've read your post wrong. But some clarification would be much appreciated. I'm just saying that society has always liked attractive people. I would say that Warrior had movie star looks, and yet he didn't get over with the crowd, anywhere near the extent that a fugly guy like Hogan did. Hogan must have had something extra to make him connect with the audience the way he did. This thread is moreso asking/discussing what that was. |
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