# Who was the biggest draw in wrestling history ?



## CesaroSwing (Jan 30, 2017)

wrestling_fan_03 said:


> - Shinsuke Nakamura
> 
> - Hiroshi Tanahashi


:heston


----------



## Jonasolsson96 (Dec 31, 2014)

Tanahashi is a bigger draw then Cena for his promotion. I'm not saying he,s a bigger name obviously but percentage wise. Tanahashi took new japan into another boom period while Cena made wwe lose viewers. If it wasnt for Cena the wwe might of lost even more viewers who knows but still. 

As for the biggest draw in wrestling history its a tossup between Hogan and Gorgeous George for me. Both men became megastars that transcended wrestling in a way Austin or Rock didnt do imo. George was the highest paid atlethe of the 1950s and was so big of a name store owners would put up pictures of him next to televisions in order to sell them


----------



## V-Trigger (Jul 6, 2016)

Austin.


----------



## dumtara (Apr 8, 2014)

Hulk Hogan


----------



## Jam (Nov 6, 2015)

No Rock but you put Nakamura & Tanahashi?


----------



## Buster Baxter (Mar 30, 2015)

Where is the Roman Reigns option?


----------



## Shaun_27 (Apr 12, 2011)

The Rock. No debate for me, just look at the buyrates for Wrestlemania X-Seven, XXVII, XXVIII & 29


----------



## RLStern (Dec 27, 2014)

*The Rock, got the highest ratings ever for PPV & TV(Raw is War, Smackdown!, Heat) from 1998-2002, outsold everyone in merchandise & home video, managed to overcome Hogan, the NWO, and Goldberg at his height, he turned the tide in the Monday Night War and beat WCW to the point where WCW could never beat the WWF in the ratings again, even when they had the chance to(For example the Raw Is War after Summerslam 2000 Raw Is War was gonna air two hours later, yet Nitro still couldn't beat Raw Is War)

So much so that hollywood wanted him and unfortunately took him away from Professional Wrestling for many years.



*


----------



## wjd1989 (Oct 17, 2011)

If you're answer to this isn't Hogan, then you're lying to yourself.


----------



## Denny Crane (May 7, 2009)

I'm going to have to go with Bruno Samnartino. He might not have the merchandise sells as others or tv ratings but he packed him huge crowds wherever he wrestled. Hogan and The Rock took the WWE to new heights but Bruno was the guy that made that made the WWE a force and put them in the position to expand.


----------



## MarkyWhipwreck (Dec 20, 2014)

Steve Austin.


----------



## Rah (Oct 11, 2010)

America - Hogan
Europe - Jim Londos
Japan - Rikidozan
Mexico - El Santo

I feel like I'm missing someone, though.


----------



## ipickthiswhiterose (Jul 22, 2017)

Who was the greatest draw may be subjective in terms of how you define "draw", but you can't just have random opinions on it, and no version of the word "draw" can include Nakamura, Flair, Tanahashi or even Cena on this list. I'm not even sure you could viably put Austin. 

- Hulk Hogan

- Bruno Sammartino

Are the answers, and it just really is about how you define Draw from that point. 

That's from a wrestling and money standpoint. From a cultural and non-wrestling standpoint then yeah, throw Inoki in there was well, but you'd also have to add El Santo and The Rock.


----------



## Stall_19 (Jun 28, 2011)

It's Hogan. He's responsible for 2 wrestling booms for 2 different companies.


----------



## Nightrow (Sep 24, 2014)

Austin.

Hogan may have kickstarted the second wrestling boom but Austin took it to bigger heights than he did and without him there to save WWE's ass, wrestling would be dead and completely forgotten today. Hogan only put WCW back on top and made it the #1 company, WWF were still in a slump, so despite kickstarting the second wrestling boom, he only really helped WCW and he would've put WWF out of business but Austin prevented it, not only that, but Austin also put WWF back in the mainstream and made it a pop culture phenomenon again, not just in the US but also in the UK (WCW didn't do much for the UK even in the second boom, the only two wrestlers people talked about down here were Austin and Rock, Hogan was never talked about down here, and Austin and Rock made the wrestling world forget about Hogan, surpassing him), turning the tide against WCW, putting WWF back on top and #1 again, and they ended up killing WCW. WWE is where it is today because of Austin, not Hogan who could've killed off the company he first helped. The WWF going from a private company to a public company in August 1999 was because of Austin. Austin made the second wrestling boom bigger globally and expanded the WWE into a bigger global company. So IMO that's a greater accomplishment than Hogan kickstarting the second wrestling boom. 

As for The Rock, he would never have become the star he became if it weren't for Austin saving WWE. You can post all the numbers from 2000 all you want but Austin was the trailblazer of the Attitude Era, not The Rock, which is a far more impressive accomplishment. Austin was also working with less on the roster and against a competitive WCW when he turned the tide against WCW whereas Rock was drawing against an already dead WCW's major blunders and with a deeper roster than 98/99. Austin did the real work in the Attitude Era and Rock rode his wave.


----------



## CGS (Feb 7, 2004)

People underestimate just how huge Sammartino was during his heyday. He's defo up there in this discussion. 

I would go with Hogan though. Austin & Rock may have taken the AE to different heights but lets not forget who helped create not only the AE boom but the one that preceded it.

Edit

@Jonasolsson96 gave a good shout on Gorgeous George too actually. Another guy who tends to get overlooked in discussions such as these because of the age of us fans.


----------



## Lesnar Turtle (Dec 6, 2011)

Probably Hogan via longevity. I think Rock and Austin at their peaks were hotter than Hogan was at any single point, but they werent major players at the top of the card consistently for 15+ years the way he was.


----------



## Erik. (Mar 17, 2014)

I'd probably say Hogan overall, no doubt. He was around and on top for longer. 

At their absolute peak though, it's Austin. That can't be disputed.


----------



## wjd1989 (Oct 17, 2011)

Thankfully, common sense appears to be prevailing with Hogan being the dominant name mentioned.


----------



## Flair Flop (May 21, 2011)

My answer is Hogan. All I ever hear is how Rock did this and Rock did that with this highest drawing segment but that requires forgetting that Hogan dwarfed those numbers in his match against Andre and if I'm not mistaken also beat it with Orndorff. Totally not fair to compare buyrates as cable and PPV was still pretty much in its infancy. Hogan started two boom periods. Taking something that's completely in the shitter and making it huge is a greater accomplishment than taking something that already has momentum and getting bigger peak numbers, imo. 

I guess, what I'm saying is that you strictly go by numbers without looking at the big picture, the answer is Rock. If you look at all variables involved and go out side of that limited boxed in way of thinking, I think Hogan is the clear answer. Austin gets second for me as he's the one that turned the tide against a still very powerful WCW.


----------



## Erik. (Mar 17, 2014)

Hogan was a big draw for more years than Austin. But Austin's grosses were so huge that his few years were bigger than all of Hogan's put together. The profit margin in Austin's best year was more than the total profit margin, in fact, significantly more, between 1984 and 1992, which was the entire Hogan WWE era.

Just so this isn't misinterpreted. WWF profits from 1984-92 were about $40-45 million total. Best single year was $6 million.

Profits were never less than $56 million each year from 98-99 through 00-01. 

Obviously this is going to be to do with more PPVs, Merchandise etc but money is money.


----------



## Jam (Nov 6, 2015)

I forgot to actually answer

Austin > Rock > Hogan

But seriously.. Tanahashi, Nakamura & Cena shouldn't even have hit the thread :lol


----------



## DGenerationMC (Jan 30, 2011)

Brother.


----------



## machomanjohncena (Feb 8, 2017)

Rikidozan is considered the biggest draw in the history Japanese wrestling, I don't know how he compares to Bruno or Hogan though


----------



## redban (Feb 16, 2007)

The biggest draw in history is actually *Andre the Giant*. 

Unlike Hogan, Austin, Rock, and others, Andre is actually a proven one-man draw. People paid money just to see him wrestle. They didn't need a storyline. They didn't need a good opponent. Just Andre alone could draw people.


----------



## THE HAITCH (May 18, 2016)

ITT millennials talking about "*Wrestling history*" and naming guys from last 40 years.

What about guys like Londos? George? Thesz?

Marks will turn this shit thread into Rocky/Hogan/Autism wars.

:tripsscust


----------



## Master Bate (Sep 1, 2015)

The Hulkster!


----------



## emerald-fire (Jan 30, 2017)

The Rattlesnake Stone Cold Steve Austin


----------



## MC (May 30, 2017)

It depends, when it was real it was frank gotch without a doubt, after its worked Stone Cold.

Edit: I just realized that stone cold was the wwe's biggest draw. Andre the giant was the biggest overall draw after it was worked. The amount of years and audiences he drew were unimaginable.


----------



## Jay55 (Jan 9, 2017)

I grudgingly have to go with Hogan. If not for Hogan, there may not be a WWE as we currently know it. Say what you want about the man (I'm no fan of his) but his drawing power and what it did for the company and for the biz in general can not be denied.


----------



## SuicideSlushPuppie (Jun 24, 2015)

Sorry but none of the guys mentioned are the all-time biggest draw. The biggest draw of all-time is Jim Londos, who drew huge crowds even during The Great Depression. When he went to Greece on a tour he sold out huge venues up to 100,000 fans. If you don't know who Londos is, look him up. The only others who come anywhere close to his drawing power are Hogan, Austin, & Rock, but I still give Londos the edge.

Here's a link to his bio... 

http://wrestlingbiographies.com/jim-londos/


----------



## Boots To Chests (Nov 20, 2013)

Once we get out of our feelings and make it solely about numbers, it's The Rock.


----------



## Erik. (Mar 17, 2014)

Austin.

But in terms of inflation, Hogan.


----------



## Channelocho (Jun 27, 2018)

It is Hogan, the WWE wouldn't be anywhere near as big today with out Hulkamania and he was on top for close to 10 years, then went to WCW and turned heel and was the biggest heel for another 5 years. If Austin probably made more per year over than Hogan, but his run on top just wasn't long enough due to injuries.


----------



## validreasoning (Jul 4, 2012)

In terms of longevity Jim Londos drew more fans for a longer period than any wrestler in history.

Austin was biggest draw in history over a short period (1998-99 and late 00-01)


----------



## Hencheman_21 (Apr 11, 2014)

Depends on how you define it. Over their career it would have to be Hogan. If who would have the biggest effect on box office depending on card or not it might be Andre the Giant. He wrestled in a different time and literally was bigger than life.


----------



## The_It_Factor (Aug 14, 2012)

Not sure why some of these names are even being mentioned. “Draw” is a specific term... who drew the most paying fans and/or who drew the most money overall.

Because of marketing and an uptick in merchandise, I’d might be hard to compare different generations in terms of merchandise sales. You could have 1 million cena fans buying all 200 of his shirts, but having 3 million Hogan fans buying his 1 shirt is probably more impressive.

I’d like to know who drew the largest crowds. I don’t recognize the name of the guy that was mentioned who allegedly drew 100k fans during the depression or something like that.... if that’s true, it’s VERY impressive. On the other hand, Hogan drew a lot of people for years. Though, there’s something to be said for Austin being the centerpiece during AE when WWF took the lead and eventually put Hogan’s WCW out of business (I realize that’s an extremely simplified version of what happened, but hey). I’m a massive (heel) Rock mark, but I don’t think I’d say him bc, IIRC, his reign at the top saw a general decline in ratings (even with WCW going out of business, which should’ve meant far higher WWF ratings) though that may be attributable to WWF going in a different direction and pushing the ruthless aggression era

Also, I’m surprised that Stern guy didn’t go on about how Austin wasn’t a draw at all and only leeched off Rock and McMahon.


----------



## Carter84 (Feb 4, 2018)

Depends on the eras Hogan during his first period as hulk hogan , stone Cold with out doubt drew in some big numbers, but didn't the rock v Hogan draw the biggest numbers in terms of everything , ppv, merch etc


----------



## Cowabunga (Oct 9, 2010)

Gonna say Hogan. 



CGS said:


> People underestimate just how huge Sammartino was during his heyday. He's defo up there in this discussion.
> 
> I would go with Hogan though. Austin & Rock may have taken the AE to different heights but lets not forget who helped create not only the AE boom but the one that preceded it.
> 
> ...


They underestimate Sammartino's drawing power because most wrestling fans nowadays are from the WrestleMania era. Meaning the earliest most wrestling fans nowadays have started to watch wrestling was when Hogan was the top face of the WWF. Guys like Sammartino, Lou Thesz, etc. never wrestled on a weekly TV show like Raw which only debuted in 1993 nor did they ever wrestle at a PPV event like WrestleMania, nor have their names spread throughout the world like the names of guys like Hogan, André, Austin, Rock, Cena, Undertaker, etc. have.


----------



## validreasoning (Jul 4, 2012)

Carteruk said:


> Depends on the eras Hogan during his first period as hulk hogan , stone Cold with out doubt drew in some big numbers, but didn't the rock v Hogan draw the biggest numbers in terms of everything , ppv, merch etc


Rock vs Hogan in 2002 drew quite a bit less on ppv than rock vs Austin a year earlier. Rock vs Cena 1 (715,000 buys) outdrew rock vs Hogan (705,000 buys) domestically and blew it away if you include ticket prices, international buys and the fact ppv prices increased significantly between 2002 and 2012.


----------



## Vic Capri (Jun 7, 2006)

Almost everybody on the planet knows who Hulk Hogan is.

- Vic


----------



## Dropping The Elbow (Jul 21, 2018)

Flair without a doubt


----------



## Billy Riley (Jun 22, 2016)

Rikidozan


----------



## Kyle Cartman (Oct 26, 2016)

Hulk Hogan Brother


----------



## SHIVV-EAUX-EMME-GEEE (Sep 12, 2013)

Hulk rules.


----------

