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The popularity of Ric Flair

6K views 43 replies 36 participants last post by  mrdiamond77 
#1 ·
What do you think about Ric Flair? Why is he one the greatest wrestlers of modern era (with Hogan) ? How was his popularity? Many expert says that Ric Flair is as popular as Hogan, they didn't considered Hogan more popular, because they said that the WWE sells Hogan as more popular, but in the same period they had the same popularity. What do you think about that? What is the popularity for you?
 
#3 ·
No expert in their right mind would ever liken Flair's popularity to Hogan's - Flair has himself over the years conceded that Hogan is a much bigger draw and star and a much more famous and popular figure.
 
#4 ·
The better wrestler? Flair.
The better draw? Hogan.
 
#7 ·
Greatest of all time baby. Yes Hogan was more popular but Slick Ric' was better at everything.
 
#9 ·
Flair is the greatest pro wrestler of all time. Hogan was a bigger draw though, but he's no where near the performer that Flair is.
 
#11 ·
Nah.

Hogan had advantages over Flair, such as a better marketing machine, mainstream presence and constant visibility in the biggest American markets.

The more popular guy is usually going to be the most known guy.

However, if you look at it on a regional basis, you can make the argument that Flair was more popular, especially in the south, just like Hogan was more popular in the north.

But on a universal scale, nah. I like Flair a helluva lot more than Hogan but they weren't even on the same planet of popularity.
 
#13 · (Edited)
By the mid 1980s with the "Wrestlemania era" starting in full swing along with the foray of the WWE into somewhat of the mainstream culture media there is no question that to the man on the street anywhere in America(and that includes the traditional NWA south) that Hogan was leaps and bounds more famous and popular than Flair. The reality of the matter is that even the traditional southern or midwestern NWA fan at the time knew who Hogan was as well as they did Flair even if they did not like the WWE. Even a southern NWA fan would literally had had to be living under a rock at that time to not even know who Hogan was or not view him as more famous than Flair. The simple reality is that as much as an all time type legend that Flair is in the business that he never transcended wrestling into the mainstream non wrestling culture as Hogan did. However, in the south it could be argued that Flair SOMEWHAT(key word) transcended wrestling. However, it still is nowhere near the scale that Hogan transcended.

To use a modern comparison Flair is sort of like Austin in that both never truly sustained the transcending into non wrestling mainstream culture although both have astronomically contributed to wrestling history itself and are mega popular to actual wrestling fans. The Rock is like Hogan in that both became mega popular to even non wrestling fans in overall mainstream culture.

Bottom line is that if one is a wrestling purist that Flair has meant more to the narrative of wrestling history but from a popularity and big time impact wise angle than Hogan is greater than Flair in that sense.

I think that it could be summed up that since around 1980ish that Flair and Hogan are the two biggest and most important names from the actual wrestling perspective. Hogan represents the WWE and Flair the NWA and later WCW aspect. Both have had long wrestling longevity in the main event scene.
 
#12 ·
Even a guy like me who couldn't watch WCW shows in the nineties because they weren't transmitted to this part of the world, knew who Ric Flair is.

Was Ric owning Raw what made me watch again WWE shows in January 2002 after I stopped doing it in April 1998 when my three favorite wrestlers were out of the company.
 
#17 ·
I like the De Niro/Arnie comparison made above a lot.
 
#18 ·
I never got the feeling flair was big over here in the UK, I could be wrong but to me Flair is not even close to the top 10.
Obviously I understand why he's regarded as the one of if not the best generally, but around these parts I think there are multiple wrestlers who over shadow him in terms of popularity and historical importance.
 
#22 ·
Not even close to the top 10? I'd have thought Flair is universally at least a top 10, and usually a top 5. In terms of importance, Hogan, SCSA and Rock are above him from a mainstream point of view. Maybe Cena, Taker and Andre too, though that's a stretch. I certainly can't imagine having him below at most 6-7 in an all-time important wrestlers list.
 
#19 ·
A true workhorse that was unfortunately overshadowed by a bigger star (Hogan) due to the circumstances of pro wrestling's national boom in the 1980s. Hulk Hogan is Hulk Hogan, but Ric Flair might as well be GOD to old school wrestling fans who live below the Mason Dixon line. The man carried a whole territory on his back and has influenced multiple generations that has come after him. Not a huge Flair fan by any means, but I do respect the mark he's left on the business.

With all that being said, I cry whenever I see Ric Flair cry. Just wanted to throw that in cause it fucking annoys me.
 
#20 ·
I always thought Hogan cause of how mainstream he was, how the WWF in the 80s was all over the place. And these days more people know who Hogan is than Flair.

Still, I would like to see the house show numbers from the 80s. Cause house shows are another ball game, you can have great ratings for example (Saturday Night's Main Event with Hogan in the 80s went into the 10.0) but people are more inclined to go to house shows and spend money if they think they're gonna have a great match. And Ric Flair was doing 5 star matches at house shows all over the World in the 70s and 80s.

So I would like to see the NWA house shows and WWF house shows to judge which guy had the better numbers. (I know that Bruno Samartino is pretty much unbeatable in this domain)
 
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#23 ·
With Hogan being based out of NY, naturally he was the more known wrestler in the 80s. That's where all the magazines were and about the only credit I'll give Vinny Mac is that he had a heck of a marketing team.

But honestly, down south where I grew up, Flair was THE MAN! You could ask pretty much anyone on the street who Flair was and they would know. And as many have already said, Flair was miles and miles better than Hogan in all the areas that matter in pro wrestling.

Today, I have far more respect for Flair than I do Hogan (and that has zero to do with Hogan's current 'problems' with WWE). I feel like Flair mostly wanted to do what was best for the business, whereas Hogan was a self serving jackass for the most part.
 
#33 ·
What people seem to fail to take into account when it comes to "popularity" is that Ric Flair was a heel majority of his career while Hogan was a babyface the majority of his. Flair wouldn't have been given the NWA title an astounding 9 times if he wasn't even remotely a big draw. I'm also certain Flair worked in more territories than Hogan as well considering Hogan was locked to the WWF while Flair had more maneuverability in where he could work. Was Hogan a bigger draw? Sure, but he's not blowing Flair out of the water by any means.
 
#34 ·
Where I come from Ric Flair is no where near the name Hogan is. And that's also true for all the big WWE names. So that's not a knock on Flair.

Having said that, is Ric Flair better than Hogan at everything and Hogan is just the bigger name? I don't really agree with that.

Hogan is one of the best at working the crowd and getting them into a frenzy, he's great at cutting promos, probably the greatest babyface and what's more he even gave us one of the best heels as well.

No way in hell am I about to believe that Hogan wasn't talented or that he was just an average talent. While it's true that he had the WWE machine behind him but that's not a knock on Hogan.
 
#37 · (Edited)
If we assume that the OP is talking about overall popularity to include the casual fan who became part of the vast new demographic of WWE fans in the 1980s then as much as I am a NWA guy-there really is no realistic or credible argument that Flair is as popular as Hogan was. (Assuming that the OP is talking about a type of popularity to where you ask the average man on the street if they know who Hogan or Flair is/was.)

I read a statistic recently to where even to this day that Hogan has above a ninety percent recognizable rating among the general public. I grew up watching Flair in the NWA but Hogan just transcended the industry like very few ever have.

Now, if we are talking about who is more popular among dedicated wrestling fans then the debate can logically be closer. Although personally thinking with my head instead of my heart I still think that Hogan wins that popularity debate also.
 
#38 ·
I read a statistic recently to where even to this day that Hogan has above a ninety percent recognizable rating among the general public. I grew up watching Flair in the NWA but Hogan just transcended the industry like very few ever have.
I'm not trying to downplay Hogan's massive popularity who else in the pop culture world, not just wrestling, has ever looked like the man? You can't confuse 'Hulk Hogan' with his bleach blonde handle bar moustache and half bald bleach blonde hair for anyone else IN THE WORLD. That's why IMO he had the greatest look ever.

Name most any of the other big names in wrestling and there are plenty of other people in the world who resemble them - Austin, Hogan, Rock, Cena etc.
 
#40 · (Edited)
Flair was always overrated IMO. And I never thought he was a crowd puller or did anything special. Its not that I hate him, Flair was good, his longevity was amazing, but him being rated above so many other important wrestlers annoys me. And that's just my opinion. I know a lot of people who rate him high, but I personally don't find him that special.
 
#42 ·
He and the Horsemen were huge draws. On his own I think we can have an argument since some of those matches people talk about for his drawing ability also happened to be against someone like Dusty muddies those waters. But he was a huge draw in some form at one point.

But Hogan was not just known over the world more, he could draw with anyone. I mean, he could bring people in with King Kong Bundy and even that dumb ass feud with "Zeus"..... how, I don't know because they are unwatchable today, but he did it.
 
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