heyman deciple

In early 1994 WCW had developed a very good product. Spring Stampede and Slamboree that year were 2 very strong pay per views. Flair had 2 very good matches with Ricky Steamboat, Sting had a good feud going with Vader and Ravishing Rick Rude, Steve Austin was the U.S. champion and having good matches, and Cactus Jack was doing some crazy hardcore things with Kevin Sullivan and the Nasty Boys.

Then that Summer Hulk Hogan arrived and now guys like Jim Duggan, Brutus Beefcake, and the Honkey Tonk Man were getting pushes while Steve Austin and Cactus Jack soon found themselves, further down the card and out of the company.

Now other than popping a better than normal buy rate or two I would have to say Hulk Hogan's WCW run was a failure until the N.W.O. angle. I mean we went from Flair and Steamboat main eventing pay per views to Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. That sucks.

Now while the N.W.O. angle was hot and made WCW must see TV, it was also the thing that killed the company's momentum due to the ego's involved.

So my question is would WCW been successful without Hulk Hogan?

I think so, based on early 1994 WCW was going in the right direction and some of their Pay Per Views topped WWE's in terms of quality that year.

Would WCW have ever gotten super huge, maybe not but I think WCW could have been profittable and with the lack of quality programming at WWE at the time maybe WCW could have built up some kind of buzz among wrestling fans.

What do you guys think?

sabataged13

No...simply no. Hogan gave them their recognition. Without him they could be putting on great matches, and no one would of ever known. Look at TNA, they are trying their little hearts out but it's still not going to make a difference until say for example some one like The Rock, Stone Cold, or possibly throw Undertaker in there shows up on their doorstep.

Austin101

While I agree with your logic I'm going to say two things on this matter.

1) It was more so the nWo idea and not so much HOGAN but yes, his popularity as well as Savage, Hall and Nash brought recognition to the company.

2) TNA has absolutely nothing right now or even a few years ago REMOTELY CLOSE to the likes of mid 90's talent like Rey, Ultimo, Psicosis, Eddie, Malenko, Benoit, that's not even counting the dozens of main eventers so while I agree with your TNA idea and how they need an Austin or Rock, they still aren't putting on near what WCW was then.

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sabataged13

Yes the nWo angle is what put WCW on the map. But in hind sight if Hogan would of rejected the idea of being the 3rd member and they went with their backup plan of it being Randy Savage do you think it would of went down the same way? I don't think so at all because 2 reasons.

1. Savage is big in the wrestling world but he is no where near Hogan. Never has been, never will be.
2. If Hogan was going up against the nWo they would have NEVER got the push they got. Can you see Hogan jobbing to Hall or Nash or Savage on a regular basis?

sabataged13

And about the talent issue. I totally agree with you. WCW's talent was awesome in the mid 90's. I was just saying in general as far as mainstream recognition. They could put on as many 5* matches as you want but with out the big name, it ain't happening.

King_Kool-Aid™

TNA has Angle and Sting for christ sakes. They're just doing it all wrong.

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Hit It Strong

shut up seb

If they had 1997 Sting and 2001 Angle then i'd agree. Although having said that, Angle is having a great year.

What they do have is Sting and Nash who are both well past the prime and have been for about 10 years in and around the main event. Not to mention Booker T who's just flat out terrible and Samoa Joe who can't draw and is about as interesting as watching paint dry. With Cage possibly leaving as well things aren't exactly looking rosey.

The only similarity between TNA and WCW is that WCW had these main eventers in their prime (Sting, Booker, Nash, hell... Jarrett as well I suppose) and TNA are still using them a decade later.

As for the threads' question... extremely difficult to judge. Probably not, because obviously the nWo angle would have most likely not coming around and that really was WCW's ratings machine.

Hotdiggity11

I would say probably not. Hogan was the true superstar even during that era, despite his face gimmick having already ran its course and even caused him to get boos during the last few years of his WWF run. Having him join the NWO and revolutionized heels turned out to be a smash hit for about 2 years until the novelty wore off, the WCW ran out of ideas, and the WWF stepped it up in several huge ways.



As for TNA, they have repeated many of the same mistakes WCW made in pushing the same stars and not giving many new stars a true chance to shine.

Colesey

WCW wouldnt have been successful without Hulk Hogan, Niether would WWE for that matter!

Aussie2234

I'm gonna say it would have been dependent on whether Hogan had have stayed in the WWF. Taking Hogan out of the equation I think WCW would have held its own, but wouldn't have had the ratings that it attracted between 1994 and 1997.

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The best match ever was by far Triple H vs Shawn Michaels for the European Championship on the December 22, 1997 edition of RAW. If you disagree, you're a communist.