Bob Backlund (the wwf champ during the 6 years prior to Hogan) in 1983:
Jimmy Snuka in the early 80s:
Billy jack Haynes in 84-86:
Superstar Billy Graham in 77-78:
Randy Savage in 87-88:
Curt Hennig in AWA in 86 and 87 (with Scott Hall cameo):
Ricky Steamboat in the 80s:
Paul Ellering in 80-82:
Rick Rude in 84-89:
Kerry and Kevin Von Erich in 83-88:
Magnum T.A in 84-85 (Road Warrior Animal cameo):
Paul Orndorff in 85-88
Rocky Johnson in the early and mid 80s:
And then there are names like Ultimate Warrior, Ken Patera, Nikita Koloff, Masa Saito, Butch Reed, Tony Atlas, the Road Warriors, Hercules Hernandez, Sting or Lex Luger.
But sure, people in the 70s and 80s didn't know what a gym was.