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Peak of pro-wrestling popularity?
When was the wrestling popularity at its highest/peak of Pro-wrestling?
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For a company? Mainstream popularity, attendance records, ratings, buyrates 2000 with The Rock as the greatest represenetor this business has ever seen. If you're talking about overall popularity along with WCW then it's probably in early 99 with both brands doing huge. The 80s was astronomical by the standards, but because of availability, you can't compare that to the 90s, you can argue that with the same availability, the Hogan/Savage/Andre/Warrior/Piper era would have been as big as the Rock/Austin/nWo/Goldberg/Sting era in every aspect.
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Are you implying Rock in 2000 was bigger than Austin 3:16? If so, you couldnt be more wrong. The Rock rode on austin's success.
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Nobody was bigger than 2000 Rock, he set records that year in almost every aspect of business, Austin started the big success of the WWF, Rock took it to new heights.
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fail. as is expected from a daniel bryan fan. the rock and austin complemented each other in the in-ring and out. neither was bigger than the other.
It depends on what criteria you are judging the industry by. For years I've heard that Jim Londos was one of the biggest stars in history. We've all heard about Gotch and Hackenschmidt. And regional iconic stars such as Santo and Rikidozan.
As a television product Kohler's Chicago Wrestling was one of the most popular shows on television in the early 50's. In fact before the NFL took hold as the king of live action sport on television, Kohler's Chicago Wrestling had that distinction.
Personally I would give the nod to the run Kohler had on the DuMont Network as the peak of the popularity of wrestling.
With the late 90's boom, the public had a different opinion on wrestling(a more negative opinion). And the late 90's boom happened on cable television rather than on broadcast.
Another thing to take into consideration is if you look at the territorial era, if you looked at each area, some of those territories easily eclipsed WWF/E in popularity, though it was on a regional level rather than a national one.
As a television product Kohler's Chicago Wrestling was one of the most popular shows on television in the early 50's. In fact before the NFL took hold as the king of live action sport on television, Kohler's Chicago Wrestling had that distinction.
Personally I would give the nod to the run Kohler had on the DuMont Network as the peak of the popularity of wrestling.
With the late 90's boom, the public had a different opinion on wrestling(a more negative opinion). And the late 90's boom happened on cable television rather than on broadcast.
Another thing to take into consideration is if you look at the territorial era, if you looked at each area, some of those territories easily eclipsed WWF/E in popularity, though it was on a regional level rather than a national one.
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Austin revolutionised wrestling business. The Rock simply rode his success when he was injured.
The Hogan era is definitely debatable. There is no denying how much of a mainstream celebrity Hogan was at one time. In fact, at one time Hogan's popularity and significance to wrestling was compared to Mickey Mouse.
As far as numbers go, you can't argue against the 15 rating on NBC in February 88 for The Main Event match against Andre.
As far as numbers go, you can't argue against the 15 rating on NBC in February 88 for The Main Event match against Andre.
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Hulkamania.
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Still scratchin my head at this "Austin is bigger than The Rock" thing.
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It's about impact overall..Austin is bigger than Rock for that matter.
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True.
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Hogan's run was a sky rocket ship that put everything in place but that only generated millions. When Austin and Rock were hot at the same time in 1999, business was through the roof and was unrivalled in history. The NwO run was HUGE too but Austin eclipsed that two years into their run and especially after they botched the Goldberg storyline at Starrcade 98. No star has ever been bigger mainstream wise in wrestling though than the Rock in 2000. He was any and everywhere and everything he appeared on made HUGE money. Every book he released...everything. Didn't matter. He was a jackpot. Every show he was on, they were chanting Rocky like it was a cult. It was crazy.
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No wonder most of the WF members dont like you.
I am going with Hulkamania, While I dont like it, I take it as fact, hulkamania is what made wrestling Mainstream. Tons of people were talking about it, Keyfabe was at its peek.
Austin 3:16 tho was real popular, but to make wrestling mainstream ? I dont think so, that is owed to Hulkamania.
So that is why I give a slight advantage to it.
Additionally, Hulk had to face Andre which at that point it was the most incredible display of wrestling ever, when he body slammed him and pined him in the end.
People were going beyond ape shit for that.
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