[Spawn_Kcb]

Something else I have never really understood. How do some wrestlers seem to have so much control/power?

An example, Wrestlemania 18 was SUPPOSED to be Hogan vs. Austin but neitehr man would put the other over. Or The Montreal Screw Job where Bret Hart wouldn't job to Michaels....and well I am sure you can think of countless others.

But if I told my boss that to be honest I am not going to what you told me, as I don't like it....well I would be told where to go And I wouldn't really have a leg to stand on as it's not like they where forcing me to do something that was dangerous or illegal. It's what I am PAID TO DO!!!

Sorry but its something I have alwasy wondered about.

Kevin

 

[Aytiau]

Well they're up to a level where they want the big money and Vince wants the big stars, just like a company might have hired a highly skilled programmer who is one of the best in the country, they probably bend to his demands to keep him.

So it's more of a partnership than a everyday boss n employee situation.

 

[Quasi Juice]

With Hogan it's because he was the main reason the WWF got so big in the late 80's. He was easily the biggest draw they had for a good while after Andre the Giant took a step back, so he definitely had power. He managed to maintain this for years and years. With Austin/Hogan, Hogan always says that Austin was the one that didn't want to do it because Hogan/Austin would always disappoint or something. I think there's more to the story, knowing Hogan he probably wanted to do two matches with Austin going over first and then Hogan getting one back.

Shawn Michaels had a lot of stroke in the mid 90's. It was a case of him not leaving the WWF for WCW even when times were really bad. He was Vince's go to guy to pull off good matches and bump for the big guys. Vince did let him run rampant a bit too much though.

It's about having power within a company. Being the biggest draw for example, like Cena right now. Cena could be like Hogan was for a long time but Cena is a company man, he's not like that. It's also about trust and loyalty. I don't think he uses his political power, but if Undertaker wanted he could ask for favors and they would probably be granted just because of how loyal he has been.

 

[Scrotey Loads]

It's a shame how many dream matches could have happened but never did. If they take their characters that seriously, you'd think they could always have a second match to even things up.

 

[just1988]

Something else I have never really understood. How do some wrestlers seem to have so much control/power?

An example, Wrestlemania 18 was SUPPOSED to be Hogan vs. Austin but neitehr man would put the other over. Or The Montreal Screw Job where Bret Hart wouldn't job to Michaels....and well I am sure you can think of countless others.

But if I told my boss that to be honest I am not going to what you told me, as I don't like it....well I would be told where to go And I wouldn't really have a leg to stand on as it's not like they where forcing me to do something that was dangerous or illegal. It's what I am PAID TO DO!!!

Sorry but its something I have alwasy wondered about.

Kevin

It's very simple really. Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan are the top 2 guys in the pro-wrestling industry of all time. Sure Vince could have forced them into facing each other and then one putting the other over but then that creates so many problems.

1) If he pissed off either Hogan or Austin then he's risking a very healthy business relationship. If you compare the money Vince could have made that one night wrestling each other with the amount of money Vince makes off them both from that day up until today then you can see that they're worth a lot more in the long run that just one single match.

2) Pro-wrestling is very political. If Vince did piss off either guy then they'd have their friends in the back who would then be pissed off because the way their friend was being treated. Especially guys like Hogan and Austin who were well respected, if both guys became disgruntled with Vince then it would cause mass unrest in the locker-room.

3) Putting 2 guys in the ring who really don't wanna work together is simply dangerous. All kinds of things can go wrong and as much as they're both professional, accidents still happen and are more likely to happen if you don't really care for the guy you're in there with.

4) If you force guys to work together who dislike each other in any aspect of business then you're less likely to get the desired results of two guys who do like each other and in the pro-wrestling industry you can't risk to guys going out there and stinking up the place, especially on Wrestlemania and especially when it's the top 2 guys of all time and people expect so much from them.

 

[peowulf]

They're not just employees, they're stars. Just like a movie star can have his way on certain aspects of the film. Or a star athlete in a sports team.

 

[Lazyking]

^Exactly.. The stars are the money makers.. a regular employee can always be replaced.. some who refuse to job are forced to like Hart but that's very rare.. I do wonder how many times guys go up to vince and say "look, I don't mind losing to this guy, or winning but me losing is better for business." I've always been curious of that.

 

[Green Light]

What's your source for saying WM18 was supposed to be Hogan-Austin? Because Austin, Rock and Vince have all said it was always going to be Rock-Hogan

 

[Cena rulz12345]

With Hogan it's because he was the main reason the WWF got so big in the late 80's. He was easily the biggest draw they had for a good while after Andre the Giant took a step back, so he definitely had power. He managed to maintain this for years and years. With Austin/Hogan, Hogan always says that Austin was the one that didn't want to do it because Hogan/Austin would always disappoint or something. I think there's more to the story, knowing Hogan he probably wanted to do two matches with Austin going over first and then Hogan getting one back.

Shawn Michaels had a lot of stroke in the mid 90's. It was a case of him not leaving the WWF for WCW even when times were really bad. He was Vince's go to guy to pull off good matches and bump for the big guys. Vince did let him run rampant a bit too much though..

yes and thats why they(hogan,shawn) changed results of a hell lot of a matches i heard shawn was planned to drop the title to vader at summerslam(thats what my head tells me) but he refused to job to him
and hogan is known to be the biggest political a$$hole there is he was many times planned to drop the title to warrior and macho man(including their wm matches) but he refused and iam not sure about this one but there planes to let piper go over him in some way

company. Being the biggest draw for example, like Cena right now. Cena could be like Hogan was for a long time but Cena is a company man, he's not like that. It's also about trust and loyalty. I don't think he uses his political power

good to see their r still honest ppl alive and yes from when his prime started he never have changed result of a match and never will(thats untill vince pisses him off really REALLY bad but don't think vince will do that to his one of the top 3 biggest moneymakers of all time)

 

[Kratosx23]

They have so much power because the people pay good money to see a select few people. You can't just replace a guy like Hogan or Austin in a day if they're not cooperating, it takes a hell of a lot of work. These aren't assembly line workers, they're unique. In a way, they have more power than Vince, because if he doesn't make them happy, they can go somewhere else and leave him with a giant hole in his roster and less money for the forseeable future while he looks for the next cash cow.

They're products. Imagine for a minute if for some reason, there was only one employee of the Coca Cola company who knew how to make that formula. He's not the boss, but for whatever reason, he's the only guy with this information. That guy would be able to get away with murder, he'd be irreplacable. It's not that hard of a concept to grasp why these big stars are afforded such leway.

 

[Spawn_Kcb]

Yeah but surely they must have some kind of contract?

 

[dave 1981]

Something else I have never really understood. How do some wrestlers seem to have so much control/power?

An example, Wrestlemania 18 was SUPPOSED to be Hogan vs. Austin but neitehr man would put the other over. Or The Montreal Screw Job where Bret Hart wouldn't job to Michaels....and well I am sure you can think of countless others.

But if I told my boss that to be honest I am not going to what you told me, as I don't like it....well I would be told where to go And I wouldn't really have a leg to stand on as it's not like they where forcing me to do something that was dangerous or illegal. It's what I am PAID TO DO!!!

Sorry but its something I have alwasy wondered about.

Kevin

Simply put Hulk Hogan believed and still believes that because of the success and his drawing power in WWE in between 1984 and 1991 as well as in WCW in between 1996 and 1997 he was entitled to still be on top when he came back to WWE in 2002. It is well known that Hulk Hogan went behind the back of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall and pushed for a babyface run almost immediately after arriving which killed The New World Order and left Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in limbo. It is also well known that once Hulk Hogan had to drop the WWE title to The Undertaker at Judgement Day he complained to Vince McMahon about how he was used and wanted out of his contract which Vince McMahon allowed him to do for the rest of 2002 as long as he lost to Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar first, he came back in 2003 for the big WrestleMania pay day and then left again not long afterwards with a brief and horrible "Mr America" character.

I can't remember who said it but it was in a shoot interview or something where a wrestler said the most successful people in the wrestling industry are usually the most insecure and use politics to stay on top. Hulk Hogan was without question the worst for this as after becoming the biggest star the wrestling has ever seen or still ever seen he just couldn't let go of the spotlight and only cared about what was good for him or sometimes his friends regardless of what it meant for the company he worked for in the long term or short term. It was heavily rumoured that Hulk Hogan also only agreed to lose to The Rock at WrestleMania 18 on the basis he was given the WWE title at the next PPV which he got and killed all the momentum Triple H had from his return and basically finished his babyface run as far as i'm concerned.

With Shawn Michaels i could seem biased in saying this because i'm a HUGE mark but his backstage power is so overrated as at the very height of The Clique he was still a mid carder being built up towards being the face of the company. There is no doubting the fact he was very difficult to get on with and was very immature and basically a prick to anyone outside his group of friends but people make out as if he buried people to keep himself on top despite the fact he was still a mid card champion in latter 1995. The only people who slated Shawn Michaels individually for politics was Shane Douglas who failed in WWE and Jim Cornette for not losing the WWE title to Vader.

As a group people said The Clique had power but look at the actual group and you see they had Kevin Nash who at the height of the groups supposed backstage power was WWE champion and was being groomed by Vince McMahon as the new Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels who even back then was spoken about as the best all round in ring performer anywhere in the world and Scott Hall who was probably the most popular wrestler around in 1994 and 1995 as well as Sean Waltman and Triple H. Look at the other groups from back then with The BSK consisting of The Undertaker, Yokozuna, The Godwinns, Rikishi, Savio Vega, Mabel and Kama/Godfather and then Bret Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett you can see which group had the most talent and which would get the bigger pushes.

I've heard many stories from people over the past few years about Randy Orton who is said to have more backstage power than any other full time wrestler including John Cena and has been known to use it but i think the only people who have been completely known to use it is Hulk Hogan and Triple H with everything else being rumour. Personally i don't think any wrestler should be allowed to have any kind of creative control over who they win or lose against as that should be the job of the booker although putting their own ideas in is a good idea as it could add to a match or a feud. Hulk Hogan broke all the barriers for wrestlers getting backstage power and unfortunately it is still something that is said to be used today but with a group such as now on the WWE roster with very little star power and people desperate to make the step up hopefully it will be stamped out with this group and that will follow on through the next generation as well.