Biggest Drawing Diva?

[Echelon]

Originally Posted by VencomHardcore

For ANYONE to Judge MOOLAH based on a TV rating is the epitome of crazy. As someone who watched wrestling LIVE during the Territory Days, I can tell you that MOOLAH was a draw. And she drew money.

Nowadays it would be crazy to judge drawing ability based on TV ratings alone, but back in the mid 80's they didn't have the internet or TiVo. Ratings were pretty much the only way to tell what was selling and what wasn't. Women's wrestling wasn't a draw in the territorial days, the Golden era, or even the mid 90's. It wasn't until the Attitude era that fans began to take notice.

She Popped Territories on the level of Abdullah but didn't get the same pay because she was a woman.

True, but at the same time there wasn't allot of genuine competition for her so bookers just gave her a flat rate for an appearance. There's a genuine reason why WWE ignores allot of her history as woman's champion.

She was used in many house shows and territories that were NOT on TV. So for anyone to think that one or two shows someone demonstrates her drawing power , has a very limited understanding of success. Her's was her staying power.

These weren't just one or two shows. These were major PPV's which showcased the best talents at the time. In one of those PPV's she got billed over Hulk Hogan, and another she was billed as his drawing equal - there's little wonder why her matches lost ratings.

She lived in an era where she had to live in her car, change in bathrooms and drive hundreds of miles by herself. She paved the way for Trish.

True, but that doesn't have anything to do with drawing ability as Moolah owed her whole career to women like Mildred Burke - who was actually a much better mainstay territorial draw than she was.

I say Trish was a greater draw during the modern era of wrestling just because she had the WWE Machine. Moolah didn't. She did it the hard way. And Moolah trained many female talents of her day. Something WWE never really acknowledged.

Training is one thing, but putting over others is another. There were several women that owed the success of their characters to the rub they got from Trish. Among these are Victoria, Molly, Jazz, Mickie James, and even Lita to an extent.

Trish is the Greatest Diva of All Time. Moolah is the Greatest Wrestler and Draw because she wrestled longer and represented the WWE in other promotions as well as her territory work.

Superstar = Performer = Diva = Wrestler... all the same thing.

[HBsam31]

I immediately wanted to vote Trish, but Moolah has to be given consideration as well. Sunny is being grossly underestimated here and so is Sable. Sable was not around very long so I don't think she could be considered a long term draw. Sunny on the other had was getting movie star notice. She was at at one time the most searched female personality on the internet. The internet was still new at the time, and yes a lot of it had to do with guys wanted to see her half naked, but still drawing is drawing. I would venture to say if there was no Sable or Sunny there would have been no Tirsh, but I suppose if there was no Moolah there would have been no Sable or Sunny. Based off of making the most money for the WWE I would have to say Moolah just based off her longevity.

[USMNT]

Long term and just 'biggest drawing' give two different answers.

Sable generated significantly more revenue in her short run than any other diva when calculated over the same time period. Sable was a cash cow for WWE and has been said as the ONLY female cash cow in WWE history.

Now, a big reason for that is her Playboy issue did HUGE business and WWE got a cut of that. But, drawing money is drawing money.

[Shalashaska]

There's a case to be made for all of these names, they all had huge success in different ways.

Sable was a megastar in the late nineties. Every dude knew sable, even non wrestling fans.

Trish built a reputation as possibly the hottest and most talented female every in WWE, as did Sunny in the decade before, and both of them managed to branch out into the casual audience like Sable.

Lita just exploded with her alternative, high flying chick deal and took the Hardys, who were already over as hell, into the realm of super stardom among the fans.

Chyna started as kind of just a spectacle but became a phenom in the eyes of the fans of the day to the point she was competing for male titles and winning.

Fabulous Moolah was a major draw for a long time, was beloved and paved the way for the other women on the list.

And Miss Elizabeth is Miss Elizabeth, the First Lady of Wrestling and forever beloved by those who got to see her.

Its difficult to say who exactly drew more money, fans, interest etc. if they did a chick Hall of Fame they'd all be in.

[Mr. J. O'Material]

The answer is Trish Stratus. No other women had as many high profile feuds as she did, put more people over, or generated the type of excitement she did. If fans claimed they cared about women's wrestling from 1999 to 2005 more than any other era, that's solely because of that woman. That easily makes her the biggest draw the company has ever seen.

This is the correct answer, if we're talking about as a draw by herself. Trish and Lita are actually the only women to ever main event a Raw, and while not exactly in the Attitude Era, they did so in a pretty successful era for the WWE. Lita and Trish are actually responsible for the fans caring about divas for what was the renaissance, if you will, age for the girls.

Elizabeth, you could argue, was the biggest draw, if you accept that she was an object in an angle. The Mega Power angle was built on the jealousy of Savage, in how he felt Hogan lusted after Liz. She never got physically involved, but as a piece of angle, Elizabeth could be an answer.

Still, Trish is correct