Vince's 2nd Biggest Signing

[FlairFan2003]

Back in the 80s when Vince McMahon took over the reigns of WWE from his dad, he started working on his vision of breaking the local TV/territory based business model that dominated the industry and expanding his company into what it is today, a publicly traded, branded, international company. In the early days, through the early 90s, much of his success came from signing well known, established stars from other promotions. Many of them became major stars in his growing company. After awhile McMahon started re branding the wrestlers after signing them with newly created gimmicks except when bringing in top stars from the NWA (his biggest and most watched rival).

Hulk Hogan who was challenging Nick Bockwinkle for the AWA Title of course was Vince's most successful aquisition. Ric Flair was by far the biggest already established star when he joined in 1991 although he only stayed two years so his total impact was less than the names below. For the sake of debate, if Hogan was his most successful signing, who was 2nd during this time (83-92) ?

Among the contenders...
Roddy Piper: Hogan's 1st arch rival, big part of 1st WrestleMania, semi retired after 87 but returned to full time action in feuds vs Flair & Brett Hart in 91-92. Among most memorable promos in business. Major star in NWA before WWE.

Randy Savage: Macho Madness was gaining steam in smaller promotions in south before joining WWE. Some of the most memorable feuds in WWE during this time vs George Steele, Ricky Steamboat (himself a major star in NWA before WWE), Hogan (twice), Ultimate Warrior, Flair, & Ted DiBiase.

Rick Rude: The Ravishing One starred in Texas before making a major impact in the NWA in 86-87. Memorable WWE moments included feuds vs Ultimate Warrior, Hogan, & Jake Roberts.

Jake Roberts: The Snake was a part of Paul Ellering's evil Legion of Doom in the early 80s but like Savage (unlike Piper & Rude) he reached new heights as WWE's resident villain from the mid 80s into early 90s. Helped introduce The Undertaker character in 91, his python toting ring entrances were legendary.

Curt Henning: 1st name on list to have his gimmick greatly changed by Vince. Though his controversial win over Nick Bockwinkle for the AWA Title was his biggest win, as Mr Perfect Henning was a major player in WWE, a key member of The Bobby Heenan Family, instrumental in elevating Brett Hart. As a mgr himself he was Executive Consultant to WWE Champ Ric Flair.

Ted DiBiase: Major player in Mid South Promotions, wrestled periodically in NWA, became one of most memorable villains of all time when he took The Million Dollar Man gimmick. Major feuds vs Savage & Hogan.

Shawn Michaels: Top star in AWA as half of Rockers Tag Team. Never met same level of success in tag ranks in WWE but his 1992 heel turn & subsequent change into HBK made him a WWE legend.

These are the guys I consider to be the most crucial to Vince's early success (Rock & Wrestling Era). Other names worth mentioning include Flair, Road Warriors, Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson, Greg Valentine, Dusty Rhodes, Steamboat (all top NWA stars), Ultimate Warrior (UWF), Junkyard Dog (Mid South), Paul Orndorff (NWA, he might have been in WWE before Vince took over, not sure), Kerry Von Erich (World Class), Harley Race (NWA), Sid Justice (Memphis area, then WCW).

I didnt include Steve Austin or Lex Luger as they both came after the "Hogan Era" was over. Same with HHH & Kevin Nash (bottom carders when they started in WCW), & Scott Hall (AWA & WCW).

So what do you think, behind Hogan who was the 2nd best signing from a rival promotion for Vince as he was building his empire 1983-92, The Rock & Wrestling or Hulkamania Era ?

 

[HBsam31]

I am going to say at that time it was Roddy Piper. Some say, and I agree that Hogan may not have kept his steam if he didn't have someone as good as Piper to feud with. The are some that say Piper was actually bigger than Hogan back then. Meaning fans wanted to see him just as much as Hogan. I wouldn't go quite that far, but Piper was the perfect foil for Hogan. I would definitely say that getting Piper was huge for the WWE so IMO he was the second biggest signing if Hogan was the first.

 

[wrestler36]

Wait, would Andre the Giant count? I would think that he was a huge part of making WWF a household acronym. Wrestlemania 3 was perhaps the apex of Hulkamania and the 'passing of the torch' moment. Plus his Hollywood appearances, such as the Princess Bride brought even more attention to wrestling. If we're talking signings, I'd half to go with Andre

 

[Tor187]

I'm surprised you didn't list the guy who eventually became Vince's #1 guy after Hogan left: Bret Hart.

And to the guy above me, Andre was with WWF/WWWF long before Hogan was signed. As a matter of fact, it was Vince's father that signed him.

 

[sfury2005]

I didn't and don't watch it much because I never could stand watching Hulk Hogan along with the fact that I really can't get into anything they ever did. I always stuck with NWA and WCW along with UWF, WCCW and Texas back then and TNA now.

But even with my limited knowledge of all things WWE/F I would have to say The Undertaker who was signed in 1990. I'm not a Taker fan and never really watched much of him but I remember him from WCW as Mean Mark Callous and liked watching him in the ring because it was kind of amazing to see such a large man do some of the things he did in the ring.

 

[RKO920]

I agree with the 2 guys that the last two posters have mentioned..Bret Hart and the Undertaker. Bret took over as the guy in the WWF after Hogan left and would have continued at the top along with Shawn Michaels (mentioned in the original post) had he not gone to WCW. Undertaker has been the guy in the WWF/E, multiple title runs, the Wrestlemania Streak, comic books, tons of t-shirts, when you think of the WWF/E he is one of the guys that will always come into my mind.

As for another guy, granted his time around was short but his impact was huge...the Ultimate Warrior. Hogan handed him the title at Wrestlemania 6 as well as his spot at the top, Warrior ran with it for a while but eventually Hogan had to come back and reclaim the spot as his when it didn't seem like Warrior could keep it, as well as some backstage problems but that's for another time and place. Everyone who was a kid around this time and was a wrestling fan had a Wrestling Buddy, I had a Hogan one and my friend had a Warrior one and we always argued over who was the best. At this time Hogan won, but overall Warriors impact was felt with merchandise sales, ticket sales and PPV buys. Plus there were a lot of fans coming to arenas with their faces painted and wearing tassels like the Warrior.

 

[braveh]

I would argue that he actually didn't make that great second signing. You could say Undertaker or Bret Hart but the fact of the matter is that WWF didn't have a wrestler with enough star power to compete with WCW/Hogan/nWo for almost 3 years.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Some would argue that the 2nd most important signing was much, much later and it was The Rock...

For all the wrestling reasons I can see why Taker, Hart and Piper are on peoples minds, but look today the impact The Rock has had on popular culture and on WWE... Not only is he one of the most recognisable Hollywood stars of the last 10 years, he is, other than Hogan the first wrestler most people would know...and they would know he is a WWE guy... Notwithstanding that Rocky was a massive star in the ring, just for succeeding where even Hogan failed in becoming that mainstream star is enough for me...

 

[HBKperfect23]

I think timing of the signing has to play a part in the answer to Vinces 2nd biggest signing. By the time the Rock-n-wrestling era was in full effect the WWF was clearly the number 1 company and had killed the territory system. So I think the answer would have to someone from that era. May vote is for Piper because he and Hogan made the Rock-n-Wrestling era, made Wrestlemania, and made wrestling mainstream.

Honorable Mentions would go to:
Steve Austin: Would become the biggest star in history and take the company to new levels.
Shawn Michaels: Held the WWF together during one of its hardest times.

 

[IT Factor]

As far as staying power, drawing, and the ability to change with the times, the 2nd biggest signing without a doubt is The Undertaker. He's a great talent who has reinvented himself time after time and has the best thing going; the Wrestlemania streak. I'd say Bret Hart & Mr. Perfect are very close afterwards though. I don't even count Flair because he didn't stay too long or do very much to help improve the product.

 

[RRPounder]

Here's a thought...Jim Ross. Would the Attitude Era have been as effective with somebody else doing play by play? Ross was as much as part of the success as the wrestlers during that time.

 

[braveh]

Here's a thought...Jim Ross. Would the Attitude Era have been as effective with somebody else doing play by play? Ross was as much as part of the success as the wrestlers during that time.

Lawler, JR and Undertaker - take away one of the three and the attitude-era wouldn't have been the same IMO.

And who knows what Raw's ratings would've been without Bret Hart, maybe it would've been so bad that USA dropped Raw.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I'd probably have to say Piper. He'd been a pretty big star all over before joining the WWF, and without him as the foil, I honestly don't believe that McMahon's expansion gets over like it did. It's been a long time, so I think some people forget (or were never exposed to) that the general public LOVED to hate Rowdy Roddy Piper. I know where I grew up, all the kids that were getting into wrestling at the time, it was all about Piper and not Hogan.

For the guys that have mentioned Hart and Michaels... with them I think it's less of the actual signing, and more the foresight not to drop them with the various roster purges that they both survived in their journeys to the main event. As for Austin and the Rock... again it's less the signings, and more the foresight to allow them to be themselves instead of a scripted character, which happened for both well after they were actually signed.

With Piper, he wasn't changed when he was signed. He didn't wait his turn for years after he was signed. He came in, and helped take the company (and business) to a place never before imagined... and I honestly believe that there wasn't a single other guy in that era that could have done as well in Piper's spot as Piper did.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

What criteria are we basing the decision on?

If its Money - Stone cold cos he brought in so much money and was a merchandise machine, He also got wrestling popular in mainstream.
If its length of service and consistent drawing power I would say the Undertaker as he has been around for 21 years and has always been a top draw for the masses. He is the locker room leader and a cultural icon.
If it is how big the star is - I'd say the Rock - because he is a massive hollywood star and he made his name under Vince McMahon
If it is terms of putting on a performance in the ring - HBk - the greatest US Wrestler that has ever lived.
If it is the best technical signing - Bret Hart (Kurt Angle a close second but was only in WWE for 6 years, whereas Bret was in there for 14 years).

If it is terms of greatest Childhood super hero character - John Cena (particularly in the current day). Ultimate warrior a close second.

I hope this is not flagged as spam by the mods. I genuinely feel i have given enough reasons.

 

[Cereal Killer]

In those times, probably the deadman Undertaker. He was in WCW as a jobber being managed by Paul E Dangerous (while sting was main eventing BTW)

When he came in to WWF, he had a awesome gimmick that nobody had seen anything like. Probably the best of all time. He came part of ted dibias's team at survivor series. He then had that great storyline with the underFaker. Then became a revolution at wrestlemania 8; The streak. Now that streak is still going on and even though taker is "one of the big guys" he's had some of the best matches with guys like Triple h, HBK, Batista and edge.

Now all we have to see is him vs the stinger!

 

[Kliq69]

I'm going to go with Ric Flair. Not only because of the positives of having him on the roster, but the impact it had on the nwa and wcw was immense. Had Vince kept him happy and he not went back to WCW, there is a chance that WCW itself wouldn't have existed by the time Hogan got there.

Ric Flair had possession of the NWA title belt when he debuted, which only added to the magnitude of the signing. How they ended up using him to me is irrelevant because when you sign away your biggest competitions undisputed #1 star it can't be anything but huge. Flair was WCW's Hogan in the late 80s, early 90s; just imagine if WCW had signed Hogan in 1991 instead of 94.

There is no other time since the territory days when Vince signed a huge star from another company. Taker, Nash, Hall, Austin, Foley, HHH, Jericho, Benoit, Eddie, etc weren't huge stars, some may have main evented, but none were stars like Flair or Hogan were in the 80s and early 90s.

The only other ones I can put even close were Vince signing both Harley Race and Dusty Rhodes away from the NWA. But even those two, as great as they were, didn't carry the weight Flair did. He was, at that time, The Man for anyone who followed wrestling outside of WWF.