Who was more fit to take Hulk Hogan's spot in the WWF?

[HBsam31]

Yeah I am with Lariat, there was no one that was going to take Hogan's place at that time. I am not even perfectly clear on the question that is being asked. They tried to give the ball to Warrior and he failed miserably. Savage could have done it, but Hogan just had that larger than life persona back then. If I had to pick one I would say Savage, but Hulk Hogan is Hulk Hogan. I just can see anyone taking his spot at that time.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

No way Savage was as popular. When Savage was champion he was in a TAG TEAM with Hogan. Let's be realistic Hogan main event the 7 of the first 8 WrestleMania's. Cover of Sports Illustrated, MTV, Sat morn cartoons. He was on fire at that point. Top guy for Make a Wish. No one could touch him. I've heard that me made over a million dollars per MONTH. Savage was popular as 1/2 of the Mega Powers but no where NEAR Hogan's.

Warrior was close to Hogan as well. I would say his run as a face dwarfed Savage's. Look at the numbers for WM 5 compared to 6's. Selling out Skydome? C'mon!!

I know Hogan was the biggest star of his time and arguably of all time. But Randy Savage was popular too, not just he was in Mega Powers. Savage had the charisma to excite the crowd and he can wrestle, that's what made him popular with the wrestling fans. Macho Man was still popular twenty years after he was champion, had slim jim commercials, appeared in movies.

Even Hogan said in an interview, “You know, he’s the only guy we could pass the belt to, and we wouldn’t lose money. You gave the belt to The Ultimate Warrior – I don’t want to drop a bunch of names – and right away the revenue went down. Give the belt to ‘Macho Man’, and things would stay the same, or get better.”

Like the Brain said, Trump wanted Wrestlemania 5 back at the Trump Plaza cause he was happy how Wrestlemania 4 was successful. Savage/Hogan could of sold out Skydome! The Mega Powers explode was more interesting then Warrior/Hogan. Look at the buy rates, Wrestlemania 5 had 767,000 buy rate (highest for a WM until WM 15 ten years later), Wrestlemania 6 had 550,000 buy rates. here is the link,

http://www.thewrestlingcafe.com/wrestlemania-buyrates-history.php

 

[Makaveli31]

I'm not saying Savage wasn't popular. Seriously, comparing Savage to Warriors is like comparing Isaiah Thomas to Larry Bird back in the '80. We're seriously splitting hairs. Both were over like Rover; both were legends. Savage obviously had a longer career than Warrior did.

In my opinion Warrior was more successful and profitable during his run as a babyface from '88-'90 than Savage was during his run from what '87-'88? And if you HAD to go with one to succeed Hogan it would've been Warrior. Look at my previous post. I made a case for Savage to succeed Hogan and even brought up the fact than Hogan may have been seriously threatened by Savage's popularity. I have no doubt about Macho's popularity during the '80s'.

I don't know about buyrates but I agree the Mega Powers angle was MUCH more interesting than Hogan and Warrior's angle. The Powers Explode was a year in the making whereas Warrior/Hogan bumped into each at the Rumble just a few months before. Vince needed a blockbuster main event to sell out the Dome...plain and simple. Whether Savage/Hogan would've done the same numbers is up for debate.

Anyway my whole point is that Warrior's build up was two years in the making. He had cemented himself as #2 behind Hogan then IMO OVERTOOK him in 1990 and even through '91. No one can deny Warrior's extreme popularity in '90'-'91 and that is the time period I'm talking about.

 

[8thwotwATG]

Here we go again. You make one good thread, and follow up with something that sounds like a cry for help as opposed to an actual thread conveying a point.

Your question makes no sense. Who was more 'fit'? As in who was better prepared to take Hogan's spot? Nobody. No one was taking Hogan's spot during Hulkamania. Warrior was given a chance at being competitive with Hogan when he beat him at Wrestlemania, but once the higher ups seen how nutty he was in real life, the WWE cut bait on him within that next year.

Savage was never fit to lead a promotion. He's a great role player, but leading a promotion wasn't his deal. He could draw and have some excellent matches in his day, but to be the center of that promotion, you had to be marketable and able to deal with people, something Macho Man's character wasn't made to do. The Macho Man was unstable, mean, and not a people person. So he wasn't fit to take Hogan's spot.

So your answer is none of them. The reason Hogan had his spot was because he was the biggest draw in wrestling. Warrior and Savage couldn't pick up that slack. All they could do is maintain their performance as great hands in the ring. Well that was in Savage's case. Warrior proved to be a liability after a while and then he was gone.

This completely sums it up. Had either guy been able to take Hogan's spot, they would have had it, but neither guy was up to the task...Hogan was on top because, quite simply, he was the best man for the spot...

 

[Dusty Roids]

Macho Man as he was much more marketable as the face of wwe than Warrior. He actually did some interviews back in the day where you can tell he carried himself like a professional outside the ring.

I don't know much about "Jim" Warrior in public other than that he is a dellusional conservative maniac and in the ring he needed to get carried most of the time. Not really a guy you want to replace Hogan. Even Hogan had to carry him to a match at Mania. The atmosphere is great but the match itself is a hilarious botchfest.
Warrior is actually the first guy they did the streak thing with i think. Goldberg-style booking all started with Warrior.

 

[GameOver]

Macho Man as he was much more marketable as the face of wwe than Warrior. He actually did some interviews back in the day where you can tell he carried himself like a professional outside the ring.

I don't know much about "Jim" Warrior in public other than that he is a dellusional conservative maniac and in the ring he needed to get carried most of the time. Not really a guy you want to replace Hogan. Even Hogan had to carry him to a match at Mania. The atmosphere is great but the match itself is a hilarious botchfest.
Warrior is actually the first guy they did the streak thing with i think. Goldberg-style booking all started with Warrior.

Um no they didn't he lost several matches b4 he got to the world title.
and what about insert atleast 5 names from the past well b4 Warrior came on the scene, Andre was booked to win for nearly 15years. , Sammartino champion for 8 straight years almost twice, Backlund 6 Straight years, Hogan 3 years straight, pretty much think that trumps anything warrior did for those 2 years he was a rising star.
and Hogan only lost 3 and 1 double DQ out of 11 in WrestleMania matches and to memory 4 out of almost a decade of other PPV matches (2xSurvivor Series matches and 1xKing Of The Ring match and 2xRoyal Rumbles). so who was booked Goldberg Style first?

 

[brethartfan5life]

As previously stated neither man could have even came close to filling Hogan's shoes as top guy in the company. If Vince was forced to fill Hogan's position at that time I believe it would of had to been one of those two men.

Macho Man showed a lot of success as a one of the top faces in the mid to late 80s. He would have been more dependable to handle the behind the scene obligations expected of the champion opposed to Ultimate Warrior. That being said I still feel other than Hogan, Ultimate Warrior was the only superstar fitting of being the number one guy at that time.

I've read a lot of comparisons between the main events of WrestleMania 5 and 6 and how WrestleMania 5 may have also sold out the Skydome. IMO Hogan, and the interesting build of the split between two former teammates (and best friends) was the selling point of this match. Not to say Savage didn't have drawing power, because I definitely believe he was a huge star through out his whole career. WrestleMania 6 "The Ultimate Challenge" had a similar passing of the torch vibe that Hogan v.s Andre had. This was a time where every single match was good v.s evil and only two of the biggest faces of all time could have broken that. I don't have figures of proof, but I would bet all my money on that Warrior merchandise was starting to go through the roof in 89-90. Probably sold enough to convince Vince that he could expand on Warrior's star power if he gave him Hogan's spot at the top. IMO If Hogan disappeared after WrestleMania 6, The Warrior reign would have continued long after it was shut down. I don't think anyone would have been able to replace Warrior (w no Hogan) as the number one face of the early 90s.