AS the NFL enters its second month of lock-out, the proverbial question seems to be Who made it what it is: the owners or the players? The players demand more money and respect; whereas, the owners feel like there would not be an NFL without their efforts. It may or may not be possible to determine which element is more important. IN the spirit of this impass, we would like to go back a few years and try to figure out who was responsible for making wrestling not only relevant but actually important in the mid-1980's. Was it the owner, Vince McMahon, or the player, Hulk Hogan?
HER: Hogan. Hulk Hogan became the most recognizable figure in what was then wrestling, not sports entertainment. He was everywhere!! He was on t-shirts, lunch boxes, back packs, in fact, most anything one's image could be emblazoned on. For a short time there was even a Saturday morning cartoon.
HIM: It is hard for me to refute anything that you've said but my question would simply be this, How did he get where he got? In other words, if he's so great, why did he not set the wrestling world on fire when he was in Memphis wrestling against Jerry Lawler before he arrived in the WWE? The answer is very simple. He was missing two very important things: marketing and money.
HER: Most sports figures, including wrestlers, don't set the world on fire early on. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Tom Brady was a sixth round draft pick. During his Memphis days Hogan wasn't very far removed from playing bass guitar in his Florida band. His early Memphis incarnation was as Sterling Golden, not Hulk Hogan. He was also pushed as a heel. Heels don't inspire lunch boxes and cartoons.
HIM: I would certainly agree with that. I would even go so far as to say that charisma can be developed, matured, harvested, whatever you want to say. And you're right about the heels, nobody wants to cheer for the bad guy. It's very obvious SOMEBODY has to find that heel, bass guitarist, mid-carder, etc. and grow his charisma. That SOMEBODY may even have to tell him that he has charisma. Everybody knows who that somebody is. It is the creative genius that is Vince McMahon.
HER: Would that be the same creative genius who determined that Lex Luger would become his Hulk Hogan of the 90's? He set Luger up to be a monster explosion on wrestling. Lex Luger would defend the honor of the United States by slamming Yokozuna on the Fourth of July no less. He had the LEX EXPRESS ready to roll. Luger wore the red, white, and the blue. HE was going to be the next great thing in the WWE. How did that work out for the creative genius? Not very well if I recall. Luger lacked one thing to make it work-- charisma! He was given a monster push and millions in marketing money was spent on him. It was a colossal failure.
HIM: With all due respect, I thought we were debating who made wrestling in the 80's. I did not realize we were debating who did not make wrestling in the 90's. I will agree Luger was not very good. He's not a good interview. He's not a good worker (ask Barry Windham for further explanation). The fact is that Vince did it with Hogan in the 80's, HBK in the early 90's, and Austin/Rock during the Attitude Era. And somewhere along the way, he's used HHH, Undertaker, Cena, and others to keep the WWE on top. When Hogan went to WCW , Vince used whoever he could to make it work. I know the old adage of 82 weeks in a row, or whatever, but the fact is Vince still has a show on Monday night and he's the only show in town.
HER: If Vince is the one who is responsible for making the talent, why didn't it work with Luger? He poured a fortune into getting him over and it was a failure. I think we could both agree that HBK was also loaded with charisma. Stone Cold and Rock were also great but only when both were allowed to be themselves. Vince's first idea for Austin was The Ringmaster and the Rock debuted as some island gimmick. They didn't become true superstars until the creative genius' cartoon characters were shed and each man was allowed to let the natural charisma and personna shine through.
HIM: Terriffic!! I was afraid that we were going to have to hear how unsuccessful Aldo Montoya and Duke the Dumpster Droesse were. I would agree that Austin and Rock are loaded with charisma. I would say that HBK is about 75% athletic ability. But, the simple fact is, somebody had to make the call to turn those guys loose and allow them to "be themselves." Somebody had to decide that he could do something with Austin when the Ringmaster failed. And I know how Vince is perceived, but sometimes a person has to admit the first attempt didn't work and move on to the second attempt. And lastly, that same someone has to be willing to turn them loose and let them go when it all works out.
HER: I'm not arguing that Vince McMahon has done a great job with his father's company. He is a showman. He is an entertainer. However, it takes more than his creative genius to create a superstar. Take HBK for example. The Rockers were over huge in the AWA before going to WWF. Shawn's ability to shine was already on display. Yes, it was cultivated further upon his arrival in Vince land. But, Vince alone is not capable of creating the superstars who dominate wrestling. If that were possible, why couldn't he do anything with Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, or even Randy Orton to a degree? Orton is probably getting his best reaction he's ever had currently but he's languished for years. WWE Creative doesn't know what to do with him.
HIM: To borrow a quote from the 1990's, this looks like "One more for the good guys'. Or at least one more for the good guy. This argument is pretty much over. There is no doubt that Vince McMahon is the reason that wrestling became mainstream in the 1980's. It's at least 80-20 Vince. I have shown how Vince has been the driving force behind the industry for the last twenty-five years. You have spent one small segment talking about Hogan and the rest of the time talking about superstars that never reached their potential.
HER: Not so fast, baby, you digress. Hogan's record pretty much speaks for itself. It wasn't until the arrival of Hulk Hogan in the WWF that Vince was able to take hiscompany mainstream. It wasn't until Hulk Hogan, and his charisma, invaded the WWF that Vince was able to take him company worldwide. Hogan was not the only wrestler there. Vince had a stable of wrestlers prior to Hogan's arrival. However, it was that arrival that gave Vince the missing tool he needed to expand. Without Hogan, Vince would not be the billionaire that he is today. He should thank Hulk Hogan each day. I would agree that it was an 80-20 split. It was just 80% Hogan.
HIM: I do thank you for getting back on task and defending your guy, as wrong as you may be... As the title suggests sometimes we will be a house divided and this is such a case. !
No doubt about it..... A House Divided this time!
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