Meltzer's List of the Biggest Draws in WWF/E Histo

[Andrew is Good]

Nov 6, 2008 15:46:50 GMT -5 Joekishi said:

Bruno could only sell out MSG, Hogan and Austin TRUMP all those guys

That's actually false. Bruno sold out all around the loop in the New York territory, and all around the north east. The reason Hogan is number two is because he couldn't sell out places like Boston, Pittsburg, etc, and while they weren't as big as New York, they were still big towns on the whole loop. Sometimes, Bruno would be brought in to do shots in those places during Hogan's big run so he could draw extra money. So it's not a smark fantasy. It's a fact, and I like this list that it's not based on opinion. Bruno was the biggest draw WWE ever had, and probably ever will have.

I'm surprised Austin is below Triple H, especially as Triple H hasn't been as big of a draw as Austin, even though Austin was only on top for a shorter time due to injuries. So I feel he should be above Triple H. So I would put Austin over Triple H myself. It's also important to note that while Austin was a good merchandise draw, a guy like Hogan didn't have the luxery of buying off the website. You could only get a Hogan shirt at the event or in the catelogue.

I think one reason Andre is below Cena is because Andre was more of a special attraction, even though he was mainly a New York guy, who Vince Sr. leant out to other promoters if they needed him for a shot.

Other then that, a pretty good list. I wish Meltzer didn't have so many people tie. I mean, make a decision, unless everyone of those guys literally tied, but I don't think that's the case.

[The Possum]

Triple H is in no way a bigger draw than Stone Cold Steve Austin.

[vanboxmeer]

1. BRUNO SAMMARTINO

2. HULK HOGAN

3. BOB BACKLUND

4. ARGENTINA ROCCA

5. HHH

6. UNDERTAKER

7. STEVE AUSTIN (Undertaker and HHH have passed him in recent years since he finished his career in 2003. Had he not retired at the age of 38 due to injuries, as well as missed what probably would have been his biggest drawing year in 1999 with neck surgery, he would have been No. 2 on this list by now. Nobody ever in company history was a bigger drawing card or merchandise seller then he was at his peak.) This is what Meltzer wrote that was left out, the list is a sum, not a average over time.

8. THE ROCK

9. PEDRO MORALES

10. SHAWN MICHAELS

11. SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM


12. MIGUEL PEREZ

13. BRET HART

14. BUDDY ROGERS

15. RANDY SAVAGE

16. JOHN CENA

17. KURT ANGLE

18. MICK FOLEY aka CACTUS JACK, DUDE LOVE, MANKIND

19. ANDRE THE GIANT

20. DR. JERRY GRAHAM

(TIE) JOHNNY VALENTINE

22. RODDY PIPER

23. IVAN KOLOFF

24. ULTIMATE WARRIOR

(TIE) RANDY ORTON

(TIE) BATISTA

27. GREG VALENTINE

(TIE) YOKOZUNA

(TIE) SGT. SLAUGHTER

30. GEORGE STEELE

(TIE) CHRIS JERICHO

(TIE) KANE

(TIE) KEVIN NASH aka DIESEL

34. RIC FLAIR

(TIE) BIG SHOW aka PAUL WRIGHT

(TIE) STAN HANSEN

(TIE) GORILLA MONSOON

(TIE) KEN PATERA

39. FRED BLASSIE

(TIE) BOB ORTON SR. aka ROCKY FITZPATRICK

(TIE) BROCK LESNAR

42. EDDIE GRAHAM

(TIE) KILLER KOWALSKI

(TIE) PROFESSOR TORU TANAKA

(TIE) DON MURACO

(TIE) DAVEY BOY SMITH aka BRITISH BULLDOG

(TIE) EDGE

(TIE) CHRIS BENOIT

49. LARRY ZBYSZKO

(TIE) PAUL ORNDORFF

(TIE) IRON SHEIK aka GREAT HOSSEIN ARAB aka COL. MUSTAFA

(TIE) NIKOLAI VOLKOFF aka BEPO MONGOL

(TIE) WALDO VON ERICH

(TIE) BOOKER T aka KING BOOKER
This is based on the gates/ratings that the wrestlers drew/ as main eventers. It's only WWE, not all time.

[azz0r]

Lousy list.

[Galluchadore]

what Cena isn't number 1? he must be one of those angry internet fans...

[J is Justice]

How does he know who the fans paid to see. Maybe the fans were paying to see the Godfather.

[Bo Rida]

I don't get the term draw outside the guys who carry the company , I mean has anybody gone to an event purely to see the Big Show?

[ScottishProWrestling]

I think he will be judging by who was in the Main event and the tick sales, ppv salesetc so it sounds about right tbh.

[Cyno]

I disagree with this list, mainly as I don't think longevity should be as big a factor as it is. Austin and Rock should be higher than Triple H and the Undertaker, and Hogan should be higher than Bruno, IMO.

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2008 18:34:37 GMT -5 vanboxmeer said:

12. MIGUEL PEREZ

The Hairy guy from Los Boricuas?

[andrew8798]

Nov 6, 2008 19:00:11 GMT -5 @tagteamspecialist said:

Nov 6, 2008 18:34:37 GMT -5 vanboxmeer said:

12. MIGUEL PEREZ

The Hairy guy from Los Boricuas?

The one from Los Boricuas would be his son

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2008 19:06:58 GMT -5 andrew8798 said:

Nov 6, 2008 19:00:11 GMT -5 @tagteamspecialist said:

The Hairy guy from Los Boricuas?

The one from Los Boricuas would be his son

ahhhhh that explains it

[royboy8]

Hogan easily made more money then Bruno

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2008 20:38:36 GMT -5 @royboy8 said:

Hogan easily made more money then Bruno

You've obviously never seen a Madison Square Garden(or Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, etc) main event during Bruno's heyday. Every single eye in those sold out crowds were on Bruno. He was the reason they dropped down their cash. All a heel had to do then to get insane heat was take a cheap shot at Bruno. That was akin to beating up a member of the crowd's own family. And Bruno held that spot for much longer than Hogan. The reason Hogan went to WCW was because Hulkamania steadily started to lose favor with WWF crowds. And until the nWo heel turn, Hogan never had the drawing power that he did during the 6, or so years that Hulkamania was at it's peak. Bruno had the title reigns he had, because he never really fell out of favor, and would continue to sell out Madison Square Garden(the then equivalent to a ppv), as well as the house show circuit. The same can't be said for Hogan.

[Andrew is Good]

Nov 6, 2008 20:38:36 GMT -5 @royboy8 said:

Hogan easily made more money then Bruno

Why would you think that?

Bruno was on top drawing money from the early 60s to the mid 80s, drawing people on a regular basis, and selling out arenas on a regular basis, where Hogan actually didn't sell out places as much around the old loop. Granted, Hogan IS a big money draw, but bo

Hogan could be argued in having not drawn as much money as a lot of the old territory guys. A lot of people during the territory days sold their smaller areas every week, let alone every month. The Andersons for example were huge money draws in Georgia and the Carolinas, and they ran the same big town every week. Jerry Lawler has been on top being a draw in Memphis for 30 years.

I'm not being anti-Hogan at all, he was a mega money draw. But I feel that some of the older guys like Bruno, Argentina Rocca (who if I'm correct was one of the first guys to come off the top rope), Buddy Rogers, Pedro Morales and others may not be recognized because they haven't been seen by as many people nowadays.

I think the biggest misconception as well is that New York was the only town WWE ran. Boston, Pittsberg, Philli, Baltimore, take your pick at any of the bigger and smaller cities in the territory. Bruno would sell them all out. Madison Square Garden was like the Mid South Collisium, the Omni, the Cow Palace, or the Sportitorium. It was their biggest arena, but it wasn't the only one.

I'm also big on wrestling history, and Bruno was the biggest draw in WWE history.

[The Harbinger of Tragedy]

Someone please provide an adjusted dollar amount for all stars before I comment.

For example, even though Gone With the Wind is the highest box office draw of all time, did did not bring in the highest box office. The adjusted numbers, of course, leave it untouchable up top.

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

Nov 6, 2008 18:05:07 GMT -5 andrew8798 said:

Nov 6, 2008 17:24:13 GMT -5 Hulkshi Tanahashi said:

Is this based on the actual money these wrestlers drew, or did Meltzer just rank them of his own opinion?

actual money that they drew

In that case, I can see how Triple H and Bruno Sammartino would do so well on the list. They've been with the company for a while. Yes, Austin and The Rock may have been bigger stars than Triple H, but he's still there and still drawing money for WWE. As for Sammartino, he was with the company for three decades, wrestling a lot during the 1960s and 1970s.

[TRUTH TELLER]

To all the people that are ragging on the Bruno listing, the man debuted in the company in the early 60's and retired in 1987, selling out arenas consistently for many of those years. (including one of their all time largest grossing shows ever at Shea Stadium in 1980 where he--not Hogan or Andre-- completely drew the house). It's just a matter of adding up all those sell out revenues over 26 years as opposed to Hogan's 10. For example; You might make more allowance than me on a nightly basis, but if I have a 16 year headstart on your saving, who's going to end up with more money over all? Exactly.

As for Triple H, people need to remember that he was the heel foil during the golden age of the company, and brought in a lot of nostalgia revenue in 2006 with the DX reunion. HHH was the other half of all those big money feuds in the late 90's early 2000's. He drew with Rock, Foley, Austin & Taker. if you're the other half of that main event, you're counted as co-drawing the house.

As for Bret, where he lacked in the U.S., he made up for in being WWE's number one international star in those days. He held the company afloat during their domestic dark ages by drawing money abroad in places like Germany, where, for whatever reason, he was HUGE. Plus, he co-headlined one of the largest grossing shows in company history (the real attendance record unlike the fake Wrestlemania 3 fudged number) at Summer Slam '92. Davey Boy drew the house, but Bret was the foil, so that counts as him drawing it as well. It takes two to tango as they say.

As for Flair, he's so low because, as mentioned, this only accounts for his WWF stint on top, which as we all know was like maybe a year and a half.

[royboy8]

Nov 6, 2008 21:33:47 GMT -5 Andrew is Good said:

Nov 6, 2008 20:38:36 GMT -5 @royboy8 said:

Hogan easily made more money then Bruno

Why would you think that?

Bruno was on top drawing money from the early 60s to the mid 80s, drawing people on a regular basis, and selling out arenas on a regular basis, where Hogan actually didn't sell out places as much around the old loop. Granted, Hogan IS a big money draw, but bo

Hogan could be argued in having not drawn as much money as a lot of the old territory guys. A lot of people during the territory days sold their smaller areas every week, let alone every month. The Andersons for example were huge money draws in Georgia and the Carolinas, and they ran the same big town every week. Jerry Lawler has been on top being a draw in Memphis for 30 years.

I'm not being anti-Hogan at all, he was a mega money draw. But I feel that some of the older guys like Bruno, Argentina Rocca (who if I'm correct was one of the first guys to come off the top rope), Buddy Rogers, Pedro Morales and others may not be recognized because they haven't been seen by as many people nowadays.

I think the biggest misconception as well is that New York was the only town WWE ran. Boston, Pittsberg, Philli, Baltimore, take your pick at any of the bigger and smaller cities in the territory. Bruno would sell them all out. Madison Square Garden was like the Mid South Collisium, the Omni, the Cow Palace, or the Sportitorium. It was their biggest arena, but it wasn't the only one.

I'm also big on wrestling history, and Bruno was the biggest draw in WWE history.

Bruno wasnt a top Draw by the time the mid 80's came along. Hogan was responsible for huge ppv draws and was around for multiple wrestlmanias, not to mention his run a few years ago. Bruno was never responsible for a single Penny on PPV. Thats where the big difference there. No comparison

[royboy8]

Nov 6, 2008 21:28:00 GMT -5 @devolution said:

Nov 6, 2008 20:38:36 GMT -5 @royboy8 said:

Hogan easily made more money then Bruno

You've obviously never seen a Madison Square Garden(or Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, etc) main event during Bruno's heyday. Every single eye in those sold out crowds were on Bruno. He was the reason they dropped down their cash. All a heel had to do then to get insane heat was take a cheap shot at Bruno. That was akin to beating up a member of the crowd's own family. And Bruno held that spot for much longer than Hogan. The reason Hogan went to WCW was because Hulkamania steadily started to lose favor with WWF crowds. And until the nWo heel turn, Hogan never had the drawing power that he did during the 6, or so years that Hulkamania was at it's peak. Bruno had the title reigns he had, because he never really fell out of favor, and would continue to sell out Madison Square Garden(the then equivalent to a ppv), as well as the house show circuit. The same can't be said for Hogan.

And you mention Hogans act got stale and he left for WCW..... Bruno was jerking the curtain by the time Wrestlemania come around. He was an afterthought by that time. Absolutely no difference from what you said about Hogan.