Hogan’s private life aside, the dude was hugely influential.

I love Jim but when he says Wrestling did bigger numbers on Network tv in the 50's well duh, there were only three channels and limited programming. So comparing Hogan's run to the 50's is like comparing Apples and prunes....

I'm 37 and I would not be a wrestling fan if it wasn't for hulk Hogan.

Hulk’s heel run with nWo is so underrated. He drew as a good and a bad guy like no other.

In the 80’s when Hogan appeared, nobody remembered the wrestlers from 30 years earlier. Now, almost 40 years after Hogan showed up, he’s the top name of most people’s minds.

I'm not a Hogan guy but anyone who's made six+ figures in this business should thank him.

Love how travis heckle did a Hulk Hogan cartoon design Hulk Hogan's rock'n wrestling

Hogan was hugely responsible for making wrestling mainstream, *BROTHER*

Like Bobby the Brain said. Everyone who complained about Hogan made sure they were on the same card . He also was the catalyst for wrestlemania.

Hogan going on Saturday Night Live was huge. Also being in Rocky was huge as well. There was a reason Saturday Night's Main Event came to be.

"Did Hogan really take the business any place it had never been before?" Uhh, yeah.

On Hulk Hogan's legacy: "neither here nor there". BAHAHAHA. Look at Corney over here no-selling the Hulkster. Come on.....

Hulk is one of the most recognized people AND pop culture characters in the world, he is bigger than wrestling.

Who had their own cartoon show while Michael Jordan, bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky shared a cartoon show.

Hogan was the reason 5 year old me got into wrestling in 1985.

Hulk Hogan is one of the top most recognized and famous people alive today. This is not even something you can argue, its pure fact. Nearly every one on our planet knows who he is and what he looks like. Why on earth Cornette is downplaying this is beyond me.

Just a different twist on the matter...Isn't the fact that Hogan is the subject of the question, the video is 10 minutes, and the comments will number in the thousands, enough evidence to keep him in the convo beyond half the guys Corny mentions? Lou Thesz made as much money as other athletes because there was no Nike around to make Wilt Chamberlain the world's highest paid athlete. Hogan made money for himself, his promoter, and......his opponents. The NBA used to be on tape delay before Bird and Magic. Now the benchwarmer on the worst team is essentially set for life. It's about shifting the curve. Hogan did that. Or perhaps most accurate, he was the vessel that was used to make the shift happen.

Honky Tonk Man used to say it, and I agree. You go anywhere in the world, people know three things. The current president of the US, Coca-Cola, and Hulk Hogan. I can't imagine any other wrestler holding that spot.

As a kid in the 80s, nothing was bigger than Hulk Hogan chopping down a giant. His promos pumped us up and he had huge pops entering the ring, coming back to win, and then celebrating.

This artwork is awesome. Seeing it drawn in the style of Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling takes me back to a simpler happier time.

Not giving Hogan enough credit here. He is definitely on the Mount Rushmore of pro wrestling.

Jim’s view will always be skewed on Hulk because he is the one that helped destroy all the territories. Hogan is by far the biggest name in wrestling and that isn’t debatable (except maybe the Rock). Jim just hated the WWE version of wrestling

Is he really serious? I was waiting for him to say the Midnight Express were greater than Hogan.

"You (Vince McMahon) took Hulk Hogans blood and build Titan Towers" - Paul Heyman

from children to old people when you think wrestling, you think Hulk Hogan.

Trying to downplay Hulk Hogans cultural significance in any way is ridiculous. Ask anyone over 35 in the world to name a wrestler. It will not be the Rock. It will not be Stone Cold Steve Austin. It will be Hulk Hogan. I was around in the 80s and that is just facts. He was the most recognizable sports figure in the world besides for Muhammad Ali and maybe Michael Jordan after 1988.

I agree with you mostly Corny but not this time. You are dillusional if you don't give Hulk Hogan the proper credit he deserves, like him or hate him.

Wouldn’t Hogan be the first big time merch seller in wrestling? I know there was merch before him but it seemed like when he blew up in WWF it was the first time you would see wrestling shirts/merch in public.

The greatest icon in wrestling, brother. Love him or hate him.

Hogans ring psychology was off the charts, his charisma was always a major pull, he looked like a god, he did everything well.

Hulk Hogan was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1985. How many other pro wrestlers can claim that?

Jim... Come on... Hogan undeniably brought fans from outside wrestling into wrestling. He was a big pioneer in wrestlers going into movies (Vince favored this but it was blasphemy to Vince Sr). And he was the #1 reason WCW was able to not only pose a legitimate threat to WWF but actually top them in ratings for over a year. As a black man who could easily write Hogan off for some of his remarks, I can easily acknowledge Hulkster DID bring wrestling to places it never been. Brian... if we have to give Vince the credit for Hulk's success because he pushed Hogan than Jim has to give all the credit to Vince for Rock's success in the Attitude Era too. Come on. First time I ever disagreed with Jim's sentiments.

Years ago hogan was in the top 3 of most famous people in the world. Still one of the recognized people in the world. No wrestler had the longevity that hogan has

It kills me when ppl act like Hogan wasn't the biggest star in pro wrestling!

To be fair, you are asking a guy who was on the other team competing against him every week

Hulk Hogan's wrestling legacy is that he is the embodiment of the phrase "You either die the hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain".

Corny is way off on this take Hogan transformed wrestling

HULK HOGAN was the AMERICAN SPIRIT in the 1980's he was the RED , WHITE & BLUE

My real life last name is Hogan, and all of my life, people have asked me if I was related to the Hulkster. Stupidly, I always said no. If only I would have ribbed the randoms in school who thought I was Hulk Hogan's nephew/kid. Oh well!

Hogan ushered in two renaissance periods of wrestling, he kick started the golden era of WWE and then gave traction to the Monday Night Wars. He was the prefect leader for the NWO and countered Vince McMahons product. Once Vince’s ally now his arch nemesis. If WCW didn’t fold, Hogan still would’ve been apart of it in some capacity. Wrestling needed Hogan to jump ship to revive again. TNA tried to use Hogan to upstart it’s brand but it failed, but Hogans contributions will always be positive. He influenced so many wrestlers such as the Rock, Cena, Edge etc. We need more wrestler who were inspired by him so they can learn from his charisma.

Anybody who hasn’t seen Hogan vs. Muta in Japan go find it now.

speaking from south africa, people knew who hulk hogan was in the 80s and early 90s and the majority of people had never seen a wrestling match.

Come on Jim, my grandmother's 90 years old, she doesn't know who Jim Londos is, she knows who Hulk Hogan is. Hulk Hogan (as somebody in this section said) is the Mickey Mouse of wrestling. He is one of the most recognizable people living in any facet of entertainment. Hogan is for better or worst, what allowed McMahon to destroy the territories and create 1 wrestling government from coast to coast and around the world. Probably half of the people who watch wresting every week in this country, started watching because of Hulkamania in the '80s or the NWO in the '90s. Austin & The Rock don't even get the chance to do what they did in the Attitude Era if the NWO (because of Hogan) hadn't allowed WCW to almost run them out of business.

If it wasnt for hogan there would be no podcasts about wrestling or anything. Hogan is the man.

I love Corny but he is wrong about Hogan. Hogan was a major positive and the single greatest force in the history of this industry. Ask the Rock or anyone of that ilk. Heck, ask his contemporary Ric Flair!

Jim, I love watching your videos (more the legacy stuff rather than the modern AEW/WWE product), but man, can't you give Hogan ANY dues at all?

Hulk Hogan took wrestling to the next level of mainstream people who didn't watch wrestling knew who Hulk Hogan was & tuned into wrestling because of him

I still Say my prayers eat my vitamins! Haven’t went wrong yet. I’m 39 now

Jim u forget wrestlmania 18 Hogan vs rock Rock at his peak in wwe getting booed out building

You can tell Corny really knows that Hogan is the biggest most important name in the history of wrestling, he just doesn't want to admit it

Hold on hold on.... Hogan completely changed the business. We can talk about promoters etc, but then you can't talk about Austin, rock or flair because either way there was a Promoter pushing them. But Hogan is the most famous name in the wrestling business. Long after he's gone, Hogan Will be the name people remember. From sports illustrated, to SNL, TV shows, products, cartoon shows and ppv records and moments. This is wayy off. Austin fizzled out fast and Cena came in and became the number one guy but didn't move the needle. This isn't the take I thought Cornette would have.

When I was a kid Hulk Hogan was pop culture. No argument about it. I seen lots of people come later and pretend he wasn't that big but the dude was so huge. If they had the internet and all that back then, I think he would have been the biggest draw ever. But apples and oranges.

In my country everybody knows the name Hulk Hogan even people who never really watched wrestling that's how big he is

This is the problem when your entrenched and obsessed with something. You start to lose a grip on reality and your perspective becomes distorted. Any purist of any hobby, interest etc etc. is the last person you want to ask for advice on that topic . Cornette can't grasp wrestling for what it is.

What is impressive was Hulk's wrestling ability when he was in Japan and before WWE.

As much as I’m not a Hogan fan, I think this is a great example of Cornette’s angry old man, get off my lawn persona.

Bro, Hogan deserves more credit than this. He was the face of wrestling not just a territory.

Jim sounds bitter here.

Hogan was a marketing dream. He was the first to have the business transcend previous levels. The one to do that before him, was Gorgeous George.

Hogan was still his best during the NWO era.

I'm 5 minutes in so far and honestly I'm not hearing any credit being given to Hulk.I dont get that.

"Wrestling was on network TV in the 50's, and with bigger viewership..." Hogan vs. Andre on NBC in '88 drew 33 million viewers - still the all-time record for televised pro wrestling in America and more than anything in the NWO era in WCW, the Attitude Era in the WWF, or any other time in history. There probably wasn't 33 million television sets in America when pro wrestling was airing in the 50's. Cornette always elevates the territory days and diminishes the 80's WWF era. Even when he puts other guys over Hogan, he has to qualify it with saying they were better than Hogan "...for their day", or "for that time". Hogan was a bigger draw than all but MAYBE 1-3 wrestlers in the history of the business, and there's a credible argument that he might be #1 all-time. To diminish or downplay his legacy as "neither here nor there" just makes Corny look silly.

Hogan was the reason I started watching wrestling in like 88-89

Hogan DID make wrestling mainstream, I'm surprised Jim denies this. He did. I remember back in those days, I could ask people who didn't watch pro wrestling nor gave a shit about it, but they would almost always know one name. Hulk Hogan. That says everything we need to know. He was huge at that point in time, nobody else was close.

really dumb take, Jim

Jim Cornette was all over the place in this discussion. “What Hogan was doing was considered classic wrestling”. “The Hogan stuff was all cartoon bull-sh”

I'd rather get paid more to do 4.5 minutes than less and 45 minutes.

Give hogan his props. He created a wave that gives us reasons to talk about stuff today. I don’t believe anyone before him drew more money. Jim be hating on the “sports entertainment “ transition that kept wrestling going. It had to happen based on the evolution of society /technology

Something that no one mentions. hogan is the longest reigning champion under Vince McMahon Jr.

The Hulkster forever will be the hero of my childhood, he was so big so superhero, so amazing, i still have him over any other wrestling star.

I love that the drawing is of Hogan's cartoon image from the Rock n Wrestling Saturday morning show. Which alone makes my argument...the man was literally bigger than wrestling. But anyway, you can say whatever you want about Terry Bollea the person. That's ALL VALID. But Hulk Hogan was SYNONYMOUS with professional wrestling. If you didn't know or care about the business, you knew who Hulk Hogan was. I went to a WCW show in my hometown of Fresno...one and only time the old NWA came this way, my mom asked, "Is Hulk Hogan gonna be there?" She hated wrestling and couldn't care less. But she knew who Hulk Hogan was. The tearing down of his legacy in the business is nonsense. Ask the people who ran with him...the Orndorff's, the Muraco's, the Bundy's, etc...guys who wrestled everywhere but saw the most 0's on their checks when in programs with Hogan. He was THE GOLDEN GOOSE. 35 years later, still the only pro wrestler on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Still the only man to main event eight WrestleMania's. 33 million people watching wrestling on a Friday night in February (no Corny, the Dumont network was NOT getting those kinds of ratings). He's forever the gold standard because he took his star WITH HIM. For all the talk about McMahon...he knew he already had a megastar on his hands when he secured Hogan. There was no "Ringmaster" element to Hogan from 1981 to 2000...he was a or THE top guy in the business. No one comes close to that.

Not a Hogan fan, but he absolutely helped change the wrestling landscape.

How many wrestlers can you say had a cartoon show? Hogan was the man

Hulk Hogan was an international star and household name, as a wrestler, and nobody else even came close. The Rock is the only one that is coming as close these days and more from his movie career and not from his wrestling career.

Hogan, with McMahon's backing, brought wrestling to a national spotlight. However, he did untold damage with his selfishness and abuse of creative control. Seriously, though, old man yelling at cloud Cornette talking about how many people Hogan ran off for "making it a cartoon" is a fucking drop in the bucket compared to the new fans that era brought in is crazy.

Sorry Jim, I don’t even know the other guys you named but I definitely know Hulk Hogan. He’s a household name.

I remember a time in the late 80's when Hogan was using heel tactics to help win matches.....anyone remember the Hulk Hogan War Bonnet?

Had there never been a Hulk Hogan, then there is indeed a very serious question as to whether or not wrestling would be as popular as it is today.

Fans writing and saying "the business" like they actually worked in wrestling for 20 years will never get old 😂

C'mon Jim... You're going to compare Hogan's numbers to times when there were 3 total tv channels? How is it that a heel Hogan gets a bigger pop then Rock at WM18... No one could do that except "the icon" of professional wrestling. You can hate him for his personal dealings, his politicing, even his boring wrestling style but it is what it is. Hogan is THE Icon.

Hulk Hogan is the reason why I fell in love with wrestling. I loved the cartoon wrestling gimmicks. Late 80’s early 90’s is the my favourite time period in wrestling history. 2nd is NWO Attitude Era.

All over the world, if I say "Wrestling" people will say "Hogan"....... just saying

Bro, Hulkamania in the 80's was movement. You're trippin on this one Jim

I usually agree with Corny, but he's being ridiculous here. Hogan is the biggest wrestling name of all time. Who's the guy they're talking about who was a bigger draw? Corny couldn't even remember his name. So I've never heard of him because he peaked in the 30's? Trust me, 90 years from know wrestling fans (if there is professional wrestling) will know the name Hulk Hogan. Even my parents, who couldn't give two shits about wrestling, know who Hulk Hogan is. They have no clue who Steve Austin is. And Jim, you know back in those days pro sports athletes weren't given the same insane contracts they receive now. You can't even compare that. Jim being a "wrestling historian" really dropped the ball on this one.

*Vince was already on the verge to make wrestling mainstream & was ultimately responsible after Black Saturday. Flair & Kerry von Erich turned down Vince in '83 when they had more buzz than Hogan did in AWA. Thus Hogan was Vince's third choice & Hogan left AWA. Vince just needed a guy because he was already taking advantage of cable & closed-circuit TV in the early-1980s.*

When you ask any random stranger on the street to name a pro wrestler, 99% of the time the answer will be Hogan. His backstage politics aside, Hogan is the biggest icon in the history of the business. He’s bigger than wrestling.

It’s funny how Cornette tries to undersell the impact of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. They dominated the entire landscape. They were more popular than Austin and The Rock. Every second of their matches were electric.

The difficulty in comparing sports athlete's salaries during the time of "Gorgeous George" and during Hulk Hogan's era was that the sport's team owners had pretty much *ALL* the power prior to the unionization of the players in the various sports leagues. Even as late as Joe Theisman's times, the CFL was able to sign the odd player because they offered more money (heh, I think the CDN$ was worth alot more as well). Now, all the power has been shifted to the players (except in the NFL, where the players there are all 'in it for themselves' rather than the 'average joe' player).

Hulk used too be 6’8. After about a thousand leg drops that compressed his spine, he’s 6’3.

Just about anyone, if asked to name a legendary wrestler, 9 out of 10 people will name Hulk Hogan first. He was the first wrestler to really crossover into the mainstream consciousness. Never the best, as his skill set was severely limited, but he had the body, the looks, and the Mic skills needed to put himself over.

If Jim cornette had been manager of a stable like bobby the brain,he would have loved hogan and the money he would have made.

Hogan popularized wrestling across the globe. Without Hogan, wrestling would have stayed small and in territories. He's the reason wrestlers make millions..

I remember when my friends and I were in college. I liked WWF with Austin but they were WCW fans. The one thing we all agreed on was we couldn't stand Hogan. We went to a Nitro in Birmingham ready to boo the shit out of Hulk when he came out. When he did, it was surreal. He had this presence like nobody I've ever seen. We were like, "Holy shit. That's Hulk Hogan." The guy can't do ring work for anything but he is amazing at how he can feel and work a crowd. He can also take what little he can do in the ring and make it work. I don't think anybody does it better as a face or a heel. Cornie is grasping at straws. Hogan is the GOAT of draws and he knows it.

No pro wrestler ever graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. And Print media and magazines were around long before ppv.

"He is like a good role model because he did whatever it took to get big" -Butthead

Hogan is the GOAT of wrestling,all you bums should be paying him even now

Hogan is without a doubt the most important wrestler ever.

Hogan is the most important pro wrestler in the history of the sport. He's the GOAT case closed

Aw, man. When Cornette was talking about Hogan being cartoony, I was hoping he'd say he was responsible for making cartoony wrestlers like Olivier!

93K at the silverdome wcw nwa never did that