Weighing the impact of Hogan, Austin
In This Corner
Hogan v. Austin
Last week, we looked at the view of fans as to whether Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin was more important to WWE蘑菇视频 success.
I held off on sharing my opinion so that fans could formulate their own, but it is a new week and I will look at both stars and what they brought to the table.
Hogan leads WWE into national mainstream
Without question, Hogan took the WWE, then known as the WWF, to a whole new level.
The era of Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund was over, and shortly, the territory days of wrestling would be gone as well.
Hogan was the face of national expansion, as well as the WWF expanding into international markets.
Look no farther than Hogan being the first, and only, professional wrestler to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated dating all the way back to its inception in 1954.
Austin takes WWE to whole new level
Whereas Hogan put the WWF into the mainstream, Austin took it to a whole new level.
Attendance, ratings, and merchandise were all at an all-time high during the Attitude Era, and Austin was the centerpiece of WWE蘑菇视频 product.
Austin was the antithesis to Hogan蘑菇视频 good guy image, yet Austin was every bit as popular.
Austin had more stars around him than Hogan did, but that was more about Austin being a team player while Hogan was all about himself.
Verdict
I went back and forth with my pick, but ultimately, it has to be Hogan because without Hogan and the national explosion that he was the centerpiece of, then Austin would not have been a mainstream star to the level he was.
Without Hulkamania, there would have been no Austin 3:16 to the level that Austin took it.
Strowman out due to surgery
The momentum that WWE has built with Braun Strowman over the last year has been steady and seems to be growing more rapidly by the week.
However, things have come to a brief halt for Strowman as he announced via social media Tuesday that he will be having minor surgery done on his elbow.
An official timetable has not been set, but internally, WWE is rewriting storylines as if he will be out of action into July.
There had been talk that Strowman was penciled in to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal championship at Raw蘑菇视频 Great Balls of Fire event in July, but now the match may headline SummerSlam in August.
The logical guess for Lesnar蘑菇视频 opponent in July would be either Seth Rollins or Finn Balor.
Another ratings low for Raw
As if Strowman蘑菇视频 injury wasn鈥檛 bad enough, Raw received more bad news when its TV ratings were released Tuesday.
The show, which was pretaped in London, England, averaged 2.68 million people watching the show.
This follows last week蘑菇视频 20-year low of 2.86 million per hour viewers for the night after Payback.
Feedback on Punk v. Bryan
I appreciate the feedback from last week蘑菇视频 piece on a potential Daniel Bryan and C.M. Punk match.
Wouldn鈥檛 that be something if it actually took place!
The topic of Bryan蘑菇视频 return was touched on more on Thursday at http://www.inquisitr.com/4211114/wwe-news-daniel-bryan-confirms-he-is-going-to-wrestle-and-he-reveals-when-that-will-happen/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=wwe.
WWE announces dates for women蘑菇视频 tournament
WWE announced a few months ago that it would be having a women蘑菇视频 tournament that would take place exclusively on the WWE Network, and on Wednesday, it released more information.
The 32-women tournament will begin with tapings on Thursday, July 13 and Friday, July 14 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL.
However, the series will air differently on the network when compared to the Cruiserweight Classic that aired in 2016.
While the Classic was a weekly episodic series, the women蘑菇视频 tournament will have multiple sets released.
The plan as of right now is for the finals to air as a live special on the network on Tuesday, August 29.
This week蘑菇视频 question
Do you think the Bella twins had anything to do with the increased interest in WWE since they came on the scene and with the show Total Bellas? Christina Guzik, Latrobe.
Nikki and Brie Bella signed with WWE in June, 2007 and debuted in August, 2008.
Their careers have grown as time went on with Nikki being a two-time Diva蘑菇视频 champion with Brie holding it once.
They have starred in their own 鈥渞eality鈥� series, Total Bellas, since 2013, but how much have they increased interest in WWE?
I would say that their show on the E! network has drawn in viewers to wrestling that may have not watched it before.
It has given the twins, and the women蘑菇视频 division, notoriety, for sure.
However, as far as their in-ring careers, I would not say that they brought in viewers just because of what they did in between the ropes.
Have they brought a lot to the WWE? Absolutely!
But with Nikki winding her career down and Brie retired, I will look back on their collective run in a positive light.
On another note, Brie and Daniel Bryan just welcomed their first child earlier this week.
In memory
This week蘑菇视频 column is dedicated to the memory of Jake Gillon.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.