Chris, re-watch the tape of Hogan's promo. he put much more feeling in the first part where he thanks the audience and the WWF, than the second part.
There is nothing wrong with being a mark. But it clouds your judgement in this matter.
Flair WAS the first HEEL to get face pops. if you want to argue that point go ask the guys over at 1werstling.com, they know a lot more than we do about wrestling and they wrote a whole article about how he INVENTED the likeable heel. He got face popes as a heel back in the early eighties. So I hope YOU were kidding.
Yes, Hogan win the red and yellow would draw and make big money, but NOT in the long term. Thats a hot shot angle at best.
You are right about RVD, but if Raven went out and did the thumb gimmick, would anyone chant RVD? No. But it Raven used a knife edge chop you're damn sure the whole crowd would yell "WHOOO!!"
Flair is just as much of a legend as Hogan ever was, it just depends on what part of the country you're in. They were in Chicago. Hogan came up in the mid-west in the AWA. Naturally he'd get a huge pop. Go down to the Carolina's and see what happens with Flair and Hogan comapratively. If you want to know why he has put The Rock up against Hogan insyead of Flair, just look at the entire Invasion angle. Vince has done nothing but BURY pretty much everything that has to do with WCW. Flair is WCW, but Hogan is still said in the same breath as the WWF. Vince feels more comfortable with Hogan up there while he books himself on the same level as Flair. Thats rediculous. Plus Hogan is bigger and younger than Flair, so it makes more sense realistically.
"I guess that's why they were chanting "ROCKY SUCKS!" and bowing down to Hogan, not to mention chanting for Hogan before any match was made."
That is one of the worst exagerrations I've heard in a long time. A lot of fans chanted for Hogan, but I only saw a HANDFUL of fans bowing. And by NO MEANS was the vast majority of fans there chanting for Hogan as you say. Check the tape. it goes back and forth.
As for the entire scrowd chanting "Rocky Sucks", Its funny that I didn't hear ONE "Rocky Sucks" chant. I heard a lot of "Rocky" and a lot of "Hogan", but if their were any "Rocky Sucks" chants the "sucks" parts were added by the Hogan fans. You're stretching there.
Hogan's promo was not fantastic by any means, and if you think it was you are acting foolish. Youb are marking out and not thinking straight. The promo was an average one at best, he had to mention Michael Jordan just to get a semi-heated reaction. Thats called cheap heat. And I stand by my assertion that he deosn't want to be a heel. His body language screamed face all night. I will stand by this to the end.
"They [NWO] didn't get too big of a reaction because they didn't do much [at the PPV]. On Raw, Hogan made his interview, they kicked the hell outta the Rock, Austin called them out, etc. And since when does it matter where they are? I guess Flair's pop in the Carolina's or any place he wrestled in earlier shouldn't count either."
They didn't get that big of a reaction because they were in Jersey, the North East isn't going to mark out for the NWO without good reason. If that debut hasd been in Chicago, the Hoganchants would have been defeaning. As I said earlier, the mid-west is Hogan country, so if yo want to count Hogan's pop last night, Flair's in the Carolina's and Virginia does too.
I never said that Flair was bigger, but he is as big. No, I'll give Hogan a bigger star status because he has more of a name in Japan, but in the US they're even.
But I'm also not saying that Flair SHOULD be put back in the ring, his time is DONE too. the only difference is, I think he realizes it. Sure he'll wrestle the occasional match, but for all intents and purposes, he is retired.
And no, I am not some smark who just cares about workrate. If thats all I cared about i wouldn't watch the WWF at all. I like The Rock even though his workrate is as low as Hogan's.
I'm trying to speak realistically here. Hogan is nostalgia. Nostalgia does not last. The Ultimate Warrior's comeback did not last. Piper's comeback did not last. Savage just steadily went downhill, even though he positioned himself up top repeatedly. Anytime ANY of these men got big reactions was when they eithert revisited the past, made a comeback, or left and then made a re-comeback. Each time the comebacks did not last.
That being said, will Hogan make Vince money? Yes, but not in the long term. Once the nostalgia wears off, the crowd will grow bored. Hogan's time as top dog is DONE. No amount of hoping will change that.
But thats just my opinion, I could be wrong
But I doubt it
