Success in professional wrestling doesn’t look quite the same as it does in baseball or basketball, where we have the luxury of statistics to quantify greatness. Legitimate competition produces real statistics, which makes it relatively easy to surmise the true value of an athlete. Pro wrestling is different. How do we measure the greatest in an industry that is essentially physical theater? While all GOAT conversations occur in the sphere of opinion, that is perhaps most true in wrestling. If you think Macho Man was the greatest wrestler of all time, there isn’t a statistic to definitively tell you he wasn’t. In the football GOAT conversation, it’s easy to cite that Tom Brady has more Super Bowl victories, Super Bowl MVPs, passing yards, touchdown passes, regular season wins, and postseason wins than any other player in NFL history. That’s a pretty compelling argument rooted in statistics. In the wrestling world, where results are pre-determined and–even then–have little bearing on “greatness” (“Mr. WrestleMania” Shawn Michaels was 6-11 in his 17 WrestleMania matches), statistics and legitimate wins and losses are absent from the conversation. Without tangible numbers to lean on, the most logical place to hold this conversation is “industry impact.” There are several ways to define industry impact–and we should use them all–but almost every definition results in Hulk Hogan being the greatest professional wrestler of all time, and by a country mile. There is no shortage of pro wrestlers who have helped shape the industry. Ric Flair, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Andre the Giant, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and the Undertaker are just a few from recent generations who have carved out tremendous legacies. However, none of them come close to the impact that Hogan had not just on the profitability of wrestling, but on the visibility and mainstream acceptance of the industry as a whole.
The Chosen One
Hogan began his professional wrestling career in 1977, and by 1982 he was already a powerhouse in the industry and a bona fide crossover superstar thanks to his villainous role as Thunderlips in Rocky III. Vince McMahon Jr.–having purchased the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from his father in 1982–had his sights set on a global takeover of the wrestling industry, and he needed a lynchpin to be the face of his invasion. He chose Hogan, and he chose wisely. The value of the company would skyrocket from just one million dollars in 1982 to 14 billion dollars in 2025. Wrestling at the time was built on a territory system with dozens of regional companies scattered throughout the United States. There was an unspoken rule amongst territory owners that they would respect geographical boundaries and contracts in each territory. Of course, unspoken rules are meant to be broken, and McMahon was the first to make the move. He began enticing the biggest stars of the territories to jump ship to his company by offering lucrative contracts and mainstream exposure on a national platform. While McMahon’s vision was bold, it was not without risk, and it is difficult to imagine anyone at the time besides Hogan being able to pull it off, and pull it off he did. The tombstones of defunct wrestling territories and the massive success of WWE today are proof.
The Merchant of Merch
By 1985, the WWF was the preeminent company in wrestling, and Hulk Hogan was one of the biggest stars in the world alongside the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. He had his own Saturday morning cartoon (Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling), hosted Saturday Night Live, and appeared at the Grammys. He was the face of NBC’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, which was wrestling’s first primetime program on network television since the 1950s, and he headlined WrestleMania I, which is arguably the most important event in the history of professional wrestling. While McMahon’s industry takeover had taken off in earnest, Hulk Hogan was turning into a megastar, a status that would only balloon with the massive successes of the WWF’s Rock ‘n’ Wreslting Connection cross promotion with MTV, WrestleMania III in 1987, and Saturday Night’s Main Event’s six-year run as a ratings bonanza on primetime television. The Brawl to End it all was the most watched program in the history of MTV at the time it aired, and Saturday Night’s Main Event was so popular that it routinely garnered larger TV audiences than Saturday Night Live. Hogan’s presence was ubiquitous, leading to a brand identity not only new to professional wrestling but to pop culture in general. Professional wrestling today is inundated with merchandise that fans gobble up en masse, but that wasn’t always the case. The whole “merch” part of the industry was pioneered by the popularity of Hulkamania. Whether it was apparel, hats, lunch boxes, foam fingers, action figures, replica belts, workout sets, if Hogan’s name was on it, it flew off the shelves. Hulkamania wasn’t just a word that Hogan used to refer to his army of fans, it described what was happening in retail stores across America. Hogan’s influence was so profound that it created a massive money-making stream that didn’t exist before in the 100+ years of professional wrestling. Ric Flair and Andre the Giant–despite being wildly popular at the time–sold virtually no merchandise. The respective spheres of influence between Hogan and everyone else are like comparing mountains to hills. In a business where success is measured by ticket sales and eyeballs, Hogan didn’t just bring visibility to professional wrestling, but a marketability that wrestling promoters of yesteryear could only dream of.
The First Action Hero (of wrestling)
It’s not unusual to see a professional wrestler starring in a movie today. Whether it’s the Rock, John Cena, or Batista, viewing audiences have gotten used to the ring-to-reel crossover. However, that path simply did not exist until it was paved by Hulk Hogan. Hogan’s role in Rocky III gave way to appearances on popular TV shows like The A-Team, The Love Boat, Baywatch, Suddenly Susan, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Hollywood leading roles in Suburban Commando, Mr. Nanny, and No Holds Barred. He also starred in the TV series Thunder in Paradise, becoming the first athlete to star in both an animated series and a primetime television series. In the “regular” sports world, pop culture crossovers outside of the lines of competition don’t factor into GOAT conversations. Tom Brady marrying Gisele, creating TB12, or orchestrating his own roast on Netflix doesn’t impact his value as a quarterback. The same can’t be said for pro wrestling. Without real wins and losses or statistical achievements, the biggest impact a wrestler can have on the business is bringing attention to it, and there’s no bigger way to bring attention than dragging professional wrestling into living rooms and movie theaters. While football is a competition first and a product second, pro wrestling is a product first and only, and Hogan was that product’s most lucrative salesman.
Lightning Strikes Twice
There’s no question that Hulk Hogan was the driving force behind Vince McMahon’s dream of global domination becoming reality. History is rife with agents of change who happened to be at the right place at the right time. This is a designation that could even be applied to Hogan, if he didn’t do it all over again by taking down the very company that he helped elevate, and then pushing it to the brink of bankruptcy. Hogan’s contract with the WWF expired in late 1993, and he soon signed on with McMahon’s only remaining rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The addition of Hogan was a coup for WCW, which was merely trying to reach profitability in an industry dominated by the WWF. Eric Bischoff was in charge of the day-to-day decision-making in WCW at the time, and he targeted and recruited older wrestlers with name recognition like Hogan and Randy Savage. With Hogan and Savage in tow, Bischoff was able to convince Ted Turner (WCW’s owner) to challenge WWF’s stranglehold on wrestling viewership by creating a cable show on Monday nights to rival WWF’s flagship program, Monday Night Raw. This led to the creation of Monday Nitro on TNT.
Nitro was competitive with Raw immediately, winning or tying the ratings battle in 16 of their first 26 head-to-head matchups. Despite being 42-years-old, and a decade removed from the peak of Hulkamania, Hogan’s star power was enough to guide WCW to a stalemate with McMahon. That is, until July 7, 1996, when the leg drop heard around the wrestling world was levied by Hogan. In a move that would’ve been considered unfathomable just moments before, Hulk Hogan turned heel and became the baddest of the bad guys. This reversal sent shockwaves through the ether that once again attracted attention from millions of people who had long given up on professional wrestling as a primary source of entertainment. Hogan’s shocking turn and subsequent creation of the New World Order (NWO) storyline immediately catapulted WCW to the top of the ratings. Nitro would beat Raw in the ratings for an unprecedented 83 consecutive weeks, setting off another merchandise bonanza as NWO apparel became the hottest-selling merch in the business. Hogan was doing it all over again, except this time as a bearded bad guy in black and white, instead of a mustachioed good guy in red and yellow. WCW would go on to generate more revenue than WWE from 1996-1998, which would’ve been an inconceivable notion just a few years prior. Before Hogan’s NWO angle hit, merchandise was simply not a reliable revenue stream for WCW, once again showing how influential Hogan was to the industry’s bottom line. After a decade of dwindling audiences, wrestling was cool again, with athletes and celebrities like Karl Malone, Dennis Rodman, Reggie White, Kyle Petty, Master P, and David Arquette flocking to Nitro to be a part of the show. Hogan didn’t just prove that he could change the industry once as a babyface, he showed he could do it again as a heel. Nobody has ever come close to pulling off Hogan’s double feature from each side of the good vs. evil spectrum. John Cena–arguably the most popular wrestler of the past 25 years–tried to recreate Hogan’s heel turn magic to jumpstart his 2025 farewell tour, and found out that pulling it off was no easy task. Whereas Hogan’s heel turn shook the industry at its foundation, Cena’s proved to be just another storyline.
The Final Act
The greatest moment in the history of professional wrestling is up for debate, but it might be Hogan’s showdown with Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in front of 93,000 people. What was already a frenzy turned into full-blown Hulkamania madness as Hogan slammed Andre to the mat and emerged victorious. Another candidate, however, is the crescendo of Hogan’s final act in the WWF following WCW’s sale to McMahon in 2001. Still booked as his villainous NWO persona, Hogan was pitted against The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania X8. In a tilt that was dubbed Icon vs. Icon, the 48-year-old Hogan was meant to pass the torch to the 29-year-old superstar. However, something strange happened. On his way to doing “the honors,” Hogan went out and unexpectedly created one of the greatest moments in the history of professional wrestling. The SkyDome crowd in Toronto was so mesmerized and electrified by Hogan’s presence that its reaction forced the two combatants to change the plan of the match on the fly. It is considered by many to be Hogan’s greatest match and one of the greatest displays of fan involvement in the history of the business. Hogan didn’t just turn wrestling companies and his fellow wrestlers into moneymaking machines, he delivered many of the most iconic moments the industry has ever seen.
The GOAT
It has become chic for fans and former wrestlers to keep Hogan out of the GOAT conversation altogether. It kind of just became the cool thing to do, without much thought put into how ridiculous the assertion was. If the question is, “who is your favorite professional wrestler?” then Hogan doesn’t need to be within a thousand miles of that conversation. Get your Honky Tonk Man or Rick Rude on, if that’s your flavor. However, there isn’t anyone who has come close to having the type of impact on the wrestling industry that Hogan has had. Even calling Hogan the Babe Ruth of professional wrestling is underselling his impact. The industry wouldn’t exist as it does today without Hogan. Heck, WWE might not exist without Hogan. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin arguably reached Hogan’s peak, but stayed there for only six years. Ric Flair never reached the heights of Hogan’s popularity, nor did he have the foundational impact on business viability and survivability. The Undertaker is widely considered the greatest gimmick of all time, but a deadman who doesn’t say much can only impact the industry so much. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were technical savants, but never saw their characters change the landscape of the industry outside of the ring. Andre the Giant was the greatest of all wrestling “attractions,” but failed to gain traction beyond that until Hulkamania created an opportunity for his most memorable contribution. Macho Man Randy Savage was never the guy, and failed to run with that mantle when McMahon tried to make him just that while Hogan was away filming No Holds Barred in 1988. Savage again didn’t have the star power to shine on his own when Hogan left the WWF in 1993, to the point that McMahon tried to talk Savage into transitioning to commentary. It’s not just that Hogan is the GOAT, it’s that there isn’t anyone else who even has a passable claim. If a Mount Rushmore of wrestling GOATs doesn’t begin with Hogan, that is the surest sign that the person you’re listening to either has an axe to grind or mistakenly thinks GOAT = favorite.