Who drew more at WrestleMania 1 ?

[RP]

Hulk Hogan

or

Piper


After watching Pipers dvd and looking back on it all and just knowing what i know about the power of the heel these days, it may have been Piper that made that match and that Wrestlemania. He had some incredible heat and it made Hogan look like the hero we grew to love.

[weather vane]

Hogan

[Jordan]

Well all four drew the match, Orndorff was a huge star, Hogan was, Piper was, and so was Mr. T.

[Destor]

Mr.T

[Destor]

But out of your two Hogan.

[Goulet]

You may have something here... Would it have drawn as well with Hogan vs. Matt Borne in the ME?

I think Piper had a lot more to do with the success of WM1 than he's given credit for

[M-A-G]

It all goes back to the discussion of having a balance between antagonist and protagonist characters. A hero is only as interesting as the hill he has to climb. A villain is only as exciting as the hero who faces him. Neither of them outdrew the other. It was the just the simple fact that they were going to have a match that was interesting to people at the time.

[Rob]

Mr. T was the draw. Not even a discussion.

[The One]

When WrestleMania came around, Hogan wasn't that big of a draw, hell even WrestleMania II wasn't about Hogan. Piper was a bigger star than Bogan, but Mr. T was the draw. Rob is totally right, it's not even a discussion.

TOVO Fact: WrestleMania IV was Tovo's first WrestleMania he watched live, all Manias before that he had seen them on VHS only.

[Loose Cannon]

Mania I would of been a flop without the celbs and the big atmosphere feel. It was sold as the biggest thing on earth and came off as that. Simple as that.

[Craftsman]

:heart:


I love clown spooky. Oh and Hogan and Mr T were the main "drawers". They even apeared on saturday night live. Obviously, to promote the event. You didn't see Piper on Saturday Night live. Had he been the main draw, he would have made the appearences. That's the most logical answer. Unless I'm wrong, which is quite possible.

[Lara Emily]

:heart:


I love clown spooky. Oh and Hogan and Mr T were the main "drawers". They even apeared on saturday night live. Obviously, to promote the event. You didn't see Piper on Saturday Night live. Had he been the main draw, he would have made the appearences. That's the most logical answer. Unless I'm wrong, which is quite possible.

Piper was the heel of course he wouldn't be on SNL

[Mr. Nerfect]

It was probably Mr. T, but as M-A-G said, having the balance of an interesting hero and an interesting villain are what makes a match interesting.

When they first reformed at the beginning of the year, DX was HUGE. Everyone was salivating for it, and talking about how they would be entertaining together. Who did the WWE choose to be their enemies? Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and The Spirit Squad. If they had done something interesting, and marched out opponents for DX that captivated people, then they might have had something.

[Craftsman]

Piper was the heel of course he wouldn't be on SNL
The specific reason being?

[Loose Cannon]

Kayfabe

[Craftsman]

In a way Piper was also a draw, people wanted to see him get his ass handed to him.

[Mr. Nerfect]

In a way Piper was also a draw, people wanted to see him get his ass handed to him.

That's what people are saying. Piper wasn't the guy everyone paid to see because they liked him, or thought he should be on Saturday Night Live, they paid to see him get his ass kicked.

[Zen v.W.o.]

Piper carried the drawing card in terms of the wrestling appeal. He was the one tearing down Cyndi and T on all of the Pits, he was the guy that caused a riot at the award ceremony, when he attacked lou, and then even attacked Cyndi. Seriously, the place went nuts. Piper then made everyone wanna see him get his ass handed to him on the war to settle the score.
Hogan only called Piper a player, like alot of other guys, in typical Hogan fashion. Hey Hogan, you got to be so huge thanks in part to facing a guy that knew how to make a crowd want to stab him, that's how badass he was.

They were all factors in it, but Piper deserves way more credit than some are willing to dish out.

[James Steele]

According to Hogan, the Sun is red and yellow due to the power of hulkamania.

Mr. T was the casual draw, Roddy Piper was the wrestling fan draw. I am one of the few people who believe anybody with decent charisma and a marketable look could have been where Hulk Hogan is today if they were given the same push, at the same time, etc. etc.

You could have switched Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Snuka's roles around and it would have drawn the exact same if not more.

[RP]

Piper carried the drawing card in terms of the wrestling appeal. He was the one tearing down Cyndi and T on all of the Pits, he was the guy that caused a riot at the award ceremony, when he attacked lou, and then even attacked Cyndi. Seriously, the place went nuts. Piper then made everyone wanna see him get his ass handed to him on the war to settle the score.
Hogan only called Piper a player, like alot of other guys, in typical Hogan fashion. Hey Hogan, you got to be so huge thanks in part to facing a guy that knew how to make a crowd want to stab him, that's how badass he was.

They were all factors in it, but Piper deserves way more credit than some are willing to dish out.

Yah, when i heard Hogan call him just a " player " that was just insulting. I mean, the footage i saw, i was just amazed. I never really paid attention to Piper, pre Wrestlmania 3. That footage was incredible. He was getting so much heel heat and he was so damn amazing on the mic. If there wasnt a Piper, it would not have worked. Orndoff was a mute basically. He wasnt entertaining. He never would have drawn that much heat. Piper was incredible and Hogan was playing the basic good guy and got credited for it. Piper was so damn good that he made Hogan and Mr. T look like true American hero's. I seriously think that looking back on it, Piper made that main event.

Mr. T got the attention of the entertainment fans. Just by sticking him in there. People watched because Mr. T was not only involved, but because he was going after Piper. Everyone wanted a peice of Piper. Hogan was rather dull back then. He wasnt really the Hogan we knew when he was in Mega Powers. He wasnt really marketed to the extreme back then. He was the top guy, but not as big as he was going to be. Which is why they had to have Piper involved. Piper was the one that made that whole event boil over. The things Piper did as a heel back then, were not being done to the extreme that he took them. Piper was before his time and everyone hated him . He kicked Cyndi Crapface and everyone went nuts. He broke that record of Lou's head and damn near started a riot. JamesSteele is right. Piper had so much heat going into that match, you could have replaced hogan with just about anyone and they would have been the biggest face in the business, just because they fought Piper.

Piper made that match. If Piper wasnt in that match, it would not have been nearly as huge. If Hogan wasnt in that match, someone else would have gotten a huge push. IMO

[Loose Cannon]

Hogan was insanely over before Piper. His run in the AWA got him over initially with wrestling fans. Then when he came back to the WWF and saved Backlund from the Somoans and winning the Title from the Shiek really cemented everything. Hulkamania was born before Piper. Fans were already eating up his interviews and the prayers and vitamins crap.

Yes, Nobody could touch Piper as a heel at the time and yes wrestling fans did pay to see him get his ass handed to him. But fans wanted Hogan to do it. He was the hero who already had the fans behind him.

If you make the assumption that anybody could of done what Hogan did, then you have to make that assumption for every other top wrestler that was a draw.

[Avenger]

I'd say Liberachi was probably the biggest draw.

[M-A-G]

No, Billy Martin.

[KingofOldSchool]

Yeah well the "Where's The Beef" Lady drew the most at Wrestlemania 2.