For Christ's sake! I said this on the first page, but he was in the Simpsons!!! He wouldn't have appeared in The Simpsons if they didn't think people wouldn't know who he was. That should tell you all you need to know about how big of a draw he was back in the 90's.
Bret wasn't a huge draw then. Pro wrestling as a whole was a draw.
Bret just happened to be one of the top guys at the time.