Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted June 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 He sold out plenty of shows opposite utter dross in the mid-late 80s Such as? In 1985 he did sold out house show main events with Tiger Chung Lee, Moondog Spot, Rusty Brooks, Johnny Rodz and Afa. These werent exactly Piper or Orndorff. He didnt just wrestle the same opponent on a loop. He would face anyone during his first WWF title run. To sell out arenas with shite like Moondog Spot is quite an achievement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Were the matches always announced in advance at the time (like the local market specific promos), or would they just put "Hulk Hogan in action" in the adverts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted June 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 I've seen plenty of the old local market adverts to suggest that locally the matches were announced ahead of time, but I imagine it would depend on the show. Cant imagine every show they promoted had the main event attached to it. I remember reading the Observer about this time period, and Meltzer said that if Hogan was advertised in his prime, there could be up to 5,000-10,000 difference in the attendance. Everyone seemed to be over as well. People talk about the brand selling now, but if a WWF B-show came to town with a Harts vs Bulldogs main event, that usually had a big attendance as well. No wonder Vince wanted to run 300 days a year. WWF had some names back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted June 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 What Ian said. Â On the topic of "drawing the crowd" and Hogan, they sold out the Montreal Forum in January '86 (20,000+) by advertising a Hogan v Bravo match, but at the last minute they changed it to Hogan v Bob Orton instead. Bravo beat John Studd on the undercard. I can understand they didn't want to upset the locals by having hometown hero get beaten by the champ, or have Hogan get "Cena heat" battling Bravo, but that was a giant match for that market and I can't imagine how gutted some of those 20,000 were when it didn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members DJ Kris Posted June 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 What Ian said. On the topic of "drawing the crowd" and Hogan, they sold out the Montreal Forum in January '86 (20,000+) by advertising a Hogan v Bravo match, but at the last minute they changed it to Hogan v Bob Orton instead. Bravo beat John Studd on the undercard. I can understand they didn't want to upset the locals by having hometown hero get beaten by the champ, or have Hogan get "Cena heat" battling Bravo, but that was a giant match for that market and I can't imagine how gutted some of those 20,000 were when it didn't happen. I would have thought if they wanted to they could have had Bravo go out and get heel heat, but it does sound like an odd match to book in the first place. Of course Hogan went on to be big in Canada, so changing the match was clearly a good thing.  Looking at this thread makes me wonder where it all went wrong. WWE used to have such a solid roster of characters throughout the 80's and 90's. Like someone else said, you could go to a house show and be happy to see The Bulldogs. You'd have Honky Tonk Man with the Intercontinental title on a show and it would feel important. Sure, your Champion (Hogan) was the big one, but a show without him was still worth watching. I haven't had any interest in seeing WWE live for years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 It's over exposure on tv. You see all the WWE's stars all the time on tv, in competitive matches against each other, so going to see them live isn't the draw it used to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonworden Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I think the logical answer is yes he would have. As mentioned the AWA drew with him and what was steadily beccoming the old man brigade in the 80s. The supporting cast heleped him on TV and PPV and were probably vital from 89 onwards in order to build great shows below his match. Just look at the cards of WM1 WM2 WM3 below the main events compared to a few years later. Â The others were also importat to be in troop 2 and 3 on the house show cirucuit in the mid 80s especailly 1986 (which I think was the year they ran the most shows even today) without a Piper or Tag title match on the second tier or a John Studd level main eventing the 3rd tier they wouldnt have drawn 75% or 45% houses respectively Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshC Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 It's over exposure on tv. You see all the WWE's stars all the time on tv, in competitive matches against each other, so going to see them live isn't the draw it used to be. Â This is a big factor I feel. Take a random feud from the late 80s and early 90s, and there's a good chance that the two guys never even had a proper TV match. You'd see back and forth promos and both guys beating jobbers, but to see them fight you'd have to buy a ticket. Seems a good business model to me - every house show bill would come across like a supershow in comparison to the bouts being aired on weekly television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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