King Pitcos Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Also, and this might be because I only talk to girls ten years younger than me, but the impression I've got from people is that Triple H is a lot more famous than Michaels and Bret Hart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted April 5, 2012 Moderators Share Posted April 5, 2012 It's really hard to gauge mainstream recognition, especially as a fan. I would have thought just as many people would have heard of The Undertaker as Stone Cold though. Rock and Hogan are the only two with any real longterm top level pop culture recognition. Â Without wishing to get into the whole pedantic 'list making' aspect of this, I gotta question the assumption of the "official top three" in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhenom Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 If you asked someone in the street (in this country), do you think they would more likely have heard of one of the The Top 3, or Big Daddy & Giant Haystacks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JohnnyChimpo Posted April 5, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 Also, and this might be because I only talk to girls ten years younger than me, but the impression I've got from people is that Triple H is a lot more famous than Michaels and Bret Hart. Definitely. I've always got this impression, and just assumed that the reason it doesnt get acknowledged in places like this is cause Triple H isnt a favourite and therefore never really gets the recognition he deserves. Triple H is easily as famous as HBK and Bret, and he is a bigger draw than the two of them combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 5, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 It's really hard to gauge mainstream recognition, especially as a fan. I would have thought just as many people would have heard of The Undertaker as Stone Cold though. Rock and Hogan are the only two with any real longterm top level pop culture recognition. Â I asked my wrestling hating wife about this. She knows Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, The Rock, Hulk Hogan and CM Punk. She didn't know The Undertaker, Austin or HHH. Â Oh, she knew Chris Benoit, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I'd be very suspicious of anyone under about 35 claiming to have heard of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks but not any WWF wrestlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Quite. And you've got to think worldwide too, not just Britain with its strange hangover from having its own wresting scene many years ago. Â Without wishing to get into the whole pedantic 'list making' aspect of this, I gotta question the assumption of the "official top three" in this thread. Â Â If you go to anywhere randomly in the world and ask them to name the biggest wrestlers they can think of you'll get Hogan and The Rock for sure. You may be right about Austin though. It's weird but as popular as he was in his prime, his star fades with each passing year in a way Hogan's has never done. Whereas names like Andr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted April 5, 2012 Moderators Share Posted April 5, 2012 From my most recent conversation with a non-fan this week who hadn't watched any wrestling since she was a kid - Bret Hart, The Undertaker and The Rock were the three names she mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 On those criteria Andre definitely belongs in your "Undertaker tier" more than anyone, more than taker even. Â I dont think that many people who are non-wrestling people know of him tbh. The only times that Andre has come up with any regularity with my non wrestling friends is among those who have seen The Princess Bride, and/or the episode of QI where he is mentioned. Bret Hart's Simpsons appearance (as it has been repeated many many times) seems to garner more recognition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ShortOrderCook Posted April 5, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 I agree with Pitcos regarding the Triple H vs HBK/Bret bit. Definitely think he's more recognised by those on the outside. I'm not sure why though, may just simply be people remember him because it was generally him knocking about with The Rock for the most part. And that he's been around at the top forever now. He's surely had much more mainstream crossover in general too. A bunch of reasons then really, but 'the others' are definitely more aware of him then Bret and Shawn. Â I also think the top 3 is more likely Hogan, Rock, Andre then Hogan, Rock, Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted April 5, 2012 Moderators Share Posted April 5, 2012 Andre is a huge name pat. The reason he was the face of Shepherd Fairey's "Andre the Giant has a posse" thing is because he is such an iconic character. Â Also, Jake the Snake is a name that folks from the older generation that grew up with him about all remember. The whole 'live snake' thing tends to stick in people's memories I guess. Jake Plummer from the NFL is even nicknamed "Jake the Snake". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 5, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 I think it's amazing how many people have never heard of The Rock. Â There's no point speculating about all-time because there's hardly a person in the world who could judge that. of the modern era in western wrestling though, I can't see Taker any lower than 3rd. My list of favourites would have Savage and Bret Hart in the top 3 but taking an objective view, the top 2 has to be Austin and then Hogan. After that, for me, it's either Taker or Flair. I'd pick those two ahead of Trips, Bret, Savage, Michaels, Rock, etc because of the longevity, the number of outstanding matches across generations, the number of major crowds they've helped draw and the iconic image they've build up. Â Cracking question though. Â I don't think mainstream recognition should count for anything in these arguments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lefty Posted April 5, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 Andre was hugely famous outside of wrestling, however the average British none-fan in their 20's is not likely to have heard him unless they've seen the Princess Bride. Â Andre was the first cross-over star in wrestling, and the first to get any mainstream recognition. In the 70's he was one of the most recognizable people on the planet and made numerous TV appearances. Chest's right in mentioning the whole OBEY Andre thing aswell, in America he is still an icon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 5, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 Upon further questioning, Mrs Small knows of Austin, Angle, Bret Hart and HBK. She did say she probably wouldn't know what any of them looked like, though. Â She's never heard of Andre The Giant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhenom Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The way The Rock is going with his film career, I might consider him to be the bigger star than Hulk Hogan soon. But I don't know if that would be fair though, as Hogan did way more in the actual wrestling business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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