Stephanie McMahon; Austin is a Bigger star than Hogan

The full transcript of Stephanie McMahon-Levesque's interview with the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been released as part of Rep. Henry Waxman's report. During the interview, the WWE Executive Vice President Talent and Creative Writing stated that Steve Austin was a bigger star than Hulk Hogan.

"I don't know if you are familiar with Stone Cold, but he was probably one of the biggest superstars that we ever had, bigger than Hulk Hogan." WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt quickly added, "Hulk would disagree with that." Steph also commented on Hogan's in-ring ability. "You really don't even have to be a good wrestler," she said while explaining how wrestlers get pushed. "Hulk Hogan was a terrible wrestler, and he still is."

She brought up Hogan later in the interview and stated: "When I said Hulk Hogan wasn't a great wrestler, I didn't mean he didn't know how to do the moves, the move technically. He just had three moves. And that is all he did. That is what I meant. It wasn't an exciting technical display of reversing holds and, you know, multiple different maneuvers. It was a very basic match. Psychologically, it worked every time. The crowd got behind Hulk.

You can read the full interview by going to this link:

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081231140942.pdf

Steph seemed to regret making that statement regarding Hogan. "I didn't really realize I was on the record and wasn't thinking about that," she said at one point. She added that he was a "terrific performer, charisma oozing out of everywhere, just not a great technical wrestler." If nothing else, it's interesting that Steph referred to Austin as a bigger star than Hogan.

credit: wrestlingattitude.com

Hogan is a way bigger star than Austin, thats not up for debate, steph. Also Hogan is an awesome wrestler. Sometimes "basic" is preferred.

Eh, I love Stone Cold more than Hogan, but no one can really deny the fact that Hogan is the biggest star of wrestling. Pro-wrestling wouldn't be as popular as it is today without Hogan, in my opinion.

As mentioned, Hogan is without a doubt a bigger star than Austin. But in the ring, I would say Austin was far superior and a much better athlete.

You see, this is what I hate. Stone Cold was just a popular wrestler during a popular era of wrestling, he really didn't do much else. Hogan on the other hand gots thousands probably millions into wrestling. This isn't even up for debate on who was a bigger star.

Flair said the same thing at the HOF last year , Austin was the biggest thing ever in the WWE , not Hogan.

Its true , Hogan sucked beyond belief.

I do agree.

Austin is BETTER than Hogan

Hogan may have put Pro Wrestling back on the map, but Austin had more talent than Hogan.

Hogan was all about the politics and those 5 moves of doom including the Leg Drop.

tnalockdownfan wrote:

Hogan may have put Pro Wrestling back on the map, but Austin had more talent than Hogan.

But the thread talks about who the bigger star is, not who the better wrestler is. I think a large majority of people who would Austin is more talented, but the fact of the matter is Hogan was bigger.

Absolutely. There shouldn't be any discussion about that.

No one will question the affirmation that Austin is a far superior wrestler than Hogan but Hogan is definitely the bigger star. EVERYBODY knows who is Hulk Hogan, no matter if they're wrestling fans or not. If you ask non-wrestling fans, who's Steve Austin, they'll probably tell you he's the character portrayed by Lee Majors on TV.

There's no way Austin is a bigger star than Hogan. Whether you like hr dislike Hogan, he's a big reason why wrestling is where it is now.

Y2J X wrote:

You see, this is what I hate. Stone Cold was just a popular wrestler during a popular era of wrestling, he really didn't do much else. Hogan on the other hand gots thousands probably millions into wrestling. This isn't even up for debate on who was a bigger star.

Y2J X just summed it up there. Great post.

Y2J X wrote:

You see, this is what I hate. Stone Cold was just a popular wrestler during a popular era of wrestling, he really didn't do much else. Hogan on the other hand gots thousands probably millions into wrestling. This isn't even up for debate on who was a bigger star.

Hogan was a bigger star , he got more people into wrestling than anyone. But he sucked as a wrestler. Austin didnt, and those people that Hogan got into Wrestling , Austin took their attention and brought them over to the WWF.

Austin also sold a hell of alot of merchindise for the WWE and made them alot of money.

So he did do alot ....

C-Makaveli wrote:

Y2J X wrote:

You see, this is what I hate. Stone Cold was just a popular wrestler during a popular era of wrestling, he really didn't do much else. Hogan on the other hand gots thousands probably millions into wrestling. This isn't even up for debate on who was a bigger star.

Hogan was a bigger star , he got more people into wrestling than anyone. But he sucked as a wrestler. Austin didnt, and those people that Hogan got into Wrestling , Austin took their attention and brought them over to the WWF.

Austin also sold a hell of alot of merchindise for the WWE and made them alot of money.

So he did do alot ....

In ring ability has nothing to do with whether you're a big star or not, so it really doesn't matter that Austin was better in-ring, it doesn't make him a bigger star. As for the merchandise and making a lot of money, if you're popular thats what you do. Cena sells merchandise and makes WWE a lot of money. Just look at the ratings jump from when Cena returned from injury, not to mention this is a time when wrestling isn't so popular. Point in the end is, Hogan is a bigger star than Austin.