^^^ Ya know when Andre headlined Shea one time it drew 1,300, the next month Bruno headlined and it sold out with 45,000+, and that was Andre's prime. He wasn't as big as a draw as you think and never outdrew Bruno or Bruiser, or Flair or any of the top Memphis draws. Bruno sold out MSG over 40 straight times, Andre can't claim anything near that. He's horribly over rated as a draw. Your misinformed. If you think Andre was this great draw and Flair is debatable your misinformed. Flair carried an entire national syndicate on his back for years. I don't see what's debatable about that.
When you list Austin and Rock then Andre my pointing to the territory days is more than valid. Andre was a territory worker in his prime. He never drew huge houses in his late WWF days, besides WM 3, but that was at the peak of Hulkamania, Hogan would have sold out the Silverdome with any decent top heel. A territory was never built around Andre, WWF was built on Bruno and it's not even close, there's a reason the guy held the strap for like 6 straight years and Andre NEVER held it legit.
I also didn't put words in your mouth about not drawing right off the bat. I was alluding to the fact that you said "guys need angles and storylines to draw", well guess what, EVERYONE needs a good storyline or angle to draw. Austin was saddled with the best storyline EVER to get him to the point he was at. Hogan was booked invincible to draw fans, and Cena is mooching the same booking. The way you worded it, you were insisting that Austin, Rocky, and Andre could be stuck anywhere and they'd draw. How do you think they got that recognizable??? Through awesome booking and great storylines. Without that, they'd have been nothing. No one could achieve great success without it. I don't see how you think I put words in your mouth.
And yes, you can compare draws of yesterday to today. That's how one's success was measured and still is. If you drew/draw you were rewarded. Guys like Bruno, Race, Flair etc all had better success that's why their careers are marred with longgggg and numerous title reigns, because back then, having the strap meant you were drawing the dough. Today guys like Cena, HHH, and Taker dominate the title scene because they are draws, not anywhere near Hogan/Austin/Rock/Bruno levels but they draw. Today the true draw is the name WWE, not a single worker, but a good measure of how much someone draws is by the level of merchandise they sell, and guess what?? Jeff Hardy sold a shitload of it, Cena-Rey levels of it. He's a draw. That's not very debatable either.
