GPWT Round 1: Hulk Hogan (4) -vs- Eddie Guerrero (13)

[Veritas]

Who is the Greatest Professional Wrestler of All Time?
Round 1​

"The Immortal" Hulk Hogan -vs- "Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero　​

View attachment 997
Hulk Hogan​

- 6x WWE World Heavyweight Champion
- 6x WCW World Heavyweight Champion
- 2x WWE Royal Rumble Winner​

Hulk Hogan ranked 4th in the IWF 50 Greatest Wrestling Superstars of All Time, finishing with a score of 360/450.​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_hogan​

View attachment 998　
Eddie Guerrero​

- 1x WWE World Heavyweight Champion
- 1996 NJPW Best of the Super Juniors​

Eddie Guerrero sneaked into the 13th spot in The IWF 50 Greatest Superstars of All Time, suprising some with a final score of 242/450.​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_guerrero​

 

[Veritas]

Eddie was awesome but....it's Hogan.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Hogan. Not. Even. Close.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

^Cosign.

 

[Montana]

Hogan...this would have been a fun matchup i think.

 

[1chiban]

Obviously Hogan takes this but to risk saying the obvious Hogan was a terrible worker compared to Eddie

 

[Veritas]

Hogan was a terrible worker compared to Eddie

Yeah, this is true. But "working" is more than just wrestling - it also involves psychology and working the crowd. Eddie was good at this but Hogan was so much better. In terms of psychology, there are few who could rate with Hogan really.

And I despise Hogan so it really pains me to say that.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Hogan? Psychology? Nope. How to read a crowd and feed them is not necessarily psychology as much as a basic formula Hogan followed. If you ever saw Hogan in his few matches in Japan, his American act didn't work there and I suggest you track down his very awesome match against Stan Hansen and his match with Muta. Different Hogan in those matches and in Japan, you have to know psychology to get over.

Austin, Flair, Steamer, Ricky fuckin Morton, Jake Roberts, and Randy Savage ALL easily trump Hogan as far as psychology. Then there are the old schoolers that basically relied on psychology that built wrestling from the 30's-70's, when body slams and atomic drops were finishers. There's a big difference between a Thesz and a Hogan, charisma was Hogan, you've mistaken his charisma and formula for psychology. Psychology is working a limb for twenty minutes and having the crowd go wild when you slap on a submission hold, with no need for a gimmick.

 

[Veritas]

There's more to psychology than something that simple. It's getting the crowd to believe in what's happening in the ring. Hogan was a master at getting his ass handed to him for most of the match and having people believe it to the point that they basically orgasm when Hogan made his big comeback. Psychology is drawing people into a match, getting them emotionally invested in what's happening in front of them. Hogan was great at that.

And I've seen his Japanese work.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Hogan's "psychology" was formulaic and gimmicked. The way you claim Bret wrestled with the five moves of doom mindset, ALL of Hogan's matches were the same. It wasn't psychology. It was Hogan's god given gift of charisma and the superman booking. He never took a beating, let rephrase that, he never sold a beating the way a Savage, Steamer, HBK, or Ricky Morton could. Psychology is used small nuances, and wear down holds to build to big holds and big spots. HBK moonsaulting Taker's leg through the table and Taker selling the shit out of it, that's psychology. Savage selling his leg against Flair @ Mania and getting a roll up victory that shook the Hoosierdome more than Hogan's superman comeback against Sid- psychology. There's a difference between Hogan's formula and Roberts-Savage, and Bret and Austing doing a double turn. THAT's what psychology is. Sorry, Hogan is not a master of psychology as much as a master of the obvious and a recipient of strong booking.

 

[seX-Power]

way to be indie Dylan :/

 

[1chiban]

Hogan did a good job with the push he was given by Vince McMahon. He knew how to get the crowd in his hands with his Hulking up routine (whether you can class that as demonstrating good ring psychology is debatable) and I agree that wrestling is about more than in-ring work, hence why I picked Hogan in this one.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

LOL @ debating psychology in wrestling >_>!!!

Psychology in wrestling comes down to several factors, but the most popular factor you'd ever discuss would be ring-psychology, and that's something like Enzo is pointing out about wearing your opponent down and playing to the fact that you can exploit that at any given time (much like what Dolph was doing with Edge's neck last night), or how Bret Hart would work on someone's knee for 5 minutes straight with his 5 (more like 15) moves of doom, which were actually standard wrestling moves which Bret focused on to master his psychological victory. That's wrestling psychology at it's finest.

Then you have crowd psychology, knowing when to take a bump to get the crowd to worry or cheer, or acting like you're injured to get the sympathy of the crowd, and sell that injury through to the final moments of the match (Savage with a bummed knee unable to climb the ropes and getting superplexed only to use his bum knee to his advantage for the small-package).

Then you have character psychology, which is more about gimmick than actual psychology. Sure, in the ring, it's "terrifying" to see Hogan start to Hulk Up because he's in his no-sell zone and nothing you can do can have an effect on him... the psychology in this instance usually lies with the crowd psychology thing for the opponent of Hulk as THEY have to sell the frustration.

Hogan was a superb actor, incredible at selling his gimmick, not-so-much any psychological victory in the ring.

 

[1chiban]

I'll go with that

 

[Veritas]

This poll is closed, Hogan advances.