Top 25 WrestleMania stars: No. 1
HULK HOGAN

WrestleMania history
1 (1985): Along with Mr.T, defeated Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff
2 (1986): Defeated challenger King Kong Bundy in a Steel Cage match to retain the WWF title
3 (1987): Defeated Andre the Giant to retain the WWF title
4 (1988): Wrestled to a double disqualification with Andre The Giant in the quarterfinals of the WWF title tournament
5 (1989): Defeated Randy Savage to win the WWF title
6 (1990): Lost the WWF title to The Ultimate Warrior
7 (1991): Defeated Sgt. Slaughter to win the WWF title
8 (1992): Defeated Sid Justice by disqualification
9 (1993): Along with Brutus Beefcake, lost to WWF tag team champions IRS and Ted DiBiase by disqualification; defeated Yokozuna to win the WWF title
18 (2002): Lost to The Rock
19 (2003): Defeated Vince McMahon
Non-wrestling appearance
21 (2005): Did a surprise run-in to save Eugene from an attack by Muhammad Hassan and Daivari
Comments: Shawn Michaels made his name by stealing the show at WrestleMania, but if it wasn’t for Hogan, there would be no show to steal. … Wrestled in seven of the first eight WrestleMania main events and competed in six world title matches. … Thanks mostly to his much-hyped tag match with Mr. T against Piper and Orndorff, the inaugural WrestleMania – on which WWE chairman Vince McMahon risked everything – was a huge financial success. … Body slam of Andre in epic match at WM 3 is perhaps the most famous spot in wrestling history. Victory over the “undefeated” Andre took Hogan from superstar to legend. … Even though he did not wrestle in the main event at WM 4, his interference in the WWF title tournament final helped Savage win the championship. … Memorable year-long story line with friend-turned-foe Savage concluded at WM 5 with Hogan becoming just the second man in WWE’s 26-year history at that point to regain the title. … Match against Ultimate Warrior at WM 6 had electric atmosphere and the in-ring action exceeded expectations. Hogan’s tearful salute of The Warrior as he exited the ring in defeat somewhat overshadowed Warrior’s historic victory. … Became the first three-time WWF champion at WM 7. … After wrestling in a tag match earlier on the show at WM 9, Hogan returned at the end of the evening and won the WWF title from Yokozuna, who had issued an impromptu challenge just minutes after defeating Bret Hart for the belt. … Icon versus Icon showdown with The Rock at WM 18 rivals Hogan’s match with Andre at WM 3 for “The Hulkster’s” greatest WrestleMania moment. … Memorable brawl with McMahon at WM 19 pitted the two men most responsible for the success of WrestleMania against each other.
To view the entire list, click here.
Photo courtesy of WWE
Categories: Top 25 WrestleMania stars



Comments
Its hard to question Hogan at #1. I had him #2, only because my #1 The Undertaker has appeared in more and is undefeated.
Kevin:
Thank you for an entertaining couple of weeks! Next up....Summerslam moments!
Posted by: Matt | April 5, 2009 1:41 PM
When you first started this list, I was afraid you'd put HBK or Undertaker in the top spot. I'm glad you didn't, because there really is no arguing the fact that Hogan is #1. He may not have put on the kind of classic matches that Michaels has, but WrestleMania is what it is because of Hogan moreso than anyone aside from McMahon himself. And this is coming from someone who is beyond sick of Hulk Hogan. He's far from my favorite wrestler, but the Hulkster deserves to be recognized as the true "Mr. WrestleMania."
Posted by: Phil | April 5, 2009 1:44 PM
Kevin,
One Question-- ARE YOU READY??FOR WRESTLEMANIA???????
Have Fun,
Signed by,
THE CLAW
P.S. May Shawn Rest In Peace!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Chris | April 5, 2009 1:50 PM
I hate Hogan as much as anyone but nobody was a bigger draw and outside of Austin nobody came close. HBK is one of the best in ring workers but one of the lowest draws in wrestling history. He never really drew anything. With HBK as the top guy the Ratings war turned and Wcw won for two years once Austin took over as the top guy the ratings war changed and the WWE took over, HBK doesn't belong in the 2nd spot imo.
Posted by: graves9 | April 5, 2009 2:16 PM
You have got to be kidding me? Undertaker or Shawn Michaels deserves the number 1 spot, come on Kevin. I always garee with you on everything, but this one is a bit puzzling.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 5, 2009 2:20 PM
Great pick and some marks will whine but this is the best pick. It still doesn't take the silliesness of HBK in the second spot.
Posted by: billy chong | April 5, 2009 2:53 PM
Kevin , like him or not , (in my case not) I personally cannot think of Wrestlemania without automatically thinking of Hogan . A good choice .
Thanks for the entertaining subject for the last few weeks .
The comments by Ring Posts readers have been almost as entertaining .
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | April 5, 2009 3:29 PM
The right choice, indeed the only choice. Hogan sold Wrestlemania and now Wrestlemania sells Cena, HBK, HHH, Orton etc.
Posted by: thebeast | April 5, 2009 3:38 PM
well I'm glad you didn't get this 1 wrong nayway this is what the Top 25 should be:
1 Hulk 6 Taker 11 Angle
2 Austin 7 Bret 12 Jericho
3 Rock 8 Macho 13 Beniot
4 HHH 9 Edge 14 Eddie
5 Shawn 10 Piper 15 Cena
16 Jeff hardy 21 Warrior
17 Perfect 22 Trish
18 Andre 23 Jake
19 Matt hardy 24 Foley
20 Tito 25 Kane
now thats a list u have to give trish props for somewhat legitimizing yhe womans div. and for Tito for setting the tone for the first mania and he wrestled in tag matches when the tag titles ment something and he did bring in the latino fans. I'll give u credit your list especially the top 10 was not off by much and i'm glad ur man crush didn't get in the way of making the right #1
Posted by: frank | April 5, 2009 4:20 PM
Great list and hate or love Hogan he had to be #1.
Posted by: Shawn Patrick | April 5, 2009 4:43 PM
Why is Hulk Hogan at number 1? After watching the classic between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker at WM 25 i laugh at Hogan being your numero uno.
Posted by: JBL Fan | April 6, 2009 12:36 AM
If not for Hogan,there wouldnt have been HBK-Undertaker.. because there would be so freakin wrestlemania...in fact hogan put taker over for the belt so hogan helped make taker..graves 9 said it best,,HBK didnt draw anybody to the show. Austin did,, Rock did and both of them are well below Hogan.Hogan could wrestle a midget and it would increase the buyrate of a ppv. here's to hoping that next year The Hulkster gets his proper return and Wrestlemania match send off because he did much more for the event and business then Flair did and you saw what Flair got.
Posted by: kb | April 6, 2009 11:09 AM
why is hogan at #1?? there are wayy better wrestlers than him.. come on, randy savage, rodney piper,wtf?
Posted by: kateri | April 6, 2009 12:01 PM
Horrible choice, and by horrible choice I mean to throw up Hogan wearing the Big Gold Belt? This is Wrestlemania talk here. SHOW ME SOME EAGLE!!
Posted by: Brian | April 6, 2009 2:34 PM
some people put too much emphasis on "workrate". There are indy workers who are probably better wrestlers then HBK,Angle,etc but they cant draw a dime. This is entertainment and accept the fact that Hogan was entertainment.He gave the people(Many of them) what they paid(the most important fact in entertainment) to see.Watch Hogan's matches in Japan,or even 1 vs Bret Hart on nitro when he mat wrestled hart until they turned and beat up sting.Sure Hbk may be a better "wrestler",but how many people have bought mania's just to see him?
Posted by: kb | April 6, 2009 7:49 PM
The list is good but Ricky Steamboat & Randy Savage DEFINITELY deserve a place in that top 25 list for their mindblowing match at WM3 (truly one of my favourites)
Posted by: Sam | April 6, 2009 11:37 PM
You guys are crazy, did any other superstar be named with Wrestlemania, Hulkamania?
Also without Hulk Hogan thered be no Wrestlemania he put it on the map with Wrestlemania 3 in how he did the impossible, hes a no. 1 in my book. W/o Hogan thered be no Undertaker vs Shawn or HHH vs Orton cuz thered be no Wrestlemania.
Posted by: Mike | April 7, 2009 10:27 AM
What's all this talk about HBK didn't draw? Who was in the main event at WM23, which had an attendance record of over 80,000--the second highest attendance record at WM, second to WM3's 93,000? HBK. If it was all Cena, then why haven't those numbers been replicated, since he's been in the main event for the past 4 or 5 years? And even though HHH was supposed to be the guy going against Cena, the same can be asked about him. People are confusing the Monday Night Wars with WM. And for the record, I barely watched any of WWF in the beginning or middle of '96 because WCW had a better overall product. I did, however, watch Shawn Michaels-he was the only part of the WWF show that I waited for and watched because the rest of it was trash. With performances like Sunday night's, if Shawn still has haters, they are either stupid or delusion-or maybe both.
Posted by: sweetie21783 | April 7, 2009 11:47 AM