9 Reasons Steve Austin Was Better In WWE Than Hulk Hogan

Gimme a hell yeah, brother.

Steve Austin Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin? It's basically the Beatles vs. the Rolling Stones of the wrestling world. These two men each brought WWE - and professional wrestling in general - to heights it had never before reached. Hulkamania laid the groundwork for worldwide commercial success, while Austin 3:16 reinvigorated a waning form of entertainment and catapulted it into the stratosphere.

Whether you prefer The Hulkster or The Bionic Redneck largely depends on which era you prefer. Are you a Rock n' Wrestling person or an Attitude person?

Their personalities couldn't have been more different. One was a beer-swilling, mudhole-stomping redneck with an expansive vocabulary of salty language. The other was the wholesome, massively muscled embodiment of family values. Again, some fans prefer one personality type over the other.

But even though much of the Hogan vs. Austin debate comes down to personal preference, there's a handful of inarguable criteria that proves Austin was indeed the better performer during his time in WWE.

To be clear, this is not about who has more fans. Nor is it about who was better for the industry on the whole. It's not about who had the most drawing power or who was easier to market. This is simply about who was "better" while they were in WWE.

9. He Had A Better Finisher

Steve Austin Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

Hulk Hogan's big leg drop was, even for its time, a pretty lame way to end a match. Sure, the crowd were into it, but that had little to do with the move itself, and more to do with how over the Hulkster was in general. The guy could have given his opponents a shoulder massage for his finishing move and the crowds would have eaten it up.

The Stone Cold Stunner, on the other hand, remains one of the greatest finishing moves ever. It wasn't flashy, but boy did it look devastating.

It was just a simple kick to the gut followed by a facelock jawbreaker, possibly with a gratuitous middle finger salute thrown in between for good measure. Since it didn't require much setup, it could come out of nowhere to end the match.

Generally, it was a move that looked like it knocked the other guy out cold. Unless The Rock was on the receiving end of it, in which case it looked more like he was receiving some sort of electrocution. But even when his opponent sold the move horribly (cough, Vince McMahon, cough), the Stunner was still a brutally glorious move to behold, one of the best in the business and miles better than a basic leg drop.

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Jacob is a part-time contributor for WhatCulture, specializing in music, movies, and really, really dumb humor.