Win (seemingly) every match. Be (seemingly) everywhere in pop culture. Be (seemingly) the coolest man that existed in the 1980s. Yeah, the level of pressure Vince McMahon put on Hulk Hogan (as compared to the pressure put on every other man or woman on this list) is seemingly otherworldly. However, the fact that Hogan succeeded under this stress is truly amazing and in retrospect, completely unbelievable. Vince McMahon owes Hulk Hogan EVERYTHING. He was a great opponent for great heels, and even in his early 2000s return he put over The Rock and Brock Lesnar, two superstars that the company looks to for big box office dollars to this day. As much as Austin and Rock were major WWE stars, Hogan was the first, and arguably the best.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
