How Stone Cold Steve Austin & Hulk Hogan Are Similar (& How They're Different)
Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin are often compared by longtime wrestling fans for their general success. Both wrestlers are in the conversation for the greatest star of all time after getting over at the highest level. Their paths were drastically different in many ways from the early days of chasing the dream to their times on top of the wrestling world.
Most aspiring wrestlers study former greats to pinpoint what leads to the biggest success in wrestling. Hogan and Austin had their fair share of things in common to provide some mutual traits. However, the differences also paint a brighter picture of how their careers played out. Hogan and Austin showed what they had in common with their success, but they were also quite different beasts in the business.
10 Similar: Biggest Draws In Wrestling History
The biggest shared trait between Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan was the ability to draw huge money. Hogan was instantly the biggest draw in wrestling history when Vince McMahon pushed him as the face of his new sports entertainment movement.
No wrestler touched Hogan in that category of wrestling to the point where WCW gave him creative control in his contract signing. No one even came close to Hogan’s success until Austin broke out in the Attitude Era to take things to new levels.
9 Different: Work Rate
Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin may be the two biggest stars in wrestling history, but they had different levels of in-ring performances. Even though Hogan had a few classics, he was never considered a great worker since his matches usually disappointed beyond the finish.
Austin was a significantly better worker with many iconic matches to his name from the WCW mid-card to WWE main event scene. Bret Hart, The Rock, Kurt Angle, and Triple H had some of the best matches of their careers with Austin bringing it once the bell rings.
8 Similar: Used Their Backstage Power Often
Any wrestler to have that level of a top drawing power will have influence backstage whether they use it or not. The Rock was considered someone that rarely used it and actually went out of his way to put others over cleanly.
Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan shared more traits on the other side of booking when using their power. Stories of Austin refusing to wrestle Jeff Jarrett and Marc Mero showed he didn’t fear using his influence. Hogan was even wilder with a WCW creative control clause and there are at least a dozen instances of him using power.
7 Different: Hulk Hogan Never Had A Truly Edgy Side
The biggest difference between Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin as wrestling characters came from the edgier nature of the latter. WWE allowed Austin to cut promos like never before as his edgier side was what people wanted to start the Attitude Era.
Hogan was the most generic face possible when that worked in the Golden Era. Even a heel turn in WCW leading the New World Order saw Hogan playing a great villain, but he was never cursing or flipping others off as Austin did.
6 Similar: Unlikely Tag Team Success
Most main eventers will not want to work tag division matches after spending time at the top of the mountain. WWE however liked to mix their top names into storylines with partners if the storyline called for it.
Both Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan had unlikely tag team success during their legendary careers. Hogan had the epic Mega Powers run with Randy Savage and won tag gold with Edge. WWE placed Austin in various tag acts with Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, The Undertaker, and others for massive star power.
5 Different: Eric Bischoff's View Of Them
The careers of Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan were most shaped by Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff respectively. McMahon loved them both since he usually has strong relationships with his top superstars, but that wasn’t the same for Bischoff.
Austin and Bischoff were enemies due to the ugly ending of WCW firing Austin during an injury. Bischoff even claimed that Austin didn’t have main event potential during their time together. Hogan however was and is still Bischoff’s best friend with other wrestlers resenting their relationship when it impacted creative decisions.
4 Similar: Successful As Both Face & Heel Roles
The ability to adapt helped both Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan have such iconic runs in the industry. Austin was first over as a heel before fans fell in love with him. The heel side worked well and helped set up his face run since fans already loved him.
Hogan was a different story after exclusively playing the same face character for over a decade. WWE never turned Hogan heel, but WCW pulled that trigger to start the New World Order. Hogan had a new legendary chapter to his career, playing such a great heel for an industry-shifting act.
3 Different: Hulk Hogan Never Won Mid-Card Title
Hulk Hogan became a top star when Vince McMahon Jr. took over WWE and never looked back. Most main eventers like John Cena, The Rock, and even Steve Austin won mid-card titles at one point, but Hogan never did in WWE or WCW.
Austin on the other hand was considered a tremendous mid-card champ before reaching the top of the mountain. WCW witnessed Austin as arguably the best United States Champion in company history, having stellar matches often. WWE also benefited from Austin winning the Intercontinental Championship before he won the WWE Title.
2 Similar: Legendary Relationships With Broadcasters
One cool tidbit about both Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan is that their characters had great relationships with broadcasters. Jim Ross’ close friendship with Austin was mentioned many times and even used in storylines as a huge part of WWE TV.
Hogan had his own bond with backstage interviewer “Mean” Gene Okerlund since in-ring promos were rare at that time. The “well you know something, Mean Gene?” line is a trademark of Hogan, and WCW even hired Okerlund partially due to that. Austin inducting JR and Hogan inducting Okerlund into the WWE Hall of Fame showed how close they were.
1 Different: Steve Austin Retired At Peak
Most wrestling legends will wrestle into their older years since the money remains great for name value and there’s a passion you can’t find elsewhere. Steve Austin was on the rare list of names to retire in his prime due to a neck injury. There was the recent return match vs Kevin Owens, but that was a one-off that didn’t harm his retirement.
Hulk Hogan had the opposite scenario as someone that continued wrestling beyond his body’s limits. The early 2000s WWE work was the final time Hogan felt like himself. A few independent wrestling matches and TNA matches showed him going way too long with his body suffering worst for it.
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