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Top draws in the WWE bear much more responsibility than privilege, but pushing various Superstars to the “top spot” often sparks off controversy theories and complaints. Roman Reign’s recent push was viewed exactly as such, with the audience initially rebelling at the thought that the WWE was literally gifting the spot to him with other greater “deserving” superstars, in their book, seemingly looked over.
And then, there is an incessant debate about whether a Superstar is “ready” for top billing or not, with in-ring experience counting as much as respect earned in the industry in contributing toward that argument. Looking past all that, there is the highly disputed matter of the prototypical main eventer, much to the ire and incredulity of the modern day fan. Through the years, distinctions and discretions have been applied aplenty, mostly inside of Vince McMahon’s head, in the choosing of the “top guy”. Several fans have voiced their displeasure with the company for failing to elevate deserving Superstars to the main event spot but in all fairness, it’s hard to argue with the WWE’s track record when you examine the instances that they got right.
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To be a top draw entails the main event status but also demands committed maintenance of performance. The main eventer’s success determines not only his stock in the company, but also affects the payday of the wrestlers on the undercard. To put it in a nutshell then, top billing in the WWE has to be earned every inch of the way. It dictates far greater responsibility than entitlement and is decidedly not for the faint of heart.
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Time has thrown up examples of wrestlers who practically had every necessary qualification to carry the company and yet wilted when push came to shove. Conversely, those who managed to pull it off have immortalized their names in WWE lore, and truly, it is their influence in the past that engenders our present involvement with the product in some senses.
Greatness, once it crosses a certain threshold, defies comparison and definitively ranking these custodians of the business has been a process that teeters on an unforgiving line. Nevertheless, this is a look back at the top draws in WWE history, with qualification as much as quantification perused in what is an attempt to rank them according to their drawing power as well as influence on the industry.
Honorable Mention #1 – Bruno Sammartino
In an era that pre-dated the reach of mainstream appeal through television, an Italian-American grappler championed the hopes and harbored the awe of the audience. In what is still the lengthiest recorded single reign, Bruno Sammartino held the then WWWF Title for an unbelievable 2803 days at a stretch before dropping the title to Ivan Koloff in 1971 at Madison Square Garden.
If that were another Superstar, then the place would not have mattered half as much as the travesty of losing the title after a reign of over 7 years, but Bruno Sammartino is a name that is intertwined with the history of Madison Square Garden. In what is merely one of the unlikely records never to be breached that were set by Sammartino, he sold-out Madison Square Garden an astounding 187 times.
Upon losing the title to Ivan Koloff, pin drop silence reportedly reigned in the arena. So much so that the officials sensed the disquiet before the storm; Koloff’s win was not announced, nor was the title bestowed around his waist. As Bruno left the ring, the tears of the fans in attendance followed him out.
Bruno Sammartino wrestled all over the world, defending the WWWF Title with dignity and integrity, captivating the audience in the process. The bond between Bruno and the fans was unique in that it was achieved through personal interaction rather than television or other digital media of transmission that the WWE is dependent on today.
Bruno Sammartino is undisputedly the Living Legend of WWE and in many senses, was the bedrock upon which the foundation for a successful business was laid.
Honourable Mention #2 – John Cena
This is a tricky one. Innately true to the polarizing nature of John Cena, he could have as easily been #1 on this list for the admirable qualities that he displays both as a human being and a professional coupled with the consistency and quality of his career. John Cena has carried the company on his back for the past decade when it wasn’t entirely fashionable to be a WWE fan.
On the back of an era comprising excessive gore, violence and scandal, the WWE direly felt the need to tone down the shade of their product. Considering that the competition had also been wiped out, monopoly lent the WWE leeway to re-model its approach. Then there was the controversial double murder-suicide involving Chris Benoit and Vince McMahon’s hand was further moved. Add to that Linda McMahon’s political aspirations and the necessity to garner a new generation fan-base.
John Cena was the man who addressed all of the aforementioned facets of need that the company encountered and he did it with hustle, loyalty and respect - forgive the cliché. He restored much needed stability and credibility as the face of the company and has been singularly responsible for changing the product from one that angled toward the adolescent male demographic into one that caters to the viewing pleasure of the whole family.
However since the advent of the internet, and the unique gateway to the industry that it opened to fans, the business does not quite entertain the idea of a “top draw” the way it has always done historically. Once the fans are privy to the backstage workings of the business, there is naturally a decline of interest in the end product and a marked increase in curiosity regarding the internal workings of the industry.
It is not John Cena’s fault that his prime oversaw such a dynamic, and he really could not have done anything differently during his tenure either. However, it does mean that he has to settle for a spot just outside of the top 5 draws in WWE history, owing purely to the slight lessening of significance that a top draw had to endure due to the changing perception of the business in recent times.
#5 – Stone Cold Steve Austin
The Rattlesnake is arguably the single biggest drawing Superstar in WWE history. His appeal during the Attitude Era was off the charts, with Vince McMahon himself claiming that no other superstar could quite touch the heights of popularity or merchandising and marketing potential that Stone Cole scaled in those years.
His character - that of an out-of-control, trash talking, beer-guzzling redneck who constantly thwarted his boss’ plans, was his greatest selling point, for it rung through and true to the audience. From 1997 to 2002, Stone Cold Steve Austin’s dominion over the wrestling fan-base was one of the main reasons why WCW was eventually eclipsed by the WWE in the Monday Night Wars.
Having been grossly underutilized and devalued in his early WCW career, Stone Cold came back to haunt their profligacy and played an integral role in tipping the TV ratings onto the WWE’s court once and for all. Perhaps Austin’s greatest achievement though, was the unconscious role he played in the creation of another megastar in his time, The Rock.
The rivalry that was shared between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, in the backdrop of WWE’s most popular era, is possibly the biggest drawing rivalry between two superstars whose respective peaks sufficiently coincided. Never before had there been two colossal draws at the same time that shared the WWE landscape like Stone Cold and The Rock, and never since, underscoring what will possibly go down as the greatest rivalry in WWE history.
Despite being accused of “taking his ball and going home” towards the tail-down of his career in 2003, Austin’s popularity never took a hit with the fans in the long run nor was he forced to change his gimmick for the want of not being stale or repetitive, an ode to the unparalleled impact that the Stone Cold persona was responsible for creating, in the company’s most relevant era till date.
#4 – Hulk Hogan
When Vince McMahon purchased the company from his father, any future expansion plans that he had formulated for the product had to be kept under wraps for fear of evoking strong displeasure. The integrity of every independent promotion, and indeed its geographical boundaries had been respected up till then, but the face of pro-wrestling changed under Vince McMahon’s grandiose vision with one wrestler, Hulk Hogan, at the epicenter of the revolution.
His hand in globally popularizing the WWE cannot be understated, as Hulk Hogan smoothed the transition that pro-wrestling was making from catering to a selective fan-base to one that generated worldwide appeal. His charisma and physique led the WWE’s way into the hearts of a new generation of audience, many of whom have been irrevocably hooked on to the product ever since.
As wrestling’s first global megastar, the Hulkster’s rise to superstardom went hand in hand with the WWE’s search for greater marketability and his legendary feuds with the likes of Andre the Giant, Roddy Piper and Randy Savage served to further cement the vested interest that pro-wrestling was already beginning to foster on a world level.
Being the most recognizable WWE Superstar of all time though, had its drawbacks that evidentially came to the fore in what was as trying a time for the WWE and Vince Mcmahon as it was for the nervous on-looking fans of the company – The steroid trial.
The Hulkster’s legacy was not the only entity that was besmirched in what turned out to be a turning point in WWE programming. Kudos to Hogan though, who re-invented himself as a heel in WCW, going on to form what is arguably the most contestable and controversial faction in pro-wrestling history, The New World Order.
Despite his stint in WCW, everything that one needed to know about the Hulkster would be encapsulated in that one timeless moment of magic that highlighted his second stint in the WWE at Wrestlemania 18. It would not be incorrect to surmise that some of the WWE’s most historically poignant moments have involved the Immortal One.
#3 – The Undertaker
Amongst the troves of Superstars who have plied their trade in the WWE over the years, no one single wrestler has ever highlighted constancy or consistency to rival that of The Undertaker. While the genesis of his career coincided with the change-over from the Golden Era to the Attitude Era, what is surely his final stretch has overseen the change-over from the PG era to the Reality Era.
Through the last 25 years, The Undertaker has been the most constant big money draw for the WWE, with his significance as a top draw assuming reserved importance in recent years thanks to the Streak. The importance of the Undertaker in keeping the hardcore wrestling fans on board during the trying PG era cannot be understated – The Streak began carrying Wrestlemania instead of it being the other way around.
Despite the Streak being broken, The Undertaker’s standing in the eyes of the collective WWE Universe has not wavered one bit and this also has to do with the inordinate amount of backstage influence that Mark Calaway has had on the WWE. A respected figure throughout his career, his role as the locker-room leader often goes unattributed towards the success that WWE attained as opposed to the failure that met WCW.
It was the hierarchy of the WWE versus the anarchy of WCW during the Monday night wars, and one of the reasons why the WWE eventually won was due to the fact that Vince McMahon ran a tight ship. Well, The Undertaker has always been the undisputed captain, with his consistency highlighting his drawing power over what has turned into a tremendously long shelf-life for a wrestler that earmarks his performances with conviction and credibility.
#2 – The Rock
WWE’s greatest success story as far as mainstream impact goes has been provided, indubitably, by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The stratospheric success that he encountered during the Attitude Era was significant of a subtler precedent that he represented, in that there had never before been an instance of an era that had room for two elite draws quite the likes of Stone Cold and The Rock.
If the rivalry with Stone Cold often appealed to fans beyond the scope of kayfabe or ‘babyface versus heel’, his quick thinking in displaying heelish behaviour to play to the uproar of audience support that Hulk Hogan was receiving in their Wrestlemania 18 classic, helped create one of the most iconic moments in WWE history.
From holding the verve of the audience in the palm of his hand, to having the brand extension named after one of his catch-phrases, The Rock has arguably been the most innovative user of the microphone that the WWE has ever come across. His legendary catch-phrases have elicited unanimous audience participation for the best part of 2 decades now and the trail-blazing nature of the connection that The Rock has forged with the audience is in a league of its own.
Despite ‘Once in a lifetime’ happening twice, one cannot argue with the sheer number of eyeballs that follow a Hollywood A-Lister. The Rock’s continued involvement in the WWE, even after taking Hollywood by storm, has engineered a scenario where the WWE’s mainstream status has been elevated.
In all probability, The Rock has not out-grown further active participation in the WWE and in time to come, could well go on to confirm his status as the greatest draw in sports entertainment history.
#1 – Andre The Giant
André René Roussimoff, or simply Andre The Giant, shared an symbiotic relationship with the company in so far as saying that the WWE made him, and he made the WWE. Despite suffering from acromegaly, a growth disorder, Andre contrived to use his condition to his advantage and started wrestling at as early as 18 years old.
Make no mistake, he was reportedly already 6 foot 3 inches tall and weighed in at 200 pounds when he was merely 12, which sums up the propensity of his condition and in turn, the odds that he had to overcome.
Before Vince McMahon Senior sifted the rough to uncover the diamond, Andre wrestled all over the world in various promotions, and regularly displayed disbelief-inducing spots for a man of his considerable ilk. At the behest of Vince McMahon Senior, he cut out the more athletic spots in his move-set and instead focused on presenting himself as an immovable object in the ring.
This turned out to be a marketing master-stroke as it fuelled an unbeaten run than spanned 15 years. The Eighth Wonder of the World was born and fans from all corners flocked to witness the novelty of a 7 foot 4 inch tall behemoth tear through his opposition.
Andre’s influence though, was not merely constrained to the realm of pro-wrestling, as he was the earliest cross-promotional Superstar whose popularity fork-lifted him into Hollywood stardom as well. He was a globally recognizable face, whose generously proportioned frame was said to have been matched by an equally giving heart.
The defining moment of WWE in the 20th Century had Andre The Giant’s indelible stamp all over it – at Wrestlemania 3, in what was the first and the greatest of torch-passing moments to ever punctuate WWE’s history, the Immovable Object had finally been moved. Coupled with the advent of Hulkamania, the WWE then rose to new found heights of popularity and acceptance. Andre’s role at the heart of WWE’s rise though was rarely overlooked.
Andre The Giant was the first ever Inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1993. Befittingly, he was the sole inductee that year; the WWE’s ode to the influence that the man bore. Even today, in the WWE Headquarters at Connecticut, his hand-print welcomes visitors at the reception entrance, almost as though to subtly remind the WWE Universe who was the first among equals.
