The Great Debate: Part 1- Hogan Or Austin: Who's The Bigger Icon

I'm not sure if some of you know this, but there's a new show on VH1 called "The Great Debate". On this show they have debates about things such as, who's better than who, what's better than what, what sucks and what doesn't suck, etc. For reasons unknown to me, when watching this show, I automatically begin thinking about wrestling. So I thought, why not make my own debate.

So while thinking of an article I could write, a commercial came on for Brooke Hogan's whack ass reality show and I began thinking about Hulk Hogan. I began wondering, who's a bigger icon in wrestling other than Hulk Hogan. The first two wrestlers that came to mind was The Rock and Stone Cold. Since we already seen The Rock Vs Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania, I decided to choose Stone Cold.

Now as far as Icon's go, I believe these two have to be the biggest. If you take a close look at Hogan and Austin, the two share a lot of attributes and accomplishments. They both are six time WWF/E Champions, they both revolutionized wrestling era's, they appealed to the masses in a great way, and both of their personas appealed to wrestling fans.

Hulk Hogan was a superhero-like, All American American who encouraged kids to say their prayers and take their vitamins. He would always get his ass handed to him in matches, but would come back in the last minutes and win. He then went on to leave WWE for WCW and have a stint as a heel, forming the NWO with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. He terrorized WCW and would always find a way to capture the Heavyweight Title. He then came back to WWE still a heel and still with the NWO. After his match with The Rock at Wrestlemania, he became the superhero All American American again and going on to having a brief feud with Vince McMahon.

Unlike Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold was a blue collar, bad ass who would beat your ass if you so much as looked at him wrong. He never applied to the rules and would do anything to win a match. Stone Cold was a wrestler for WCW and ECW, but it was when he came to WWE that he began to shine. He had memorable feuds, but none so famous as his long and storied feud with Vince McMahon. What made Austin so popular was his ability to do and say what other people were too afraid to do. His disregard for the rules, not caring if he got fired for whopping the boss' ass, and constant quickness to flip people off won him over with the fans. Even with his stint as a heel, people still loved Austin.

In my opinion, I believe Stone Cold to be the bigger icon. He was a bad ass who would kick your ass no matter if you were friend or foe. He revolutionized, in my opinion, the best era in wrestling history. But that's just my opinion, what do you guys think.