Yesterday, I tackled JCP/WCW covering about 1800 shows with attendance figures. I looked for wrestlers who competed on 10+ shows within the attendance database for that year, and on those shows had a significantly (500 people or more) higher paid attendance than the annual attendance average. It's not a perfect system because as you see - major events (i did exclude PPVs) like TV tapings can heavily skew the attendance. I also tried to use "paid" attendance, but that number was only available for some events.
1986 (118 shows): Baby Doll (2386), Jim Cornette (2102), Road Warrior Hawk (1538), Road Warrior Animal (1460), Jimmy Garvin (1166), Rick Rude (1150), Nikita Koloff (1122), Ric Flair (1120), Dusty Rhodes (1040), Nelson Royal (1015), Brad Armstrong (957), Dick Murdoch (923), Robert Gibson (860), Tully Blanchard (754), Arn Anderson (651), Ricky Morton (592), Black Bart (519)
1987 (126 shows): Buddy Roberts (5059), Terry Gordy (4051), Chris Adams (2687), Steve Williams (2495), Dick Murdoch (2488), Vladimir Petrov (1949), Road Warrior Hawk (1638), Dutch Mantell (1560), Dusty Rhodes (1529), Rick Steiner (1522), Road Warrior Animal (1484), Black Bart (1375), Wahoo McDaniel (1313), Ray Traylor (1312), Sting (1252), MOD Squad Basher (1191), Ivan Koloff (1183)
1988 (126 shows): Paul Ellering (2665), Robert Gibson (2329), Ricky Morton (2078), Russian Assassin (1902), Brad Armstrong (1314), Jimmy Garvin (1251), Ricky Santana (1246), Dusty Rhodes (1216), Dick Murdoch (1193), Arn Anderson (1175), Mike Rotundo (1116), Tully Blanchard (1084), Kevin Sullivan (1053), Jim Cornette (949), Ivan Koloff (823), Nikita Koloff (749)
1989 (75 shows): Al Greene (1371), Brad Anderson (1110), Tommy Rich (1010), Ric Flair (820), Rip Morgan (816), Sid Vicious (514)
1990 (141 shows): Kevin Sullivan (1775), Shane Douglas (1617), Jack Victory (1321), Rip Morgan (1251), Paul Orndorff (1212), Vader (1125), Lex Luger (688), Road Warrior Hawk (630), Road Warrior Animal (597), Ric Flair (586)
1991 (163 shows): Sid Vicious (1374), Fidel Sierra (1325), Dan Spivey (1087), Ric Flair (780), Rick Rude (747), Scott Steiner (542)
1992 (185 shows): n/a
1993 (163 shows): Raven (1502), Michael Hayes (1131), Kevin Nash (1026), Shane Douglas (812), Vader (698), Paul Orndorff (518)
1994 (93 shows): Hulk Hogan (2461), Diamond Dallas Page (1144), Ric Flair (588)
1995 (87 shows): n/a
1996 (126 shows): Scott Hall (697), Kevin Nash (697), Syxx (611)
1997 (66 shows): Ric Flair (1671), Syxx (1256), Scotty Riggs (794), Disco Inferno (641), Psychosis (568)
1998 (89 shows): Hulk Hogan (6697), Scott Putski (6296), Ultimo Dragon (5482), Booker T (4879), Psychosis (3261), Bill Goldberg (2894), Sting (2356), Rey Mysterio Jr (2111), Scott Norton (2025), Giant (1951), Chavo Guerrero Jr (1810), Norman Smiley (1601), Alex Wright (1392), Lex Luger (1311), Disco Inferno (1241), Scotty Riggs (1187), Billy Kidman (1082), Wrath (852), Scott Steiner (608), Scott Hall (541)
1999 (141 shows): Scott Steiner (5586), Kevin Nash (3623), Wrath (3372), Hulk Hogan (3261), Scott Hall (2689), Scott Norton (2187), Chris Jericho (1988), Brian Adams (1985), Sandman (1314), Kenny Kaos (1273), Bam Bam Bigelow (1190), Raven (984), Rey Mysterio Jr (877), Diamond Dallas Page (765), Bill Goldberg (567), Psychosis (520)
1991 (163 shows): Sid Vicious (1374), Fidel Sierra (1325), Dan Spivey (1087), Ric Flair (780), Rick Rude (747), Scott Steiner (542)
1992 (185 shows): n/a
1993 (163 shows): Raven (1502), Michael Hayes (1131), Kevin Nash (1026), Shane Douglas (812), Vader (698), Paul Orndorff (518)
1994 (93 shows): Hulk Hogan (2461), Diamond Dallas Page (1144), Ric Flair (588)
1995 (87 shows): n/a
1996 (126 shows): Scott Hall (697), Kevin Nash (697), Syxx (611)
1997 (66 shows): Ric Flair (1671), Syxx (1256), Scotty Riggs (794), Disco Inferno (641), Psychosis (568)
1998 (89 shows): Hulk Hogan (6697), Scott Putski (6296), Ultimo Dragon (5482), Booker T (4879), Psychosis (3261), Bill Goldberg (2894), Sting (2356), Rey Mysterio Jr (2111), Scott Norton (2025), Giant (1951), Chavo Guerrero Jr (1810), Norman Smiley (1601), Alex Wright (1392), Lex Luger (1311), Disco Inferno (1241), Scotty Riggs (1187), Billy Kidman (1082), Wrath (852), Scott Steiner (608), Scott Hall (541)
1999 (141 shows): Scott Steiner (5586), Kevin Nash (3623), Wrath (3372), Hulk Hogan (3261), Scott Hall (2689), Scott Norton (2187), Chris Jericho (1988), Brian Adams (1985), Sandman (1314), Kenny Kaos (1273), Bam Bam Bigelow (1190), Raven (984), Rey Mysterio Jr (877), Diamond Dallas Page (765), Bill Goldberg (567), Psychosis (520)
2000-2001 (124 shows): n/a
Clearly, the TV tapings (Nitro/Thunder) are causing some of the distortions. I didn't filter only for top matches, so some interesting jobbers show up on the list as well.
Clearly, the TV tapings (Nitro/Thunder) are causing some of the distortions. I didn't filter only for top matches, so some interesting jobbers show up on the list as well.
By far the weirdest result was SCOTT PUTSKI who wrestled on some huge shows during the 1998 boom (Georgia Dome, Astrodome, TWA Dome)
WCW @ Atlanta, GA - Georgia Dome - July 6, 1998 (41, 412)
WCW @ Hartford, CT - Civic Center - August 17, 1998 (12, 655; sell out)
WCW @ Terre Haute, IN - Hulman Center - August 25, 1998 (3, 556)
WCW @ Peoria, IL - Civic Center - August 26, 1998 (7, 128)
WCW @ Pensacola, FL - Civic Center - September 7, 1998 (6, 379; sell out)
WCW @ Mobile, AL - September 8, 1998 (3, 988)
WCW @ Amherst, MA - September 22, 1998 (3, 000)
WCW @ Minneapolis, MN - Target Center - October 19, 1998 (15, 722)
WCW @ Wichita, KS - Kansas Coliseum - November 16, 1998 (13, 981)
WCW @ Houston, TX - Astrodome - December 7, 1998 (32, 067)
WCW @ St. Louis, MO - TWA Dome - December 21, 1998 (29, 000)
In the end, I think the more interesting metric is number of years someone appeared on the list - Ric Flair leads with 7 years followed by a legion of people with three (Robert Gibson, Road Warrior Animal, Dick Murdoch, Scott Steiner, Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Morton, Hulk Hogan, Road Warrior Hawk, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Lex Luger, Tully Blanchard, Psychosis, Nikita Koloff). Most of those I would consider people that were draws for the time. However, we're comparing very disparate time periods - early 90s was so terrible that 500 more people is incredible. Late 90s was so hot that 500 is less than margin of error!
The person that I was thinking would jump out during this analysis would be Sting - who really didn't.
WCW @ Atlanta, GA - Georgia Dome - July 6, 1998 (41, 412)
WCW @ Hartford, CT - Civic Center - August 17, 1998 (12, 655; sell out)
WCW @ Terre Haute, IN - Hulman Center - August 25, 1998 (3, 556)
WCW @ Peoria, IL - Civic Center - August 26, 1998 (7, 128)
WCW @ Pensacola, FL - Civic Center - September 7, 1998 (6, 379; sell out)
WCW @ Mobile, AL - September 8, 1998 (3, 988)
WCW @ Amherst, MA - September 22, 1998 (3, 000)
WCW @ Minneapolis, MN - Target Center - October 19, 1998 (15, 722)
WCW @ Wichita, KS - Kansas Coliseum - November 16, 1998 (13, 981)
WCW @ Houston, TX - Astrodome - December 7, 1998 (32, 067)
WCW @ St. Louis, MO - TWA Dome - December 21, 1998 (29, 000)
In the end, I think the more interesting metric is number of years someone appeared on the list - Ric Flair leads with 7 years followed by a legion of people with three (Robert Gibson, Road Warrior Animal, Dick Murdoch, Scott Steiner, Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Morton, Hulk Hogan, Road Warrior Hawk, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Lex Luger, Tully Blanchard, Psychosis, Nikita Koloff). Most of those I would consider people that were draws for the time. However, we're comparing very disparate time periods - early 90s was so terrible that 500 more people is incredible. Late 90s was so hot that 500 is less than margin of error!
The person that I was thinking would jump out during this analysis would be Sting - who really didn't.
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