WWF 1987-1992 Draw #Wrestlenomics

I looked at what I had for attendance for people who were in the ring alongside IC/World Champion and/or in the last match of the night. I excluded PPVs and Japanese shows. You needed a minimum number of entries on this list in order to be included (15 for 1980-1986, 25 for 1987-1992).  Average attendance was calculated based on cities that had attendance figures from The History of WWE. It's an imperfect method and obviously cities of different sizes were run on the same day. However, I think when we see some of the same people over and over again in the biggest cities that says something both about how the WWF viewed that person as a draw as well as possible evidence of their actual drawing power.
(I wouldn't suggest there's a real material difference within most tier - i.e. Kamala vs Killer Kahn vs One Man Gang in 1987 -- all three were the opponents Hogan had on the road and did quite well with.)

I looked at what I had for attendance for people who were in the ring alongside IC/World Champion and/or in the last match of the night.  I excluded PPVs and Japanese shows. 

Also, I wouldn't suggest there's a real material difference within most tier - i.e. Kamala vs Killer Kahn vs One Man Gang in 1987 -- all three were the opponents Hogan had on the road and did quite well with.

LLL AAA made a good point that TV tapings may distort things.

1980
 Bob Backlund (14083)
 Pat Patterson (13557)
 Ken Patera (12022)

1981
 Bob Backlund (12370), Pedro Morales (11879),  Don Muraco (11685),  Tony Garea (11648),  Rick Martel (11365)
 Angelo Mosca (10515)

1982
 Bob Backlund (10748), Pedro Morales (10383)
 Greg Valentine (8927),  Mr Saito (8689), Mr Fuji (8598)

1983
 Rocky Johnson (10613), Jimmy Snuka (9863), Don Muraco (9841), Bob Backlund (9522)

1984
Hulk Hogan (10447), Paul Orndorff (10321), David Schultz (10261)
Rocky Johnson (9836), Iron Sheik (9549)
Tito Santana (8908), Sgt Slaughter (8860), Greg Valentine (8226), Big John Studd (8139)
Roddy Piper (7450), Jimmy Snuka (7417), Ivan Putski (7254)
Andre the Giant (5836)

1985
 Hulk Hogan (11116), Randy Savage (10548)
 Don Muraco (9025), Roddy Piper (9015)
 Ricky Steamboat (8504), Brutus Beefcake (8477), Big John Studd (8408), Greg Valentine (7998), Bob Orton Jr (7890), Junkyard Dog (7738), Andre the Giant (7614), Tito Santana (7585), Paul Orndorff (7502), King Kong Bundy (7497)
 Nikolai Volkoff (7262), Ken Patera (6803), Jimmy Snuka (6282), Iron Sheik (6111), Barry Windham (5888), Mike Rotundo (5804)

1986
 Hulk Hogan (11539), Paul Orndorff (11471)
 Big John Studd (9061), Don Muraco (8861),  Blackjack Mulligan (8830), Dynamite Kid (8816), Greg Valentine (8773), Brutus Beefcake (8664), Randy Savage (8612), Roddy Piper (8546), Tito Santana (8500), Davey Boy Smith (8244)
 King Kong Bundy (8062), Adrian Adonis (7911), George Steele (7291), Dory Funk Jr (7092), Junkyard Dog (7074)
 Ricky Steamboat (5723), Jake Roberts (5260)

1987
TIER A: Kamala (9972), Hulk Hogan (9791), One Man Gang/Akeem (9546), Killer Khan (9420)
TIER B: King Kong Bundy (8494), Ricky Steamboat (8077), Randy Savage (7807)
TIER C: George Steele (7116), Honkytonk Man (7071), Harley Race (6847), Billy Jack Haynes (6826), Junkyard Dog (6618), Bret Hart (6608), Hercules (6443), Jim Neidhart (6430), Butch Reed (6255), Haku (6239), Paul Orndorff (6194), Dynamite Kid (6096), Jake Roberts (6037)

1988
TIER A: Big Bossman (9955), Hulk Hogan (9792), Bam Bam Bigelow (9161), Ultimate Warrior (8467)
TIER B: Honkytonk Man (7649), Randy Savage (7646), Andre the Giant (7559), Jim Neidhart (7556), Ted DiBiase (7541), Rick Martel (7533), Bret Hart (7452)
TIER C: Brutus Beefcake (6201), Tito Santana (5825), Jake Roberts (5614), Rick Rude (5543), Jim Duggan (5038), One Man Gang/Akeem (4826)

1989
TIER A: Hulk Hogan (10603), Randy Savage (9655), Roddy Piper (9479), Big Bossman (9424)
TIER B: Bad News Brown (8118), Ted DiBiase (7735)
TIER C: Ultimate Warrior (7294), Rick Rude (7152), Andre the Giant (6488), Bill Eadie (6391), Barry Darsow (6391), Brutus Beefcake (5999), Jim Duggan (5881), Jake Roberts (5856), Marty Jannetty (5378), Shawn Michaels (5378)

1990
TIER A: Hulk Hogan (9018)
TIER B: Brutus Beefcake (7393), Mr Perfect (7222), Rick Rude (6795), Roddy Piper (6676), Jake Roberts (6302), Ultimate Warrior (6270), Dino Bravo (6268), Kerry Von Erich (6096)
TIER C: Jim Duggan (5797), Earthquake (5713), Big Bossman (5553), Crush (5522), Ted DiBiase (5456), Bret Hart (5191), Jim Neidhart (5191), Fred Ottman (5143), Barry Darsow (5141), Legion of Doom (4880), Randy Savage (4860)

1991
TIER A: Hulk Hogan (8818), Earthquake (7913), Ric Flair (7873), Mr Perfect (7609)
TIER B: Sgt Slaughter (7095), Jacques Rougeau (7082), Ted DiBiase (7049), Nasty Boys (6945), Ultimate Warrior (6629), Undertaker (6261), Bret Hart (6238), Roddy Piper (6077)
TIER C: Davey Boy Smith (5814), Jim Duggan (5666), Warlord (5306), Big Bossman (5120), Randy Savage (4507), Jake Roberts (4364)

1992
TIER A: Sid Justice (8561), Hulk Hogan (7928)
TIER B: Roddy Piper (6974), Jacques Rougeau (6973)
TIER C: Jake Roberts (5522), Undertaker (5433), Ric Flair (5334), Randy Savage (5297), Nailz (4927), Davey Boy Smith (4890), Bret Hart (4890), Razor Ramon (4555), Kamala (4442), Shawn Michaels (4368)
TIER D: Ultimate Warrior (3726), Papa Shango (3714)

1996
(No one was really a Tier A draw at that time. Warrior's 5211 would have been right between Goldust and Vader)
TIER B: Bret Hart (6767), Shawn Michaels (5963), Undertaker (5954), Goldust (5567)
TIER C: Vader (4971), Mankind (4802), Hunter Hearst Helmsley (4556), Marc Mero (4212)

Obviously, if you add back in PPVs/Tokyo Domes/etc, that will prop up some of the numbers for those champions/headliners/challengers at that time.

People who were relevant for several years
TIER A: Hulk Hogan (575) = 9609 average

TIER B: Big Bossman (192) = 7453 average, Mr Perfect (318) = 7340 average, Honkytonk Man (377) = 7297 average, Roddy Piper (198) = 7199 average, Ted DiBiase (263) = 7143 average, Randy Savage (828) = 7112 average, Andre the Giant (213) = 7097 average, One Man Gang/Akeem (110) = 6919 average

TIER C: Jacques Rougeau (120) = 6752 average, Rick Rude (266) = 6601 average, Earthquake (129) = 6598 average, Ultimate Warrior (675) = 6573 average, Jim Neidhart (155) = 6299 average, Brutus Beefcake (145) = 6207 average

TIER D: Davey Boy Smith (185) = 6034 average, Undertaker (210) = 5943 average, Bill Eadie (113) = 5872 average, Bret Hart (474) = 5843 average, Rick Martel (106) = 5766 average, Barry Darsow (155) = 5743 average, Ric Flair (217) = 5741 average, Jake Roberts (289) = 5681 average, Tito Santana (122) = 5510 average, Jim Duggan (199) = 5374 average, Shawn Michaels (315) = 5309 average

That's my #wrestlenomics on the subject.

4.11.2014 Analysis by @mookieghana 

Statistics on 1987-1992 dataset

Matches in dataset: 26,309

Events in dataset: 3,273

Events with Attendance in dataset: 1,766

Wrestlers with 20 or more "main events": 91

Awesome Draws: 1 - Hulk Hogan.