But credit to Hogan, had he not had the impact he had during the 80's who knows what wrestling would have been like in the 90's.
Oh, the old man was lining up heirs to Hogan's throne even while Hulkster was white hot! Around '86, Vince brought down Tom Magee from Calgary. Tom had a great build and had been working/training with the Hart's in Calgary.
Vince wanted to see if the guy was any good, and it was said Hogan was more than a little nervous until everybody saw Magee stink up the ring in his big tryout match. And, that was working with Bret Hart. If you can't look good working with somebody like that, then maybe you need to look for another profession!
My point supports what you are getting at above: we rag on Hogan, but he
did pull "it" off, and not just anybody could have done the same.