When Vince McMahon bought the WWF from his father in the early part of that decade, he had a vision for where the industry was headed, and he brought back Graham to lead the charge. However, this wasn’t the same Graham that had been signed with the company five years before, with an entirely different look, and he failed to take off in the way McMahon hoped.

Around the time Graham’s return run was fizzling out, McMahon brought Hogan in from the AWA, which is an entire story in its own right. It was already evident that Hogan had taken plenty of inspiration from Graham, but those similarities would skyrocket in the coming months and years. It’s possible that some of that was due to direction from McMahon.

At any rate, Hogan’s time had come, with his arrival and subsequent world title win leading to a boom period for the company. Hogan soon became the breakout star that Graham once showed potential for. Though he was a controversial figure in his later years, there’s no denying that Hogan was one of the most successful performers in the history of the business.

For a long time, Hogan didn’t publicly comment on Graham or his level of influence, but that changed in 2023. Hogan admitted that Graham was the person who inspired him to join the industry, but rather than fully acknowledging Graham’s influence on his early success, he instead stated that he modeled his “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan character in WCW on Graham.