I was told today that Randy Orton was a better worker than Barry Windham because of that one time he hit an RKO off of Evan Bourne's SSP. No, I'm not joking.

 

Reddit's wrestling section is a scary place.

Barry Windham had more matches than Hulk Hogan. 

Windham checked out at 2918, including an incredible run from 1980 to 1988 with over 200 matches each year. His 1989 to 1993 output (avg 115 for 4 years) is actually way above average for a random worker in 2019 (top indie stars get around 75 a year, and NXT 100, and WWE is around 120 to 150 now instead of getting close to 200). Although he fell off the cliff, he came back for 100 bouts in 1997 and still was here and there.

Hogan had 2303, a 615 difference. To put things in perspective, 615 more than the combined match experience of Orange Cassidy, Bea Priestley, and Jungle Boy.  

Hogan only eclipsed 200 once (1980) and effectively was a part timer after 1992; his WCW run was PPV based/Nitro specials, and he never hit 40 since 1991.

Not bashing Hulk- the man was a TV star who did not have to wrestle or work house shows after a certain time, and was protected even in his prime. And 2300 is nothing to sneeze at. But Barry had more matches.

This is the raw data. We can weight it,  critique it, attempt to adjust for era, pushes, workrate, etc, but it is what it is.

It's not just about Hulk; here are others Barry beat (not in any order):

Steve Austin, HHH, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Dustin Rhodes, The Underaker, John Cena, Bob Backlund, Rey Mysterio, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, Christopher Daniels, Jack Roberts, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Animal, Curt Hennig, Hawk,  Paul Orndorff, Kenta Kobashi, Steve Williams, Sting, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Nikita Koloff, Ultimate Warrior, Sid, Big Bossman, Kenny Omega, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, William Regal,The Miz, Kevin Owens, Okada, Haku, Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, etc.

I have two Windham-Flair matches that everyone needs to see.    Atlanta GA February 1, 1987.   60 Minute Draw.   The last 15 1/2 minutes of this aired on Japanese TV, World Pro Wrestling 4/26/87.   This is FN incredible and must be seen.

Also, NWA Southern Pro Wrestling (CWF Florida), taped in Tampa, 4/28/87.   Probably aired in early May.   I can point you to this if you PM me.   We get about 13 minutes of this, but....it goes off the air without a finish!!!   Fans...we gotta go!!!!   Very good match though from what is shown

Hey @paul sosnowski I have a question.  I recently heard JR talk on his podcast about how great some of the Windham/Flair matches were, and I've heard Cornette say the same.  What would you say is the greatest Windham/Flair match from NWA TV or a major show that would be available on the WWE Network?  Crockett Cup 87, or is there another one I've not heard of?  I know they had some matches on the NWA syndicated TV shows but I'm not sure if those are even available on the Network.

I'm not an expert, but I don't think there are any on the Network.  If Crockett Cup 87 is on the Network, and I don't think it is, it's probably the incomplete match from the commercial VHS release.    The only WWE version I can think of is 1/24/87 which was available on The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD