During his podcast interview with Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan said one wrestler stood out for him as WWE’s next big thing.

While a guest on Austin’s podcast the morning of the WWE Raw Reunion, The Rattlesnake asked the leader of Hulkamania what he thinks will make a star an even bigger star in today’s WWE landscape. Saying performers are mostly being trained by the same people in the same environment these days, every wrestler has the same fundamentals. What they need to do is find that “thing” while on the main roster fans can connect with. Hogan says the one guy he noticed seems to have that gift is Kevin Owens.

Calling Owens a “grinder” he said he saw something in Owens a lot of people didn’t back when he was starting out and told Vince that guy had something special. "Everybody I talked to in the WWE wasn't real real high on him like I was at the time, a lot of things at the time he didn't have going for him they pointed out." Hogan said he said, "No, I'm telling you, you give this guy a chance to get over, he'll chop meat and he'll grind and this and that and the other." You can hear the comments in the podcast below around the 1:49 minute mark.

It was an interesting choice for Hogan considering Owens isn’t necessarily the McMahon type. Hogan was able to make himself a star because he had a look about him that McMahon loved. He used that look and his personality to take WWE national and turn it into a mega-million-dollar company. Owens is entertaining but he’s not got the same toolset as Hogan once did.

Meanwhile, Austin has also seemingly given Owens his stamp of approval saying it was ok Owens use the Stunner as a finishing move.

What This Means

Clearly, WWE has caught up with Hogan’s thinking because they are pushing Owens as the top babyface on the SmackDown Live brand and all roads seemingly appear to being WWE investing a lot of time and effort into making Owens a household name.

It’s hard to argue if you know both Hogan and Austin see something in Owens. Two of wrestling’s biggest stars obviously have an eye for talent.

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