Tabasco got to be popular when there wasn’t a lot of competition for sauces with any significant amount of heat and people got used to it. Back in the day before the Internet opened up the world the major hot sauces were Tabasco, Melindas El Yucateco and nothing else. The Habanero pepper was considered to be the world’s hottest. Now it’s barely above mid range on the heat scale.
I have a book called ‘McIlhenny’s Gold’, which is a history of Tabasco. Some interesting stories.