5 days ago
Hulk Hogan's legacy: 5 hidden-gem matches from his long wrestling career
The legacy of Hulk Hogan is certainly a complicated one, and there will be numerous pieces trying to balance his influence on pop culture and pro wrestling with his appalling racism and personal behavior. His in-ring legacy is similarly complicated. He has long been considered a punching bag for work-rate wrestling fans, serving as the dark side of the coin compared wrestlers like Ric Flair or Bret Hart.
There was a 'Hulk Hogan in Japan' meme with the idea Hogan was only good in Japan, where he would break out a drop-toe hold or a hammerlock, crapping on his U.S. in-ring performances. There is a reason, however, Hogan became such a phenomenon in a way similarly muscled-up peers never did. He was a master of timing, knowing exactly what a crowd needed and when to give it to it.
There is value in both a gritty, independent film and a huge, flashy summer movie, and Hulk Hogan was the James Cameron of pro wrestling. No one did blockbusters better.
But here are some of the lesser-known Hogan bangers, the kind of kick-ass matches that got fans to return to arenas month after month.
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant, WWF, March 21, 1981
A battle of titans years before their epic WrestleMania 3 match. This is a younger and more agile Andre as a babyface and a heel Hogan in a heavy-hitting, super-duper heavyweight match. Lots of impressive huge power spots between a pair of human kaiju. Andre hits one of the largest vertical suplexes in wrestling history, and Hulk hoists Andre out of the air with a bear hug and bodyslams Andre (years before he became 'the first to do it' at Mania 3). In this match it was Andre who delivered the big babyface comeback, splitting Hogan open and bouncing him around the ring to delight of the crowd. It doesn't reach the transcendent heights of Mania 3, but it is fun to see the work-rate version of such a legendary match.
Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage, WWF, May 24, 1986
Hogan and Savage are tied together historically because of multiple iconic feuds. This is from their first series against each other at the Boston Garden and was a great example of what made them such special dance partners. It started with Savage building heat by refusing to lock up and bailing every time Hogan tried to get him. This eventually led to Hogan's frustration giving Savage an opening, and Randy hit him with various dives off the ropes, both in the ring and to the floor. When Randy got cooking in the '80s, he would rain down on you like a missile barrage, his athleticism jumped off the page like watching Bo Jackson hit the open field. Hogan had one of his big crowd-pleasing comebacks, hulking up and wagging the finger, but before he could put Savage away, a ref bump allowed Savage to hit a top-rope axehandle to the floor with the title belt, opening up Hogan and allowing Savage to get a count-out win. Of course, Hogan gets his heat back by dragging Randy from the back and kicking his ass, but this was a rare Hogan loss and a hell of performance by both.
Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Billy Jack Haynes vs. Paul Orndorff, Adrian Adonis, Hercules, WWF, March 7, 1987
An elimination six-man tag leading up to WrestleMania 3, and a great example of star-power wrestling. This match was billed as Piper's final one in the Boston Garden (his match against Adonis at Mania 3 was booked as a retirement match), and the crowd was clearly amped to see the legendary rivals Piper and Hogan teaming up. In addition, the Hogan and Orndorff feud had been a huge draw the previous summer and still had a lot of juice left in it. Piper and Adonis were the focus of the first fall, and their interactions were electric, as were all of the times Hogan and Piper teamed up to foil the villains. After Piper and Adonis eliminated themselves, Hogan and Orndorff had a bunch of heated interactions before ending with Hogan running through Hercules. Mid-'80s Hogan was the peak of his superhero, larger-than-life persona, and that charisma could make even the simplest interactions seem monumental.
Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter, WWF, June 3, 1991
This was a battle of two of the great jingoistic wrestlers of all time in a Desert Storm match. Slaughter had previously played the role of the flag waving American hero (his boot camp match against the Iron Shiek is one of the best WWF matches ever), but in 1991 he had turned on the flag and proclaimed his loyalty to Iraq. As a feud overall this wasn't a big success, and the WWF famously needed to move WrestleMania 7 to smaller arena because of slow ticket sales. This was the highlight of that feud though, with an enthusiastic Madison Square Garden crowd hyped to see Slaughter taken down. It was a Desert Storm match, with no rules and the loser needing to surrender. Hogan brutalized Slaughter at the start, throwing powder in his eyes and splitting him open with a metal gas mask. Slaughter was able to get some advantages, but this was mostly the Hulkster convincingly ending a feud by laying on a triumphant ass-kicking, even tossing fire at Slaughter's face before making General Adnan throw in the towel.
Hulk Hogan vs. Sting, WCW, July 10, 1998
This is a house-show cage main event that would be a legendary all-time match if it had happened on PPV or Nitro. It's a match that should have run at Starrcade, with a super over Sting and Hogan going after each other with tremendous pace. Full of impressive spots, including Sting hanging Hogan upside down by his hamstrings on the cage and hitting him with a Stinger splash, Sting flying on the floor and smashing his ribs on the guardrail, and Hogan tapping clean to the Scorpion death lock in the middle of the ring. NWO Hogan could coast through his matches with cheap heel-heat spots, but for some reason he was on one here. He looked like he hadn't lost anything off his athletic fastball. The post-match was nuts with an NWO attack, and Goldberg coming out to clean house while the fans pelted the ring with garbage and nearly rioted. This was days after Goldberg defeated Hogan in Atlanta, and it was still the peak of WCW. This was one of Hogan's greatest WCW heel performances.
