Hulk Hogan - Discuss

ayatollah

hey all

seen this or somethng similar done elsewhere so thought i'd throw it up for discussion.

say we start a new topic every friday.

feel free to post your comments, opinions. pros, cons ill concieved or educated rants.


so to start with i figured go with an extremly polarising person in the world of wrestling.

to some a wrestling god and the biggest and best thing to ever happen to professional wrestling, to others an egomanical attention whore, drunk on his own power who actively buries and keeps other more talented wrestlers down.


ladies & gentlemen i give to you the immortal hollywood hulk hogan

DEFTLEFTHAND

My first exposure to Hulk was when he was heel Hollywood in WCW. I got into wrestling around 96/97 when the nWo were running amok. I have to say that I was drawn to him in particular, back then I knew nothing about wrestling but he stood out in that faction as the obvious star. I believed every word he said, I thought the guy was a total badass.

I watched back on his earlier career and to be honest the Hulkamania thing wouldn't have appealed to me had I been a fan at the time, way too cheesy and corny. When he made the 'Hulk Still Rules' red and yellow comeback in 2002 I didn't get into that either, but I've always preferred heels anyway.

I regards to his ring work it was average to begin with and steadily got worse over the course of time.

He seems despised by many for his politicing backstage. That's the wrestling business though isn't? the top guy never wants to relinquish his spot. Its up to the promoter to move them out of it like Vince was trying to do. When he got to WCW it was a different ball game with no real authority figure and nobody stood up to him.

The last 5, 6 years of his career have been embarrassing imo, this a guy who made millions and should have got out of the business 10 years ago but yet he continues to damage his legacy by prolonging his stay in the spotlight. Similar to Flair in that regard in that he won't just go away.

MvsC3

ayatollah wrote: »

hey all

seen this or somethng similar done elsewhere so thought i'd throw it up for discussion.

say we start a new topic every friday.

feel free to post your comments, opinions. pros, cons ill concieved or educated rants.


so to start with i figured go with an extremly polarising person in the world of wrestling.

to some a wrestling god and the biggest and best thing to ever happen to professional wrestling, to others an egomanical attention whore, drunk on his own power who actively buries and keeps other more talented wrestlers down.


ladies & gentlemen i give to you the immortal hollywood hulk hogan

Ahh the immortal Hollywood Hulk Hogan, what can you say,after wrestling for eight thousand years, just missing out on a few Oscar nods for roles in suburban commando., no holds barred, Mr Nanny and many more classics... He's still alive.. And he could be coming all over the big screen in expendables 3...you were lied to here first!

Sirsok

Hulk hogan the wrestling character is awesome...there is something so special about his mania matches that I always enjoy watchin them...he made the most influential heel group of all time (well horsemen excluded) , if it wasn't for him the boom periods of wrestling would not of occurring. Watch mania 21 to see how much he meant to people.

Now terry bollea well he seems like a douche, but that doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the whole schtick...Christian bale seems like a teat o but as long as he has good movies it do t matter.

Hulk is a legend like him or not....

eh i dunno

Legend for making the business what it is today. He made the most of what littel talent he had and was in the right place at the right time. Great on the mic but in the ring he was really poor. A leg drop as a finisher says it all

orestes

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I watched back on his earlier career and to be honest the Hulkamania thing wouldn't have appealed to me had I been a fan at the time, way too cheesy and corny. When he made the 'Hulk Still Rules' red and yellow comeback in 2002 I didn't get into that either, but I've always preferred heels anyway

Watching back on Hogan during the Hulkamania days isn't the same thing as having been a kid at the time. I know it sounds like "ah shur you youngsters don't know what yer talking about" but it's kinda hard to really say how big Hogan was in the 80s and early 90s. Even Austin and The Rock haven't hit anywhere near the levels that Hogan hit, he wasn't just a wrestler, he was a cultural phenomenon, and an entire generation of youngsters pretty much worshiped the guy, he was like a real-life superman. Again, I know it sounds ridiculous saying that, but he was the first "superhero" on tv rather than in cartoons or comics (he even ended up with his own Saturday morning cartoon). It wasn't a matter of cheesy and corny, that's just the way things were back then, looking at it retrospectively it's kinda hard to explain exactly how big Hogan was.

These days I consider him a complete scumbag who should have fecked off years ago, and with all the bitching we do about super-Cena and the kiddies these days I can only imagine how much our parents must have fukking hated the Hulkster!

DEFTLEFTHAND

orestes wrote: »

Watching back on Hogan during the Hulkamania days isn't the same thing as having been a kid at the time. I know it sounds like "ah shur you youngsters don't know what yer talking about" but it's kinda hard to really say how big Hogan was in the 80s and early 90s. Even Austin and The Rock haven't hit anywhere near the levels that Hogan hit, he wasn't just a wrestler, he was a cultural phenomenon, and an entire generation of youngsters pretty much worshiped the guy, he was like a real-life superman. Again, I know it sounds ridiculous saying that, but he was the first "superhero" on tv rather than in cartoons or comics (he even ended up with his own Saturday morning cartoon). It wasn't a matter of cheesy and corny, that's just the way things were back then, looking at it retrospectively it's kinda hard to explain exactly how big Hogan was.

These days I consider him a complete scumbag who should have fecked off years ago, and with all the bitching we do about super-Cena and the kiddies these days I can only imagine how much our parents must have fukking hated the Hulkster!

That's a good point, if I had been born a decade earlier I'm sure I would have been swept up by it. The different time and culture would have influenced me I'm sure.

chopperbyrne

Like him or loath him, he is the GOAT.

Fantastic performer and the most charismatic wrestler ever.

Nobody, not Flair, not Austin, not Rock, not Bret, not Shawn, not Hunter, not Cena, not Punk, nobody got a crowd more invested than the Hulkster.

He's the biggest face AND the biggest heel of all time.

Did he abuse his position? Yes.
Should he have retired after his WWE red and yellow return? Yes.
Does it matter? No.

GOAT

Lord TSC

It's weird...I think I missed out on him constantly.

I got into wrestling just as he left WWE. I never really watched WCW. So the extent of my knowledge of him is post-WCW when he came in for that period. And plenty of video packages.

Also one of the few guys I've never got to see live and really regret not seeing

brianregan09

Its funny when i was growing much like Cena today i always prefered the guy who was facing , Be it Andre, Million Dollar Man, Savage(who i loved) and Warrior i could just never take to the whole hulkamania i love america crap I hated him and even as a youngfella often thought god help us i could get up from a legdrop ,

Even in the nWo i always prefered Hall and Nash, and of course Sting and Goldberg, theres no doubting he broke down massive boundaries for WWE and wrestling in general in the mainstream , but me nah could never stand him

Ando's Saggy Bottom

I agree he's the greatest ever. IMO wrestling is first and foremost about getting people emotionally invested in a fake fight to the extent that they'll pay money to see you win or lose (whether youre a face or heel). I don't think anyone ever did this better than Hogan or had a wider audience as interested in wrestling as he had. Apart from Vince perhaps nobody has been more important in American wrestling history.

DM_7

I had Hulk Hogan bubble bath.

rossie1977

this clip sums up everything about hogan for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7GsEu5QHgU

i do laugh when people say cena is booked too strong

tdv123

Probably the most overrated wrestler of all time if were being honest here.

He was a boring in-ring technician who had about 5 moves in his move-set & he wasn't particularly exciting to listen to on the mic either.

He did pull in money & was probably the biggest draw (along with Stone Cold) in PW history.

Reganio 2

rossie1977 wrote: »

this clip sums up everything about hogan for me

That is amazing haha.

I wasn't around for the Hulk Hogan era so guess I am not qualified to say but I remember when he came back to Smackdown and thinking Wow this guy must have been something incredible, ive never heard the cheers and general pandemonium caused when Hulk Hogan was out be it in WWE or TNA at the moment. If you like or dislike the guy I personally think you have to respect the legacy he has built up.

Loads of wrestlers before Hulk and loads of wrestlers after Hulk will politic their way to the top, its a fact of wrestling. But no one has and I don't think will ever do it as successfully as Hulk Hogan. You can ask nearly anyway do you know the name Hulk Hogan and they will say ah yeah. That is a pretty amazing feat.

starviewadams

Absolute legend and the biggest name in wrestling that there will ever be!

Proves that 'movesets' and all that stuff don't mean shíte in the grander scheme of things,people loved and bought into his personality as either a good guy or bad guy and that's what pro wrestling is really about.

Would love to see him work Mania 30 in some capacity.

Should never have passed on the George Foreman grill though!

Machismo Fan

The master at getting the absolute maximum out of the minimum - which is really what most wrestlers should seek to do. One of the greatest of all time.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

tdv123 wrote: »

He was a boring in-ring technician who had about 5 moves in his move-set & he wasn't particularly exciting to listen to on the mic either.

Don't mistake the way he worked in the US with his actual know ring ability. He was well able to bring the workrate as evidenced by his Japan work. The way he was booked and the prevailing style of his era didn't really call for much more in the US. Anyway when people were going insane to unprecedented levels for you just for hitting a legdrop why would you do any more?

Ando's Saggy Bottom

rossie1977 wrote: »

this clip sums up everything about hogan for Me

i do laugh when people say cena is booked too strong

It sums up more about the shambles WCW was pre nWo for me tbh!

krudler

Biggest star the business will ever see, end of. Austin may have been cooler, but Hogan was an icon. I was a kid in the 80's and started watching around the WM 4/5 era from what I can remember. He could work when he wanted to, watch some of his Japan matches, he actually wrestles and does more than the WWF moveset. Now Terry Bollea might be a gigantic tool who is as much responsible for some of the worst things about wrestling as some of the best, but like was already said, he went from the biggest face in the business to the biggest heel literally overnight. As a pure showman he's in a league of his own.

I remember seeing his match with The Rock at WMX8 live that night, a bunch of lads in their early 20's turning into 9 year olds again shouting at the tv, the crowd made that match what it was fuelled on pure nostalgia. The match itself? pretty rubbish, the atmosphere and reactions? 90% of wrestlers will go an entire career without performing in front of a crowd like that.

GTR63

Pete Campbell wrote: »

It sums up more about the shambles WCW was pre nWo for me tbh!

Psssssssst

The shambles didn`t stop when the NWO started

Jason Todd

Machismo Fan wrote: »

The master at getting the absolute maximum out of the minimum - which is really what most wrestlers should seek to do. One of the greatest of all time.

I'd agree with this ^^^ For the most part he was limited, but he was a megastar and the whole reason me and my generation became fans of pro wrestling. He changed the face of wrestling forever for the better imo. I'd agree with people who said he should have finished up onscreen after the match with Rock at WMX8, he had nothing to prove and is only diminishing his legend imo.

gimmick

Even when I was 10 I didn't buy into Hogan. Always disliked him. Big name? Yes no doubt and defined an era. GOAT? Not a chance.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

GTR63 wrote: »

Psssssssst

The shambles didn`t stop when the NWO started

Heh true but at least for a while it was must see TV.

Turtyturd

Grew up when Hogan was at the peak of his power in WWF, and while a lot of my stand out memories involve him (I remember being genuinely concerned when Earthquake squashed him, and it was uncertain if he would ever come back to wrestling....although I was more concerned when Earthquake squashed Damien.) he was was never one of my favourite wrestlers, and always preferred Warrior over Hogan, which might not be the best thing to admit these days. The more I read about him backstage as I got more into wrestling the less I liked him. By the time his WWE run came around I was indifferent. Got to see him live last year and it was a mix of appreciation for the reaction he got from the crowd and cringing at him leeching off the popularity Ares had generated.

gnfnrhead

Love him or hate him, without him you wouldn't have anything to watch.

He made WWF massive and pushed wrestling into the spotlight. During the mid 90's wrestling was losing its appeal again and Hogan pushed it back into the spotlight, this time in WCW which pushed WWF on to move into the Attitude era.

Has he hung around too long? Probably, but given the choice the vast majority would do the same. Plus, he is still super popular. If he were to return to WWE next week, only the Rock could hope to get a better reaction from the crowd.

A Primal Nut

If Hulk Hogan started being Hulk Hogan and all that gimmick in the last 15 years, he would have been laughed out of the building. But when he started in the 80's wrestling was a completely different ball game, fans were much more naive and he suited that era perfectly. His cheesiness makes John Cena look like a badass.

rossie1977

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Love him or hate him, without him you wouldn't have anything to watch.

this is actually a myth, wrestling was huge in the us in 1983 year before hogan became wwf champ for the first time, some 13 million attended live events that year, to put that into perspective in 1996 us attendance (year before austin became huge) was less than 2 million

wwf was going national and international with or without hogan, would it have been as successful, maybe not but the success of wrestlemania 1 was more to do with mr t than hulk hogan

B.A._Baracus

What can be said... everyone has pretty much summed up Hogan's impact on wrestling. The man has done so much.

But the Hulk Hogan of today is far from who he was. I dont mean that in a disrespectful way too. He has done so much. It's just he is currently in TNA and their attendances havent exactly sky-rocketed since joining the company. Alot of his media attention seems to be coming from his personal life.

The hulk hogan of yesterday was a money making machine. The hulk hogan of today sadly hits the news because he divorced his wife or is filmed having sex.

krudler

rossie1977 wrote: »

this is actually a myth, wrestling was huge in the us in 1983 year before hogan became wwf champ for the first time, some 13 million attended live events that year, to put that into perspective in 1996 us attendance (year before austin became huge) was less than 2 million

wwf was going national and international with or without hogan, would it have been as successful, maybe not but the success of wrestlemania 1 was more to do with mr t than hulk hogan

Different era though, ppv was in its infancy, tv wasnt as widely syndicated etc etc. Sure wasnt Wrestlemania III made unavailable on ppv in Detroit? purely to bump the numbers as people would have attend it live. tickets were a lot cheaper too, I remember seeing a poster for a WWF 80's show someplace on ebay and the tickets were $8-$15, live shows were the only way a lot of people could see stuff back then whereas now you're bombarded with WWE programming every week.

Would have been cool to see a WWF show in the garden back then, dim lights, smoky arena.

Angron

I was never really a Hogan fan. When he was in WCW I was a big Goldberg fan, so I always booed Hogan, and then when he was back for a brief period around 2002 or so he still didn't appeal to me. Perhaps if I'd been alive during the big days of Hulkamania I would have had more interest in Hogan as a wrestler.


Now he just kind of annoys me cause he won't go away.

Bowlardo

Sums it up really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAnSIlVGAuo

Thrawn

I was never a Hogan fan, But when I see him I just feel sad that the man who brought so much fun and happiness to kids for 20 old years, Has become the sad shadow of his former self.

I expected the downfall to sad old man from Flair but not Hogan.

But saying that if I ever saw him in person I would be the first one to Mark out. Just like I do when I see Flair.

BobbyR

Hogan like flair need to realise they aren't the big name draws they used to be, hogan was for the best part of 15 to 20 years the biggest thing in pro wrestling.

orestes

BobbyR wrote: »

Hogan like flair need to realise they aren't the big name draws they used to be, hogan was for the best part of 15 to 20 years the biggest thing in pro wrestling.

Hulk Hogan isn't still a big name draw? His TNA debut was so big that WWE went head to head with it with Bret Hart coming back to Raw after over ten years with HBK and Vince there for a Montreal Screwjob reunion, something pretty much every wrestling fan had been dying to see for ten years, and people still didn't know which show to watch that night.

rovert

Love him a nostaligic way, love him in a Team America way, love him in a Machiavellian political manoeuvring behind the curtain way and love him in a "Oh. Hulk" way.

He is great.

ciano316

He's Hulk Hogan. If you lived on another planet you probably still know who he is.

His feuds with Sargent Slaughter, Earthquake & Macho Man and his Heel turn to join the NWO are two of the best points in wrestling history.

Did I mention he's Hulk Hogan.

Kankan14

The most famous wrestler there ever will be.

Not the most talented and I never cheered for him/liked him but he will always be the most well known and recognized

jaykhunter

In my mind, he's simultaneously the greatest face (80s) and greatest heel (mid 90s) in wrestling history. He was the driving force that made wrestling a worldwide phenomenon with Vince in the first place - something that can never be erased or forgotten. Technically Austin was a bigger star at his peak, but Hulk Hogan is the most important wrestler to the business.

Hulk Hogan the person though, sabotaging Ventura's efforts to unionize wrestling to protect his spot, making sure to hog the spotlight at every show he was in (which was grating starting at WM4 IMO), and carefully leaving and returning to boost himself, almost always only serving himself despite his massive paycheque makes him scum.

These days he more of a running gag, since his divorce, lawsuit with his son, and (apparently) leering over his daughter.

krudler

jaykhunter wrote: »

In my mind, he's simultaneously the greatest face (80s) and greatest heel (mid 90s) in wrestling history. He was the driving force that made wrestling a worldwide phenomenon with Vince in the first place - something that can never be erased or forgotten. Technically Austin was a bigger star at his peak, but Hulk Hogan is the most important wrestler to the business.

Hulk Hogan the person though, sabotaging Ventura's efforts to unionize wrestling to protect his spot, making sure to hog the spotlight at every show he was in (which was grating starting at WM4 IMO), and carefully leaving and returning to boost himself, almost always only serving himself despite his massive paycheque makes him scum.

These days he more of a running gag, since his divorce, lawsuit with his son, and (apparently) leering over his daughter.

Any more info on that? I remember reading about Ventura wanting a union alright but didnt know Hogan had anything to do with it. Its actually crazy that the guy sweeping up the arena has more benefits and job security than WWE performers.

Guitar_Monkey

Who didn't mark out when this happened ??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H04XhV5_KSI

Gotta be a love/hate thing with Hogan. But if you grew up watching wrestling back then i think you can't help but have some affection for the man. I remember staying up watching Wrestlemania III on Sky....seeing him slam Andre....it was just electric
He was absolutely the biggest thing goin' back then.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

jaykhunter wrote: »

In my mind, he's simultaneously the greatest face (80s) and greatest heel (mid 90s) in wrestling history. He was the driving force that made wrestling a worldwide phenomenon with Vince in the first place - something that can never be erased or forgotten. Technically Austin was a bigger star at his peak, but Hulk Hogan is the most important wrestler to the business.

Hulk Hogan the person though, sabotaging Ventura's efforts to unionize wrestling to protect his spot, making sure to hog the spotlight at every show he was in (which was grating starting at WM4 IMO), and carefully leaving and returning to boost himself, almost always only serving himself despite his massive paycheque makes him scum.

These days he more of a running gag, since his divorce, lawsuit with his son, and (apparently) leering over his daughter.

I would hardly dsay that makes him scum though! Selfish and self serving maybe but scum is a bit much.