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Wrestlemania 18 and Hogan


Does anybody know what the plan was for Hogan in 2002? Was the nwo stint with his Hollywood character always meant to just go until Mania?

​More or less, yes.  The plan was always to turn him babyface pretty quick, but the reactions he got accelerated it even more.  The title reign was definitely an audible on their part, though, as HHH was supposed to hold it long-term.  As I've noted before, that's one case where they actually pulled the trigger on something at exactly the right time and place to cash in on it, but the fad died out so unexpectedly quick that they couldn't even be blamed for the backlash that followed.  ​

Comments

  1. Oh I think they could be blamed since they followed up HHH/Hogan with Undertaker/Hogan when the Undertaker was at his worst. They accelerated the backlash.


    Besides, they figured out what to do with Hogan by July, when he was Edge's tag team partner for a bit (the PERFECT role for him at that point) and then he put Lesnar over like a monster on free TV.


    It was April to May, when they tried to do a Flair/Hogan main event on Raw and an insane drinking tea segment with William Regal, that ruined everything. It also didn't help that Rock left after WM to make a movie and took a ton of fans w/ him.

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  2. Agreed. It's a shame Hogan quit right after the Lesnar match since Hogan working tag teams in the midcard had legs.

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  3. I have this idea where they put the belt on Hogan one more time. It would generate HUGE publicity and draw people to the network in droves.

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  4. "I just don't think this mid-card thing has legs, brother. I think the people want to see me with the title one more time, dude."

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  5. I still remember the July 4 match (must have made a DVD) when him & Edge win the tag titles. Edge does all the work, Hogan works the crowd into a frenzy on the apron and comes in to do his three moves...crowd was going batshit. Definitely could've done that for a while.

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  6. I am pretty sure that was exactly what Hogan said, since he put Lesnar over in order to do a rematch but never came back for it.

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  7. Michael Xavier hijacked my account.

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  8. The big legdrop! HE BEAT ANDRE THE GIANT WITH THAT MOVE!!!!!!!!!!

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  9. 2002 WWE took an astronomical sized hit. From April - August:

    Rock left, Austin left, and Hogan left. In a 5 month span the actual three biggest stars in company history left for fairly long periods of time.

    Now in retrospect the roster they were left with still looks pretty stacked (HHH, Jericho, Taker). But at the time there was a real big sense of panic going on for THIS BUSINESS.

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  10. Yup. The Mr. America bullcrap in 2003 was also supposed to (in Hogan's mind) lead to him getting another title run as well, but Vince shot him down and he quit again.

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  11. I love that match so much. Everything right and fun about wrestling right there.

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  12. He also always seemed to have a problem with the payoffs

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  13. Through the lense of 2010-2024 yes, but not in 2002.

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  14. You're a traitor to your country.

    Un-Americans Forever!

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  15. WWE destroyed (heel) Jericho's cred in 02. Even his excellent 08-10 run was meh as far as drawing ratings and ppv buys. Replace Brock with Y2J

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  16. That's why he wanted to be champ...more money.

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  17. I remember at the time, my friends and I all loved Jericho and none of my buddies followed the IWC in any way - each of them were "casuals"/"marks" and by 3 months into Jericho's Undisputed title reign, they all thought he sucked. That booking totally killed him for years.

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  18. Including Jericho on the same list as hogan, rock, austin, HHH and taker at any time is incredibly ridiculous.

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  19. But hey, they had Goldberg coming in to dominate for awhile and draw some fans in---oh wait a second...

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  20. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 23, 2014 at 8:24 PM

    I remember people buzzing that him getting attacked by Hall and Nash after the match (was that then? Or the next night) was an audible that Vince called on the fly.

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  21. He was attacked by Hall and Nash after the match

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  22. They gave away Rock/Austin vs. NWO on FREE TV. That could have easily popped a huge buyrate at Backlash and had the NWO turn on Hogan after that, then have Rock/Austin make the save.

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  23. Rock wasn't working Backlash because of Scorpion King

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  24. Looking at the Backlash card, how on earth did The Outsiders vs. Austin and Hogan not happen? Was Nash already injured?

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  25. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 23, 2014 at 8:28 PM

    Can't forget another gem from not long after all of this: the Plane Ride from Hell.

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  26. Ah, got me there. I guess the timing with NWO was weird because they announced them coming back the week before the No Way Out PPV so they only had Mania to give them some money matches.

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  27. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 23, 2014 at 8:29 PM

    Bad hair day

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  28. Was Mr. Perfect ever in line for a push before this happened? Not World Title-level push but maybe upper mid-card?

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  29. I think Nash got hurt pretty early in April with a biceps injury. They wrote him off by having Flair suspend him and then once Flair turned on Austin they reversed track and had Flair say that Nash was never really suspended but was out with an injury.


    Then Nash returned from injury in July and tore his quad in his first match back.

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  30. I doubt it. He was pretty bad in his 2002 run aside from the Rumble match.

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  31. I think maybe when came in they had plans for him, but he turned out to be a wreck. It was a shame too since people were really excited to have him back

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  32. "I ain't no midcarder, brother."

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  33. The crowd going nuts for Hogan at the Fanfest stuff accellerated everything.

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  34. He was main eventing the WrestleMania that had all those other guys on it.

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  35. Wow. I has no recollection of htm as a face. And kamala was gone by wm right? He returned later (maybe 87-88) but I feel like we was gone for a while too

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  36. Hulk/Austin at Judgement Day 02 should have been a thing. It's like Hogan's the champion of the WWF and it's the roster that basically kicked WCW ass, and the best they could come up with was a 12-year old rematch?

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  37. Nash was injured from 2002-2014

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  38. Basically. You could probably count the amount of matches he worked from the nWo debut-his feud with Hunter on one hand.

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  39. Austin didn't want to work with Hogan

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  40. Hogan should be awarded the NETWORK title where he can only defend it on the NETWORK.

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  41. Austin apparently didn't want to work with anyone in 2002. I mean Rocky coming back in June was an audible too wasn't it?

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  42. Yes. I think Austin was just going through a lot of personal problems and that manifested itself in WWE

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  43. I always got irked at Hogan for walking out in 2003 -- but then he did get to destroy Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton -- so Vince kind of caved in.

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  44. Austin was a nightmare in 2002. His matches weren't good, his promos were just "What" 30 times, and his booking was worse. That whole Flair feud just made Austin look bad. I don't know how anyone could side with Austin over Flair in storyline terms.

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  45. I think his neck was fucked, he was frustrated with his character and his marriage was failing.

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  46. The Austin/Flair matches were good though. I mean at least I remember thinking the were at the time.

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  47. Sadly watching Henning in TNA drunk and coked up and ranting on Brock Lesnar is sad to watch in retrospect.

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  48. Can't blame him for being frustrated with his character at that point. It almost felt like they were daring him to walk out. Feuding with Scott Hall, Flair & Big Show?


    Losing in a King of the Ring qualifying match to Brock with little build.

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  49. I don't think we really knew how bad he really was. In 2002, I thought him being fired by the WWE was political bull to have the legends buried by unover punks. Maturity and hindsight makes me understand both the Hall firing and the Perfect firing. In 2002, I thought Vince was just bringing in guys to bury so a new promotion couldn't use them effectively.

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  50. Oh yeah, the episode of Raw with the Hogan/Rock faceoff has Perfect cutting the most drunken promo of all time.

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  51. But Kevin Nash is bigger than ever!!!

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  52. In retrospect, Hogan should have beaten Rock and put over Triple H.

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  53. He had just main evented Wrestlemania.


    You know, like the Miz.

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  54. Vince McMahon's secretary. Hogan put her on the air during Bubba's show to talk about the HOF. Vince got really mad at Hogan for leaking that info and banned him from working Wrestlemania 23.

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  55. I'd watch more of the current product then.

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  56. I hate that hogan won the title back, but love that it was HHH that had to drop it to him. He had to lose to HOGAN in 2002. Then hogan got to beat another kliq member in shawn michaels (who also never got his win back). With all the political games the kliq pulled in their years, hogan was always better. And yes I know politics had nothing to do with the HHH loss, but it was still great

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  57. Jericho was at his best as a Midcard face. Period.

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  58. Why not? He was pissed that he didnt get to face hogan at WM18.

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  59. I LOVE that call. If there was ever a way to put a move over, that was it

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  60. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonSeptember 23, 2014 at 9:09 PM

    "Nash was injured from 1959-present."



    FTFY

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  61. Name wise, that match might be Top 10 biggest matches of all time when you think about it

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  62. Vince's call, solely on the fact it was the title match. Hunter and Jericho have mentioned this and hated that call

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  63. He didn't want to face Hogan at WM X-8

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  64. O. So I guess he lied in his own dvd when he said that he though he should have been the one facing hogan at WM18 instead of rock.

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  65. They had heat back then. They didn't clear the air until a year later.

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  66. He also said on his podcast numerous times that: 1. He was in a bad place mentally. 2. Thought the match would be the shits.

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  67. HHH, on some DVD/doc that came out later in 2002, said he believed the title should have went on last. I'm not sure if he was working us then or working us now.

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  68. He might have been hurt but Kamal stayed around through the Summer of 1987

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  69. That losing to Brock thing is one of the few times I've ever thought a walkout was justified.

    You already own the competition and your big idea is to give away a legit Mania Main Event on television? And not even during sweeps? What the fuck was Vince thinking?

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  70. Agreed. I've always found Jericho incredibly overrated, especially his suit-wearing heel character a few years ago. Maybe it's a failing on my part, but I don't find a guy calling people sycophants and hypocrites in long, slow promos entertaining. Also, his cocky Undisputed reign character was one of the least believable top-level characters ever. He just seemed like a cartoon character with the silly posturing and self-praise that he himself didn't seem to believe. His feud with The Rock at the time was pretty great though.

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  71. Yeah, I've heard HHH both publicly support (in the DVD you mention) and condemn (in later features) the decision, which makes it seem like he's backtracking.

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  72. It's insane to think about. Why even think about doing a qualifying bout between them when you can build them to a match in the FINALS on PPV for the King of the Ring crown?


    At least that way you've got a months worth of build with Brock beating a legend to become KOTR. Hell you could even telegraph it and peg Austin and Brock as favorites throughout the tournament and I'd say have the Semi-Finals on free TV before the PPV and have Brock and Austin win. That way you can hype their PPV match before the PPV.

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  73. Hindsight being 20-20, you should've had Hogan lose to HHH at Backlash....after the Outsiders help Hunter win and he turns heel by becoming the new 'third man' in the NWO. Then you have HHH as the heel champ for the entire year, with the exception of him losing to HBK at Summerslam 2002. Same match as in real life, with HBK winning the title and still getting his back wrecked afterwards.

    The back injury forces the title to be held up, and Bischoff (whose NWO ties are an influence here) creates the World Championship and hands it to HHH on Raw, while Steph has a tournament for the official WWE title on Smackdown, won by Lesnar at the September PPV.

    Hogan, meanwhile, had lost another match to HHH at Judgement Day or KOTR, and had then been "traded" to Smackdown as soon as Bischoff becomes the Raw GM in order to get him out of the NWO's hair. Hogan still teams with Edge, gets laid out by Brock, etc. except he returns at Survivor Series as a part of a multi-man team against the NWO, which has now expanded to include other NWO/DX friendly people like Big Show, Billy Gunn, Orton and Batista.

    Royal Rumble 2003 rolls around and it's won by Hogan in an upset. That sets up WM19 and a big main event of Hogan vs. HHH for the World title, and the other big matches on the card (Austin vs. Rock, Lesnar vs. Angle for the WWE title, Jericho vs. HBK) still happening. Hogan beats HHH to get his big victory and to win the title, and everyone's happy...until Hogan loses to HHH a month or two later and the NWOvolution stable continues running roughshod on everyone.

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  74. The episode of Raw where Hogan couldn't get the motorcycle started up. Sad stuff. I felt terrible for everyone involved.

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  75. Interestingly Jericho's suit-wearing character is the only time I've found him worth watching. It was because he wasn't TRYING SO HARD to be cool and funny (he's neither) that he finally became bearable. Otherwise I agree that he's hugely overrated.

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  76. Edge does such an awesome, 'good golly gee, is this boss' reaction too that whole match.

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  77. My all time favourite call, period.

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  78. The Undertaker/Hogan feud is one of my favorites of all time, just for the unintentional hilarity in literally every segment they had together and then the terrible match on top of it where Scott basically squished every elderly joke he ever had into one glorious review.

    Taker dragging Hogan behind on his motorcycle at 3 mph while Hogan wears a fuckton of padding and screams OH NO BROTHER never gets old.

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  79. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomerySeptember 24, 2014 at 2:47 AM

    I still don't blame Austin in the least. Talk about money on the table and what a fucking rub that wouldve been for Lesnar beating Austin in the KOTR finals.

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  80. That’ll teach ‘em to do do pre-taped segments on
    a live show.

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  81. He didn't lie, he just changed his mind about it later.

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  82. I never thought about Hunter as the new third nWo guy... but it would have made actually a ton of sense. The nWo was still there and they could have feuded with Rock, Taker, Angle, Jericho, Booker T, Big Show, Hogan etc..



    Or they could have helped Hogan so that he gets heel again.

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  83. He clearly said that he wanted to face hogan at WM18. He clearly said he was pissed when creative decided to do hogan rock instead. That was one of the things that really drove him over the edge creative wise and that's why he left the day after wm18. The brock lesnar kotr qualifying match is what made him leave the second time. I dont know where ppl are getting that he didnt wanna work with hogan when he clearly said that he did.

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  84. Because that's what he *said*.

    "“He was open to having a match, me not so much,” Austin said on a recent episode of WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross’s podcast. “I thought the styles would clash. I didn’t think it would be that great of a match." With The Texas Rattlesnake unwilling to agree to the bout, The Hulkster ended up facing off against The Rock in a now legendary encounter at WrestleMania X8. But that bout, billed as Icon vs. Icon, could have easily featured The Texas Rattlesnake instead.

    “I guarantee you, if my head had been at a little different place, then by all rights, a [match] should have happened,” Austin told JR. “Physically and mentally where I was at, I could go. I think Hogan probably would have been a step or two behind that. That wasn’t acceptable to me, and I didn’t want to slow myself down. I say that with all due respect to Hulk Hogan, because he had a hellacious run. That was my thought process back in the day. I didn’t think we could deliver.”"

    http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/10-wrestlemania-matches-that-almost-happened/page-11

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  85. Well I guess now I know why ppl say that. But on his 4 disc dvd he tells a completely different story

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  86. I had to go back and see what Scott meant by the backlash(I hardly remember, I was 8), and man that crowd at Judgment Day was firmly behind Taker.

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  87. I'm not sure why they gave up on Hulk so quickly. I just remember him on a Smackdown in Montreal where he got a 10 minute ovation, then a very fun world title match against Jericho a week or 2 later. I really didn't notice any backlash. Did the ratings go down or something?

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  88. To be fair, the more we learn about any wrestling story, the more we realise there's several completely contradictory versions of it.

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  89. Well I really don't blame them for the exagerrated safety measures. I mean, it's a legit dangerous thing, and Hogan was pushing 50. Better safe than sorry.

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  90. "Yep Mode" ABeyAnce1©September 24, 2014 at 5:46 AM

    Needed to stay away from his sons toy box.

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  91. Goldberg did dominate. He went like 130-1, with his only loss being a total fluke, where he beat the guy 100% clean in the next 2 rematches. I'd call that dominating.

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  92. Hogan should never have been brought back in the first place. His official swan song should have been KOTR '93 (well, it probably should have been WM 8, but seeing that manipulative parasite leave on such a humiliating note is so much more satisfying).

    Whatever benefits he brought with his 02 return were more than offset by the liabilities he generated.

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  93. The ratings dropped from 4-5 before Wrestlemania to 3.x after the brand split. But I think it was more the fault of the split and not of Hogan. On the other side, Hogan in red and yellow and as world champion was even in WCW 1999 very stupid. The 80s were over.

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  94. You're forgetting about the millions they made in Hogan merchandise around the time though. Besides, I don't think the typical post-WrestleMania ratings drop can entirely be blamed on Hogan. He was only champion for four weeks, and I don't think WWE intended for it to last any longer than it already was. It went back to status quo pretty quickly. A quickie title run in 2015 -- say a one week run -- would be a good way to recapture the brief Hogan resurgence.

    Hogan's run in 2002 was one of his best years in the business -- he put over The Rock, Kurt Angle (by tapping out!), Triple H in their rematch, teamed with Edge, put over Brock Lesnar... he's a smart guy. He knew with WCW gone that there was no other place to go, so he better do whatever it took to make McMahon happy.

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  95. I loved Hogan's 2002 run, just damn good fun and he even put some people over.

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  96. I admire your persistence in your "Give Hogan one more run" campaign.

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  97. A better choice would've been someone like Kurt Angle that could bump around and get a decent match out of Hogan.

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  98. 100% completely justified. Austin knew how much the company and, more importantly, himself, was losing out on PPV buys for a Lesnar/Austin match. It was a legit money match-up and "creative" wanted to piss it away to pop a TV rating.

    Austin should've handled it differently (like by calling McMahon and pointing out the obvious and pitching an alternate himself), but nobody should ever blame him for refusing to go along with it.

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  99. Well, compare Triple H's mindset in 2002 to Triple H's mindset in 2010 or 2012 or whenever that later feature was filmed.

    He's probably got a much bigger perspective on THIS BUSINESS now.

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  100. Huh? Didn't they have a great match at KOTR? Or am I getting "Whooshed"?

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  101. I was just about to compliment your point...

    Anyway, nothing to joke about. When WWE puts the title back on Hogan (and they will), we'll see what happens with the Network numbers.

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  102. He didn't quit, he took time up to heal from injuries. He came back in early 2003.

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  103. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighSeptember 24, 2014 at 6:42 AM

    Evolution vs Rock and Sock Connection at WM20 was pretty great when it came to stars in once match. Better looking back at it. Batista and Randy weren't quite stars yet.

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  104. He was on the Canadian talk show Off The Record after his 2002 stint and spent a long time bitching about jobbing to guys. He believed he should have run through the roster until he met Brock.

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  105. Yep, and *THEN* he quit.

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  106. Hard to believe it was 12 years ago. I still think he's going to push for one more against Cena.

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  107. He actually said, "Oh no, brother"?!

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  108. They had a match, but it wasn't great.

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  109. They shouldn't have done the stupid skit to begin with.

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  110. He's free to bitch about it, but he did it. That's a lot different from WCW "That finish doesn't work for me, brother" Hogan.

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  111. Lol what liabilities? He and Rock saved that WrestleMania show from going down as one of the worst of all time?
    They then had a huge moment with Hogan getting the belt back. He again dropped it quickly to the Undertaker who hadn't meant shit in several years.
    He followed that up by putting over Kurt Angle to make him look strong after Angle was kind of meh for a majority of 2002.
    He then went on to team with Edge in a fun tag team and a cool moment of them winning the belts around the 4th of July.
    He then made Brock Lesnar look like an absolute monster heel going into his title match with Rock.
    What liabilities are you talking about!?!

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  112. Then don't pump up Hogan as a noble figure when he complains about doing the right thing after the fact.

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  113. Hey, Hogan stole the guy's bike! There was heck to pay!

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  114. Hey, a Hogan/Bully Ray match would have saved TNA!

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  115. I didn't say he was "noble", I said he did jobs to put younger talent over.

    This is pro wrestling. There is no such thing as nobility when half the wrestlers have a history of shit pranks, drug abuse, and mistreating ring rats.

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  116. Maybe he was in a pissy mood when he did the interview. Who knows? Who gives a shit? Point is, he did it. I'm as anti-Hogan as the next guy, but his '02 run was probably the most unselfish run of his career.

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  117. What ya gonna do brother, when Hulkamania dies on you!!!

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  118. He should face Cena. He should lose. They should shake hands and pose together.

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  119. But Hogan has to have the belt beforehand so Cena can win it in Hogan's last match, then have the posedown.

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  120. You aren't supposed to find the heel entertaining. You're supposed to want to see him get his ass kicked.

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  121. Hogan stealing Undertaker's bike and trying to chase it him down with it only for it to stall out on him was damn good fun indeed.

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  122. God, just no to all of this.

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  123. Yep, the difference between a "cool heel" and an actual heel. For example, Laurinitis was an awesome pure heel. He was supposed to be dull.

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  124. Calls like that what made Jim Ross the best.

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  125. I never cared for that match. Angke didn't have his whole heart in it and Hogan seemed under the weather. Perhaps a slight flu or food poisoning.

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  126. It's not an angle meant to please the Blog of Doom smark crowd. It's an angle meant to make money from kids, casual fans, and lapsed fans.

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  127. Well Kurt was worried about his wig falling off. He was definitely distracted!

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  128. "Millions" in Hogan merchandise?

    He quit rather than put over Lesnar again because he felt like he should go over the biggest rising star in the company. He ACTUALLY thought he should go over Lesnar.

    Hogan can't do his legdrop, and can't get his big boot above knee level. How the bloody hell is he supposed to win the world title?

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  129. There's no link between giving Hogan the title and making money. Are you suggesting Hogan "pass the torch" to Cena? It's time for Cena to pass the damn torch!

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  130. Exactly. You were supposed to think, "Who the fuck does this guy think he is, acting like he's smart just because he wears suit and uses big words?" His whole character was an unlikeable, pseudo-intellectual blowhard.

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  131. The ratings DIED when Hogan got the belt. I think it's okay to blame the split for the overall decline, but I think even his particular quarter hours were dying a death compared to the rest of the show. People did NOT want Hogan as champion.

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  132. I think he returned in 1988, and was around through the early Raw era(1993-1994), as I distinctly remember him wrestling Doink and Yokozuna on Raw.

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  133. Actually that would explain the downfall of the nitro ratings in 99 because they also started with 4.x and went down to 3.x and even 2.x after Hogan came back as face.

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  134. Save your breath. This is this guy's pet fantasy booking issue... he has been doing this for like a year now.

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  135. He's... very... slowly... getting.... away....

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  136. I don't know why they didn't keep Hogan's matches with HHH and Undertaker shorter as not to expose him so badly.

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  137. he has tried to do this a thousand times. no one has yet to take the ball and run with it. Cena has done many jobs to get people over and give them the chance.

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  138. Well, I'm not a big fan of the passing-the-torch concept, anyway. It doesn't really ever work, especially as the torch-giver tends to stick around. But Cena doesn't need MORE torches.

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  139. Why doesnt Shawn Michaels get enough backlash for that uber unprofessional (but funny) stunt he pulled at summer slam 05? If anyone should get fan backlash for being a crybaby its Shawn. I just look back to how he faked injuries to drop titles instead of doing a job in the mid 90's and it grinds my gears.

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  140. If you are a wrestling fan on the internet you have to like Jericho or you are a troll. Flair4DaGold once threatened to ban a guy who wasn't a Jericho fan because he must be trolling.

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  141. Haynes was a perfectly good candidate to challenge for the IC title for a month or two.

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  142. Wow Michael Xavier has mind control powers just like Charles Xavier!

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  143. I wish they had just done away with the Undertaker title reign part. Hogan tapping the belt away to Angle works just fine. No one needed Taker as champ in 2002.

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  144. Huh? The Rock-Hogan match stole the show at Wrestlemania. He tapped out clean to Kurt Angle, jobbed to HHH, and tried to give Edge a rub. All before getting murdered by Brock Lesnar. Then he left without getting his win back from any of them. He did plenty of good to justify his comeback.

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  145. Let's remember though that it was HHH who won the belt at Wrestlemania, not Hogan. The ratings died after Mania, but the Hogan win didn't come until Backlash. HHH is as much to blame as Hogan, if we are basing it off of champions

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  146. Maybe don't do an angle based on a guy getting dragged behind a motorcycle then

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  147. He doesn't have to win the match with a legdrop. He's been winning matches in Japan with the AXE BOMBER for decades.

    And yes, the company made a lot of dough off the "Hulk Still Rules" merch and before that nWo shirts.

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  148. If Nash had been healthy, they had two different opportunities for big nWo vs. WWF matches. Hogan/Nash/Hall vs. HHH/Rock/Austin has been mentioned before, but a HHH turn could have set up Rock/Austin/Hogan vs. Nash/Hall/HHH as well.

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  149. I feel like Hogan-Austin needed to happen at Wrestlemania 19

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  150. I guess I sort of agree with Austin on that. The styles would have clashed and I don't know that Austin adapts the way Rock did to working quasi-heel and such once the crowd dug in behind Hogan. Not sure the Toronto crowd turns so strongly in Hogan's favor against Austin either though

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  151. Actually the RAW ratings after Wrestlemana were still high with 4.8 but went down in the end of april and in may with 4.4, 4.6, 3.9 and 3.7.

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  152. unfortunately I believe the firm plan is Brock vs Rock at Mania. I'm also expecting Hogan vs Cena and the Dudleyz vs The Hardyz vs the Usoz in a TLC match. Actually shaping up to be a fun legends card.

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