...the most watched wrestling match in North American history took place when Hulk Hogan faced Andre The Giant on NBC. In this day and age, a 5.0 rating seems unfathomable; this show scored a 15.2! Over 33 million people watched live to witness the end of the over four year nightmare that was Hulkamania.
"Over 33 million people watched live to witness the end of the over four year nightmare that was Hulkamania."
ReplyDeleteI know you're joking, but the reason 33 million watched that match was BECAUSE of the "nightmare" of Hulkamania.
On another note, what do you think Vince would be willing to do to get 33 million viewers to watch a Roman Reigns match?
Anyway, the only shot WWE has of getting even 25% of 33 million today is a Hogan vs. Cena match.
I always love it when Hulk launches Earl over Dibiase and Virgil, and half way down the aisle
ReplyDeleteWas this when he slammed the 900 pound Andre?
ReplyDeleteI remember this so well. Hogan launching Hebner was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI always thought that there must be SOME element of reality to it, even if the outcomes were fixed. Until I got online and that blew that notion away.
ReplyDeleteEven hearing it I always had a sliver of doubt.
ReplyDeleteMight have been seeing Wrestling With Shadows for the first time where it all died.
I started watching in 1991 and never thought it was real. Being 12 at the time, the talk of the playground was about it being 'fake', but I enjoyed it none the less, just like I'd enjoy a movie.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone is taking the nightmare comment a bit too seriously.
ReplyDeleteI too went through the bargaining stages where I tried to convince myself until the cold hard reality was indisputable.
ReplyDeleteAre you seriously calling Hulkamania a nightmare?!
ReplyDeleteThe move where someone's on the apron holding the ropes and the babyface yanks them causing a somersault bump into the ring is overdue for a comeback.
ReplyDelete27 years and still the question of who the plastic surgeon was hasnt been answered???
ReplyDeleteIt's silly now but the twin referee thing was genius.
ReplyDeleteAndre was.....very bad at this time. But very large. And the people loved that.
ReplyDeleteNightmare? Is that just cynical smarkiness? I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm asking seriously, because not for nothing, as a little kid, Hulkamania was fucking awesome. This night is one of my earliest wrestling memories, and Hulkamania made me a fan long before I started to realize I liked Macho Man better because workrate. This makes me miss being a mark in a way... I remember being so outraged at nine years old that they cheated Hulk out of the title like that!
ReplyDeleteWatching this again... man, remember when title changes weren't just disposable non-events?
You have to see him live to appreci . . . oh, too late.
ReplyDeleteI love Wrestling with Shadows since that was my favorite period watching. I love how non-chalantly Bret tells his son to "Go play with the Headbangers or something" while he is trying to talk stuff over.
ReplyDeleteThe night kayfabe was broken for me. Being a tiny Hulkamaniac at the time, I ran to my room and cried when Hogan lost. My dad came in and told me that it's "just a show," and explained how everything is predetermined. He called it a cross between a circus and theater. It's still a good way of putting it.
ReplyDeleteAll the love in the world for Andre, sure, but that is without doubt the crappest finishing move to a match I’ve ever seen.
ReplyDelete"How much did he pay for the plastic surgery?!?!?!"
ReplyDeleteMy dad was awesome. He played the Ventura role and antagonized my favorites while we'd watch together.
ReplyDeleteNice job Dad. Attempts to be comforting, breaks kayfabe.
ReplyDeleteI think it went in stages for me. First it was real, then it
ReplyDeletewas real but they just knew who was going to win (I don’t know why I thought this,
it makes no sense) then it was fake but the commentators didn’t know what was
going to happen (another pointless theory this one), and then I just accepted
it was all fake. Until now when it’s the Reality Era and it’s all real again.
I still remember all of this. It was my dad's birthday, and my aunt and uncle and cousins were over for a party. Getting through dinner was agony, and then I had a rude awakening seeing the Hulkster lose! What? I love that Hogan's hypothesis is that Dibiase paid for plastic surgery, even though Earl had been in Crockett for years. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat brings up an interesting question - what if the NBC bought the rights to air Wrestlemania LIVE on network TV and promoted it like the Super Bowl? What kind of ratings would that draw?
ReplyDeleteSubtlety and sarcasm have never been the strong points of the BoD.
ReplyDeleteIf by nightmare you mean bringing wrestling out of the dark ages and turning it into a national product that we all love and enjoy today? Because that is what Hulkamania did.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the exact moment where kayfabe died for me.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up I always heard it was fake and was a show but I couldnt prove it. The moment I could actually prove it was when it died for me.
I hate when grown-ups do that to kids. What's the point?
ReplyDeleteEarl Hebner, screwing wrestlers from day one.
ReplyDeleteBack before wrestling was completely over-saturated and could actually be promoted as something special.
ReplyDeleteRight up there with the Irish Whip for most ridiculously business-exposing spots....and I love it
ReplyDeleteDat hiptoss doe.
ReplyDeleteARE YOU DAVE HEBNER?!?! ARE YOU DAVE HEBNER!?!?! I remember when happened in 4th grade, we had material for weeks! This was one of the best angles of our youth!
ReplyDeleteAnd the person behind GTV.
ReplyDeleteWas it when the Warrior started oozing green splooge out of his head from Papa Shango's curse?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing it was the green splooge.
Aha, it wasn't a real "finisher," though, since Hogan had his shoulder up at one.
ReplyDeleteIt can't be your dads birthday - it was *my* dad's birthday!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow much did your dad pay for the plastic surgery brother?!?!??
15.2. Whew. Say what you will about Hogan but numbers like that justify everything he was given during his first big run with the belt. Never seen a wrestler with kind of draw power.
ReplyDeleteStrong memory of this one. 31st and Quintara, San Francisco. Classic.
ReplyDeleteReading this thread reminded me we never found out the plastic surgeon behind the Hebners, GTV, who drove the white hummer, who raised the briefcase on Austin at KOR 99.
ReplyDeleteSo I have to ask: What are Wrestling's Greatest Unsolved Mysteries?
As naughty as we now know about Terri Runnels (thanks, New Jack) I place the blame on her. But that's not all I'd place.
ReplyDeleteFor my next witness, I call Vic Venom to the stand, your honor.
ReplyDeleteThe Catapault/Slingshot and Canadian Destroyer would like to have a word with you...
ReplyDeleteWho? Dave Hebner? He was caught wearing white sneakers with a sport coat at WrestleMania VIII. Shame on him.
ReplyDeleteAndre's heel finisher (butterfly suplex) was the worst thing ever.
ReplyDeleteIt should have been DiBiase.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the telephone and postal service like out in Parts Unknown? How do these guys all know when they have matches?
ReplyDeleteWell it's not like him or anyone in his family was involved in any screwjobs.
ReplyDeleteDDP's benefactor (though when recruiting him for the NWO Nash teased that it was them, IIRC).
ReplyDeleteSo what ever happened to that Hebner guy? I don't remember him doing anything else of note in wrestling.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was the same person who was driving the Hummer in WCW.
ReplyDeleteI still remember the day my dad tried to explain to me what was up. I was eating lunch and watching Hulk get blasted with some sort of "flash grenade" attack in the locker room (I think by the Nasty Boys but I can't recall). Hogan sold it like he was being tortured with a hot poker to the eyes. My jaw hit the floor in shock and my dad felt the need to wise me up on how it wasn't real. I wish I could also remember what show/angle that was, but its obviously hazy.
ReplyDeleteYou should have seen his huracanrana.
ReplyDeleteUltimate Warrior's hands have special powers. That's how he was notified.
ReplyDeleteOr his Stinkface.
ReplyDeleteWhy was the cost of the surgery even relevant? Could hogan get them a discount or something?!
ReplyDeleteZak Ryder is a better worker than andre
ReplyDeleteComing in the hard way
ReplyDeleteWell it was a nightmare for me because I hated Hulk Hogan.
ReplyDeleteI was like 4 or 5 at an NWA house show and my dad went out of his way to show me Jimmy Valiant lazily blading down in the corner after Baron Von Raschke decked him with Paul Jones' cowboy boot behind the ref's back. Was all downhill from there.
ReplyDeleteDon't let Vince see this. He'll remember how over Andre was and decide to give Big Show a new mega push.
ReplyDeletePlease elaborate on this...
ReplyDeleteKayfabed died for me when Paul Bearer got buried in cement. Nobody had to explain anything to me, it was just so goddamn retarded that there was no way any of it was real.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I started reading PWI shortly after that and needless to say, that left me extremely confused until I picked up Scott's books and WrestleCrap.
Someone should ask Brutus Beefcake. There can't be that many face surgery experts who specialise within the wrestling industry.
ReplyDeleteI think for me it was 1-2 years after I started watching, it was watching Survivor Series '91, and it was something about seeing Hogan, Undertaker and Flair altogether in the same place during that title match. And a really obviously safe tombstone-onna-chair.
ReplyDeleteHogan getting his shoulder up at one, still pisses me off immensely. He couldn't even give fucking Andre a two count. Then he'd name drop him in every interview he'd do.
ReplyDelete