10 Best Hulk Hogan Matches Ever
Hulkamania ran wild in some truly memorable battles.
To hear Hogan's detractors put it, the man doesn't know how to wrestle. Lou Thesz once stated that Hogan, "doesn't know one hold." There are literally wrestling fans and critics that cannot believe that Hulk's popularity and his perceived in-ring acumen didn't correlate. By their measure, Dynamite Kid and the original Tiger Mask should've been the ones mobbed by screaming teenage girls and paparazzi everywhere they went, not Hogan.
It would be foolish to say that Hogan was a technical wrestling God, just as it would be foolish to say that Hogan was a clueless in-ring performer. While he preferred to work within a simplistic formula (he admitted as much in the Ric Flair 30 For 30), Hogan was just as capable of putting his working boots on and delivering an enthralling performance. He just didn't need grueling battles as a meal ticket.
The Hulkster may not have been a five-star-match kind of guy, but in big situations (with the right opponent), four stars was certainly not out of the question. Three to three-and-a-half stars, if you put any stock into ratings, was easily attainable for a man who could blend showmanship, sprightly brawling, and effective storytelling into a very marketable package. As an in-ring performer, Hogan was vastly underrated.
Here are, in one man's opinion, the ten greatest matches featuring Hulk Hogan.
10. Vs. Ric Flair (Bash At The Beach 1994)
Yeah, there was plenty of belly-aching from the Flair fans when "The Nature Boy" was hastily turned heel to placate Hogan's arrival, with a World Title switch as inevitable as a blink. Given that the 1994 Bash at the Beach did double the buyrate of each of the previous four WCW pay-per-views (each of which featured Flair either as champion or challenging for the belt), those cries meant nothing.
Flair was being counted on to help get the Hogan act over for a crowd that, at least in part, was rejecting the outsider's excursion in "Flair Country" (though Hogan was certainly better received on this night in Orlando). As such, Flair did the heavy lifting, bumping for Hogan's turbo with extra gusto.
The Flair/broomstick formula, combined with the Hogan/Saturday Night's Main Event formula, made for a pretty great match that satisfied the crowd. Sure, a lot of it could be chalked up to smoke and mirrors, but Hogan's only guilty of knowing what his audience wants to see.