In 1993 Hulk Hogan was still the biggest star of the WWF. However new talent was pushing into the main event scene. One example of such talent was Bret 'The Hitman' Hart. Hart's success in 1992 had led him to winning the WWE Championship which he carried into 1993 until WrestleMania 9 where he lost to Yokozuna, who then himself lost the belt to Hogan in a rushed finale. Hart was then supposed to go on to become King Of The Ring with plans set for Hart to wrestle Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship. The match was scheduled to be the farewell match of Hulk Hogan and in many ways the legitimisation of Hart as 'the man' in the WWE. However Hogan outright refused to job to a 'smaller' guy in Bret Hart. Backstage he successfully lobbied Vince McMahon to drop the WWE Championship to Yokozuna, scrap the SummerSlam match with Bret and replace it with a match between Lex Luger and Yokozuna. Meanwhile Hart was written into a long standing feud with Jerry 'The King' Lawler over Hart's title as 'King Of The Ring.' Hogan then finished his business with McMahon and departed the WWE for a career as a movie star. Unfortunately with Hogan unwilling to 'put over' 'The Hitman' WWE fans never got to witness the defining match where Hogan passed the torch from his generation to the next. SummerSlam 1993 could have been an iconic event but as so often is the case, plans in the world of professional wrestling rarely work out as intended; even more so if they involve 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan!
