10 Best 21st Century WWE Moments In Madison Square Garden
9. Hulk Hogan Says Goodbye - SmackDown, June 23rd 2003
Depending on who you ask, Hulk Hogan's "Mr. America" gimmick was either a bit of fun or the worst thing to happen to wrestling. After his match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX, Hogan was (in storyline) barred from wrestling by the irate chairman and was forced to get creative.
It was obvious to everyone that "Mr. America" was just Hulk Hogan cosplaying as The Patriot, but the gag was that Vince McMahon could never prove this was the case. This ran on for several months until Mr. America waved his flag one final time at Madison Square Garden.
After the June 26th 2003 edition of SmackDown went off air, Mr. America - who had just lost a six-man tag team match alongside Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle - revealed his true identity for the first time before beckoning to his fans to keep his alter ego a secret. This didn't work, as Vince McMahon simply played the footage the following week and kayfabe fired Hogan as a result.
In reality, Hogan had already quit WWE over creative frustrations, but at least he gave the fans a decent pay-off to this story before he re-appeared in 2005.