10 Best Moments From Hulk Hogan's 2002 WWE Return

2. Making Brock Lesnar

Very few wrestlers in the history of the business have the legitimate credibility that Brock Lesnar has. An NCAA Division 1 Champion, Lesnar’s accolades prior to joining the WWE gave him a natural ability inside the ring, and a push as “The Next Big Thing” to match it. However, even before he won his first World Championship, what solidified Lesnar as living up to that moniker was his match against Hulk Hogan on Smackdown.

In the leadup to his Championship fight against The Rock at SummerSlam, Hogan was pitted against Lesnar as a proving ground of sorts for the young upstart. On August 8 2002, that match took place as the Main Event of Smackdown, and what transpired between the ropes was unprecedented.

While many expected Hogan to “do the honours” for Lesnar, no one could imagine exactly how that would go down. Rather than just pinning the legend, Lesnar destroyed the myth of “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan by making him seem very human indeed. In the final moments of the match, Brock locked in a Bear Hug and, with his manager Paul Heyman coaching him from the apron, squeezed until blood was coming out of the mouth of The Hulkster.

It was, and remains, the only time a Hogan match has had a winner declared by stoppage. More than that, it remains the most brutal beatdown endured by Hogan. For Lesnar, it did more for him than anything else had at that point, and arguably made him ready to carry the Title he would win weeks later at SummerSlam. The image of Brock wiping the blood of Hogan onto his chest is one that is replayed in video packages to this day, and for good reason. Never has Hogan done more for a young wrestler than he did this night.