10 Legendary WWE Feuds That Never Had A Payoff

2. Bret Hart & Hulk Hogan (1993)

Hulk Hogan Ric Flair 1992
WWE.com

One of the biggest WWE matches that never was had its prime opportunity in the Summer of 1993, and WWE knew it.

Go back and watch WWE programming from WrestleMania IX through the King Of The Ring and it becomes painfully obvious that the promotion was absolutely building towards a Bret Hart vs. Hulk Hogan match. Bret even recalls a photo-shoot for the WWF Magazine that featured the two in a tug of war for the WWF Championship, promoting a SummerSlam '93 main event for the title.

Boy, would I love to see those photos, but I digress...

The plans called for Hogan to retain until SummerSlam where he would face the brand new King Of The Ring and likely do the honours for the next torchbearer for the World Wrestling Federation, Bret "Hitman" Hart.

Upon hearing these plans, Hogan refused, likely referencing the last time he did the favours (for Warrior) not turning out so well as Hogan had predicted back in 1990. Still, Vince McMahon acquiesced to Hogan and the plans were altered to what we ended up seeing in the Summer of 1993.

A Hogan/Bret match would've done wonders for the company, for Bret and for Hogan, and it certainly would've been better than The Narcissist vs. Yokozuna program that WWE presented for the rest of 1993 and beyond.

Unfortunately, Hart vs. Hogan will go down as one of the biggest missed opportunities in WWE history.

Contributor
Contributor

A former stuntman for Paramount Pictures, Matt enjoys sports, water skiing, driving fast, the beach, professional wrestling, technology, and scotch. At the same time, whenever possible. Having attended many famous (and infamous) shows including WrestleMania XV, In Your House: Mind Games, and the 1995 King of the Ring, Matt has been a lifelong professional sports and wrestling fan. Matt's been mentioned in numerous wrestling podcasts including the Steve Austin Show: Unleashed, Talk Is Jericho, and Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard. As a former countywide performer, Matt has been referred to as Mr. 300 for his amazing accomplishments in the world of amateur bowling. He is also the only man on record to have pitched back-to-back no hitters in the Veterans Stadium Wiffle Ball League of 2003.