10 Misconceptions About Hulk Hogan You Probably Believe
5. “He Left The WWF After Losing The Title To Yokozuna.”
On the 13 June 1993, Hulk Hogan lost his fifth WWF title to the behemoth Yokozuna and had to be carried out on a stretcher. Because Hogan wouldn’t appear again until signing with WCW the following year, most assume that this angle was a way to bury the outgoing superstar.
But a little digging reveals that the King of the Ring match wasn’t intended to be Hogan’s farewell match. For starters, though fans never saw Hogan on WWF TV again for the next decade, Hogan kept wrestling in the Federation for nearly two months.
Although Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji immediately gloated about killing Hulkamania (with an exploding flash bulb and some Banzai Drops), these were standard heel tactics rather than an official McMahon-approved declaration Hulk Hogan was finished with the company. In fact, Hogan repeatedly beat Yokozuna on the European tour later that summer, failing to recapture the title due only to the interference of Mr. Fuji, who drew the disqualification.
Not only was he not finished with Yokozuna after King of the Ring, Hogan even started a new angle that summer with Giant González, staring down the alleged 8-footer a few days later after a dark match at the WWF Superstars taping.
As late as September, Hogan continued being promoted on TV by the WWF, which aired promotional videos for his new film Mr. Nanny on Monday Night Raw. Only when Randy Savage delivered an on-air diatribe about Hulk Hogan the person while providing commentary for Raw the following month was it safe to say that the WWF’s relationship with Hogan was over.