10 Most Important Matches In The History Of WWE

7. Hulk Hogan Vs. The Ultimate Warrior - WrestleMania VI

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WWE.com

April 1, 1990 was meant to be the night on which Hulk Hogan passed the torch to the Ultimate Warrior in their Ultimate Challenge. That did and didn't happen.

After a 22:51 match, surely the best of Warrior's entire career, given the circumstances, phase one was complete. The Warrior, infamously limited at best, had wrestled a worthy, lengthy and credible main event match that generated nuclear heat throughout. Hogan seemed to do all he could to put Warrior over as his successor, but the ruse was revealed in the final second. Hogan lifted his shoulders off the mat almost to the second that the referee struck it for a third time.

He had been beaten, fractionally, but he sold the defeat as if it was some fluke, more impossible than even his body slam on Andre. He then celebrated magnanimously with the man he had so obviously carried well beyond his capabilities in the aftermath. All eyes were on Hogan; Warrior was a bystander in his own victory parade. This match, and Warrior's subsequent disappointment of a WWF Heavyweight title run, proved that the WWF was the house that Hogan built, as much as it was McMahon's.

Replacing him was very difficult; in Warrior's case, impossible. Every careful attempt to put Vince McMahon's pet projects over has been engineered with precision detail, often to the chagrin of his audience.

After 'Mania VI, nothing was left to chance.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!