10 Most Insane Wrestling Magazine Covers Ever

2. Sports Review Wrestling, March 1987

Kamala Hulk Hogan
Sports Review Wrestling

Cover Star(s): Hulk Hogan, Kamala

Headline(s): 'WHO GAVE KAMALA THIS GRUESOME ORDER? "BRING ME THE HEAD OF HULK HOGAN!", 'SPORTS REVIEW INTERVIEW: TONY ATLAS', 'EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE: STARRCADE '86, THE BEST YET!'

Notes: Kamala has Hulk Hogan's bleeding head impaled on a spike. There's little that can be added to such a striking image that offers superlative photo manipulation skills for the era and the promise of some epic wars between the WWE Champion and the 'Ugandan Giant'.

What is worth noting beyond the psychotic representation of the two talents is the timeframe of the issue's release.

Again dating their publications well in advance to remain relevant, the 'March 1987' edition would have been hitting newsstands sometime in late January/Early Feburary, with most content focusing on December's happenings.

This is evidenced by the huge feature promised on November 1986's Starrcade pay-per-view. These kind of datelines were never normally of vital interest, but the timing of such a suggestive cover teasing Hogan/Kamala is fascinating in hindsight considering what was actually happening on television by that point.

Hulk had squashed Kamala on countless house shows in late 1986/early 1987, but by March, the company was in the midst of promoting arguably the biggest main event in company history. His WrestleMania 3 showdown with Andre the Giant was the talk of the wrestling world, and about to draw one of the largest ever live crowds and pay-per-view buyrates. Speared head or otherwise, 'The Hulkster' had moved on in a huge way.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett