Nostalgia was in full swing when Hulk Hogan left the nWo and returned to the red and yellow following WrestleMania X8. The response to Hogan was so great, in fact, that the WWF put the Undisputed Championship on him at Backlash, just one month after Triple H won the title at 'Mania. The decision was made just a few hours before the show. It was a decision the WWF would regret. Incredible as it seems now, Hogan was the WWF's most pushed act in the spring of 2002. He was headlining PPVs and winning championships and generally having a great time. It must have done wonders for the famous Hogan ego. Here he was in his late 40s after years away from the company and he walked right back into the top spot. But the good times couldn't last forever and, after losing the Undisputed Championship to The Undertaker at Judgement Day (Hogan wasn't the ratings draw the company had hoped he would be) reports surfaced that Hogan wasn't happy with his position in the company. He had been used to winning main events and now he was asked to team with the likes of Edge in midcard matches or, worse still, job to Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Add to this the fact that Hogan was deeply unhappy with house show payoffs (business was down) and it was just a matter of time before he left again. Which he did after putting Lesnar over on Smackdown before SummerSlam. Hogan thought he should return and beat Lesnar for the title at a major pay-per-view. WWE (they had since gotten the 'F' out) thought otherwise. Hogan even refused to perform on a special house show (filmed for the Global Warning DVD) in Australia on August 10th, despite having been featured in all of the advertising leading up to it. He demanded a hefty payoff to travel across the world the day before his 49th birthday and was replaced by Triple H. The fans (some 56,000 of them) were not amused.
