10 Things WWE Suddenly Wanted You To Care About (After Programming You To Hate Them)

3. Hulk Hogan

Baron Corbin
WWE.com

Hulk Hogan: an old, incontinent, dementia-riddled bastard in 1996, but a timeless legend in 2002.

Did he age backwards? Or is Vince McMahon full of sh*t?

Hogan was crucified in those infamous Billionaire Ted skits. For a modern analogy, were Hogan to sign with AEW in 2019, WWE would Photoshop his head in a Klan hood and broadcast it on the Titantron. Hogan was a guy who no longer had to worry about passing a piss test for steroids, and yet his steroid-fuelled body still couldn't pull off a move as "extremely impressive" as the Razor's Edge. This bit them on the ass a few months later, at which point Scott Hall suddenly aged by a decade and a half.

This farcical, rotten PR drive didn't inform the marketing of Hogan's babyface run six years later, but it was immaculate, all the same: Hogan was reimagined as a living fixture on wrestling's Mount Rushmore, an actual legend we were privileged to see on his last ride.

It was an expert strike of the iron, but it wasn't necessary: the nostalgic euphoria that swept through the SkyDome confirmed that the skits never did work: Hogan wasn't just the right gay-guy, at the right time.

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!