10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Hulk Hogan
6. The Mr. America Debacle
According to Bruce Prichard on his podcast, Vince McMahon "didn't get" the Mr. America character. Who says Vince isn't in tune with his audience? Even he could see that putting Hulk Hogan in a mask and pretending he was someone else was stupid.
The whole thing was an ill-advised ploy to extend the Hogan vs. McMahon feud beyond WrestleMania XIX's surprisingly excellent Street Fight, and it sucked. This was the kind of crap WWE would have laughed at WCW for trying with such a huge name, didn't fool anybody (it made the announcers look like idiots for talking about America as though he was a rookie - though the whole skit was tongue in cheek) and flat out tanked.
Mere months later, Hulk was gone again.
Reportedly unhappy with his 'Mania pay off and probably also realising the Mr. America gimmick was rotten, Hogan decided to take his leave before a planned "Mask vs. Hair" match at a revamped Great American Bash could happen. Thank God it didn't.