10 Times Wrestling History Repeated Itself
3. McMahon, Part Two: Hulkamania And The Yes! Movement
Its strange, but the man Hulk Hogan should probably identify the most with is wrestling babyface phenomenon Daniel Bryan. Both men went through the same issues with the office, but thirty-one years apart.
In 1982, Hogan was with the American Wrestling Alliance in Minnesota, under wrestling legend Verne Gagne. Gagne was the oldest of old school, despising the new showbiz side to pro wrestling and preferring his promotion to run as it had when hed been a full time in-ring performer: realistic, flawless technical work produced by proper wrestlers, not this all style, no substance nonsense. Hogan had just finished working on Rocky III with Stallone, and was courting mainstream celebrity. He was over with the crowd, big time but his boss refused to take him seriously and give him the push that his popularity deserved.
Gagne was no fool - he saw dollar signs when he looked at Hogan, but he remained convinced that the way forward was highly skilled, uncharismatic workers like his protégé Nick Bockwinkel, not limited workers with huge muscles and Hollywood connections like Hogan. He booked Hogan as a perennial underdog, forever chasing the title, until Hogan had enough of the runaround and left to go to Vince McMahon and the WWF, who knew how to take his schtick to the next level. That next level was Hulkamania, and the rest was history.
In 2013, Daniel Bryan had much the same problem with Vince McMahon and his WWE. A vastly popular and highly skilled proper wrestler delivering realistic, flawless technical work, he forever found himself playing second fiddle to McMahons desire for all style, no substance nonsense and mainstream attention. Oh, McMahon was no fool - he saw dollar signs when he looked at Bryan, but he remained convinced that the way forward was the same hugely muscled men and showbiz that had made his fortune in the 1980s. He booked Bryan as a perennial underdog, forever chasing the title, until WWE fans had had enough, and were so vocal in their protests that plans changed, and Daniel Bryan was finally pushed to the top of the mountain, headlining Wrestlemania XXX and becoming the WWE champion for real.