By 1996, Hulk Hogan had been pro wrestling's top babyface for over a decade. It's understandable then why the red and yellow-clad star was apprehensive about what he was about to do at WCW's Bash At The Beach 1996 Pay-Per-View. Eric Bischoff wanted Hulk to turn his back on the fans and go heel, something which must have taken a lot of back-and-forth thought for Hogan. In the end, he went through with it. 'The Outsiders', Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were locked in battle opposite Randy Savage, Sting and Lex Luger. When Luger went down with a storyline injury, Hall and Nash started to dominate. Later in the bout, Hulk Hogan emerged, and the announcers theorised that he must be there to drive off the invading forces killing WCW's troops. The complete opposite happened, and Hulk dropped his patented Legdrop on Savage. Incredibly, fans cheered, but more out of utter disbelief than anything else. The subsequent promo 'The Hulkster' cut helped form the New World Order faction, and made him more relevant than he had been for months. This is one heel turn few could claim to see coming.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
