8 WWE World Title Changes That Were Going To Happen (But Didn't)

4. Bret Hart Defeating Hulk Hogan - SummerSlam 1993

Batista 2014
WWE.com

When Hulk Hogan somehow emerged from WrestleMania IX as the WWF Champion, Bret Hart fans were left aghast at how this could possibly have happened. After all, Hogan was booked in a middle-of-the-card tag bout with BFF Brutus Beefcake against Money Inc. at the 1993 edition of the Showcase of the Immortals - while Hart was defending the company's biggest prize against Mr. Fuji's Yokozuna in the main event of the PPV.

Still, in typical Hogan fashion, the Hulkster would bizarrely leave 'Mania as a five-time WWF Champ.

The one silver lining of this for Hitman fans, was that tentative plans were for Hulk to lose the title to Bret later that year at SummerSlam. By Hart getting a win over Hogan, that would only further cement Bret Hart as 'the guy' and serve as a proverbial passing of the torch.

Of course, the big problem here is that Hulk Hogan once again decided that he wasn't quite prepared to let that torch go, and thus the Hulkster soured on the idea of dropping the WWF Championship to Bret. And not just at SummerSlam '93, for Hogan was against losing to Hart, period.

So much so, Hulk would only wrestle one more televised match with the company - losing the title to Yokozuna at June's King of the Ring PPV - before departing the then-WWF and eventually signing with Ted Turner's WCW, brother.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.