How Good Was Hulk Hogan Actually?

Hogan’s wrestling career is filled with moments that are a vital part of wrestling folklore. Every wrestler who signs for WWE is hell-bent on having a WrestleMania moment. The very concept of that comes from Hulk body slamming Andre in front of screaming fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987. It is WWE’s everlasting David and Goliath moment.

Hulkster also played his part in establishing WrestleMania as a spectacle in its first edition. Hogan wrote the book on 'Mania’s obsession with mainstream celebrities by teaming with Mr. T to face Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff, and his constant presence on MTV and talk shows established it as the WWF's flagship event.

For those slightly younger, Hogan and Warrior collapsing in a heap after their double-clothesline at WrestleMania VI is another classic moment for the ages.

Hogan’s lineage on the grand stage continued at WrestleMania X8 as he began the night working his villainous Hollywood character, but the audience refused to play ball. Hulk had to go full red and yellow in the match, and when he started 'Hulking Up' The Rock could do nothing but panic with every futile punch he landed. It got one of the hottest crowd reactions in wrestling history, which really does show how Hogan could create emotion in a way so few have ever achieved.

It often gets overlooked, but watch any of the episodes of Raw and SmackDown in the weeks after 'Mania X8 - every arena gave a thunderous standing ovation, and people refused to let Hogan speak for 5-10 mins at a time. You would think this would become tedious, but the outpouring of love for the Hulkster coming home to the house he built (after nearly ending WWE during the 'Monday Night Wars'!), was superb stuff.

8/10