Ranking 10 WWE Matches That Turned Wrestlers Into Superstars
1. Hulk Hogan Vs. The Iron Sheik - Madison Square Garden TV Taping
23 January 1984: The day Hulkamania first ran wild. Going into Madison Square Garden, the most high-profile match Hulk Hogan had participated in was against Sylvester Stallone in Rocky III. But in the "real world" of wrestling, Hogan was practically a nobody when he went toe-to-toe with The Iron Sheik for the WWE Championship.
At the time, Hogan had few of the accoutrements that generations of wrestling fans would forever associate with the legend. There was no bandana. No "Real American" theme song. Just a bleached-blonde underdog with little chance of overcoming the Iranian heel who'd ended Bob Backlund's near six year reign as champion.
Behind the scenes, Vince McMahon wanted Backlund to drop the belt directly to Hogan, as a passing of the torch. Backlund refused, and the Sheik was used as a transitional champ. Which clearly worked out fine.
Every reasonable spectator assumed Hogan was going to fall to the Sheik. And when the Sheik strapped on his notorious, back-breaking, match-ending Camel Clutch, you can hear the air go out of the crowd, like they all mumbled "oh crap" under their breath at the same time.
When Hulk somehow broke free the energy was electric. And when he dropped the big leg and got the pin? Absolute pandemonium. It was the sound of Hogan's overwhelming, suffocating popularity sprinting out of the gate.