Ranking Who Was Really The Man In Wrestling Every Year 1990-2020

25. 1996 - Hulk Hogan

Austin Jericho
WWE.com

1996 was the year in which Hulk Hogan turned heel, toppled the monopoly of the company he built, and transformed from the lamest act in all of wrestling to front the coolest.

His work was still heavily reliant on carny schtick - which is a nice way of stating it was athletically appalling - but Hogan rarely gets enough credit for subverting his act in the ring as intelligently as he did outside of it.

Those matches were still emotionally intense affairs - but, where the WWF fans lived and died with him in the ring, it was of incredible importance to WCW fans that he lost.

That they were willing to put themselves through it every week is key to what a phenomenally effective heel he was.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!