The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Of Hulk Hogan's Wrestling Career

1. ‘Hulkamania Is Here’

You can’t talk about Hulk Hogan’s positive moments without mentioning the one that launched his entire voyage.

Hogan defeating The Iron Sheik in January 1984 was effectively the christening of a new ship, launching it with a smashed bottle to the side. Hulk had returned to the WWF the previous month, saving former world champion Bob Backlund from a beatdown by the Wild Samoans. Backlund put Hogan over as a babyface, and he was off to the races a few weeks later.

At this stage, Hulk was already becoming a huge star, but he had yet to win a world championship. Once he captured the title – a title he would hold for more than four years – Hogan would become the talk of the professional wrestling world and a bona fide pop culture icon. Think of all the Wrestling Buddies, toys and other paraphernalia kids snapped up in the 80s.

It’s really not surprising this happened. As WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Hogan was front-and-center for the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Era as Vince McMahon pushed the company toward a national expansion, with Hulk becoming the face of the WWF. Even today, people over the age of 40 who don’t know the first thing about professional wrestling know exactly who Hulk Hogan is.

And it all launched with one leg drop on 23 January, 1984.