Let's forget Hogan vs. Warrior Round 2, and focus on the real deal. There's just something about babyface vs. babyface matches that have always intrigued me. It's probably the fact that it makes it much harder to predict whose going to win. While Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, or Hogan vs. Savage are classics, it's always been Warrior vs. Hogan that has remained my favorite WrestleMania match. As a kid it was too hard to choose between the WWF's two top babyfaces for The Ultimate Challenge. They were my favorites, and were going to duel it out for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania VI. I just couldn't pick who I wanted to see walk out with the gold. It was like watching Luke Skywalker and Han Solo duke it out. Without seeing the pay-per-view, it took days to find out that Warrior won. I eventually got a hold of a VCR tape of the match, and watched it multiple times. It was everything I'd hoped for and then some. Years later, when I realized that the fight wasn't legitimate, I could still appreciate the bout for what it was. Pat Patterson booked the match perfectly. The test of strength, the double clothesline, and the missed Guillotine Legdrop were all brilliantly staged. The crowd was electric, the atmosphere was amazing and each man put on one of the best performances of their career. Watching Hulk Hogan lose clean was absolutely stunning, as we had never seen it during his entire babyface run to that point. I didn't even really think it was possible at that age. It felt like a passing of the torch moment (which didn't exactly happen later), and Warrior legitimately looked thrilled with his victory. It was wrestling at it's best, and a classic match for the ages.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
