4. With Hogan, Comes Pettiness And Controversy
Hogan is not limited to controversy with his famous exits, being no stranger to controversy in other parts of his career too. Most famously over the years he has become synonymous with being bad for business, notably in his stubborn refusal to put over younger talent. An early example of Hogan hogging the spotlight came when he faced off against Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6 in a match dubbed the "Ultimate Challenge." Hogan was set to leave to do a movie and the Ultimate Warrior was hand picked as his high profile successor. Whether he deserved it or not is an argument for another day, but the stage was set at WrestleMania for Hogan to "pass the torch" to the Warrior. Hogan did his job on the night but later admitted that he intentionally set out to steal the spotlight from Warrior. After being pinned, Hogan made sure he made a big deal out of handing the belt over to Warrior in defeat, making sure the attention was on him. This past year Hogan also claimed that he had always wanted to wrestle the match heel. In truth, he'll say anything to rewrite history to suit his own needs. In WCW, Hogan knew his act was getting old and so latched himself onto the coolest thing going, which was the ultra hot N.W.O angle at the time. Incidentally, Hogan is trying it again now he is out of a job, jumping on the N.W.O indie bandwagon suggesting that he could again rule the world with Hall, Nash and X-Pac in their current successful indie run. During that initial N.W.O run, Hogan used his political power within the company to hire some of his less talented friends and make sure they had prominent roles within the company. This resulted in lesser talented zeroes diluting the impact of the N.W.O with nobodies like Brutus Beefcake, Mike Rotunda and even his talentless nephew Horace Hogan joining the ranks over time. After a few years of renewed popularity, WCW was waning again, with Hogan still taking up more airtime than he probably should have. During the aforementioned Russo incident, it came to light that Hogan had a clause in his contract affording him complete creative control over his character, including being able to decide who he did (or more frequently didn't) lose to. He and his pals used this clause to go against the ethos of the business, which was that the veterans would make the young guys look better and eventually step aside and let them past. Instead these veterans were afforded a reign of terror where they could refuse any creative situation that was put on the table. After his 2003 run with WWE ended in controversy, Hogan returned for a major showdown in an "Icon vs Legend" match against Shawn Michaels. Initially the stage was set for a major face vs face match to decide who was the better man between the two. Until Hogan started throwing his weight around. He decided he instead wanted a heel vs face programme in which he would overcome all the odds and win in the end. Why? Because it always has to be all about him. What resulted was some of the most memorable work Shawn Michaels had done since his return in 2002. Hogan seemingly didn't know what he was asking for in a heel Shawn as HBK tore him apart in the buildup to the match, most famously in a skit where he dressed up as Hogan himself. Then in the match itself, Shawn oversold everything that Hogan did in an effort to make him look ridiculous. Shawn was supposed to get a win back down the line, but it never came about of course. The following night on Raw, Shawn cut a promo sarcastically praising Hogan for winning. So as not to ignore his TNA run completely, let us not forget his embarrassingly self important storyline with Abyss, in which he believed that Hulk Hogan's Hall of Fame ring infused him with the power to beat opponents. Not only a massive sign of Hogan's inflated sense of self importance, it was a blatant indication that TNA were the minor leagues, given that one of their star performers was more impressed with a WWE ring. And speaking of rings, selfish Hogan thought he knew better and got rid of one of TNA's most unique features because he couldn't wrap his head around a six-sided ring. When met with a chant of "We Want Six Sides" after replacing the ring, Hogan responded, "Ya had it and it only got ya so far, now we're taking it all the way jack!" Three years later, Hogan is gone and TNA is worse off than it ever was and rumoured to be reinstating the six sided ring in the near future. Plus, he insisted on introducing his daughter to TNA storylines. And not just any storyline, the main event story with Bully Ray and Aces and Eights in place of another deserving TNA knockout. If that doesn't prove he's selfish and oblivious, I dunno what does. With these controversies amongst a litany of others both in and out of the ring, is it really worth it to bring Hogan back? WWE for the most part is running smoothly these days and the last thing they need is a s**t stirring "veteran" returning to upset morale. Hogan and his fan base would argue that those days are behind him, but for me it's an argument I've heard every time I've seen him return only to be proven right again and again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnZcOVA6Sb0