7 Exact Times Wrestlers Got Their Spot TAKEN

3. Hulk Hogan > Triple H (WWF WrestleMania 18)

The Rock Hollywood Hogan
WWE

The best (or at least the most effective) wrestlers are those who are able to make it look simple. 

Triple H went down with a torn quadricep muscle on May 21, 2001, in the midst of an all-time great TV match alongside Steve Austin against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Triple H had peaked as a heel, and, having earned the respect of the fans through an extraordinary 18 month run, was positioned to return as the top babyface. The WWF hype machine pushed its processing power to the very limit by documenting Triple H’s long and arduous recovery process in video packages played on Raw. Triple H had winced through an agonising injury to complete the classic tag match. He had worked for months to come back in even better shape for you, the fans. He made his comeback in what was then the most boisterous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden, on January 7, 2002. The ECW/WCW Invasion was dreadful, but fear not: the best wrestler in the land was back, and you were permitted to adore him. Hulk Hogan scooped his heat by flexing his trapezius muscle in a pose that lasted all of a few seconds. 

There’s obviously more to it than that - the fans at WrestleMania 18 were high on nostalgia and immortal star power, ecstatic that their childhood hero had returned after a nine year-long lifetime - but March 17, 2002 was still a damning indictment of Triple H, who never became a truly beloved top star babyface even when Hogan was no longer around. 

At ‘Mania 18, in the most effective masterclass in wrestling psychology this century, Hogan surfed that wave with his expert body language to become possibly the most over man in any building ever. Triple H, meanwhile, simply did not have the magic or the dynamism or the soul to even approach a comparable level of performance: his Undisputed title win over Chris Jericho was a crushing, flat bore of a main event. 

At the very next pay-per-view, Hogan defeated Triple H for the belt. The match was awful and the magic had waned instantly - Hogan lost the title to the Undertaker in less than a month - but Triple H didn’t get the spot back, either. He turned heel ahead of a SummerSlam match against Shawn Michaels, a role he subsequently played for four more years. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK 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 AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and 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!