12 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 2003
5. Mr. America Was Latter Day WCW Bad
William Regal once remarked mid-Invasion angle that "the nonsense that goes on over there is unbelievable". The then Commissioner was referring to WCW, and he knew fine well how much "nonsense" that company nurtured. Had Regal waited a wee bit longer, then he would've been saying the same things about WWE. They brought latter day WCW home with them in 2003.
Hulk Hogan debuted his Mr. America gimmick on the 1 May '03 SmackDown as part of Piper’s Pit after several weeks of vignettes. The crummy character was a means to circumvent Vince McMahon firing Hulk after their WrestleMania XIX match, but it was horrible. Everyone looked like idiots for going along with it, then WWE booked America vs. Piper at Judgment Day.
That was an abomination WCW in 2000 would’ve been ashamed of. It didn't belong on PPV.
Nothing about the Mr. America experiment worked. Heels were forced to look like total tools for trying to rip the hood off Hogan like they were in some wrestling-themed Scooby Doo episode, McMahon's lie detector skit with Hulk fell flat, and his matches under the guise proved to be bloody terrible. Like...worse than even some of Hogan's poorest before falling out with Vince Russo in the summer of 2000.
This was a low point in the binging sessions for 2003 SmackDown, to be blunt. It's crazy that icons like Hulk (who'd been on top form during his comeback tour in 2002) and Roddy Piper produced some of the dirt worst television of the year, but they did. This wasn't what WWE fans wanted from Hulkamania, and that's crystal clear when watching back today.