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WRESTLING COLUMNS

Travesty In The Hall Of Fame
April 2, 2005 by Nick Pyle

As WrestleMania 21 nears, I felt that someone should say something on why "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan should not be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

First of all, HE CAN'T WRESTLE!!!!!! He was probably one of the worst talents ever hired by WWE or WCW. Big boots, punches, body slams and a leg drop were all the moves in his repertoire. It almost made me sick when I saw this balding man puff out his cheeks and violently shake himself to "Hulk-up" and mount a comeback against his opponent. I just recently watched Bloodbath: Wrestling's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches and the Dusty Rhodes/Ric Flair match at Great American Bash 1986 was absolutely superb. I can safely say that even though Dusty was a little overweight, he could take Hogan TO SCHOOL in a wrestling match. Even at 6'2'' and a little north of 300 pounds Dusty would take more physical moves in one match than Hogan would take in fifty. How many times have you seen Hulk Hogan get slammed off the top turnbuckle" Or on the top turnbuckle" How many times have you seen Hogan in a match lasting longer than 30 minutes" 20 minutes"

Secondly, his career lasted WAY, WAY too long. If he had retired after the King of the Ring 1993 after he lost the WWF Championship to Yokozuna, my opinions wouldn't quite be so harsh. But, by going to WCW and turning heel, Hogan lost a lot of the fans respect (not mine, I hated him as face too). WCW pretty much ruined the somewhat decent career Hogan had in WWF. I would have rather watched a match involving Sting, Buff Bagwell, Lex Luger or any of the cruiserweights than watch Hogan almost trip over his own tongue in a seven-and-a-half minute match from fatigue. After returning back to the WWE in early 2002 as part as the nWo, Hogan was obviously well past his prime. His match at WrestleMania X-8 with The Rock was the icing on the cake. He was so bad that he almost made The Rock look bad. The slow-moving Hogan was now a worse performer in the ring then back in the 1990's. Sure the fans wanted to see "Icon vs. Icon" but not for over 16 minutes. The match should have lasted between 5 to 7 minutes, which could prove that Hogan still had a little something and wouldn't drag The Rock's reputation through the mud by almost losing to a 50 year old man. There is no way that a 50 something year old man could last 16 minutes against The Rock even if he was the legendary Hulk Hogan. I believe most people would have rather seen a Rock/Austin or even a Rock/Hall match at WrestleMania X-8 than see a wrinkled up, dinosaur named Hulk Hogan.

However, I will give credit where credit is due. Hogan did revolutionize what we know as wrestling today. Without him, the WWE may not even exist. The gimmick was great, he could cut a decent promo, but he couldn't wrestle himself out of a wet paper bag. (The fact that he has more WCW and WWF championships than Bret Hart, Sting, The Rock, Triple H and Harley Race is a shame)

Finally how can "The Immortal" (I hope not) Hulk Hogan get inducted into the Hall of Fame before such legends as Bret "Hitman" Hart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Macho Man" Randy Savage and perhaps the worst of all RIC FLAIR" Just because Flair is still on the active roster doesn't mean he can't get inducted into the Hall of Fame. I know many of you may think that Flair, like Hogan, is over the hill and past his prime and I agree. But I am willing to bet my replica WWF Championship belt autographed by Bret "Hitman" Hart that Flair could put together a better match with a superstar with a few years experience (Maven, Shelton Benjamin and Randy Orton come to mind) than Hogan could have had in his prime against a wrestler who was even more experienced than himself.

In conclusion, I hope to have enlightened a few wrestling fanatics with my column and not pissed off the majority.

by Nick Pyle ..

Nobody Nobody wrote:
First of all, only retired wrestlers get inducted into the Hall of Fame so if Ric Flair retired at 1994 or so he would have been inducted at maybe 2003 or 2004. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this but Bret Hart really has a small chance of getting inducted into the hall of fame, but I heard he was on good terms with Vince. Anyway, was Ernie Ladd a good wrestler, no, he got inducted because he did a lot for the company. Look at today's John Cena, he's not a good wrestler yet many people cheer him" Why, well they like him and can cut good promos, I don't really like him by the way. Hogan did a lot for the company, sold a lot of tickets, lifted the mighty Andre the Giant. You don't have to be good at wrestling to be a legend, you don't even have to wrestle to be a wrestling legend. Look at Jimmy Hart, Vince McMahon Sr. Oh one more thing, the Rock was'nt even that good a wrestler and you're complaining cause his career lasted way too long, dude, look at Ric Flair. Those wrestlers you mentioned will probably be inducted in the near future. Oh, and I believe he does a clothesline. I am a fan who looks beyond wrestling ability and handsome looks, I look at their contribution to the business. Call me a mark if you want but this is my opinion. He also put over many wrestlers: The Rock, Ultimate Warrior, Kurt Angle, Triple H. Everyone needs to turn heel once in a while or face. So that's my opinion. Whacha Gonna Do Brother, if They Induct Hulk Hogan into the Hall of Fame!!!!!!

PHILIP (Germany) wrote:
first of all i�d like to say that i totally do respect all of your opinions according to every issue or article that has ever been written so far.

But when i read the recent articles (especially this one here) i just wanted to point out my point of view about this and thoose very "headbreaking" issues. I grew up with wrestling and i became a fan of it due to the wrestling boom in germany starting in the early 90�s. I remember collecting wwf�s trading cards in 1991, that was when it all started. Since then, i got more and more into wrestling, and all the things that happen "behind the curtains"

As i already said, i respect all of your opinions, but in this case, when you (Mr. Nick Pyle) treated Hulk Hogans Hall of fame induction absolutely with no respect, and you even said that it better never should have happen. We�ll of course your arguments e.g. that Hogans wrestling abilities are very limited (i agree that he is a terrible wrestler), are undeniable. BUT you should never forget, that wrestling (in case of the WWE) is mainstream, and you cant deny that Hogan did a huge part to put wrestling there. Of course there are fans who do more like wrestling because of the entertaining things that happen around a wrestling show, such as backstage scenes, interviews etc. And there are also a lot of fans who like wrestling shows because of "Wrestling" well of course this should always be the main part of it, but it is a fact that thre are only a few people in this wonderful business, who are excellent entertainers and also perfect wrestlers, these two things combined in one person!", woooaaar i dont wanna think about it. There are overall small independent wrestling feds., which are serving way better matches and maybe even better wrestlers than WWE has got today. But when it comes to the show and the whole WOW effects, the WWE must focus a little more on the entertainment-abilities of their wrestlers, because thats why most of the poeple watch the WWE, because they want to get entertained, wether its more or less up to good porformed wrestling moves, than up to GOOD performed Characters and emotion-catching stories. Of course this does�nt mean that the WWE then also could hire brilliant actors instead of wrestlers, to perform and entertain the fans, but a little less of wrestling talent, on the other side covered with brilliant entertainment- and performing skills (like in Hogans case) should not make a fan who is obviously more into wrestling than into the entertainment things, disrespect and discredit the achievements of great personalities such as Hulk Hogan.

The other thing i just want to say a few things about is, the permanent critics about the WWE and its decisions and characters etc. The recent discussion about the anti islamic story(Muhammad Hassan) and that Vince is just trying to use the emotions of WWE�s fans about the whole patriotism and 9/11 NYC thing just seem redicilous to me. What the hell do you guys think Vince McMahon is" He�s a business man who�s running a multi billion dollar wrestling/entertainment company, who even was able to put his former biggest rival (WCW) out of business, we�ll who else of todays Big-Business guys can say that, of themself" And sure Vince could�nt finally just buy his rival, because of "so many big mistakes" that a lot of people say he is doing every day. Get this" Of course Vince�s descision can�t always accord to yours, but we all can be very very happy, that we dont got to run the WWE, I guess, if it was so, then the WWE would close their Gates very soon :) And at the end, i gotta say, that if Hassan will become as big as he could, ( no doubt of his talents, entertaining-and wrestling) in the end of his career nobody will boo him when he eventually gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, and nobody(including the patriotic amarican wwe fans) will remember him as the "Anti-American", than as the wonderful entertainer and wrestling-personality he was. I hope you understand these lines i wrote, and they do mean more to me, than you perhaps realize.

(and if there are maybe some grammatical mistakes, let me tell you that i am german, and i did my very best to write an article that can express my feelings about these things, which you can also understand:)

Erkka J�rvinen wrote:
I got to agree with you Pyle. Hogan was a crap wrestler and i got to wonder how in the hell he was so succesful. I mean he sucked at wrestling, he sucked at movies and only thing he had was charisma and that should not take someone so far. I understand that hogan was the guy who drew people to watch WWF but why they didnt realise after three or four months watching that there were better guys!

Joe L. wrote:
The problem with Hulk Hogan is not the fact that he won the World titles numerous times but the WAY he won them. Like you said, Hogan revolutionized the industry with a gimmick that turned the WWF into a billion-dollar conglomerate but at the same time, Hogan had an ego so enormously large his head couldn't contain it. Although I can't say that he doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, he should be in the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments from 1984-1991, not for what happened afterwards. I agree with his in-ring talent that's somewhat questionable (snickers) but you forget to bring up the real flaw behind Hogan as a human being: a self-served, egotistical prick of a character. How do I know this" It's all in my next article. Read it and you'll see why

Highlyevolved80 wrote:
I know everyone has a right to their opinion, but you are way off on this column. I am guessing you are a newer fan who was not around to witness Hulkamania in it's prime first hand. Hogan may not have a repetoire of fancy wrestling moves, but he has a look, a charisma and an energy about him that only comes once in a lifetime. All you have to do is take a look at the ovation this man gets every time he makes an apperance and it's clear that Hulk Hogan is revered and respected by wrestling fans world-wide. I would rather watch Ric Flair or Bret Hart wrestle any day, but the fact is, Bret Hart never got a 10 minute standing ovation just for walking down and standing in the ring in front of his fans. From 1985 - the early 90's, if you ask any non-wrestling fan to name a wrestler, the first name that pops into there head is Hogan. Hogan is an icon and a legend and there is no doubt that he deserves his place in the WWE hall of fame.

Thomas Daley wrote:
You seem to be forgetting one very important thing that Hogan was able to do that Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger, Randy Savage, Terry Funk, Roddy Piper, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Hall, The Giant, Goldberg, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, Bob Backlund, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, & Triple H couldn't do. --- That's beat Kevin Nash and win the world title with just one finger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that take's strength, only the python's could pull that one off, Brother!!!!!

Brendan Rhyno wrote:
I think plain and simpe Hulk Hogan should be inducted into the hall of fame simply because of his gimmick he had that made wwf/e alot of money, and gave them fame in the mid 80's early 90's. I think he sucked horribly at wrestling and is even worse now, but because of what he did for wwf/e fame wise he should be inducted.

RuthlessGattman wrote:
First off, I'll be the first to say I HATE Hogan. I feel that in recent years he is the most undeserving character. However, I don't hate him for his wrestling ability. I know he was around during a time when fast-paced matches wern't around and it was mostly big man vs. big man. I do admit he deserves the Hall of Fame spot, because, whether people like it or not, he DID bring wrestling to an all-time high. He's accomplished more for wrestling that no other has with the exception of Rock and Austin. Hogan does deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Anthony Mcmullen wrote:
I think Hulk Hogan is a dirty, filthy, disgusting, attention hungry, trash bag co (The magic words ho) as hulk has become a hall of famer before the great Bret the hitman hart (superstar Billy graham I feel sorry for you as you have teamed up with him before)

TwistedArachnid wrote:
While I respect your oppinion, I feel you're wrong to say Hulk Hogan shouldn't be in the hall of fame. He made wrestling in the big time and helped pave the way for the wrestlers of today. I wasn't that big of a Hulk-a-maniac, but I got into his older matches. He was the American hero back in the old days. He could get you pumped up by waving the flag around and standing up against a heel and showing them what America was. You mention how he went heel, I think that was great. It showed he wasn't in it for the glory and fame, fans booed him when the NWO formed. Hulk Hogan pulled off the heel part very well in the NWO. While he may not have the flying leaps and stuff, remember another thing. He's an oldskool wrestler. Back then, they didn't do that stuff, their matches consisted of slams, punches, and clotheslines. Also, Hulk Hogan has gone off the top before, he did an double axe handle. Also, if you'd like to see how much Charisma he has, watch the tape of him showing up on Smackdown once, the fans erupted with cheers for him. So while he may not be the best wrestler technically, or do daring moves off the top, he made wrestling what it is today. He got the fans involved in it, whether he was a face going against The Sheik, or a heel facing Sting, the crowd got into it. Without him, a lot of the stars today wouldn't be as big as they are now. He put over Sting, he put over The Rock, he put over Angle, he fueded with the Ultimate Warrior, he put over The Undertaker who was still pretty new when he won the title if you remember...So while he may not have the best moves, the point is, he entertained. You say about Savage not being in the Hall of Fame, but personally I didn't get into Savages matches too well. We all know why Bret Hart will probably never be in the Hall of Fame, Vince screwed him. Flair is a horrible wrestler in my oppionion, he does the same thing over and over.

Bill Tyrrell wrote:
Pyle, you my friend are not to smart, because you can't understand what Hulk Hogan means to wrestling, if it was not for Hulk Hogan, guarntee you that wrestling wouldn't be as popular as it is today, because Hogan literally made wrestling what it is today, and that is the facts brother man, Hulk Hogan is wrestling...As far as your stupid ass comments about Flair, shut up, Flair has about as much wrestling ability as my nuts, here is everyone of Flair's matches for 30 years, Chop in the corner about 200 times, oh throw to the corner, oh no Flair is reversed flip upside down, runs along the ring apron clothesline by his opponent, then some more chops, then chop block to the knee, the he works the leg for a couple of minutes, figure 4 lock, about 2 minutes into that it is reversed, then some more chops, and another chop block, figure 4 again, about one minute in tap out...At least Hogan was fun to watch, at least he actually did some moves that were entertaining, as Flair's matches were like watching paint dry, though I think the paint drying might be more entertaining, and Hogan did have very good wrestling ability, Vince is the one that turned him into the Hulkster, because of his incredible size, go watch some tapes of him AWA you can see his wrestling ability there...The of this post is get your facts straight before you go popping your mouth off at something you know nothing about...

Joe Schofield wrote:
Ok first off why shouldn't the biggest name in the history of professional wrestling be inducted into the WWE hall of fame" I really truly understand your point on Hulk Hogan's Wrestling skills, but that's beyond the point, he put the butts in the seats, and he is the most popular and well known professional wrestler of all time. Now we move into 1996 and his WCW run and his heel turn with the NWO. The NWO my friend was the sole reason WCW took the lead on the WWE in 96 and won the Monday Night War for 84 weeks in a row! Hulk Hogan needed to turn heel and change with the times. In 1996 people were booing the "Say your prayers and eat your vitamins." Hulk Hogan. So Eric Bischoff and Hogan decided to turn Hogan's character heel and the rest is history. Now my friend I'll move on to 2002 and the "Icon VS. Icon" match against The Rock at WMX8. You stated that you thought most people would have rather seen ANOTHER Rock/Austin match (that would've been the same thing as the year before and their 3rd Wrestlemania match in four years) or a Rock/Hall match(the Hall/Austin match that night was no classic). Now being in the crowd that night I am DAMN sure that 68,000 plus wanted to see Hogan/Rock, cause that was by far the loudest reaction of the night, people were losing their minds! Rock was being booed out of the building and I will say that is the ultimate biggest crowd reaction I have ever seen in my life! So take this for what it's worth, but Hulk Hogan is 51 years old, can't wrestle himself out of a "wet paper bag" and yet still I bet he would bring in more crowds, more money and more prosperity for the WWE than HHH or anyone they have on staff right now. That may be sad, but my friend it's true. Hulk Hogan is the biggest legend in the HISTORY of the WWE or any other wrestling company BAR NONE, and there is NOBODY who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame more.

Jason "XTremefalls" Simmons wrote:
First of Hogan deserves to be in the hall of fame but I think the way to they had him enter was an insult to Jimmy Hart, Iron Sheik, Orton, Mr. Wonderful, Volkoff, and Piper they were all just after thoughts, I mean it was ridiculous. Hogan should have been the only person cause that's the only one the WWE promoted, Piper a little bit and even Orton but that's just because Randy Orton was wrestling the Undertaker, Piper was doing the Pit with Austin. I feel really bad for the 6 wrestlers who were pretty much screwed. Also Hogan is a piece of crap who really doesn't care about the fans anymore and just cares about himself, I think people forget he held down wrestlers, held Vince Hostage at Wrestlemania 9 threating not to show if he didn't get the title at the end of the night. All I'm saying Hogan helped Wrestling but needs to go off in the sun set or change his attitude towards wrestling. Just remember he is the same guy who walked out of the WWE 2 years in a row.

[email protected] wrote:
First of all, I have no problem with you having an opinion.

Secondly, so what if Hogan couldnt/cant wrestle" There are a lot of wrestlers who can't wrestle that well that make up for it in mic skills or suck at both and have held a World championship. Goldberg, Triple H, JBL, David Arquette (sp") come to mind. Back then, wrestling wasnt about being the best wrestler ever or having great ring skills. You could have no wrestling talent what-so-ever and most likely still become a World Champion, as long as you could catch the crowd.

Thirdly, you complain about Hogan being inducted before the HArts, Perfect, ect., yet you didn't complain about PETE ROSE being inducted before those wrestlers. So what if he was inducted into the "Celebrity" Wing.

Fourthly, Hogan turning Heel was a HUGE mark in the wrestling industry. Without The NWO, we may have not seen DX or DX invading WCW or an Attitude Era as great as we had. Hogan was the biggest name in wrestling and still is in my opinion, and doing something so un-thought of, something so different as to making Hogan the BAD guy was GENIUS.

Fifthly, Flair would have to be equally as bad or worse at wrestling than Hogan because he does the same stuff every match-Chop, Chop, take a back toss, punch the air, fall on face, low blow, figure four and win or get hit with finisher and lose. Not in that order though. HOWEVER, just like Hogan, Flair makes up for his bad ring skills with his MIC skills.

Sixthly, for those who are upset that Hogan was put into the HOF before Bret Hart or someone else-Who cares" I mean, Pete Rose was inducted before Bret Hart but you dont complain about that. Also, how do we know where Bret and Vinces relationship stands at right now" How do we know that Bret doesnt want to be inducted into the HOF" How do we know Vince isnt ready to do that" If you dislike Hogans induction because of him getting inducted before _______, then you are stupid.

Finally, I will agree that Hogan is very limited in ring skills and had/has a big ego, but he did something that less than 10 other wrestlers, in my eyes, could do-revolutionize the wrestling industry. Also, the reason the WM X-8 match between Hogan/Rocky wasnt that good to you because it was great to me was because Hogan was ill. If you read his book, I believe he said he had a cold. And by the way, what other wrestler could come in a wrestling promotion as a bad guy, nail the biggest or one of the biggest faces in the company in the back of the head with a hammer, drive a semi truck into an ambulance containing aforementioned wrestler, get the fans to boo Rocky at the biggest wrestling event of them all, and get cheered at aforementioned event" The only one that springs to mind is The Immortal, The Hulkster, Hulkamania, Hulk Hogan!

CMax wrote:
If there was no Hogan, there would be no wrestling today. It is that simple. Hogan drew the most money when money need to be drawn. Hogan is the most important name in WWF/E history for what he did for them. Hogan was instumental in getting WCW on the map. Hogan - is - wrestling - period.

Back in the day when Hogan broke into the business, what he did was phenominal - he wasn't just all punch, kick, boot, legdrop. Hogan could move, Hogan COULD wrestle, and all things considered, Hogan could fly. By the time high flying moves and slams off the toop turnbuckle really made their impact into the world of wrestling, time had taken it's toll on Hulk. BUT, as fans, merchandise/ticket sales, tv spots, etc have proven, Hulk didn't need to fly. Hulk didn't need to do anything more than Boot/Leg Drop. Hulk just had to be - that's it

Is Hogan great compared to today's standards" No. You need to research the era when he was great, and find the reason he was great - not just go, "Oh he sucks".

Next time you write a column, check the records and actually see what the wrestler you are writing about has accomplished and what he means to the business.

Again, without Hulk Hogan; there would be no professional wrestling

Derek wrote:
I must admit, Hogan does not have the greatest wrestling talent in the world of professional wrestling. Also, I have heard plenty of bad things about his rep in the lockerroom.

However, he is in the HOF for one reason. HE SAVED PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING. That's right. Who had all the charisma" Hogan. Who knew how to conduct an interview" Hogan. Who knew how to get the pops" Hogan. No Hogan, no wrestling today. Plain and simple.

Giovanti wrote:
First and for most I need to say I feel ya kid I'm not a Hogan fan by any stretch of the imagination. I would also like to say that I am not niave and realize that without Hogan the big boom that we have with wrestling today MIGHT not be possible. I want to emphasize this point M-I-G-H-T not be possible. In my opinion, and I could be wrong, but Hogan was just in the right place at the right time and as much as it burns me I have to deal with it. My reasons for not liking hogan is simple I am a technical wrestling fan I love wrestlers that can actually wrestle I mean that is what it is advertised as right. And anyone who has seen a Hogan match has to agree with me here the man can not wrestle. He has about 10 to 15 moves that he uses and they are mostly punches, chops, kicks, poses, and taunts. It's absolutely ridiculous, I mean seriously if one of use had a job for over 20 years we would know all the ins and outs of our job, and after that amount of time if we couldn't perform the basic job functions we would be fired. So it is absolutly absurd that Hogan, with the obvious wealth of experience that he has in the buisness, doesn't know the difference between a drop toe hold and a russian leg sweep. Furthermore what does that say about his feelings toward us the fans... think about it we are there to see WRESTLING and he knows he can't but he never tried to learn over his 20+ years of wrestling because he is doing the same exact stuff. That tell me that he could care less about us just as long as he gets $$$$$. And to all those people who will counter this point by saying but Hogan isn't like that he was inlovled in the make a wish foundation and told us to say our prayers, train and eat our vitamins... cold hard facts that is what is called a gimmick in wrestling. He was told to say and do those things anyone with half a brain could see that. Another valid point while we are on the point of $$$$$$$. If he cared about the fans so much why leave and lose his job to make the Rocky movie... survey says to put more money in his pocket. I begging someone to tell me how this helped wrestling because he left/ got fired from wrestling so he could go shot the movie. Now back to another point Hogans lack of concern for those he works with. I do not feel that hogan truly cares for those he works with. Why you might ask... well simply put if he did why would he force them to work twice as hard in the ring to carry him and then not allow them the gratification of the win and then if they did he would throw a tissy fit back stage. Why do you think the older wrestlers that worked with Hogan couldn't stand him prime example Kevin Nash and Scott Hall whom worked with him when the NWO came to WWE they got furious with him because it was suppose to be about the unit and then he went behind their backs and talked up a deal to fight the rock and do his own thing while leaving them out in the cold. You know I really loved the promos Shwn Micheals did about and portraying Hogan before summerslam because he brought up a lot of good points if anyone saw them they know what I'm talking about but that was a complete and total travesty that they let Hogan beat HBK. Because we all know HBK is on a whole nother level he truly is, to steal an old gimmick, the total package. He is magic... on the microphone he can make you die laghing when you are supposed to hate or evoke such emotion that you FEEL exactly what he means, and when it comes to stepping in the ring there are very few in the world that can touch him. He has carried more big name stars than a wwe tour bus and has accomplished more in the ring than most wrestlers could even dream of accomplishing but back to the story at hand. O yeah and if you think hogan came back because we wanted one more match I have a time machine that I am selling for 10,000 call me. Hogan came back to promote his show "Hogan Knows Best". Think about it he comes back right before the premier of the show and the first couple of weeks he is back that is all he talks about. Yet again another fine example of Hogans Shameless exploitation of others. Why do you think most guys watch Hogan Knows best" Because of Brook who just so happens to be hogans daughter. Got another question, why do you think most girls watch the show" Give up... survey says his son. This is what you call exploitation no one is watching the show because of Hogan himself they have there own reasons to watch. Last but not least before I wrap this up I have to touch on the ego bit. Could someone please explain to me why there was a ban on people talking about hulks obvious balding issue" Lets see from a PR point of view wouldn't that issue help to pull in that demographic to wrestling. Or maybe it would send the message that even though i'm losing my hair i'm still tough. But no Hogan was far to egotistical for him to allow someone to point out his short comings so mentioning his hairloss became a no fly zone. Hogan is lucky, he is extremly fortunate, but one thing he is not is a great wrester and for that I do not like him. He is an insult to all those who truly love wrestling because he is only a showman, he is the bells and whistles of wrestling no more no less. Hulk Hogan gets you to turn your head and look while everyone else busts there butts to keep you there. He gets all the glory while all those around him take all the risk and it's sad that we have allowed aour selves to be fooled by his charade. This is my plea to all of you do not allow yourself to be fooled into supporting no talent wrestlers like Heidenrich, Snitsky, Viscera, Sylvain Grenier and Tomko who are the current Hogan types(wrestlers who can't do there jobs) Support the people who can get it done in the ring i.e. Shelton Benjamin, Paul London, The Hurricane and Rob Conway (love Conway or hate him The man can wrestle). If you have the answers to any of my questions or have any comments bring it on ([email protected])

Jon Goordman wrote:
I am not going to argue with you that Hulk Hogan is/was not the most technically gifted wrestler around. In fact, being a huge Hogan fan from my childhood I am often pained by watching a man I Idolized struggle through matches. However, you are wrong in saying that he could never wrestle. If you have a chance, take a look at some of his early matches. Especially matches from Japan, I think you'll see that the man did have some technical ability. He even used some "aerial" moves. I don't think a man like Hiro matsuda would have let him go on if he did'nt know his way around the ring at least a little bit.

That being said, I Not only watch wrestling for good athletic and technical contests. I watch to be entertained. Do you think guys like The Rock, Mick Foley, Steve Austin, and The Undertaker are legends because of their wrestling ability" Not to say they have none, but they are'nt exactly technical wizards either, they are damn entertaining though.

That is why one day they should all be in the hall of fame.

If I wanted a pure technical contest I would watch amateur wrestling. That is why Hulk is so important to the business, he brought main stream appeal to wrestling with his charisma. A lot of guys who are technically sound don't have an ounce of charisma. Chris Benoit has just started to entertain me the past few years, Shelton Benjamin is a great worker but I don't want to hear him on the mic. Guys like Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Christian, Chris Jericho, and ( to a lesser extent) Triple H- (asshole) have combined the two. Ric Flair is considered a technical master, I however don't think he is that great technically, a lot of his matches seem the same. He is another guy with a lot of charisma though.

As far as Hogan's politicking, it hurts me just as much as it angers a lot of other people. However you can't tell me that other guys, a lot of the ones I just mentioned in fact, did'nt do the same. Ric Flair- yep, Steve Austin- yep, Undertaker- yes, Triple H and Shawn Michaels- HELL YES!!

In conclusion, don't let anger or disgust cloud your judgment. Look at all Hulk Hogan has done for the wrestling business ans you'll hopefully see that he deserves to be in the hall of fame just as much as any other person. Thank you.

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