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Hulk Hogan: Greatest Wrestler Ever, Part 2
April 14, 2006 by Terry M.

Hello everybody, you may remember my first column about Hulk Hogan that was on OWW nearly two years ago. He has since returned for a brief time, and I believe that a Part Two is necessary to cover the rest of his career.

After looking like he'd be debuting in TNA, and wrestling a match in Japan in 2003, he suddenly disappeared again, other then having a small part in a Smackdown! Special 5th anniversary. A lot of people thought Hogan's career was for sure over, but they were wrong, and I was happy my prediction came through.

On February 28, 2005, the WWE announced that Hulk Hogan would be inducted into the Hall Of Fame. That is something that we all knew would happen. On April 2nd, 2005, Hulk Hogan was officially inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame by Sylvester Stallone. When doing his speech, he got a overwhelming response, as nearly every fan was cheering and chanting "One More Match". All the wrestlers attending were on their feet for Hogan, clapping. Some getting every emotional - like The Big Show - and crying. This response gave you one thing for sure, he was one of the most -if not the- most popular wrestler ever.

At WrestleMania 2005, on April 3rd. Eugene came out to the ring, and was being attacked by Hassan and Davairi. Surprisingly, "Real American" played and Hulk Hogan came out and made the save! I was marking out like a school girl to say the least. This appeared to make way, for Hogan's "One More Match".

On April 11th, 2005. Shawn Michaels asked Hulk Hogan to be his partner to face Hassan and Davairi. This was it! He was finally going to have one last match! The next week, Shawn Michaels was facing Hassan but got attacked by Davairi. Hulk Hogan came down and made the save! The match was now pretty much set. The next week on Raw, it was confirmed, at Backlash Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels would team up to take on Davairi and Hassan.

At Backlash, on May 1st, 2005, the Tag Team match took place. Hulk Hogan didn't wrestle much of the match, as his hip was still messed up. The finish ended with Shawn Michaels giving the Sweet Chin Music to Davairi, and Hogan rolling him up for the pin. Many fans, were left, kind of like "Umm, that's it"!". We were expecting more, we were expecting the Leg Drop. But to me it didn't really matter that much, I got to see my favourite wrestler have one last match. Many though this was it for sure.

After over a months absence, Hogan made a surprising return and teamed with John Cena and Shawn Michael's to defeat Chris Jericho, Christian and Tyson Tomko. Afterwards, Hogan did his regular pose routine, who many went crazy for. The next week, Carlito Cool has Hulk Hogan on "Carlito's Cabana" to advertise his new TV Show. Kurt Angle interrupted, then Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels defeated Kurt Angle And Carlito Cool. After the match, Shawn Michaels turned heel and gave a Sweet Chin Music to Hulk Hogan!

Over the next few weeks, Shawn Michael's would impersonate Hogan in some quite hilarious skits. Eventually, Hogan met Shawn Michael's face to face and Hulk Hogan accepted his challenge to a match a Summer Slam.

At Summer Slam 2005, on August 21, 2005. Hulk Hogan defeated Shawn Michael's in a very good match, with his famous Atomic Leg Drop. This match's quality was a surprise to many. After the match, Michael's and Hogan shook hands. Thus ending the 5 month angle.

It pretty much looks right now that Hulk Hogan is about to go into retirement. Though at the WWE RAW Homecoming, on October 3 2005, Hulk Hogan challenged Steve Austin to a match. I'm sure this was supposed to happen at WrestleMania 22, but didn't end up happening. Most people think it will happen at WrestleMania 23.

On April 1st, 2006, the day before WrestleMania 22. Hulk Hogan inducted Mean Gene Okerland into the Hall Of Fame. Since then, Hogan has not been seen.

So there's part two of my column. Who knows, maybe next year, or in the next two years, their will be another column. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

by Terry M

James Watts wrote:
Did you also see at the Hall of Fame Ceremony that Austin said that he found a can of whoop-ass in his bag with HULK HOGAN'S NAME ON IT!" I foresee Austin v Hogan in the near future and I look forward to it.

Ritwik Bhuyan wrote:
First of all, Hulk Hogan is in no way the greatest wrestler ever. It will be safe to say that he is the greatest superstar ever. In fact, Hulk Hogan is considered to be one of the worst wrestlers ever. Yes, I said it. But Hogan had unbelievable charisma. It was his charisma and ability to connect with the fans that made the Hulk Hogan character a huge success. Everyone knows that the Hulk Hogan character was very instrumental in bringing the WWE into the spotlight. But on the other hand, he also played an instrumental role in killing WCW. Sure, there were many other factors too, but Hulk Hogan was a huge factor in WCW's death too. He used his creative power in full advantage to keep himself and his buddies on top, at the expence of other stars and the company itself. Sure he did bring success initially by bringing the NWO, but he was never prepared to elevate other talents later even when the NWO started getting stale. Like it or not, Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash were two of the main reasons for WCW's death. Even when he was in the WWE, he never was prepared to put over others in a clear finish. But untill then it was fine with his ego and politics because he also was a huge draw for the company. But after leaving the WWE and heading for WCW, he have been a poison for pro-wrestling. After killing WCW, he once again came back into the WWE. The only difference this time was that he did not have any creative power. This was the reason he jobbed to stars like Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Triple H, The Rock, etc. And look what he's doing lately. At Summerslam 2005, he once again used his creative power he got from Vince Mcmahon for appearing and getting inducted to the WWE Hall Of Fame 2005, to get a victory over the greatest worker possibly in WWE history, Shawn Michaels. Is there any justification for it " First of all, Shawn Michaels carried Hogan to possibly the best match he have had since Wrestlemania 9, and then Hogan made Michaels lay down for the pinfall by the Leg Drop. That match was basically a one man match with Hogan doing nothing and Michaels doing everything. Oh wait, Hogan did one thing though, posing for 10 minutes before the match and 15 minutes after the match. He might have helped the WWE till the steroid scandal took place, but since then he have been a "TOXID SUBSTANCE' for pro-wrestling, all beacuse of his arrogance and ego. Nobody can deny it. If he ever comes back again, he should change he gimmick from being 'A REAL AMERICAN' to 'THE NEWEST POISON OF PRO-WRESTLING'.

Justin Louviere wrote:
No way in hell is Hogan the best wrestler ever. Entertainer, mabye, but wrestler" God, no. I find it hard to beleive that anyone would say that Hogan's ring abilities surpass the likes of Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, and many others. The way I see it, John Cena and Hogan are about on the same level when it comes to ring ablilities.

Nick A. wrote:
I have recently read an article entitled "Hulk Hogan: Greatest Wrestler Ever, Part 2" posted on this site by a Mr. Terry M, and with no disrespect intended towards Mr. M, who's article was well written, I could not possibly disagree more with the content. Hulk Hogan in my opinion is NOT the greatest pro wrestler ever. Hulk Hogan was not even the greatest wrestler in WWF/E or even WCW for that matter. Wrestlers like Jericho, Benoit, Flair and Angle can wrestle circles around Hogan and they can go a lot longer than him too. Even in his prime, Hogan wasn't that good. Sure, he could go out and have a decent match, maybe even a good one, but nothing spectacular. In my opinion, Hogan owes his entire career to steroids, the creative genius of Vince McMahon, and, most importantly, luck. Vince turned Hogan from an AWA mid-carder into a WWF/E superstar simply because of his size and his notability after having a part in Rocky. Hogan's steroid use exploded in the WWF and his size along with backstage politics helped him stay at the top of the card. Hogan tried to leave pro wrestling for a career in acting around the time of the steroid scandal, but found Bischoff's WCW deal too sweet to pass up. Hogan was met with boo's at WCW even before his NWO heel turn because fans were tired of him. There was no where for a vitamin popping, milk-guzzling, prayer-saying, "Real American" has-been in the 1990s.

If you try to tell me that Hulk Hogan is the greatest wrestler ever, then you are also telling me that Lex Luger, Bill Goldberg, and the Ultimate Warrior are also the greatest wrestlers ever as well. Luger, Goldberg and Warrior didn't have great microphone skills or a lot of charisma, but neither did Hogan. They were mediocre at best in the ring, as was Hogan. But for some odd reason, the Wrestling Gods have allowed these men and certainly more like them to become huge professional wrestling stars. Perhaps it has something to do with draws and buy rates. There's no doubt that Hogan can draw. But he draws fans with a persona he created 20 years ago in hopes that they won't notice his in-ring ability. In Terry Bollea's mind, Hulk Hogan is still the biggest wrestling star in the world. In my mind, Hulk Hogan is one of the luckiest wrestling stars in the world.

Tim Samandari wrote:
Hulk Hogan is by far the greatest wrestler ever. Obviously I mean greatest professional wrestler. I understand that Kurt, Brock, Brett, Sean, and Mr. Perfect, and a few others might have been faster and better at the amateur wrestling holds than Hogan, but face it - WWF/WWE wasn't that big or rich of a company back then, if it weren't for Hulk Hogan there would be no Triple H or Monday night RAW. Overall Hogan is the G.O.A.T due to his very long and great career that included body slamming the 523lb. Andre the Giant (No one has ever body slammed the big show) the twin towers, and king kong bundy. His image and mic skills are un-matched and to say his gimmick has never changed is crazy. His Hollywood Hogan character alone gets him into the hall of fame. And to say his in-ring skills are average is also crazy - body slamming giants, his boot & leg drop were great moves

Velocifore wrote:
Hulk Hogans ring skills match about how corny Hulkamania was to begin with. He sucked all of you in with say your prayers and eat your vitamins, give me a break. I believe Hogan coming back this past summer was just awful and hes not wrestling Steve Austin because hes scared and he knows Stone Cold isnt going to be so gracious as HBK was to put such a pathetic talent over. The only wrestler worse than Hogan is Sid, and its real close. I mean the all time great Hogan matches are quite boring and while I do agree that HBK gave Hogan his best match in years(all in part to Shawn), none of Hogans matches can be considered classics. Hogan/Warrior wasnt really that good and its more the idea of the battle that made it so good. Hulkamania still being mentioned gives me even more false hope that the diminishing WWE will continue to fall. And dont even get me started on Mr. America....... basically Hulk Hogan to me was the best thing to happen to wrestling because he broke the business into new heights and Hulk Hogan is the worst thing to happen to wrestling because I dont understand why he was able to do it, because the whole idea of Hulk Hogan is stupid. It makes me sick to go look at old tapes and see guys like Ted Dibiase and Randy Savage went out and tried to wrestle Hogan for 20 minutes only to get a "Hulk Up" , a big boot, and a legdrop. It makes me sick to see Hogan at his stage of ability come in and hobble around the ring for 8 to 10 min and pose for another 15 to 20, and all the fans eat it all up and cheer for all this. While guys who can wrestle and are looking for chances are sitting on the sidelines dying for a spot Hogan was dying for 20 years ago. Guys like Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, hell even Bradshaw's packing more ability. Hulk Hogan has been a flavor of the month for 20 plus years and I hope he doesnt come back again, to wrestle, or to do anything. I hope he just sits back enjoys his tv time and your hall of fame honor and leave it be.

Susan Spane wrote:
Sorry,I have to dissagree.He was one of the greatest entertainers but his in ring ability wasn't the best.First of all,his finisher was a leg drop which definitely was over rated when he used it,Taker uses it all the time and he ways even more than Hogan but he cant finish him off.I would certainly say his skills don't pass the likes of Brett Hart or even The Rock or Stone Cold.One problem was that he was from the past when finishers where body slams and weak moves,the WWE moved on into more complex moves and Hogan stayed the same.

Jose Aguirre wrote:
I have to agree with you because Hogan is not the greatest wrestler ever. He barely ever wrestled, but he had good promo skills and could feed of the crowd. Hogan and the Rock, in my opinion can be the greatest baby-faces or the greatest heels, Hogan even reinvented the heel, making heel's street-smart.

I have seen one good Hogan match and it was Wrestlemania X8. That match was my favorite of all time. I didn't know much about Hogan because I had only been a wrestling fan for 2 years, and my parents bought me my first computer 3 or 4 weeks later, but that match was amazing, I did not understand why The Rock was getting booed, he was my favorite wrestler (until I began to pay attention to RVD), but that match was electrifying, the fans went wild when Hogan touched the Rock and vise versa, that match had something special, something I do not believe I will witness ever again. The point I am trying to make is that Hogan may not have been good in wrestling but he was at a time period where his strong personality can get the crowd drawn into the match.You people need to learn to not be so BITCHY!!

Demon Assassin wrote:
I can not get over all of these fans having the gaul to state that Hulk Hogan is one of if not the worst wrestler of all time. Granted over the past 22 years Hulk Hogan very rarely displayed the skills of a Chris Benoit or Dean Malenko or even Bret Hart but that is not because he does not know how. When you are 6'8 and 280-303 pounds you do not need to display technical skills. Case in point before Hogan's arrival to WWE back in 1983 Hogan was in Japan for the IWGP promotion and he competed in the tournament to crown the first ever IWGP champion. Not only did he win that unbelievable tournament but in the finals he defeated the icon of Japan Antonio Inoki. Anyone who can get in the ring in Japan against Inoki and soundly defeat him has wrestling skills. So before anyone else decides to bash Hogan and call him the worst wrestler of all time do your wrestling history homework and see what he did even before he was the icon he became. Now only was he the first ever IWGP champion but he held that title for nearly 2 years and the only reason he lost it is because he won the WWF title and was stripped of it. Let's see american wrestler dominating Japan for 2 years and never dropping the strap sounds like a talented wrestler to me.

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