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Feeling Oof-y
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1985 - Would Hogan be willing to work a program with Rick Steamboat if Steamboat agreed to
turn heel? No. Give him Big John Studd instead.
1986 - Hogan-Savage is tentatively planned for WM 2, after the two had feuded in house
shows which Savage had won by DQ or countout. Hogan nixes the idea of facing the dynamic,
atheltic Savage at 'Mania, even though he would be booked to win. Hogan handpicks King
Kong Bundy to embarass in a cage match. Savage wrestles George Steele far down the
undercard.
1986 - Hogan agrees to work with Paul Orndorff, but won't do the job to him. Hogan agrees
only because he is guaranteed a win at a huge event. He defeats Orndorff in a cage match on
SNME to end the feud.
1987 - Hogan again turns down the idea of feuding with Savage; but suggests turning him
face, so Hogan can step aside for awhile, film a movie and get some needed rest.
Savage turns face that summer.
1988 - Hogan agrees to "drop" the belt to Andre, but only under questionable circumstances to
preserve his character. Hogan agrees to "give the rub" to Savage at WM IV. Hogan only agrees
because he is promised he will get the title back at WM 5.
1988 - Six months later, as Savage is having a successful run, Hogan suggests putting them
together as a team "Mega Powers" and they headline Summerslam. Hogan is no longer the
champion - but still in the main event.
1989 - Hogan finally meets Savage at Wrestlemania V. Hogan beats him for the title. Rather
than face Savage in the anticipated rematch at Summerslam, or a program with Rick Rude as
creative suggests - Hogan decides to go a different route.
Hogan suggests a tag team match, pitting himself and his close friend Brutus Beefcake,
against Savage and an ACTOR, Tiny Lister who played Zeus in the Hogan film "No Holds
Barred". The film opened that summer to decent business, so Hogan uses a WWE PPV to
promote the film, while "giving the rub" to his friend Beefcake.
1990 - Hogan agrees to drop the belt to Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania. Only with a
guarantee of an extended break and the promise he would get the title back. A month after
'Mania, Hogan is "attacked" by Earthquake and off TV for a few months. After teasing
retirement on TV, Hogan returns at Summerslam as "Immortal" and vanquishes his good friend
John Tenta (Earthquake).
1990 - To preserve the Warrior character, creative decides he will drop the title to someone
OTHER than Hogan. Despite the allure of a Hogan/Warrior rematch - Randy Savage is rumored
to be the man Warrior will drop the belt to at Royal Rumble '91. Hogan suggests Sgt Slaughter.
Slaughter has just returned as an "Iraqi sympathizer" and Hogan pushes for Slaughter to beat
Warrior, then he can beat Slaughter to regain the belt.
1991 - Hogan defeats Slaughter a few months after "Desert Storm" starts. He waves his flag
and defeats the Iraqi villan at Wrestlemania. After headlining Wrestlemania for the past two
years, Savage and Warrior are reduced to the undercard.
1991 - Hogan again decides against a rematch with Warrior at Summerslam, and suggests they
team together against Slaughter & The Iron Shiek. Six months after he had beaten Slaughter for
the belt, he feels the feud is not over and that fans will tune in to watch him team with Warrior
against "the enemy".
1991 - Hogan agrees to drop the title to Undertaker, but refuses to do a clean job to him. Ric
Flair interferes in the match with a chair and 'Taker gets the win.
1992 - McMahon decides that Flair will win the title at Royal Rumble, then drop the title to
Hogan in a "dream match" at Wrestlemania VIII. Hogan decides he wants to take another
extended break after 'Mania. He suggests Flair drop the title to Savage instead and he can
work with Sid Vicious and "give him the rub".
Despite the fact that Flair/Savage is the WWE Title match, it is placed in the middle of the
show. Hogan and the lumbering Sid Vicious close the show. The first time the WWE Champion
has not been in the main event of Wrestlemania.
1993 - Hogan agrees to return to team with Brutus Beefcake against Money Inc. at
Wrestlemania and it appears to be the first time he will NOT be in the main event.
When Hogan learns that WWE Champion Bret Hart is scheduled to drop the title to Yokozuna,
he informs McMahon that this will be the first Wrestlemania that a face doesn't win the main
event and the "people aren't gonna like it". Hogan suggests "surprising" the audience by
challenging Yoko immediately afterward and beating him to win the WWE Title. Vince McMahon
agees. Hogan beats Yoko to regain the title.
1993 - McMahon and WWE creative suggests Hogan and Bret Hart engage in a face vs face
match at Summerslam that will see Hogan "pass the torch" to Hart and drop the title.
Hogan turned the idea down, and agreed to drop the title back to Yokozuna, who in turn
would drop it to Hart at SS. Some critics believe, however, that Hogan simply didn't want to
drop the title to the new flagship of the company.
Hogan drops the belt to Yoko at KOTR (but doesn't drop it cleanly), while WWE goes with the
failed Lex Luger "US Express" idea. Hogan leaves WWE two months later and does not appear
at Summerslam.
1994 - Hogan signs with WCW after being courted by Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff. Hogan
insisted on "complete creative control" over the Hulk Hogan character and a certain
perrcentage of EACH PPV TOTAL REVENUE.
1994 - A three match series is planned with Hogan/Flair. Hogan would win the first, Flair
would regain it and Hogan would win the finale. All parties agree.
Hogan wins the WCW World Title from Ric Flair in his first match back in a year. When the time
comes for Flair to regain the title, Hogan refuses, saying the fans "weren't ready for him to
drop it".
Flair later admits in his book, that fans were already booing Hogan at shows, but that WCW
was dubbing in a "cheering crowd soundtrack".
The subsequent PPVs featuring Flair/Hogan fail to sell.
1994 - Hogan negotiates for former WWE stars and Hogan allies Brutus Beefcake, Earthquake
and Typhoon to join WCW.
Creative suggests Hogan face Sting in a face vs face "dream match" at Starrcade. Hogan
decides it makes better sense for him to face Beefcake as the heel, "The Butcher". The PPV
flops.
1995 - Hogan convinces Randy Savage to leave WWE and join WCW. Instead of starting a feud
between the two former WWE Champions, Hogan insists on teaming with Savage against Kevin
Sullivan and his 3 Faces of Fear.
1995 - Hogan agrees to work with Vader, but the program soon falls apart when both acuse
the other of "not selling for the other".
Fans are steadily losing interest in WCW. The company begins to falter seriously, as executives
point at the Hogan contract and "creative control" agreement as being a main culprit. Hogan
takes extended time off - but remains the highest paid man on the roster.
1996 - With WCW desperate to compete with WWE, WCW signs Hall and Nash and plot the NWO
angle. Hogan is booked to turn heel and he agrees. The angle is a smash. Within weeks,
Hogan wins the World Title from The Giant.
Instead of milking fresh matchups as a heel, Hogan decides that WCW should bring in Roddy
Piper. Despite the possibility of a Starrcade matchup with Lex Luger or The Giant - Hogan
faces Piper in a cage match in the main event. Hogan puts over Piper via the sleeperhold, in a
NON-TITLE match.
1997 - Hogan feuds with Piper and Savage, while turning down suggestions he put over Luger
or Diamind Dallas Page for the title. He appears weekly, but rarely wrestles on TV, while still
remaining the highest paid star in WCW.
1997 - In his much hyped Starrcade match with Sting, it was decided that Hogan would beat
Sting after an alleged "fast count" by referee Nick Patrick. WCW's newly contracted Bret Hart
would accuse Patrick and have the match restarted with Sting winning by submission.
Hogan reportedly paid off referee Patrick, to count normally and make it look like Hogan had
pinned Sting cleanly. When this DID happen, the planned finish played out - but fans booed
because it was clearly botched and made Sting look bad.
1998 - Hogan agreed to put over Goldberg cleanly on Nitro, but with the condition that Karl
Malone & DDP get involved to prompt a Hogan/Dennis Rodman team to debut on PPV at Bash
At The Beach. Hogan promoted the match on "The Tonight Show" and later teamed with
Bischoff against DDP and Jay Leno HIMSELF!
The Hogan celebrity tag team matches stole all the attention while WCW Champion Goldberg
was all but ignored.
1999 - After six months without the title, and still being the top guy, Hogan regained the title
from Kevin Nash in the "Fingerpoke of Doom" incident. Openly flaunting his creative control
clause. He would lose the title, but not cleanly to Ric Flair.
When the NWO angle began to lose serious steam, Hogan turned face again. Randy Savage
had recently turned heel and regained the WCW Title.
Once again, this time conviently as a face, Hogan defeated Savage to regain the title.
Despite having names like Hart, Luger and Sting to work with Savage - the title went baclk to
Hogan. At his request.
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