WWE – Hulk Still Rules
Released: 8/20/2002
Two-Disc Set

DISC ONE
THE PROGRAM (63 minutes):

Growing Up: Hulk talks about traveling the east coast with his band called Ruckus. It was Jack and Jerry Brisco while they were working with Championship Wrestling from Florida who noticed Hogan one night in a bar where Hulk and his band were playing. They would introduce Hogan to trainer and wrestler Hiro Matsuda who got in the ring with Hulk and fractured his ankle. Ten weeks later, Hogan showed back up wanting to learn how to wrestle. After spending the next year and a half with Matsuda, Hogan started working the southern territories. They show a clip of Hogan giving Lawler a legdrop in Memphis and cutting a promo. Well, Hulk ended up quitting the business since he wasn’t making any money and went back to working on the docks. A phone call from Jack Brisco suggesting he meet with Vince McMahon Sr. up in New York City suddenly changed everything. Since New York was the big man territory, he knew Hulk could be a huge star there.

Beginnings: He would be a bad guy during his first stint in the WWF with Freddie Blassie as his manager. Hulk would defeat a young Ted DiBiase in his MSG debut in December 1979. The WWF would continue to build him up as a heel into a big feud with the beloved Andre the Giant. Eventually, Hollywood came knocking at Hogan’s door and they made him choose Hollywood for the part in Rocky III over Vince McMahon Sr.

Dawn of a Superstar: After he was done filming Rocky III and couldn’t work for Vince Sr. anymore, he went to work for the AWA as a top contender to Nick Bockwinkel’s AWA world title. Since Vince McMahon who now owned the WWF had planned to take his company national which was completely forbidden at the time in the wrestling industry, he needed a top babyface to really help get things going. He knew taking Hogan – who was REALLY heating up in the AWA – back into the WWF fold was the first step in achieving his ultimate goal. While still working for the AWA, Hulk received a phone call from Vince McMahon making him an offer he couldn’t refuse, so Hulk headed back to New York. They show the Iron Sheik dethroning the long-term champion Bob Backlund to set up the WWF title match that would catapult Hulk Hogan straight to the top of the WWF. Then, Hulk Hogan making his surprise return to help Bob Backlund even the odds against the Wild Samoans and Captain Lou Albano.

The Birth of Hulkamania: Obviously the so-called Legdrop Heard ‘Round the World on the Iron Sheik is shown as Hulk captures the WWF title. History is made, brother.

Hulkamania Runs Wild: Blassie says that Hogan furnishes the brawn and Vince McMahon provides the brains. One couldn’t have functioned without the other. Pat Patterson says that Hulk Hogan broke the barrier between wrestling and entertainment and brought them together as one. Hulk discusses the challenges of entering into other territories that he wasn’t supposed to be working in as the WWF champion. He says that a lot of the wrestlers were mad until they started getting all these royalty checks.

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper: Skip ahead to the first WrestleMania. Hulk says he never beat Roddy Piper because he always looked out for himself. He wonders what could have happened if Piper let his guard down so that they could have done some serious business. Does he really think they did bad business in 1985? Come on.

King Kong Bundy: His assault on Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night’s Main Event gets shown. Some of the WrestleMania 2 cage match as well. Hulk tells us that Bundy was a great guy, but just didn’t seem to know his own strength.

Paul Orndorff: Arguably the best feud of 1986. Hulk says they had a real Florida high school football rivalry thing going on and a lot of that fueled the energy behind their matches. Another guy Hulk didn’t seem to like to work with, even though they made a HECK of a lot of money together. It all ended in the famous cage match on Saturday Night’s Main Event in January 1987.

Andre the Giant: In order to fully dominate the wrestling industry, he had to go through Andre the Giant. Hulk tells a story when he got into a tight situation with Tatsumi Fujinami when the WWF ended their relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Vince told Hulk to take care of business, because they wouldn’t be coming back. They were afraid Fujinami could shoot on Hogan and pin him for the belt or make him look weak by injuring him or whatever, but Hulk didn’t let that happen. That’s right, Hulk. Never let reality get in the way of a good story. WrestleMania III footage gets shown.

Randy Savage: Hulk says he introduced Randy Savage to the people who made outfits for Jimi Hendrix and Fleetwood Mac and became the best of friends until Elizabeth decided she wanted to divorce Randy Savage. In Hulk’s opinion, he thinks Randy blames him for their split. While Hulk was filming a movie, his wife Linda invited Elizabeth to come down and hang out. When she came to the Hogan’s house, she never went back home to Randy. Well, wouldn’t anybody think there was something fishy going on there? Hulk says he likes to work smart while others (Randy) like to work ignorant. Whatever, Hulk.

Hulkamania Winds Down?: By 1990, he was tired and had a bad attitude. Vince felt it was time to end Hulkamania. Before ending the chapter, Hulk tells us that it was good to give Hulkamania a break for ten years? Yeah, try three.

WCW: He acts like WCW was this hick promotion, but seems to forget where he started just to poke fun at a company who paid him an absurd amount of money for a VERY limited schedule that anybody else would be a complete fool to be paying out. Anyways, Hogan takes FULL credit for bringing in Randy Savage, like he had no chance of getting in if it weren’t for Hulk’s blessing. Hogan brings up Savage’s other main squeeze: Gorgeous George. Once she left Savage, Hogan claims Savage blamed him for that too, and that Savage hates him to this day (2002).

The nWo: No acknowledgement of the negative reactions Hogan was receiving at the time. Just that Bischoff wanted to turn him heel. Bash at the Beach 1996 is the place. Hogan legdrops Savage and the rest is history. They finally put the Hulkamania character on the backburner to bring out the Hollywood Hogan character. It’s pretty much the same, just a little douchier. Hulk feels that the reason the nWo worked so well was because he was the leader. Wow. He even says he enjoyed running through WCW’s entire talent pool. What about that Goldberg guy? I don’t think you ever beat him. In fact, he beat you. Anyways, Hulk takes responsibility for WCW’s controversial tactics during the Monday Night Wars. He feels WCW hiring Vince Russo as head writer was a HUGE mistake. He even felt it got so bad that Russo was still working for McMahon. Since the brass at WCW didn’t listen to Hogan who was letting them know they were making some bad decisions, he walked out on the company. Vince McMahon ended the Monday Night Wars in March 2001 when he bought out WCW.

Back in WWE: After the failed InVasion angle, Vince brings the original new World order crew to kill the WWF. Hulk KNEW this revival would work with the original three if it wasn’t watered down. It didn’t work at all. In fact, it couldn’t have backfired much more than it did. Hogan’s first feud back in the WWF was against the Rock. They show the classic first meeting of the two on Raw when Rock challenges Hogan for WrestleMania x8, including the over-the-top ambulance incident.

WrestleMania x8: Hogan says his showdown with the Rock TRANSCENDED wrestling. He gives Rock props for handling the negativity of the WrestleMania crowd. He did a much better job than Hogan says he would have been able to do. The handshake at the end of the match was Hogan passing the torch. Also, Hogan got his fans back. The Raw after WrestleMania confirmed to Hogan that he must return to the red and yellow by splitting from the nWo for good. Yeah, that nWo thing REALLY worked.

Leading to Backlash: Hulk says in order for Hulkamania to fully return, he had to have the WWE undisputed title. Vintage Hogan! He said he had wanted to work with Triple H for a long time.

Backlash 2002: Lots of curiously sped-up footage of Hogan v. HHH. In overbooked fashion, Hogan wins hopefully his final world title.

Hulkamaniacs: Hogan revels in the love Montreal showed him on the Smackdown before Judgment Day 2002. Footage of a meet and greet in Times Square gets shown. People love this guy!

THE EXTRAS:

• Hulk Hogan (w/Freddie Blassie) vs. Ted DiBiase – (MSG, 12/17/79)
  

Elsewhere on the same card, Bob Backlund defeated Bobby Duncum in a Texas Death Match for the held up WWF championship while NWA world champion Harley Race battled Dusty Rhodes. Not a lot of action to recap, just Hogan generally being a real confident heel. DiBiase puts up a fight kicking out of the legdrop and the running elbow drop. He escapes the chinlock by running Hogan into the corner. He mounts a comeback, but misses a corner charge and runs his shoulder into the ringpost. A backbreaker and a bearhug gets Hogan the win. (11:16) Certainly showed a lot of charisma and interacted with the crowd like few did at the time. ½*

• Hulk Hogan (w/Freddie Blassie) vs. Andre the Giant – (Shea Stadium, 8/9/80)
  

From the famous Showdown at Shea Stadium card that featured the classic Zbyszko v. Sammartino feud ending inside a cage. While still heel, Hogan is sporting the red and yellow he would become famous for, brother. No commentary for this match. Andre pulls back on Hulk’s arms for a while. Once he breaks loose, Andre dishes out the headbutts. Hogan grabs a bearhug, but eventually Andre headbutts out of that as well. Suplex hits, but Andre misses a splash. Doesn’t matter much as Andre hooks on a keylock. Andre slams Hogan out of that and the ref gets wiped out. While Andre checks on the ref, Hogan PEARL HARBORS him and gives Andre a big slam. Of course it doesn’t mean as much as WrestleMania III. Andre gets up and slams Hogan for a splash as another ref comes in and counts the 1-2-3. (7:45) Hogan even looks like he kicked out at two there. Afterwards, Hogan attacks Andre again and clotheslines him using the loaded elbow pad, which leaves the giant busted open. Just real boring stuff, but the crowd loved every minute. ½*

• Bob Backlund (w/Hulk Hogan) vs. Samula (w/the Wild Samoans & Capt. Lou Albano) – (WWF Championship Wrestling, 1/7/84)
  

Originally scheduled as a tag match with Backlund bringing in a surprise partner, but Albano refused to let that happen and used his managerial powers to make this into a singles match. Backlund hates having all these savages around the ring and brings out his mystery partner Hulk Hogan. The crowd absolutely loses their minds. Once the initial excitement calms down, Backlund nearly gets the CROSSFACE CHICKENWING on Samula when the Samoans hit the ring for the DQ at 3:27 shown. Afterwards, Backlund and Hogan clean house and again the crowd goes insane. Gene Okerlund meets with Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan. Backlund says Hulk has changed his ways and he’ll no longer have Blassie around. Hogan embraces the excited promo style we would come to know all too well.

• WWF World Champion The Iron Sheik (w/Freddie Blassie) vs. Hulk Hogan – (MSG, 1/23/84)
  

This is before Hogan was immortal when he was only incredible. This time, it’s Hogan who attacks from behind and even clotheslines Sheik with his own robe! Just pay attention to the difference between the crowd’s reactions to Backlund and Hogan here. They’re completely opposite to each other. The fans cannot shut up for one single second in this one. Hogan goes ballistic on the Sheik. Big Boot connects for two. Sheik avoids a corner charge and puts the boots to Hogan, but he can’t help but be distracted by the “USA” chants. Backbreaker gets two. Sheik does that trick where he kicks the mat to supposedly drop something down into the toe of his boot and kicks Hogan in the back. He grabs a Boston crab. Hogan powers out, but takes a Gutwrench Suplex for two. It’s CAMEL CLUTCH time! The crowd starts to get LOUDER as Hogan stands up to his feet! He backs Sheik hard into the corner. Now with Sheik lying flat on his back in the middle of the ring, Hogan runs off the ropes and hits the LEGDROP for the 1-2-3! (5:40) And history was made. Hulkamania is born and the Iron Sheik was a big part of it. You might could say Sheik was the doctor who slapped baby Hulk on the butt. Maybe? *½

From Tuesday Night Titans, 8/21/84. Hulk Hogan starts training with Gene Okerlund. He shows up at Gene’s house at 5AM and wants him to drink raw eggs to start the day. When he can’t bring himself to do it, Hulk has Gene run a couple miles. He’s lifting weights, running stairs, carrying Hulk on his back up stairs. Crazy! They’re doing this for Minneapolis and the Twin Cities, brother.

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff (w/Bobby Heenan) – (WWF The Big Event, 8/28/86)
  

This is what everyone came to see. So much credit is given to Andre and the Ultimate Warrior for drawing HUGE crowds for their blowoff matches with Hogan, but I don’t think enough credit is given to Orndorff for this one. Besides Hogan’s own heel turn in 1996, Orndorff’s heel turn is possibly the second most talked about heel turn of all-time, with Andre at a close third. Orndorff’s heel turn was the result of a portion of the WWF audience beginning to hate the immortality of the Hulkster. He was a guy who once was Hogan’s best bud, and then WHAM! One clothesline changed it all. I can hear “Wonderful” chants! While the ref is checking Hogan’s boots, Orndorff BLASTS him with a clothesline! Orndorff gets in some stomps, but Hulk comes right back and beats him out to ringside. Back in, Hogan hits a bunch of clotheslines, but Orndorff goes low on him. Hulk sticks his head through the ropes and gets slapped by Heenan! Hogan turns around and gives Orndorff an atomic drop before heading out after Heenan. He chases Heenan in through the ring, which makes him easy pickings for Orndorff to lower the BOOM on him. They head out to the floor again where Orndorff delivers a suplex! After that, Orndorff heads back in for some showboating. Orndorff drapes Hulk across the apron and gives him a couple elbows. Back in, Orndorff gives him a throat thrust and a knee drop for 1-2-NO! Orndorff gives him a few more elbows and then calls for the PILEDRIVER, (crowd goes nuts for it, too) but Hogan backdrops out of it. Hogan grabs a headlock, but Orndorff counters into a back suplex. Hogan HULKS UP and knocks Orndorff into the ref with a high knee. Hogan then picks Orndorff up and raises his hand just like what was done to him, and then knocks him back down with a clothesline. Oh, real mature, Hulk. Now Hogan calls for the PILEDRIVER, but then Heenan runs in and nails Hogan with a wooden stool (a wooden stool?! Where’d he get that?) Orndorff rolls over for the cover as the ref SLOWLY crawls towards the two and taps Orndorff on the shoulder three times and calls for the bell. (11:05) Heenan gives Orndorff the belt because this calls for a celebration, right? Wrong. Once the ref finally comes to, he tells Howard Finkel that Hogan has won by DQ when he got knocked down by Orndorff, regardless of the fact that it was Hogan’s fault that Orndorff ran into him anyway. Good for a Hogan match, even with the bad finish. ***

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) – (WWF WrestleMania III, 3/29/87)
  

Because of Bobby Heenan’s ongoing obsession with destroying Hulkamania, he whispered in Andre’s ear so that he would turn on his best buddy Hulk Hogan and challenge him for the WWF World title at WrestleMania 3. This is it, folks. It’s because of this match that the world indoor attendance record was shattered. The guest ring announcer is Mr. Baseball Bob Uecker. The guest timekeeper is the host of Entertainment Tonight, Mary Hart. HUGE staredown to start. Hulk fires away and goes for a slam, but Andre falls on top for a CLOSE near-fall. Andre pounds on Hogan’s back and then slams Hulk down to the mat. Andre picks Hogan up and slams him down again. Andre then decides to walk across Hogan’s lower back while the crowd chants “Hogan”. Andre whips Hulk from corner-to-corner to set up for the Big Thump. Andre tries a headbutt in the corner, but Hogan moves out of the way and Andre hits turnbuckle. Hogan staggers Andre back into the corner with a stick-and-move strategy. He rams Andre’s head into the buckle TEN times, which had probably never been done at that point. Hogan charges in the corner, but Andre catches him with a boot. BIG chop from Andre sets up a bearhug, which lasts for nearly three minutes. Hogan punches out and connects with two shoulderblocks, but Andre drops him with another big chop. Andre boots Hulk out to ringside and tries to headbutt him up against the ringpost, but Hogan moves out of the way of that as well. You’d think he would’ve learned from the last time. Hogan begins to fight dirty by lifting up the protective mat around ringside to try and give Andre a piledriver on the exposed floor. What was he thinking? Andre easily backdrops out of that before they head back into the ring. Andre tries to boot Hogan again, but he avoids it and takes Andre off his feet with a clothesline. He HULKS up and slams Andre to cause the biggest pop EVER. Hulk comes off the ropes and delivers the LEG DROP for the biggest win of his career. (12:00) Okay, so maybe the three-count caused the biggest pop ever. This was a definitely a case where the build and the anticipation overshadowed the actual in-ring work, so you don’t really care that the match was terrible because of the emotional connection with the wrestlers. ½*

More from Tuesday Night Titans, 8/21/84. Hulk makes a shake with spring water, “Python powder”, some fruit, and a couple eggs WITH THE SHELL. Before enjoying the shake, Hogan pulls out a bag full of tablets. Vince wonders what exactly these tablets in fact are? Vitamins A to Z, minerals, and a little bit of kryptonite. They wash those pills down with the shake. Lord Alfred is right to be apprehensive about this concoction. He gives in to Hulk and Vince’s nudging, but walks off camera appearing to be throwing up his breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

• Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs. Randy Savage & Zeus (w/Sensational Sherri) – (WWF SummerSlam 1989)
  

Well, it sure beats Hogan vs. Zeus. I mean, have you SEEN No Holds Barred? The Genius, Randy Savage’s real-life brother, makes an appearance before the match and recites a little heel-supported poem for us all. Beefcake and Savage brawl down on the floor while in the ring, Zeus NO-SELLS everything Hogan has to offer. Beefcake tries to save, but Zeus catches him in a bearhug. Hogan attempts to save Beefcake, but he gets grabbed in a bearhug as Savage leaps off the top for the double-ax to the back. Savage connects with another top-rope double-ax handle. Savage delivers a running knee sending Hogan into the corner for two. Hogan elbows out of a chinlock and follows up with shoulderblocks. Zeus nails Hogan coming off the ropes and gets a tag. Zeus does the only thing he seems to know how to do, and that’s a bearhug. Zeus takes Hogan to the mat for several near-falls. As Hogan starts to stand up, Zeus backs Hulk into the heel corner and tags in Savage. Savage connects with the running neck snap and then spits on Beefcake to bring him in for the distraction. Belly-to-back suplex from Savage gets two. Savage argues with the ref over the count and then misses a Bossman straddle. HOT TAG TO BEEFCAKE! He connects with the High Knee for 1-2-NO! It’s SLEEPER HOLD TIME! Savage drops to his knees, but then rises up and drives Beefcake face-first into the corner. Zeus tags in and appears to be VERY angry, so Beefcake thumbs him in the eyes. SLEEPER! Savage NAILS Beefcake in the back of the head with Sherri’s purse to break the hold. Savage gets a tag, calms down the human wrecking machine, and covers Beefcake for 1-2-NO! Hogan saves. Savage covers again, but Hogan comes in and chases Savage out of the ring. Savage grabs Liz and pays for it. Back in, Zeus tags in a whole lot of choking. Savage tags in, which leads to a double-KO spot. Savage tries to cut off the tag to Hogan, but Beefcake kicks him away and we’ve got a HOT TAG TO HOGAN! Hogan connects with the running corner clothesline and then nails Zeus. Big Boot to Savage sends Savage out to the floor. Hogan attempts a suplex from the apron, but Sherri trips him up as Savage falls on top for 1-2-NO! Savage puts Hogan down with a clothesline to set up the MACHO ELBOW! Can he connect? Yes he can! But Hogan NO-SELLS! Wow, that’s terrible. Hogan fires back and sends Savage to the floor with an atomic drop, as it comes down to Hogan vs. Zeus. Hogan gets Zeus all wobbly with rights and clotheslines. Zeus falls to one knee, Elizabeth trips Sherri up into the ring, and Beefcake tosses Savage to the mat below. Hogan grabs the loaded purse and nails Zeus in the face with it. That allows Hulk to deliver the slam to set up the LEGDROP to end all of Zeus’s credibility with a 1-2-3 count. (15:12) And Tony Schiavone SQUEALS like a girl! Post-match, Sherri gets nailed with the purse by Elizabeth and THEN gets a haircut. Sure Savage, you won’t get your title back, but I’m sure there’s a crown waiting for you around here somewhere. Fun stuff, if not completely ridiculous and counter-productive. **

DISC TWO

• Hulk Hogan (w/Freddie Blassie) vs. Angelo Gomez & Ben Ortez – (WWF All-Star Wrestling, 1/5/80)
  

Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino are on commentary. These two have no effect on Hogan whatsoever. Forearm smashes and slams everywhere. Gomez gets dumped as he concentrates on Ortez. They have some real trouble with that Canadian backbreaker until Ortez gives up at 4:57. After the match, Hogan meets Vince for an interview and tells the world that he’s the new king of professional wrestling as of 1980.

• WCW World Champion Ric Flair (w/Sensuous Sherri) vs. Hulk Hogan (w/Jimmy Hart) – (WCW Bash at the Beach 1994)
  

SHAQ IS HERE! It’s cool because we’re in Orlando. He’ll award the winner with the strap. The crowd is split right down the middle I’d say. Maybe 60 Hogan/40 Flair at best. They get in each other’s faces until Flair shoves Hogan back. Hogan shoulderblocks Flair down a bunch. Flair dodges a tie-up and struts, so Hogan does the same. Of course in Hogan’s case, he looks a lot dumber doing it. Flair grabs an arm wringer until Hogan reverses into a cross armbreaker. Flair stomps on Hogan’s face and retreats to the floor to stand behind Sherri. She doesn’t care though. Sherri DARES Hogan to take a swing at her. Back in, Hogan gets Flair up against the ropes and paintbrushes the back of his head. Hogan hits the corner clothesline and goes for the Big Boot, but Flair sneaks out to the floor and hides behind Sherri again. Back in again, Flair’s catches Hogan with a knee and takes over with chops. Flair hits the Rolling Knee Drop, but Hogan NO-SELLS. A ten-count corner punch is followed by a clothesline. Sherri grabs Hulk’s leg, which allows an opening for Flair to chop block him. Flair chops him out to the floor for Sherri to bash Hogan with a chair, but Jimmy Hart makes the save. Back in, Flair drops a single sledge and another Rolling Knee Drop. This time Hogan sells the knee drop, but comes right back with chops out of the corner. Flair goes low with a rabbit punch and snapmares Hulk over for a chinlock. Eventually, Hogan elbows out and delivers a pair of shoulderblocks. Hogan unloads and whips Flair into the corner for the Flair Flip out to the apron where Hogan floors him with a clothesline. On the floor, Hogan delivers a back suplex and then gives Flair a suplex back in, but misses the LEG DROP. He shouldn’t have been cupping his ears for the humanoids. Flair tries twice for the FIGURE-FOUR, but Hogan kicks him off. Hogan NO-SELLS a perfect vertical suplex. Oh geez. Hogan hits the Big Boot and covers for 1-2-NO! Sherri pulls ref Randy Anderson out and slings him into the guardrail. Jimmy Hart takes a shoe to the face! Hogan looks over at Sherri and takes another chop block to the back of his knee. Sherri splashes Hogan before Flair locks in the FIGURE-FOUR. Now we have ref Nick Patrick officiating. Hogan makes the ropes, but gets choked with Sherri’s hose. Flair stays on Hulk’s knee and starts chopping until he begins to no longer sell. Hogan runs into a back elbow from Flair. Sherri and Flair both head up top. Hogan rolls away from another Sherri splash while Flair is slammed down to the mat. Sherri’s back up on the apron and right before Mr. T runs down and carries her out, she slips some knux to Flair. WHAM! Hogan gets nailed as Flair covers for 1-2-NO! It’s HULK UP time. One punch, two punch, three punch. Big Boot. LEG DROP. (21:56) We’ve got a NEW WCW world champion. Afterwards, Hogan celebrates with his two black friends Shaq and Mr. T before posing for several more minutes with Jimmy Hart jumping around like an idiot. It’s Hogan/Flair. What more do I need to say? Who hasn’t seen this match? ***¼

From Tuesday Night Titans, 10/18/85. Hogan says he wishes Vince didn’t have armed security guards holding him back from beating up Big John Studd when he was on earlier in the program. Moving on. Hulk then gives Vince a “magic” lifting belt that he sweated in doing 1001 squat routines to give away to a lucky (?) fan. This leads into the next match.

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Tiger Chung Lee – (WWF All-Star Wrestling, 8/17/85)
  

This one includes the classic duo of Gorilla and Jesse on commentary. Hogan handles Chung Lee pretty easily to start. He works an armbar, but they get into the ropes where Chung Lee catches Hulk with a crescent kick. Before you know it, he HULKS UP and clotheslines Chung Lee down for the LEGDROP at 3:05.

Back to TNT. Vince asks Hulk if the grind of having everyone gunning for him all the time gets to him. It would if he were a mere mortal, dude. We go to Lanny Poffo dressed like a medieval knight as he recites a poem for Hulk. I must say, this is getting pretty gay. Over at the desk, Hulk says some more things while Lord Alfred Hayes tries to pose around Hulk. He isn’t having any of that though.

Gene Okerlund tells what appears to be a total kayfabe story about gearing up for this next match.

• Hulk Hogan & Gene Okerlund vs. George “The Animal” Steele & Mr. Fuji (w/Jesse Ventura) – (Minneapolis, MN, 8/26/84)
  

It’s like Hulk never left Minneapolis. No commentary here. Obviously, Hogan has to wrestle this match by himself with Gene Okerlund as a partner. Fuji can’t handle Hulk, so he tags in Steele. He hammers Hogan down, but he HULKS UP and cleans house. Okerlund even gets in a stomp on Fuji from the apron. Hulk and Gene give each other high fives, which the ref believes is a tag, so Okerlund has to come in and make contact with his George Steele. Okerlund gets cornered, but slides underneath the Animal’s legs and makes the tag back to Hogan. No contact there, but whatever. Hogan boots Steele, who tags out. Hulk holds Fuji for Okerlund, but that’s definitely cheating. Finally, Hogan gets cornered on the wrong side of town and the crowd starts booing BIG time. Another hulk up and he takes out Steele. Hogan runs down Fuji and tags Okerlund as he drops Gene on top of Fuji for the 1-2-3. (6:30) The crowd explodes like you’d think Gene just cured cancer and world hunger with that three-count. ¾*

• WWF World Champion The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Hulk Hogan – (Tuesday in Texas, 12/3/91)
  

Because of Flair’s interference at the Survivor Series during the title change, Hogan gets a quick rematch a week later. WWF (kayfabe) President Jack Tunney is at ringside to make sure everything is fair and square. Bearer and Taker attack at the bell, but Hogan quickly gets rid of Bearer and pounds away on Taker. Hogan goes for a slam, but it’s too early for that. They go to the floor and brawl all around Tunney. Back in, Taker chokes Hogan a bunch, but he comes back and rams Taker into the corner. Hogan runs into a boot in the corner (irony!) and then receives the rope walk. More choking follows, until Hogan slides out to the floor and yanks Taker out for more brawling. Hogan eats the ringpost and Taker goes back to choking. Taker clotheslines himself on the top rope and now Hogan has to improvise. Taker hits the Jumping Lariat after all and goes for the rope walk again, but Hogan pulls him down. Uh oh, here comes Ric Flair! WOO! Hogan clotheslines Taker out and then goes over and nails Flair with a steel chair from behind, causing him to fall on top of Jack Tunney who was trying to get rid of Flair. Back in, Taker eye-gouges Hogan as Flair gets up on the apron with a chair in-hand. Taker tries to smash Hogan’s face into it, but Hogan sends Taker’s face into the chair instead. Taker throat thrusts Hogan to slow him down for a urn shot from Bearer, but that misses and Taker gets nailed here as well. Such a bad night for the heels! Hulk grabs the urn, nails Bearer, and tosses ashes in Taker’s face. School boy, 1-2-3. (13:09) Tonight, Hogan celebrates being the four-time WWF champion. But tomorrow, Jack Tunney strips Hogan of the belt because of all the happenings that went down while he was KO’ed by Flair’s fall, setting up the Royal Rumble match with the winner receiving the vacant WWF title. A completely over-the-top overbooked finish, but way more fun than their dreadful Survivor Series match. *

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Big John Studd – (San Juan, PR, 10/19/85)
  

I understand national expansion, but expanding into Puerto Rico around this time period seems a little DANGEROUS to me. Match is so boring, the angels in heaven begin to cry as it starts pouring down rain while Studd clamps onto a bearhug. The ring starts to get too slick because of the rain and they head outside. Studd gets ran into the ringpost before Hogan climbs back inside to win via countout at 7:28. Just awful. CRAP

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Nikolai Volkoff (w/Freddie Blassie) – Flag Match (SNME #2, 10/5/85)
  

This match is going down because Volkoff won’t stop bringing the Soviet flag down to ringside, despite Hulk’s warnings to stop doing it. Hulk is SO pissed off, that he challenged Volkoff to a match and the winner gets to display their flag at ringside if they so please. Hulk’s entrance music for one night only is “Stars, Stripes, and Forever.” Volkoff attacks immediately to start! By immediately, I mean Volkoff rips Hogan’s shirt off on this night. Hulk blocks a head-to-the-buckle and puts Volkoff down with a pair of running clotheslines. Hulk follows up with some headbutts (!) and a big boot sends Volkoff out to the floor. Hogan dominates until Volkoff runs him into the ringpost. Back in, Volkoff begins to work the lower back to set up the GUERILLA PRESS BACKBREAKER! Despite Blassie’s instructions, Volkoff decides to yell at the crowd instead of covering Hulk. When he does, he only gets two. Volkoff tries for another backbreaker, but Hulk backdrops out of it. Hulk fires back, but Volkoff stops him with a throat thrust. A slam from Volkoff gets two, and it’s HULK-UP TIME! Volkoff reverses a whip in the corner, but charges and eats the ringpost! Hogan LEG DROP gets the three-count! (5:17) After the match, Hulk STEALS the Soviet flag from Blassie and spit-shines his boots with it. Nice fast-paced little match if I do say so myself. **

• Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. Perfect (w/The Genius) – (SNME #26, 4/28/90)
  

Will Hogan’s loss at WrestleMania hold him back, or is he more motivated than ever? Can he wrap up this feud with Perfect, or will Perfect prevail against the battered Hulkster? We’re about to find out all those answers in just one match! Perfect won the IC title in a tournament finals match earlier in the day by defeating Tito Santana during a Superstars taping even though that match would not air until mid-May. Hogan overpowers Perfect to start. Perfect bails and comes back in to take over. That is, until Hogan reverses a whip and goes for the Big Boot. Perfect puts the brakes on just in time and heads out to the floor again. Hogan goes out and brings Perfect away from Genius and tosses him into the ringpost. Back in, Hogan hits the running clothesline followed by the running corner clothesline. A couple more clotheslines puts Perfect back out on the floor, which leads to Genius sneaking Perfect his scroll to clobber Hogan. Perfect takes Hulk to the guardrail and brings him back in for the running neck snap. Hogan looks to mount a comeback, but he ducks low off a whip and gets kicked in the teeth. It’s PERFECTPLEX time! He gets 1-2-NO! HULK UP, Big Boot, LEG DROP! It’s over. (7:57) It’s back to business as usual. Not as good as I remembered it, but not too shabby either. **

• Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant vs. King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd – (SNME #3, 11/2/85)
  

There is SO much heat for this match. Hogan and Bundy start, and Hogan gets a high knee for one. He tries a slam, but Bundy pounds him down. Clothesline misses and Hogan elbows him and gets a corner clothesline, and brings in Andre. He chokes out Bundy and brings Hogan back in, as he hits a double-ax but gets caught in the heel corner. Studd overpowers Hogan, but Hogan comes back by blowing an atomic drop and makes the tag to Andre. The ref gets bumped on a backhand from Andre and now all four men are in beating on each other. A second ref comes in as the faces clean house and we go to break. We come back to Andre punishing Studd with a bearhug. Andre chops Studd down and tags in Hogan for a clothesline. Andre comes in but gets tied up in the ropes, and Bundy splashes Hogan out of the picture. The heels pound on Andre until the ref calls for the DQ. (5:35) Gene Okerlund is in the ring to get a word from Hogan/Andre. They say they want MORE! Even though the wrestling wasn’t going to be great, the heat for this feud was unreal. *

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper – (Wrestling Classic, 11/7/85)
  

This is the money match of 1985. They start off brawling out on the floor. Once they return to the ring, Piper is all over Hulk with eye pokes and throat thrusts. Hogan reverses a whip into the corner and follows in for a clothesline to regain control. Hogan follows up with a back suplex and a pair of elbow drops. He keeps the heat on Piper by hammering on him in the corner. The ref gets in the way, however, and Piper takes advantage with another eye poke. Piper kicks Hulk on the mat and goes up top, but gets caught in mid-air for a bearhug. Piper quickly escapes that with yet another eye poke. Piper pounds and covers for 1, 2, NO! Piper gets another two and then hooks on the SLEEPER HOLD. Hogan slowly drops down to the mat in a horizontal position. Just as Jesse calls Piper the new champion, Hogan shakes his finger at the crowd and stands up with Piper on his back. They both tumble out to the floor as the hold is finally broken. Back in they go as they get into a slugfest. Hogan wins that and whips Piper into the ropes and hits the big boot, but Piper won’t go down. Hogan delivers an atomic drop and tries the big boot again, but Piper reverses and knocks Hogan into the referee. Piper goes out to the floor and brings in a chair as the crowd stands to their feet. He nails Hogan in the back with it and then tries to ram it into Hulk’s throat, but Hulk blocks it and stands to his feet. Hulk hits him with it and then locks on a sleeper hold, which is Bob Orton’s cue to run in for the DQ. (7:14) Fairly watchable Hogan match with a bad finish. Paul Orndorff comes in to save Hogan from a double-team beatdown to re-emphasize the ILLUSION that he’s still a great guy no matter how much he can’t seem to get along with Mexicans. *

From the Royal Rumble 1990, #25 entrant Hulk Hogan enters the match. He and the Ultimate Warrior eliminate everyone to have their little showdown. Rick Rude and the Barbarian enter the match to work those two over. While Rude and Barbarian try and dump out Warrior, Hulk runs in for a clothesline and helps them eliminate the Warrior. Hercules comes in to help Hogan even the odds against Rude and Barbarian. Heel miscommunication provides Hercules with the opportunity to backdrop Barbarian out. Then Perfect dropkicks Herc while Rude clotheslines him out. That leaves Perfect and Rude against Hogan. More heel miscommunication causes Perfect to fall out to the apron. Hulk fires back on Rude and whips him into the ropes, but Perfect pulls the top rope down accidentally to cause Rude to go flying out to the floor. Looks like it’s curtains for Perfect. Hogan telegraphs a backdrop and takes a clothesline. PERFECTPLEX to Hogan, but he NO-SELLS and HULKS UP. Great. Here comes Hogan again as he beats Perfect all around the ring until he eventually tosses him out and wins his first of two Rumble matches.

• Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim, and Hercules vs. Ted DiBiase, King Haku, the Twin Towers, and the Red Rooster – Survivor Series Elimination Match (Survivor Series 1988)
  

This one is all about The Mega Powers vs. The Twin Towers. Hillbilly Jim apparently had been feuding with Haku. Hercules had recently turned face after he found out that Heenan was trying to sell him to DiBiase to be his personal slave, which is kind of weird if you ask me. Also for some reason, the Birdman and the Red Rooster can’t get along. I don’t know what that’s about, but this is NOT your star-studded pay-per-view main event. Wait a minute, HOGAN GETS AN ENTRANCE ALL BY HIMSELF?! Who does this guy think he is? I could understand if he was making a big return or something, but he wasn’t. It would also be amiss to not mention that Hulk is NOT wearing his Mega Powers tights, while Savage on the other hand is. Savage goes crazy on DiBiase to start and then tags in Hercules. DiBiase tags Rooster blindly and slides out to the floor to bring Hercules around the ring and get him nailed on his way back in the ring. Taylor goes for the COCK OF THE WALK, but Herc punches out and levels Rooster with a clothesline. Koko comes in and runs into a boot to start the heel domination. We get some back and forth action for the next several minutes with Haku being the victim for the heel team. Hillbilly Jim and Hogan deliver a double-big boot on Haku for 1-2-NO! Monsoon ~ “Hillbilly Jim is a guy that Hogan started out in the world of professional wrestling!” Ventura ~ “Unfortunately for all of us.” I love it when Jesse tells it like it truly is. Koko and Taylor go at it for a bit, with Koko delivering a Missile Dropkick for 1-2-NO! Hogan gets a tag and hits a Big Boot to set up the MACHO ELBOW DROP for 1-2-3! (6:13) The faces all celebrate like they just accomplished world peace or something. Heenan shows a little disgust with Taylor, which leads their breakup, Rooster’s face turn and a 30-second WrestleMania match. Once things settle, Hogan concentrates on Haku for a while. Herc comes in, but he gets nailed with a back suplex for Haku to escape and tag in Akeem. Hillbilly gets a tag after Akeem misses a splash on Hercules. Hillbilly connects with a big boot, but then Akeem comes back and 747 SPLASHES Jim to even the teams. (9:56) Koko runs in and dropkicks Akeem from behind to regain control of the big guy. The faces take turns trying to get Akeem off his feet, but nobody seems to be able to get it done. Akeem tags Bossman after Koko misses a charge in the corner. Bossman comes in and drills Koko with the BOSSMAN SLAM to make it 4-on-3, heels advantage. (11:47) We get Hogan vs. Bossman for a bit. Hogan slams him down, but Bossman gets back up and delivers a spinebuster on the Hulkster. Bossman hits the Bossman Straddle before tagging out to DiBiase. DiBiase delivers some of his famous fist drops for 1-2-NO! Hogan no-sells and gives DiBiase an atomic drop before tagging in Hercules. He hits his usual on DiBiase. Then Virgil gets involved and Hercules has no choice BUT to grab at Virgil only to get himself rolled up by DiBiase for the 1-2-3. (16:39) On his way to the back, Hercules decks Virgil. That gets DiBiase distracted long enough for Savage to run in for a quick rollup to eliminate DiBiase. (17:00) We’re down to the Twin Towers & Haku vs. The Mega Powers. The heels control Hulk for a bit. We even see a nerve hold from Haku! Hogan fights out, but then Bossman tags in and hits the BOSSMAN SLAM! He doesn’t go for the pin and instead poses and goes up for a splash, but he all he lands on is the canvas. HOT TAG TO SAVAGE! Well, he was hot until Slick hit him coming off the ropes with his pimp cane. Bossman applies a bearhug while Slick grabs Elizabeth. Hogan comes over to save her, but that leads to a Twin Towers double-team. Bossman handcuffs Hogan to the bottom rope while in the meantime, gets counted out. (23:31) Bossman doesn’t really care though, because now he can beat on Hulk with the nightstick with no consequences! After he gets tired of doing that, Bossman hops in the ring and starts beating on Savage with the nightstick. When Hebner tries to put a stop to it, Akeem shoves him down and Akeem gets DQ’ed. (25:03) It’s now down the Mega Powers vs. Haku. Even though Slick’s guys have gone to the back, he still hangs around ringside to mess with Hulk because he’s got the keys to the handcuffs. Meanwhile in the ring, Haku is taking care of Savage with no problem until Slick hops up on the apron and gets nailed after some heel miscommunication. Heenan gets nailed, so now it’s safe for Elizabeth to grab the keys and give them to Hogan so they finish off Haku and win this thing. Once Hogan gets over to his corner, Haku hits a top-rope splash that looks to end it for Savage, but he kicks out at two. Haku kicks Savage back into Hogan for the tag. Big Boot, LEG DROP, it’s over. (29:12) Survivors: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage. The Mega Powers celebrate and everything is wonderful until Hogan picks up Elizabeth for a big hug. Savage gives him the look of death. I’m guessing that means a threesome was out of the question here. After an on-and-off again relationship for the past year, we have just witnessed the beginning of the end of the Mega Powers. Match was nothing special, but the look Savage gives Hogan at the end was pretty cool; especially if you’re a fan of the Hogan/Savage feud. *½

We also get some classic SNME pre-match promos Hogan cuts on Harley Race in March 1988, the Genius in November 1989, the Big Boss Man in May 1989, and the Honky Tonk Man in July 1989.

From Raw 2/25/02, we finish up this DVD set with Hollywood Hogan venting on how he feels about the Rock to a cardboard cutout of the Rock.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Not bad for a first Hulk Hogan set, but the Ultimate Anthology collection that came out four years later has this set WHOOPED. There’s tons of must-have Hogan matches that are missing here. It’s a good start thought and I liked that they dug into the early 1980s Hogan because kids today probably think Hulk Hogan was always about Hulkamania and they might not have known about his early heel run. As I said, this was a good start, but there should have been more to it. Maybe they thought they might overwhelm fans with too much content or something. Also, the Mega Powers match was an odd choice, as was the SummerSlam 1989 main event. The program was a lot of nonsense, but that’s to be expected whenever Hulk Hogan is speaking. All the same though, you should own this for the extras. I’ll give this a thumbs up as ‘Hulk Still Rules’ really set the standard for the way WWE DVD collections would be made even to this day.