klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Hulkamania Volume 1
Host: Vince McMahon
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Howard Finkel, Gene Okerlund, Pat Patterson
Back in the 80s before this newfangled DVD contraption there were things called VHS. Those tapes lasted about 4-6 hours depending on how much quality you wanted. On the other hand you had Hulk Hogan, wrestling demigod and the hottest thing in the world. What you get today, those short 9 hour sets is dwarfed here. WWF in the 80s put out a SIX VOLUME SET, spanning a total of 11 hours of nothing but Hogan. I really must love you people. Lets get to it.
This would be back before Mania III and probably around 84-85 or maybe even 86. Hard to say for sure. Its also by far the shortest at just under an hour and fifteen minutes. I guess they were trying to ease us in gently.
The Coliseum Video intro about wrestling throughout history is always a nice help. Hogan is world champion which gets us nowhere as far as a time frame.
Vince lists off some matches were going to see and apparently there will be five plus Hogans workout tips and never before seen interviews. Except for the people that filmed them and the people that edited the tape and the people that have seen this before me.
WWF World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Greg Valentine
Valentine is IC Champion here and Hogan talks about making sure to avoid the Figure Four. Were in Philly and Hogan is in white. Valentine jumps him with some forearms to start. Valentine being IC Champion would put this between later September of 84 and July of 85. The crowd is just ridiculously into Hogan. Test of Strength is a ruse by Valentine as he takes over.
Chinlock gets Valentine nowhere as Hogan just stands up with him and rams Hammer into the corner to break it up. We hit the floor for a bit as its almost all Hogan. Valentine drills him as Hogan gets in and the beating is on. He works on the legs as Gorilla is talking about Pedro Morales for some reason. Greg drills Hogans knee with a chair and apparently the referee is just fine with it.
Hogan begins to have a seizure it seems. Oh never mind hes just Hulking Up. Hogan drills him a bit and then gets a suplex back into the ring. Instead of covering he hammers away for awhile as this is clipped a bit. Atomic drop has Valentine reeling as Gorilla is selling this like the master that he was.
Valentine gets a forearm in to break up a backdrop attempt and chokes away. Here come the elbows and Valentine goes up. Just like Flair I think you get what happens to him next. Gorilla says this has been going 10-15 minutes which is either an exaggeration or there has been a ton of clipping here. Out of almost nowhere Hogan counters the Figure Four, hits a clothesline and the leg drop retains the title. Rather abrupt ending.
Rating: C-. Kind of an awkward match but granted a lot of that could be due to the whole clipping aspect of it. Hogan in 84/85 was weird as he hadnt figured out his formula and style yet. Eventually he would get it down to a science and blow the roof off every time. Here hes trying to lock it down still and is blowing the roof off every time. Valentine was always worth glancing at and was fine here. Also nice to see Hogan against someone that isnt a monster.
Valentine tries to beat on Hogan a bit post match but Hogan clears the ring with relative ease.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Big Jon Studd
This is in the Meadowlands. Gary Michael Copetta is the ring announcer of all people and this is in December of 84. If Hogan can slam Studd he wins $15,000. Hogan is in yellow here. Im trying to place the voice of the other commentator besides Gorilla. I think its Howard Finkel actually. Wow it is. This could be interesting.
They clip the beginning of this a bit but I think it was just them staring each other down. Both guys go for slams but neither can get the other up. Heenan is Studds manager here. Hogan gets him up but cant turn him around for the slam. Theres the big boot very early but Hogan still cant slam him.
Hogan tries for about his fifth slam in 3 minutes as were clipped to Hogan hitting a clothesline. ANOTHER slam attempt but we go to the floor instead and Hogan is in trouble. His head is bleeding too. Hogan cant get back in and we clip it some more. Id assume its only about 30 seconds or so each time but its frustrating that you dont know for sure.
Studd comes off the top to crush Hogan for two. MORE clipping as Hogan is in big trouble here. He gets slammed as Studds offense is shall we say really limited. Studd kicks him to the floor so Hogan is like screw it lets fight out here. Can Studd do anything besides pound on him with forearms? Hogan slams him on the floor which doesnt get him the money but it does get him a countout win. Hogan lifts the referee over his head in a gorilla press position for no apparent reason.
Rating: D. Pretty bad match but the fans wanted to see Hogan win and thats what they got. Hearing Howard on the announce team is still weird beyond belief as is Copetta doing the announcing. From a few other places it appears the match was only clipped by about 90 seconds, which begs the question of why clip it at all. Anyway, bad match but Hogan winning was the point here. Andre would claim the money at the first Wrestlemania.
We get a clip from Tuesday Night Titans which is a bit out there. Hogan is giving nutrition tips and says that some things that get him excited are getting in the ring, good looking women, bicep curls and food. Vince keeps pausing when talking about Hogans muscles, making this incredibly awkward all around given Vinces sex drive in the last 12 years or so. Did I mention hes in a pink jacket?
Anyway Hogan has something called Python Powder which will be on the market soon. If Norcal ever sees this he might die of a massive heart attack. Hulk adds in some fruits and berries and throws in an egg complete with shell. Hogan also has Python Packs which are little packets of vitamins. So Hogan is handing out pills and white powder. Is this segment a massive rib or something? Apparently the pills make you hungry.
Hogan pours out some of his protein shakes and says that the pills will make you go all day long. Vince doesnt advise this for anyone. Hogan downs the entire shake in one big gulp but Alfred isnt hungry. Vince likes it and pops some pills on the side. Hogan throws in a mini pec dance ala Masters. They finally get Alfred to try it and he throws up. This was LONG and on the surface its boring but if you get the very subtle humor youll die from laughter.
WWF Title: Dave Schultz vs. Hulk Hogan
Now this is an interesting case. In short, Schultz (Dr. D as he is more commonly known) is a psychopath. He was a big time heel back in the early 80s (this is from June of 84 in Hogans old stomping grounds of Minneapolis. Given the time, this was actually a pretty ballsy move of Vince to run a show there due to that being the AWAs home city) but went on a 20/20 and legitimately hurt a host who asked if wrestling was fake.
More or less he was blackballed from the business immediately. If you look him up, keep in mind that there was an amateur wrestler by the same name. He wasnt half bad either as Kurt Angle said he couldnt beat him in amateur wrestling. That says a lot. Anyway this is when he and Piper and Orndorff and Orton were running around and being badasses. Hogan is in the blue here for some reason.
The big screen actually says Hulkamania is Running Wild. Holy brainwashing Batman. If nothing else it certainly worked. Schultz looks like a beefed up and more rugged Hennig if that helps. Schultz jumps him as hes warming up which just isnt nice at all. Crowd is insanely into Hogan here. Schultz chokes away with the strap of his singlet as this is more of a brawl than a match as was common with Dr. D.
Hogan is thrown to the floor and he may have hurt his elbow/arm. Schultz follows him out and gets a big chair shot to bust Hogan open. Well now he has red on his head, white on his wrists and blue tights. He IS a Real American! Gorilla says the chair was made of iron. When have you ever heard of a chair or anything for that matter being made of anything but STEEL?
Schultz drops a middle rope elbow which is apparently his finisher and Hogan starts shaking like a big old fish. He kicks out with ease of course and its Hulk Up time. For the first time in this match Hulk goes on offense. Schultz is lifted into the air in a choke and the AXE BOMBER takes Schultz down. An elbow hits but Hogan pulls him up instead of going for the pin. He wants blood apparently. Our hero ladies and gentlemen.
Slam and legdrop hit but he pulls him up one more time. Schultz is laying on the match and is like FREAKING OW MAN! Hogan sends him to the floor and I think its chair time again. Ah make that post time. Now heres the interesting part. The post shot was supposed to bust him open right? Schultz however bladed once he hit the floor so his blonde hair is red when Hogan is picking him up to ram him in. WOW.
Back in Schultz gets a clothesline out of nowhere and now its Hogan in trouble for a change. By change I mean for the first time in about two minutes. A top rope elbow from Dr. D misses completely though and Schultz is in big trouble. A second Axe Bomber (running forearm/clothesline/double axe) ends this with relative ease. Schultz blasts Hogan with the title and puts it on to end it. And never mind as Hogan steals his own belt back.
Rating: C-. This was a brawl for the most part and wasnt bad at all. The more or less lack of any real threat to Hogan was bad though and Schultz is a rather acquired taste. Hes not one of my favorites at all and this was pretty much proof why. The blading thing was just laughable but its cool to see Hogan in a match like that for a change. Just an odd match though and it wasnt working for the most part. Not horrible though.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Big Jon Studd
Were in a cage this time. Only exiting the cage to win here. Were in St. Louis as this is in April of 84 so were seemingly going back in time here. Gorilla says the cage is closer to 20 feet high and it is a bit bigger than most. Clipped huge as we go from them looking at each other to Hogan being in big trouble and bleeding. Studd almost makes it out the door but Hogan makes the save.
Ton of blood from Hogan here. Clipped again to Hogan being in control so this must have been a rather long match. We clip it AGAIN to Studd being busted too. Hogan pounds away as does Studd. Middle rope forearm puts Hogan down again. Studd collapses from blood loss and pain and cant get through the door. It would be a bit more effective if this had been going on more than three minutes total.
Hogan pulls him back in and the fight is on again. When I say fight I mean bad punching but you get the idea. Studd makes the first try at climbing over the cage but Hogan makes the save of course. Studd takes a WEAK shot into the cage and theres the legdrop. A diving save keeps Hogan in but Hogan kicks him off and goes through the door to win it oddly enough.
Rating: N/A. With all the clipping I cant fairly grade this. The match wasnt very good at all though but the blood helped it. They must have cut a good 6-7 minutes out of this though and it makes the match seem a lot weaker than it very well may have been. Definitely the weakest match so far, but not their fault rather than the editors.
We get a special sit down interview with Hogan and Vince. Vince asks why wrestling and Hogan says hes always loved it and the one on one competition. That makes perfect sense actually. He likes training as it occurs to me its really hard to review interviews without just saying exactly whats said.
Hulk talks about how he decided to be a professional wrestler because his dad got him into it. No reason to believe that isnt true. He says that Andre is his greatest influence because he wants to be like him: completely dominant and athletic. You can almost see the dollar signs in Vinces eyes at the mention of Hogan and Andre. Finally, yes he still gets butterflies. Better interview than you would think actually.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik
Uh, whoa. This right here is the #1 most important moment in wrestling history, period. Ill get into a likely too long explanation of that after the match. In short, less than a month ago Sheik got the title from Backlund in controversial fashion. Backlund had been taking beatings before then and Hogan had returned to the company out of nowhere to make the save. Backlund is still injured here so Hogan is the substitute. Crowd is RABID for Hogan as he was a shooting star at this point having been in Rocky III which was incredibly popular at the time.
Something people might not know: this wasnt the last match that night. Howd you like to follow this one? There were two more after this: Snuka vs. Goulet and a Andre/Johnson/Maivia vs. the Samoans. Odd choices indeed. Crowd pops huge for Hogans hometown. This is one of the rowdiest crowds Ive ever seen. If for some reason you dont know the date its January 23, 1984.
Hogan, ever the nice guy, jumps Sheik as hes getting his robe off. The bell had rung though so all is fair I suppose. ALL Hogan for about the first two minutes here as Hogans weight changes throughout the match from 302-304. Big boot gets two and a pair of elbows gets the same. The crowd hasnt chilled for a second.
A charge misses in the corner and here comes the Sheik. The xenophobic fans chant USA. Sheik does nothing much besides kick. He rolls up the boot as he tended to do and stomps some more. Theres a Boston Crab and Hogan is tapping but that didnt mean anything for about eleven years. A push-up gets Hogan out of it.
Gutwrench suplex gets two and heres the Camel Clutch. Hogan is like fuck this and stands up to ram Sheik into the corner for the break. Theres the legdrop and we have the most important moment in the history of wrestling as Hulk Hogan is the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion. Gorilla gets the famous line of Hulkamania is here!
Rating: A+. If there was a grade higher than that, this would get it. The match is really just a step ahead of a squash, not even lasting six minutes. Hogan more or less mauled the champion here as he took Sheiks best stuff and shrugged it off. This was the perfect title change and Hogan would hold that title for over four years straight. Obviously the wrestling isnt the point here though as the match was rather bad on its own.
However, to put it mildly we wouldnt be here if not for this match. This is the match that launched us into what we know as wrestling. Before this it was all the same stuff as guys would fight in MSG every month or so and they were really rather interchangeable save for a slight gimmick alteration here or there. It was really just guys in tights grappling.
Enter Hulk Hogan. Hes big, hes loud, hes flashy, hes impressive for a man his size, he plays to the crowd like no one has ever seen before and like no one really has since, and he just destroyed the world champion in less than six minutes. The speed of this match really means a lot also. Back before this you would regularly see hour long draws or even longer than that. A match this quick for a world title was something very unusual in this time period.
Hogan was like nothing anyone had ever seen before and the fans loved him. Thats often what it takes to be something incredible. Look at Austin for the same thing. No one had ever done that like he had before and it worked incredibly well. Hogan was something new and all of a sudden, it was the personality that was selling the wrestler and not the wrestling itself. This was brand new, and to say it worked is the biggest understatement I can make. Again, most important moment ever and wrestling would not be what it is today without this.
Overall Rating: C+. This is a hard one to grade. First off, you get some interesting match choices. When I say interesting I mean it seems like they pulled them out of a hat. To be fair though the only thing you needed to see here was the Sheik match as he hadnt had many other big matches yet. This was decent for the most part as its a look at the time before he got really famous. My guess is that this was to promote Wrestlemania so the time is probably just prior to that. Fun tape but the clipping gets old quick. Five more volumes to come.
Host: Vince McMahon
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Howard Finkel, Gene Okerlund, Pat Patterson
Back in the 80s before this newfangled DVD contraption there were things called VHS. Those tapes lasted about 4-6 hours depending on how much quality you wanted. On the other hand you had Hulk Hogan, wrestling demigod and the hottest thing in the world. What you get today, those short 9 hour sets is dwarfed here. WWF in the 80s put out a SIX VOLUME SET, spanning a total of 11 hours of nothing but Hogan. I really must love you people. Lets get to it.
This would be back before Mania III and probably around 84-85 or maybe even 86. Hard to say for sure. Its also by far the shortest at just under an hour and fifteen minutes. I guess they were trying to ease us in gently.
The Coliseum Video intro about wrestling throughout history is always a nice help. Hogan is world champion which gets us nowhere as far as a time frame.
Vince lists off some matches were going to see and apparently there will be five plus Hogans workout tips and never before seen interviews. Except for the people that filmed them and the people that edited the tape and the people that have seen this before me.
WWF World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Greg Valentine
Valentine is IC Champion here and Hogan talks about making sure to avoid the Figure Four. Were in Philly and Hogan is in white. Valentine jumps him with some forearms to start. Valentine being IC Champion would put this between later September of 84 and July of 85. The crowd is just ridiculously into Hogan. Test of Strength is a ruse by Valentine as he takes over.
Chinlock gets Valentine nowhere as Hogan just stands up with him and rams Hammer into the corner to break it up. We hit the floor for a bit as its almost all Hogan. Valentine drills him as Hogan gets in and the beating is on. He works on the legs as Gorilla is talking about Pedro Morales for some reason. Greg drills Hogans knee with a chair and apparently the referee is just fine with it.
Hogan begins to have a seizure it seems. Oh never mind hes just Hulking Up. Hogan drills him a bit and then gets a suplex back into the ring. Instead of covering he hammers away for awhile as this is clipped a bit. Atomic drop has Valentine reeling as Gorilla is selling this like the master that he was.
Valentine gets a forearm in to break up a backdrop attempt and chokes away. Here come the elbows and Valentine goes up. Just like Flair I think you get what happens to him next. Gorilla says this has been going 10-15 minutes which is either an exaggeration or there has been a ton of clipping here. Out of almost nowhere Hogan counters the Figure Four, hits a clothesline and the leg drop retains the title. Rather abrupt ending.
Rating: C-. Kind of an awkward match but granted a lot of that could be due to the whole clipping aspect of it. Hogan in 84/85 was weird as he hadnt figured out his formula and style yet. Eventually he would get it down to a science and blow the roof off every time. Here hes trying to lock it down still and is blowing the roof off every time. Valentine was always worth glancing at and was fine here. Also nice to see Hogan against someone that isnt a monster.
Valentine tries to beat on Hogan a bit post match but Hogan clears the ring with relative ease.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Big Jon Studd
This is in the Meadowlands. Gary Michael Copetta is the ring announcer of all people and this is in December of 84. If Hogan can slam Studd he wins $15,000. Hogan is in yellow here. Im trying to place the voice of the other commentator besides Gorilla. I think its Howard Finkel actually. Wow it is. This could be interesting.
They clip the beginning of this a bit but I think it was just them staring each other down. Both guys go for slams but neither can get the other up. Heenan is Studds manager here. Hogan gets him up but cant turn him around for the slam. Theres the big boot very early but Hogan still cant slam him.
Hogan tries for about his fifth slam in 3 minutes as were clipped to Hogan hitting a clothesline. ANOTHER slam attempt but we go to the floor instead and Hogan is in trouble. His head is bleeding too. Hogan cant get back in and we clip it some more. Id assume its only about 30 seconds or so each time but its frustrating that you dont know for sure.
Studd comes off the top to crush Hogan for two. MORE clipping as Hogan is in big trouble here. He gets slammed as Studds offense is shall we say really limited. Studd kicks him to the floor so Hogan is like screw it lets fight out here. Can Studd do anything besides pound on him with forearms? Hogan slams him on the floor which doesnt get him the money but it does get him a countout win. Hogan lifts the referee over his head in a gorilla press position for no apparent reason.
Rating: D. Pretty bad match but the fans wanted to see Hogan win and thats what they got. Hearing Howard on the announce team is still weird beyond belief as is Copetta doing the announcing. From a few other places it appears the match was only clipped by about 90 seconds, which begs the question of why clip it at all. Anyway, bad match but Hogan winning was the point here. Andre would claim the money at the first Wrestlemania.
We get a clip from Tuesday Night Titans which is a bit out there. Hogan is giving nutrition tips and says that some things that get him excited are getting in the ring, good looking women, bicep curls and food. Vince keeps pausing when talking about Hogans muscles, making this incredibly awkward all around given Vinces sex drive in the last 12 years or so. Did I mention hes in a pink jacket?
Anyway Hogan has something called Python Powder which will be on the market soon. If Norcal ever sees this he might die of a massive heart attack. Hulk adds in some fruits and berries and throws in an egg complete with shell. Hogan also has Python Packs which are little packets of vitamins. So Hogan is handing out pills and white powder. Is this segment a massive rib or something? Apparently the pills make you hungry.
Hogan pours out some of his protein shakes and says that the pills will make you go all day long. Vince doesnt advise this for anyone. Hogan downs the entire shake in one big gulp but Alfred isnt hungry. Vince likes it and pops some pills on the side. Hogan throws in a mini pec dance ala Masters. They finally get Alfred to try it and he throws up. This was LONG and on the surface its boring but if you get the very subtle humor youll die from laughter.
WWF Title: Dave Schultz vs. Hulk Hogan
Now this is an interesting case. In short, Schultz (Dr. D as he is more commonly known) is a psychopath. He was a big time heel back in the early 80s (this is from June of 84 in Hogans old stomping grounds of Minneapolis. Given the time, this was actually a pretty ballsy move of Vince to run a show there due to that being the AWAs home city) but went on a 20/20 and legitimately hurt a host who asked if wrestling was fake.
More or less he was blackballed from the business immediately. If you look him up, keep in mind that there was an amateur wrestler by the same name. He wasnt half bad either as Kurt Angle said he couldnt beat him in amateur wrestling. That says a lot. Anyway this is when he and Piper and Orndorff and Orton were running around and being badasses. Hogan is in the blue here for some reason.
The big screen actually says Hulkamania is Running Wild. Holy brainwashing Batman. If nothing else it certainly worked. Schultz looks like a beefed up and more rugged Hennig if that helps. Schultz jumps him as hes warming up which just isnt nice at all. Crowd is insanely into Hogan here. Schultz chokes away with the strap of his singlet as this is more of a brawl than a match as was common with Dr. D.
Hogan is thrown to the floor and he may have hurt his elbow/arm. Schultz follows him out and gets a big chair shot to bust Hogan open. Well now he has red on his head, white on his wrists and blue tights. He IS a Real American! Gorilla says the chair was made of iron. When have you ever heard of a chair or anything for that matter being made of anything but STEEL?
Schultz drops a middle rope elbow which is apparently his finisher and Hogan starts shaking like a big old fish. He kicks out with ease of course and its Hulk Up time. For the first time in this match Hulk goes on offense. Schultz is lifted into the air in a choke and the AXE BOMBER takes Schultz down. An elbow hits but Hogan pulls him up instead of going for the pin. He wants blood apparently. Our hero ladies and gentlemen.
Slam and legdrop hit but he pulls him up one more time. Schultz is laying on the match and is like FREAKING OW MAN! Hogan sends him to the floor and I think its chair time again. Ah make that post time. Now heres the interesting part. The post shot was supposed to bust him open right? Schultz however bladed once he hit the floor so his blonde hair is red when Hogan is picking him up to ram him in. WOW.
Back in Schultz gets a clothesline out of nowhere and now its Hogan in trouble for a change. By change I mean for the first time in about two minutes. A top rope elbow from Dr. D misses completely though and Schultz is in big trouble. A second Axe Bomber (running forearm/clothesline/double axe) ends this with relative ease. Schultz blasts Hogan with the title and puts it on to end it. And never mind as Hogan steals his own belt back.
Rating: C-. This was a brawl for the most part and wasnt bad at all. The more or less lack of any real threat to Hogan was bad though and Schultz is a rather acquired taste. Hes not one of my favorites at all and this was pretty much proof why. The blading thing was just laughable but its cool to see Hogan in a match like that for a change. Just an odd match though and it wasnt working for the most part. Not horrible though.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Big Jon Studd
Were in a cage this time. Only exiting the cage to win here. Were in St. Louis as this is in April of 84 so were seemingly going back in time here. Gorilla says the cage is closer to 20 feet high and it is a bit bigger than most. Clipped huge as we go from them looking at each other to Hogan being in big trouble and bleeding. Studd almost makes it out the door but Hogan makes the save.
Ton of blood from Hogan here. Clipped again to Hogan being in control so this must have been a rather long match. We clip it AGAIN to Studd being busted too. Hogan pounds away as does Studd. Middle rope forearm puts Hogan down again. Studd collapses from blood loss and pain and cant get through the door. It would be a bit more effective if this had been going on more than three minutes total.
Hogan pulls him back in and the fight is on again. When I say fight I mean bad punching but you get the idea. Studd makes the first try at climbing over the cage but Hogan makes the save of course. Studd takes a WEAK shot into the cage and theres the legdrop. A diving save keeps Hogan in but Hogan kicks him off and goes through the door to win it oddly enough.
Rating: N/A. With all the clipping I cant fairly grade this. The match wasnt very good at all though but the blood helped it. They must have cut a good 6-7 minutes out of this though and it makes the match seem a lot weaker than it very well may have been. Definitely the weakest match so far, but not their fault rather than the editors.
We get a special sit down interview with Hogan and Vince. Vince asks why wrestling and Hogan says hes always loved it and the one on one competition. That makes perfect sense actually. He likes training as it occurs to me its really hard to review interviews without just saying exactly whats said.
Hulk talks about how he decided to be a professional wrestler because his dad got him into it. No reason to believe that isnt true. He says that Andre is his greatest influence because he wants to be like him: completely dominant and athletic. You can almost see the dollar signs in Vinces eyes at the mention of Hogan and Andre. Finally, yes he still gets butterflies. Better interview than you would think actually.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik
Uh, whoa. This right here is the #1 most important moment in wrestling history, period. Ill get into a likely too long explanation of that after the match. In short, less than a month ago Sheik got the title from Backlund in controversial fashion. Backlund had been taking beatings before then and Hogan had returned to the company out of nowhere to make the save. Backlund is still injured here so Hogan is the substitute. Crowd is RABID for Hogan as he was a shooting star at this point having been in Rocky III which was incredibly popular at the time.
Something people might not know: this wasnt the last match that night. Howd you like to follow this one? There were two more after this: Snuka vs. Goulet and a Andre/Johnson/Maivia vs. the Samoans. Odd choices indeed. Crowd pops huge for Hogans hometown. This is one of the rowdiest crowds Ive ever seen. If for some reason you dont know the date its January 23, 1984.
Hogan, ever the nice guy, jumps Sheik as hes getting his robe off. The bell had rung though so all is fair I suppose. ALL Hogan for about the first two minutes here as Hogans weight changes throughout the match from 302-304. Big boot gets two and a pair of elbows gets the same. The crowd hasnt chilled for a second.
A charge misses in the corner and here comes the Sheik. The xenophobic fans chant USA. Sheik does nothing much besides kick. He rolls up the boot as he tended to do and stomps some more. Theres a Boston Crab and Hogan is tapping but that didnt mean anything for about eleven years. A push-up gets Hogan out of it.
Gutwrench suplex gets two and heres the Camel Clutch. Hogan is like fuck this and stands up to ram Sheik into the corner for the break. Theres the legdrop and we have the most important moment in the history of wrestling as Hulk Hogan is the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion. Gorilla gets the famous line of Hulkamania is here!
Rating: A+. If there was a grade higher than that, this would get it. The match is really just a step ahead of a squash, not even lasting six minutes. Hogan more or less mauled the champion here as he took Sheiks best stuff and shrugged it off. This was the perfect title change and Hogan would hold that title for over four years straight. Obviously the wrestling isnt the point here though as the match was rather bad on its own.
However, to put it mildly we wouldnt be here if not for this match. This is the match that launched us into what we know as wrestling. Before this it was all the same stuff as guys would fight in MSG every month or so and they were really rather interchangeable save for a slight gimmick alteration here or there. It was really just guys in tights grappling.
Enter Hulk Hogan. Hes big, hes loud, hes flashy, hes impressive for a man his size, he plays to the crowd like no one has ever seen before and like no one really has since, and he just destroyed the world champion in less than six minutes. The speed of this match really means a lot also. Back before this you would regularly see hour long draws or even longer than that. A match this quick for a world title was something very unusual in this time period.
Hogan was like nothing anyone had ever seen before and the fans loved him. Thats often what it takes to be something incredible. Look at Austin for the same thing. No one had ever done that like he had before and it worked incredibly well. Hogan was something new and all of a sudden, it was the personality that was selling the wrestler and not the wrestling itself. This was brand new, and to say it worked is the biggest understatement I can make. Again, most important moment ever and wrestling would not be what it is today without this.
Overall Rating: C+. This is a hard one to grade. First off, you get some interesting match choices. When I say interesting I mean it seems like they pulled them out of a hat. To be fair though the only thing you needed to see here was the Sheik match as he hadnt had many other big matches yet. This was decent for the most part as its a look at the time before he got really famous. My guess is that this was to promote Wrestlemania so the time is probably just prior to that. Fun tape but the clipping gets old quick. Five more volumes to come.