Was anyone else sick and tired of Hogan's schtick(1997-1999)?

[FlairFan2003]

I am going to address why Piper wasn't given a title run in WCW by saying.....Did you know he was never given a world title in WWF either?! Back in those days you didn't need the World Title to be a Big Time Name & Player. Think about guys like Jake Roberst, Rick Rude, Ted Debiase, Ricky Steamboat & especially Curt Henning - all had amazing careers & made an impact on the business, then & now, and never had a World Title Run - you have got to understand that title runs are often overrated! Just ask HHH & Cena!!

Now let me address your entire diatribe about Hollywood Hulk Hogan....at that time in wrestling he was THE MAN! When he turned heel it rocked not just the wrestling world but the entire world as a whole, it made news everywhere!! Everything you are talking about that was boring, etc is what made his entire character because it was so ANTI-HULK HOGAN. Hulk walked to the ring with a bounce in his step shaking hands, Hollywood took his time because he ran things - Hulk helped encourage and build up people, Hollywood spray painted them and humiliated them - Hulk was a humble man of the people, Hollywood was an arrogant jerk that did what he wanted when he wanted how he wanted - Maybe This is one of those situations of "You had to experience it when it happened"!

The sad truth is fans like you look back at wrestling I grew up with and don't "get it" because of the product you are used to getting force fed now. If you would go back and watch storylines like Sting vs Black Scorpion (who is this masked man), DX vs Nation of Domination, The Monday Night Wars or WCW Vs WWF and the list can go on and on you might not understand or get why it was entertaining at the time but they kept us on the edge of our seat because of the time they were in. In closing let me say - HOLLYWOOD HOGAN will go down in history as one of the greatest heels of all time BUT let me also say WWE helped ruin that because of the NWOs crap run they gave them near the end!

Ricky Steamboat was World Champion

 

[FlairFan2003]

I watched Clash of the Champions and Hog Wild from 96. Of course, both matches were after Hogan's heel turn at Bash at the Beach. It was interesting watching the fans reaction to Hogan.

Keeping mind that the Giant, was the major squash heel at the time, and maybe the biggest heel in the company before Hogan's turn, the fans largely seemed to be cheering for Hogan still in this match. Before the NWO, the Dungeon of Doom was the dominant heel stable, boasting of such distinguished members at the Yetti Cooler.

With Flair, the fans were still largely cheering Hogan and even chanting his name early in the match. The Horsemen who were feuding with the Dungeon of Doom fresh after the Alliance to End Hulkamania, were arguably a tweener stable with their feud against the Dungeon but also by still wrestling against guys like Sting and Savage.

Hogan hulked up in each match to huge pops from the crowd, but both matches had dirty finishes.

I would argue that Flair was the overwhelming fan fav at Clash 96....the biggest reason behind Hogan's heel turn in the 1st place was the fact he was getting a lot of boos when he wrestled in WCW early on, especially against Flair.

As for "Hogan's Schtick".....The whole NWO routine was wildly over during this time, and his ring entrances (although pretty long) were not as exaggerated as some guys. Steve Austin had some utterly stupid and ridiculous ring entrances, on quads, monster trucks, etc, that stuff was pathetic. Undertaker has an entrance so long it sometimes lasts longer than other matches on the card, with all the crazy lighting, the whole juvenile "mystical urn" thing.... Im sure there were some people who didn't like it and each to their own, but it was way over in that time.

As for title runs, I think Piper due to his injury issues wasn't a viable option. I liked that fact they gave Lex Luger, who basically carried the whole company for nearly the 1st year of the NWO storyline with Sting in exile and Flair off rehabbing his torn rotator cuff and surgery, a nice win, but I thought he deserved a longer run, maybe a couple of PPVs before giving it back to Hogan. Sting deserved a long run after Starrcade 97, even if Hogan got it back by say the summer of 98 Sting's massive build up and such shouldn't have been wasted, plus putting the NWO on the attack again with them trying to regain the World Title would have added a spark to the storyline and kept it fresh (and likely saved us from the horrible Red & Black vs Black & White fiasco)....I would have liked to have seen Flair hold it longer as a fan fave after beating Hogan in 99, before losing it to either Goldberg or Nash and setting up the NWO split and Hogan's face turn over a longer period of time, maybe into the summer of 99 (remember Hogan was gone for a few months after knee surgery, Flair could have kept the belt till summer, lost it to Nash, we could have had Hogan return and challenge the winner of Goldberg-Nash for the title, all of which would have taken us into at least the build up for Starrcade 99). But one man's opinion isn't worth much more than what someone else says it is so.....

Bottom line, you obviously weren't a Hogan fan during this time, which is fine, (I wasn't either believe me) but his "schtick" was way over with the audience (just like those Austin & Taker entrances that I often found either way too overboard or just plain absurd) so I get why it went on as long as it did.