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Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Hulkamania Volume 4
Host: Sean Mooney
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura
Im sure youre familiar with this now. There are six volumes total so were moving past halfway with this one. Not sure on the date here but Id assume around mid to late 89. Lets get to it.
Mooney introduces us to the tape but first, some PSAs.
The Rockers say dont smoke.
The Ultimate Warrior says eat Slim Jims.
Survivor Series 89 will be on VHS in December. That would imply that this is late 89.
Now I think were actually starting this with Hogan coming to the ring .as champion. This is just an intro but if hes champion this would have to be either post Mania 5 or early 88.
We get a clip of Hogan winning the title from the Sheik. Just him breaking the camel clutch and the ending.
We get what can best be described as a music video of Hogan, set to Real American. Various fans say how awesome Hulk is. The song doesnt finish so just the intro was the music video part. Theres a clip of Mania 5 so this would have to be late 89. Ok then.
Hogan (champion here) says Hulkamania is awesome. There are only three demandmends and the fourth didnt debut until Summerslam 90 so we have most of this time frame set. The song is playing over his speech here so its kind of hard to hear.
The first match is from a SNME so its cut and paste time. This is from the 20th SNME and was less than a month before Mania 5.
Hulk Hogan vs. Bad News Brown
Liz is with Hogan. The arena is weird looking as theres no entryway but rather what looks like a hockey board that they open up. Brown takes over to start as is the tradition for a lot of Hogan matches. This only lasts a few minutes as Im amazed at what Brown was back in this era. If he had been around say 8 years later, he would have been pure gold. Hogan goes to the head but it doesnt work, making me really wonder how many of these stereotypes were unintentional.
Brown accidently punches the post and this has been pretty one sided so far with Hogan dominating for the most part. Hogan no sells a chair shot and Brown leaves, saying hang on a second. He comes back shortly .with a broom? It goes nowhere and Brown FINALLY takes over with a clothesline. Brown gets a legdrop for two but its only kind of a power kickout.
Hogan gets beaten up and then Brown grabs the mic and goes Rock, talking to Hogan and telling him its Ghetto Blaster (his finisher, a running enziguri) time which of course misses. Maybe it would have hit if he hadnt told him that. Hogan hits a high knee to set up the leg drop to end it. Well thats different. He and Liz pose a lot.
Rating: C+. Not bad at all here. Again, Brown was an AWESOME character and could have been a great heel both here and ten years later. Him vs. Rock or Austin would have sold great and the fact that he was a legit fighter (Bronze medal in judo in the Olympics) would have easily opened the door to MMA if he wanted to go there. Decent little match and different than what youre used to from Hulk which is a nice change of pace.
Hercules believes in the Demandments.
Tito says Hulkamania is the strongest force on Earth. Why do I have a feeling Hogan said hed do a tag match with them for this?
Hulk Hogan vs. Ted DiBiase
In Philly here and I dont think Hogan is champion even though the announcers imply he is. This is a lumberjack match. The roster around the ring would imply that this is a good bit earlier than late 89, meaning this was taped earlier. All Hogan so far as he gets a clothesline to put DiBiase down. A punch puts DiBiase on the floor and is tossed back in.
Atomic drop puts DiBiase on the floor in front of the heels. Tony says anything goes in lumberjack matches as Hogan chokes with tape. I guess this is no DQ. Big boot puts DiBiase on the floor for the fourth time in about three minutes. Hogan finally follows him out but Virgil gets in a shot to Hogan. The Killer Bees jump Hogan for absolutely no apparent reason (theyre in masks mind you so theres no clue who they are or who they might be).
DiBiase hammers away with some basic stuff including some elbows for two. Hogan is already Hulking Up. Are they being paid by the non hour here? This hasnt been going on for five minutes yet. Tony in WWF just doesnt sound right at all. The leg is teased but a Killer Bee trips him. DiBiase pulls a Flair and goes up only to get slammed off the top. Leg Drop ends this in maybe five minutes. Wow indeed.
Rating: D. Weak match here with DiBiase looking like a total jobber. The Bees were a weird aspect to it but the masks help out on that a lot. Its an odd choice to put here out of context but it could be worse. Not the worst match ever but a really weird one to put it mildly. Also, why so short?
The Bees jump Hogan and get beaten down. Hogan takes a mask but theres another underneath. Still no belt so yeah this was taped a long time ago.
Boss Man says hell win in the cage.
Hogan says he isnt afraid of Boss Man. Theres a lot of implications of prison rape in this.
Hulk Hogan vs. Big Boss Man
This is in a cage but isnt the famous one from SNME. Boss Man weighs about 450 here. In MSG here. Hogan puts him down twice in a row very quickly and make that three times. Crows is loving this by the way. Hogan tries to escape but gets popped in the back. This is very close to Mania 5 apparently. They fight it out on the top rope and Boss Man sends him to the mat with a headbutt.
Boss Man climbs out but takes too long just like any villain and Hogan makes the miracle save. We get a modified version of the superplex but this time Hogan is just standing on the top rope which is the same spot as the famous match but this pales in comparison for some reason. The commentary maybe? After they lay there for a very long time with Boss Mans eye busted, Hogan makes a failing attempt at the door.
With Hogan in trouble, Boss Man gets a chain from Slick. After some severe choking, which somehow doesnt kill Hogan of course, Hogan blocks a cage shot and rams Boss Man in instead. I think the cage is shorter than usual here. Hogan gets the chain and the roar is insane considering this is in New York. Amazing that Boss Man could have a grown man hit him in the head with a chain and pop up. Leg drop hits but Slick comes in. Boss Man gets crotched and handcuffed to the middle rope. Hogan climbs out just before Slick can get the key in to free Boss Man.
Rating: C+. This is move for move the same match as the one on SNME. Its not bad but when you can call the spots five minutes in advance it gets a bit tedious. I gave the SNME one a B- because the energy is better and its by far and away more famous as I had never seen this one until now. Fine match but not as good as the other one.
Hogan goes to an elementary school in New York. Oh my goodness this would be awesome. Hes in the No Holds Barred clothes which is a weird look for him as its very dark with mainly black and dark red trim. The kids pay tribute to him which is pretty cool all things considered. Theyre singing to him now. Ok were reaching creepy here. He cuts a promo for them which is always cool. I wonder what the teachers think of this. He tells the kids to stay in school and not to try drugs. Nothing wrong with that.
Liz wants Hogan to have the title forever.
The Bushwackers love Hogan.
Honky says hes a more powerful force than Hogan.
Hogan sings part of Honkys song and says hell win.
From SNME 22, July 18, 1989.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Honky Tonk Man
Even Jesse admits that Hogan is the favorite. You know this is going to be one sided when even he admits to something like that. Honky goes for the guitar shot immediately and of course it doesnt work. Jimmy goes for Hogan of course and it doesnt work. That was a big problem I had with WCW Hogan. He and Hart were enemies for years and now theyre best friends?
That just doesnt work in the slightest. I could watch Honky take atomic drops all day. Jimmy pops Hogan with a guitar to take over for the first time. Id love to be the guy that made the guitars for wrestling companies. You would be a freaking millionaire.
A guitar and table shop would clean up next door to Titan Towers. Honky hooks a camel clutch that gets him nowhere and Honky is actually in control. The Shake Rattle and Roll connects and Honky dances. Hogan Hulks Up after two and you know the ending. Hogan even throws in a guitar shot and the referee doesnt seem to care. Hogans posing actually goes through a commercial. Wow indeed.
Rating: D. This is your standard Hogan match from this era as Hogan completely dominated. Honky was about a year removed from meaning anything at all here though so its not like this really meant much. To be fair though, this was just to get him on TV which worked fine. Match was horrible though.
Heenan wants to know whats so special about Hulkamania. He says the Heenan Family can take care of Hogan.
Hogan says Hulkamania is awesome and Heenan is just a guy with a lot of monsters. Hell take all of them out until only the Giant is left.
Hulk Hogan vs. Haku
This is from a Wrestling Challenge taping, which is similar to what Superstars is today. Haku takes him down quickly and the fans are WAY behind Hogan. Hogan fires back and gets a slam followed by the right hands. Heenan takes a shot also (which he would do literally in WCW on a regular basis) which makes me smile.
Haku works on the arm and pulls on the hair. Thats rather impressive considering there isnt much to pull. This is another of those matches that the commentators say is a title match but Hogan wasnt champion at the time. Hogan fights up and sets for the big right but Haku hits the floor. Hes a Samoan/Tongan. A shot to the head shouldnt scare him at all.
Atomic drop sends Haku right back to the floor. And never mind as hes right back in. Slam puts Haku down as other than the opening seconds this has been all Hogan. Of course as I say that Hogan misses an elbow and its off to the King. Yeah its King Haku here. Off to the nerve hold now which doesnt last long. Slam gets two. Back to the nerve hold which never works for the most part.
Haku gets his crescent kick (more or less a superkick) to send Hogan down for two and its Hulk Up time. Why in the world would you hammer away on Hogan when he starts doing this? Just run to the floor and stop trying at this point. Its not going to work. Big boot and the leg ends this.
Rating: C. Standard Hogan vs. monster match that he had roughly 10,000 of in the 80s. These are rather repetitive but at the same time the fans never stopped reacting to them, which is a good sign for Hogan as he was the constant yet the people cared about him enough to keep cheering. Thats hard to do.
I forgot to mention that whenever they go to a different segment here the screen goes to black and white so it looks like something from the NWO.
Demolition loves Hulkamania because youll be tough if you believe in it.
Brutus Beefcake says Hulkamania is about big arms and a great partner.
I think you may have heard of this one before. In something shocking to me, this is in full.
WWF World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
This match has been called the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling and that very well may be true. It was the first true super main event in Wrestlemania history. Heres the story: Hogan and Andre used to be friends and even tag partners. They celebrated together when Hogan won the belt over 3 years ago. Hogan ran in to save Andre a few times from being beaten up by Bundy and Studd.
Fast forward a year and Hogan is being given a trophy for being World Champion for three years. Andre is given a slightly smaller trophy for not losing a match in 15 years. He looks at the trophies and just walks away. A few weeks later, they have a face to face interview on Pipers Pit. Andre tilts Hogans head up at him and says Look at me when Im talking to you. Im here for one reason: to challenge you for a world championship match at Wrestlemania.
Hogan is stunned and says he cant do it. Andre grabs Hogans shirt and the cross he wears and rips them off, stunning Hogan. Piper asks him if hell fight him and Hogan screams YES!!! You really have to understand how big this was at the time. Andre was like Taker as far as mystique goes, but 10x moreso. This would be like Hulk Hogan coming back today and challenging John Cena to a match.
Andre comes out and the booing is mindblowing. In something that I find funny, he waves to the fans on the way down to ringside. Jesse gives the tale of the tape, which is all of Andre and Hogans measurements, showing that as big as Hogan is, Andre is so much bigger. Bob Uecker is the guest announcer and after introducing Andre, says three simple words: and, his opponent. After that, the fans just lose it. Hogans music hits and nothing else matters at all.
Gorilla puts it best by saying The roof of the Silverdome is about to explode here! In a great camera shot, you get a wide angle shot of the arena with the spotlight on Hogan which really shows how this whole show has been building to this one moment. Hogan gets in the ring and its on. I wont go into detail here either as Im sure youve all seen this at one time or another. Every word of commentary is famous here as I can almost quote the whole match to you.
Within 15 seconds, Hogan goes for a slam and we nearly get a pin. That is a point that is used for over a year as Hogan might not have gotten his shoulder up in time. The way the camera is set up you really cant tell if he did or not. This was something that a lot of people, Hulk included, were worried about going into this match. See, today in wrestling, no one would ever change the ending to a match. In this case, Andre had agreed to lose.
The problem that Hogan had was if he did a single thing during the match to offend Andre, Andre would pin him and there wasnt a damn thing Hogan could do if Andre chose to do that. Thats how big and strong Andre truly was. There wasnt a man in wrestling that could legitimately beat him in a real fight at the time.
He easily could have turned it into a shoot and annihilated Hogan. Thats where the controversy came from: when Andre landed on Hogan, Hogan literally couldnt kick out. Andre shifted his weight at the last second and Hogan got a shoulder up just in time, but it was so close that it looked like the match lasted 15 seconds.
The in ring work here is really pretty bad, but no one cared. This match was all about the meaning of what was going on and the truly epic nature of the match. No one really knew who was going to win here and it was a legitimate possibility that Hogan would lose. Andre more or less beats the living fuck out of Hogan the whole match until the very end. Hogan gets some shots in here and there that do some damage and Andre is clearly worn out at the end of it.
The crowd is almost stunned that Hogan is being dominated. They brawl on the floor for a bit and then head back into the ring. Andre misses a boot and Hogan clotheslines him, knocking him down. The fans go insane at the sight of this. Hulk Hulks Up and he has the crowd in the palm of his hand at this point. In what might be the most mous scene in the history of wrestling, Hogan slams Andre in a completely unplanned spot.
Even the commentators are in awe at this point as Hogan drops the leg and wins the match. Andre was so bit at the time that Hogan ripped his ab muscles to pieces slamming him and was out for a few months. The music plays and Heenan and Andre get into the cart that takes them to the back as Heenan has his head in his hands, wondering what just happened. Hogan poses as we close the show with the fans absolutely going nuts.
Rating: A. The match itself is pretty bad but the historical significance is second to absolutely nothing. Now I've seen a lot of people (including his majesty Mr. Meltzer) say this was a horrible match and all that jazz. In short: SCREW YOU ALL. Get the damn sticks out of your asses and have some damn fun for once. If you don't get chills watching the staredown and the slam, then go watch something else.
You have Hogan and Andre who can barely move at all. What are they supposed to do out there? The entire idea here was to have a major showdown and that's exactly what they did. THis match was epic, still is epic and will always be epic. Anyone that says this wasn't a great match that did exactly what it was supposed to do is a fool, and i don't care who I have to argue this with.
We get a behind the scenes look at No Holds Barred. If youve never seen this movie, go find it (youre going to have to find the VHS as I dont think its ever been put on DVD) as its awesome for camp value if nothing else.
The leading lady was afraid he would crush her but hes awesome.
We get a look at the fight scenes which is Hogan beating people up near a car. Hogan did his own stunts.
Hogan had to work out and be on the set too and he managed to get people into physical fitness on the set too.
The co-star who plays Hulks brother is a WWF fan and admires Hulk. Theres a lot of emotion in the movie. Hogan cries in the movie. And curses too.
The director says Hulk is awesome.
The villain, a shady network dude, is talked about.
Some of the supporting actors talk about how awesome Hulk is.
Zeus, still in character, says hes coming for Hulk. This was a bad idea. Like a REALLY bad idea.
We get a clip of the final fight which was so overblown it was hilarious. And thats it.
Savage and Sherri say theyll outlast Hulkamania.
Hogan recaps Zeus/Savage vs. Hogan.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage
This is sometime around August of 89. The place erupts for Hogan. Savage says tonights the night and were ready to go. Savage and Sherri jump Hogan which gets them nowhere. Hogan rams Zeus into the apron which gets him nowhere and we get the match were supposed to get. Hogan controls early but the distraction by Sherri lets Zeus send him into the post.
Back in and a double axe gets two for Savage and we hit the chinlock. Liz is with Hogan here and cheers him on. This chinlock has been on for nearly three minutes now. I never thought Id have to say this in a Savage match but DO SOMETHING ALREADY! Hogan fights out with some basic stuff but Sherri distracts again to give Savage control.
Randy gets a loaded purse shot off the top and its Hulk Up time. Sherri is all nervous as Savage hammers away to no avail. The big boot hits but Hogan holds Savage up for a shot from Liz. A clothesline and the leg drop end this despite a REALLY slow count. Just a dark match to send the fans home happy.
Rating: D. Man this was bad. When half the match is spent in a chinlock, you know its not much. Its also really weird to see these two have a bad match considering they had about 5000 matches against each other, all of which were at least decent. Either way its the last thing on the tape so were done.
Zeus goes after Hogan but Beefcake comes out for the save.
Hogan talks about fighting a grown up Hulkamaniac or something like that.
Hogans posing from Mania 5 takes us out.
Overall Rating: C-. This was very different from the previous volume. By that I mean the previous one was awesome and this feels thrown together. Its not terrible but its really just a celebration of Hogan with some very minor matches save for one. This is one of those tapes that you would have at a video store on sale for like 8 dollars or so and for that its not bad. Overall though, nothing worth watching here at all.
Host: Sean Mooney
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura
Im sure youre familiar with this now. There are six volumes total so were moving past halfway with this one. Not sure on the date here but Id assume around mid to late 89. Lets get to it.
Mooney introduces us to the tape but first, some PSAs.
The Rockers say dont smoke.
The Ultimate Warrior says eat Slim Jims.
Survivor Series 89 will be on VHS in December. That would imply that this is late 89.
Now I think were actually starting this with Hogan coming to the ring .as champion. This is just an intro but if hes champion this would have to be either post Mania 5 or early 88.
We get a clip of Hogan winning the title from the Sheik. Just him breaking the camel clutch and the ending.
We get what can best be described as a music video of Hogan, set to Real American. Various fans say how awesome Hulk is. The song doesnt finish so just the intro was the music video part. Theres a clip of Mania 5 so this would have to be late 89. Ok then.
Hogan (champion here) says Hulkamania is awesome. There are only three demandmends and the fourth didnt debut until Summerslam 90 so we have most of this time frame set. The song is playing over his speech here so its kind of hard to hear.
The first match is from a SNME so its cut and paste time. This is from the 20th SNME and was less than a month before Mania 5.
Hulk Hogan vs. Bad News Brown
Liz is with Hogan. The arena is weird looking as theres no entryway but rather what looks like a hockey board that they open up. Brown takes over to start as is the tradition for a lot of Hogan matches. This only lasts a few minutes as Im amazed at what Brown was back in this era. If he had been around say 8 years later, he would have been pure gold. Hogan goes to the head but it doesnt work, making me really wonder how many of these stereotypes were unintentional.
Brown accidently punches the post and this has been pretty one sided so far with Hogan dominating for the most part. Hogan no sells a chair shot and Brown leaves, saying hang on a second. He comes back shortly .with a broom? It goes nowhere and Brown FINALLY takes over with a clothesline. Brown gets a legdrop for two but its only kind of a power kickout.
Hogan gets beaten up and then Brown grabs the mic and goes Rock, talking to Hogan and telling him its Ghetto Blaster (his finisher, a running enziguri) time which of course misses. Maybe it would have hit if he hadnt told him that. Hogan hits a high knee to set up the leg drop to end it. Well thats different. He and Liz pose a lot.
Rating: C+. Not bad at all here. Again, Brown was an AWESOME character and could have been a great heel both here and ten years later. Him vs. Rock or Austin would have sold great and the fact that he was a legit fighter (Bronze medal in judo in the Olympics) would have easily opened the door to MMA if he wanted to go there. Decent little match and different than what youre used to from Hulk which is a nice change of pace.
Hercules believes in the Demandments.
Tito says Hulkamania is the strongest force on Earth. Why do I have a feeling Hogan said hed do a tag match with them for this?
Hulk Hogan vs. Ted DiBiase
In Philly here and I dont think Hogan is champion even though the announcers imply he is. This is a lumberjack match. The roster around the ring would imply that this is a good bit earlier than late 89, meaning this was taped earlier. All Hogan so far as he gets a clothesline to put DiBiase down. A punch puts DiBiase on the floor and is tossed back in.
Atomic drop puts DiBiase on the floor in front of the heels. Tony says anything goes in lumberjack matches as Hogan chokes with tape. I guess this is no DQ. Big boot puts DiBiase on the floor for the fourth time in about three minutes. Hogan finally follows him out but Virgil gets in a shot to Hogan. The Killer Bees jump Hogan for absolutely no apparent reason (theyre in masks mind you so theres no clue who they are or who they might be).
DiBiase hammers away with some basic stuff including some elbows for two. Hogan is already Hulking Up. Are they being paid by the non hour here? This hasnt been going on for five minutes yet. Tony in WWF just doesnt sound right at all. The leg is teased but a Killer Bee trips him. DiBiase pulls a Flair and goes up only to get slammed off the top. Leg Drop ends this in maybe five minutes. Wow indeed.
Rating: D. Weak match here with DiBiase looking like a total jobber. The Bees were a weird aspect to it but the masks help out on that a lot. Its an odd choice to put here out of context but it could be worse. Not the worst match ever but a really weird one to put it mildly. Also, why so short?
The Bees jump Hogan and get beaten down. Hogan takes a mask but theres another underneath. Still no belt so yeah this was taped a long time ago.
Boss Man says hell win in the cage.
Hogan says he isnt afraid of Boss Man. Theres a lot of implications of prison rape in this.
Hulk Hogan vs. Big Boss Man
This is in a cage but isnt the famous one from SNME. Boss Man weighs about 450 here. In MSG here. Hogan puts him down twice in a row very quickly and make that three times. Crows is loving this by the way. Hogan tries to escape but gets popped in the back. This is very close to Mania 5 apparently. They fight it out on the top rope and Boss Man sends him to the mat with a headbutt.
Boss Man climbs out but takes too long just like any villain and Hogan makes the miracle save. We get a modified version of the superplex but this time Hogan is just standing on the top rope which is the same spot as the famous match but this pales in comparison for some reason. The commentary maybe? After they lay there for a very long time with Boss Mans eye busted, Hogan makes a failing attempt at the door.
With Hogan in trouble, Boss Man gets a chain from Slick. After some severe choking, which somehow doesnt kill Hogan of course, Hogan blocks a cage shot and rams Boss Man in instead. I think the cage is shorter than usual here. Hogan gets the chain and the roar is insane considering this is in New York. Amazing that Boss Man could have a grown man hit him in the head with a chain and pop up. Leg drop hits but Slick comes in. Boss Man gets crotched and handcuffed to the middle rope. Hogan climbs out just before Slick can get the key in to free Boss Man.
Rating: C+. This is move for move the same match as the one on SNME. Its not bad but when you can call the spots five minutes in advance it gets a bit tedious. I gave the SNME one a B- because the energy is better and its by far and away more famous as I had never seen this one until now. Fine match but not as good as the other one.
Hogan goes to an elementary school in New York. Oh my goodness this would be awesome. Hes in the No Holds Barred clothes which is a weird look for him as its very dark with mainly black and dark red trim. The kids pay tribute to him which is pretty cool all things considered. Theyre singing to him now. Ok were reaching creepy here. He cuts a promo for them which is always cool. I wonder what the teachers think of this. He tells the kids to stay in school and not to try drugs. Nothing wrong with that.
Liz wants Hogan to have the title forever.
The Bushwackers love Hogan.
Honky says hes a more powerful force than Hogan.
Hogan sings part of Honkys song and says hell win.
From SNME 22, July 18, 1989.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Honky Tonk Man
Even Jesse admits that Hogan is the favorite. You know this is going to be one sided when even he admits to something like that. Honky goes for the guitar shot immediately and of course it doesnt work. Jimmy goes for Hogan of course and it doesnt work. That was a big problem I had with WCW Hogan. He and Hart were enemies for years and now theyre best friends?
That just doesnt work in the slightest. I could watch Honky take atomic drops all day. Jimmy pops Hogan with a guitar to take over for the first time. Id love to be the guy that made the guitars for wrestling companies. You would be a freaking millionaire.
A guitar and table shop would clean up next door to Titan Towers. Honky hooks a camel clutch that gets him nowhere and Honky is actually in control. The Shake Rattle and Roll connects and Honky dances. Hogan Hulks Up after two and you know the ending. Hogan even throws in a guitar shot and the referee doesnt seem to care. Hogans posing actually goes through a commercial. Wow indeed.
Rating: D. This is your standard Hogan match from this era as Hogan completely dominated. Honky was about a year removed from meaning anything at all here though so its not like this really meant much. To be fair though, this was just to get him on TV which worked fine. Match was horrible though.
Heenan wants to know whats so special about Hulkamania. He says the Heenan Family can take care of Hogan.
Hogan says Hulkamania is awesome and Heenan is just a guy with a lot of monsters. Hell take all of them out until only the Giant is left.
Hulk Hogan vs. Haku
This is from a Wrestling Challenge taping, which is similar to what Superstars is today. Haku takes him down quickly and the fans are WAY behind Hogan. Hogan fires back and gets a slam followed by the right hands. Heenan takes a shot also (which he would do literally in WCW on a regular basis) which makes me smile.
Haku works on the arm and pulls on the hair. Thats rather impressive considering there isnt much to pull. This is another of those matches that the commentators say is a title match but Hogan wasnt champion at the time. Hogan fights up and sets for the big right but Haku hits the floor. Hes a Samoan/Tongan. A shot to the head shouldnt scare him at all.
Atomic drop sends Haku right back to the floor. And never mind as hes right back in. Slam puts Haku down as other than the opening seconds this has been all Hogan. Of course as I say that Hogan misses an elbow and its off to the King. Yeah its King Haku here. Off to the nerve hold now which doesnt last long. Slam gets two. Back to the nerve hold which never works for the most part.
Haku gets his crescent kick (more or less a superkick) to send Hogan down for two and its Hulk Up time. Why in the world would you hammer away on Hogan when he starts doing this? Just run to the floor and stop trying at this point. Its not going to work. Big boot and the leg ends this.
Rating: C. Standard Hogan vs. monster match that he had roughly 10,000 of in the 80s. These are rather repetitive but at the same time the fans never stopped reacting to them, which is a good sign for Hogan as he was the constant yet the people cared about him enough to keep cheering. Thats hard to do.
I forgot to mention that whenever they go to a different segment here the screen goes to black and white so it looks like something from the NWO.
Demolition loves Hulkamania because youll be tough if you believe in it.
Brutus Beefcake says Hulkamania is about big arms and a great partner.
I think you may have heard of this one before. In something shocking to me, this is in full.
WWF World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
This match has been called the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling and that very well may be true. It was the first true super main event in Wrestlemania history. Heres the story: Hogan and Andre used to be friends and even tag partners. They celebrated together when Hogan won the belt over 3 years ago. Hogan ran in to save Andre a few times from being beaten up by Bundy and Studd.
Fast forward a year and Hogan is being given a trophy for being World Champion for three years. Andre is given a slightly smaller trophy for not losing a match in 15 years. He looks at the trophies and just walks away. A few weeks later, they have a face to face interview on Pipers Pit. Andre tilts Hogans head up at him and says Look at me when Im talking to you. Im here for one reason: to challenge you for a world championship match at Wrestlemania.
Hogan is stunned and says he cant do it. Andre grabs Hogans shirt and the cross he wears and rips them off, stunning Hogan. Piper asks him if hell fight him and Hogan screams YES!!! You really have to understand how big this was at the time. Andre was like Taker as far as mystique goes, but 10x moreso. This would be like Hulk Hogan coming back today and challenging John Cena to a match.
Andre comes out and the booing is mindblowing. In something that I find funny, he waves to the fans on the way down to ringside. Jesse gives the tale of the tape, which is all of Andre and Hogans measurements, showing that as big as Hogan is, Andre is so much bigger. Bob Uecker is the guest announcer and after introducing Andre, says three simple words: and, his opponent. After that, the fans just lose it. Hogans music hits and nothing else matters at all.
Gorilla puts it best by saying The roof of the Silverdome is about to explode here! In a great camera shot, you get a wide angle shot of the arena with the spotlight on Hogan which really shows how this whole show has been building to this one moment. Hogan gets in the ring and its on. I wont go into detail here either as Im sure youve all seen this at one time or another. Every word of commentary is famous here as I can almost quote the whole match to you.
Within 15 seconds, Hogan goes for a slam and we nearly get a pin. That is a point that is used for over a year as Hogan might not have gotten his shoulder up in time. The way the camera is set up you really cant tell if he did or not. This was something that a lot of people, Hulk included, were worried about going into this match. See, today in wrestling, no one would ever change the ending to a match. In this case, Andre had agreed to lose.
The problem that Hogan had was if he did a single thing during the match to offend Andre, Andre would pin him and there wasnt a damn thing Hogan could do if Andre chose to do that. Thats how big and strong Andre truly was. There wasnt a man in wrestling that could legitimately beat him in a real fight at the time.
He easily could have turned it into a shoot and annihilated Hogan. Thats where the controversy came from: when Andre landed on Hogan, Hogan literally couldnt kick out. Andre shifted his weight at the last second and Hogan got a shoulder up just in time, but it was so close that it looked like the match lasted 15 seconds.
The in ring work here is really pretty bad, but no one cared. This match was all about the meaning of what was going on and the truly epic nature of the match. No one really knew who was going to win here and it was a legitimate possibility that Hogan would lose. Andre more or less beats the living fuck out of Hogan the whole match until the very end. Hogan gets some shots in here and there that do some damage and Andre is clearly worn out at the end of it.
The crowd is almost stunned that Hogan is being dominated. They brawl on the floor for a bit and then head back into the ring. Andre misses a boot and Hogan clotheslines him, knocking him down. The fans go insane at the sight of this. Hulk Hulks Up and he has the crowd in the palm of his hand at this point. In what might be the most mous scene in the history of wrestling, Hogan slams Andre in a completely unplanned spot.
Even the commentators are in awe at this point as Hogan drops the leg and wins the match. Andre was so bit at the time that Hogan ripped his ab muscles to pieces slamming him and was out for a few months. The music plays and Heenan and Andre get into the cart that takes them to the back as Heenan has his head in his hands, wondering what just happened. Hogan poses as we close the show with the fans absolutely going nuts.
Rating: A. The match itself is pretty bad but the historical significance is second to absolutely nothing. Now I've seen a lot of people (including his majesty Mr. Meltzer) say this was a horrible match and all that jazz. In short: SCREW YOU ALL. Get the damn sticks out of your asses and have some damn fun for once. If you don't get chills watching the staredown and the slam, then go watch something else.
You have Hogan and Andre who can barely move at all. What are they supposed to do out there? The entire idea here was to have a major showdown and that's exactly what they did. THis match was epic, still is epic and will always be epic. Anyone that says this wasn't a great match that did exactly what it was supposed to do is a fool, and i don't care who I have to argue this with.
We get a behind the scenes look at No Holds Barred. If youve never seen this movie, go find it (youre going to have to find the VHS as I dont think its ever been put on DVD) as its awesome for camp value if nothing else.
The leading lady was afraid he would crush her but hes awesome.
We get a look at the fight scenes which is Hogan beating people up near a car. Hogan did his own stunts.
Hogan had to work out and be on the set too and he managed to get people into physical fitness on the set too.
The co-star who plays Hulks brother is a WWF fan and admires Hulk. Theres a lot of emotion in the movie. Hogan cries in the movie. And curses too.
The director says Hulk is awesome.
The villain, a shady network dude, is talked about.
Some of the supporting actors talk about how awesome Hulk is.
Zeus, still in character, says hes coming for Hulk. This was a bad idea. Like a REALLY bad idea.
We get a clip of the final fight which was so overblown it was hilarious. And thats it.
Savage and Sherri say theyll outlast Hulkamania.
Hogan recaps Zeus/Savage vs. Hogan.
WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage
This is sometime around August of 89. The place erupts for Hogan. Savage says tonights the night and were ready to go. Savage and Sherri jump Hogan which gets them nowhere. Hogan rams Zeus into the apron which gets him nowhere and we get the match were supposed to get. Hogan controls early but the distraction by Sherri lets Zeus send him into the post.
Back in and a double axe gets two for Savage and we hit the chinlock. Liz is with Hogan here and cheers him on. This chinlock has been on for nearly three minutes now. I never thought Id have to say this in a Savage match but DO SOMETHING ALREADY! Hogan fights out with some basic stuff but Sherri distracts again to give Savage control.
Randy gets a loaded purse shot off the top and its Hulk Up time. Sherri is all nervous as Savage hammers away to no avail. The big boot hits but Hogan holds Savage up for a shot from Liz. A clothesline and the leg drop end this despite a REALLY slow count. Just a dark match to send the fans home happy.
Rating: D. Man this was bad. When half the match is spent in a chinlock, you know its not much. Its also really weird to see these two have a bad match considering they had about 5000 matches against each other, all of which were at least decent. Either way its the last thing on the tape so were done.
Zeus goes after Hogan but Beefcake comes out for the save.
Hogan talks about fighting a grown up Hulkamaniac or something like that.
Hogans posing from Mania 5 takes us out.
Overall Rating: C-. This was very different from the previous volume. By that I mean the previous one was awesome and this feels thrown together. Its not terrible but its really just a celebration of Hogan with some very minor matches save for one. This is one of those tapes that you would have at a video store on sale for like 8 dollars or so and for that its not bad. Overall though, nothing worth watching here at all.