It's been far too long since I've visited the Old School section. For the many of you that probably don't know me I've been known for making threads about random wrestlers that never get discussed around here. I've made threads about anyone from Paul Roma to Virgil to The Heavenly Bodies so I like to reach out beyond the norm. Sorry, I don't have any thought provoking questions to spark a debate. Just a discussion to share general thoughts and memories. This time the chosen man for the topic is Hercules.
If you were watching WWF during that golden age of the Hulkamania era you are certainly familiar with Hercules. He never won any titles and wasn't a main event guy but Hercules was always there. In fact after making his PPV debut at WM2 Hercules did not miss a single PPV until he left the WWF just before WM8. That's 19 consecutive PPVs in the era long before monthly PPVs. Sometimes he was just an extra guy in a Rumble or Survivor Series match. Sometimes he was just in a filler match at WrestleMania or SummerSlam. Still, 19 straight PPVs between 1986 and 1992 is impressive.
Hercules joined the WWF in 1985. He first went by Hercules Hernandez, had long hair, and wore a vest you might see on a Roman gladiator. Herc went through two other managers before ending up with Bobby Heenan in late 1986. After floating around the background for a year Hercules started to hit his groove once he joined the Heenan Family. He ditched the vest, cut his hair, and lost Hernandez from his name. Soon after these changes Hercules got a shot at the world title against Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event. It was obvious Hogan was going to win but Herc was presented as a legit contender and had a pretty good match with the champ.
After his title shot Hercules spent the next two years as the mid card muscle of the Heenan Family feuding with guys like Billy Jack Haynes, Ken Patera, and The Ultimate Warrior. In fact Hercules was Warrior's first feud on his rise to superstardom. In the fall of 1988 an unexpected twist came as Bobby Heenan attempted to sell Hercules into slavery to Ted Dibiase. Of course Herc was none to pleased with this and he turned face refusing to go with Dibiase after Heenan's betrayal. Shortly after the turn Herc appeared on The Brother Love Show and was interrupted by WWF Champion Randy Savage. Savage offered his hand in friendship as kind of an endorsement to let the fans know it was ok to support Hercules now. Herc got a spot on Savage's and Hogan's team in the main event of Survivor Series 88 and things seemed to be looking up. Hercules spent the winter feuding with Dibiase usually being defeated and ultimately losing the feud. At WrestleMania V Herc found himself in the opening match against King Haku and although he won the match it was becoming clear that his face turn wasn't going to push him up the card. In fact it ended up pushing him lower.
For the next year and a half Hercules didn't have any notable storylines. He came out on the losing end in PPV filler matches against Greg Valentine and Earthquake and by the summer of 1990 he was an afterthought. Herc had fallen so far that he began palling with Paul Roma as the two were used for segments like eating ice cream together to promote the WWF ice cream bars. Eventually after a misunderstanding with The Rockers, Hercules and Roma decided to be regular tag team partners and took on Slick as their manager. They became known as Power and Glory and after defeating the Rockers at SummerSlam it looked like both would have a career resurgence as a tag team. They looked good together and I was convinced they would be the ones the challenge and defeat The Hart Foundation for the tag titles at WrestleMania VII. I was wrong as that spot went the The Nasty Boys while Power and Glory were destroyed by The Legion of Doom in less than sixty seconds. After that the writing was on the wall. Power and Glory were no longer a factor and after losing in a six man tag to open SummerSlam 91 Roma left the WWF. Hercules stuck around for about six more months but was about as irrelevant as you can get. If he wasn't used as a replacement at both Survivor Series 91 and Royal Rumble 92 I would have thought he left with Roma.
Hercules never did return to the WWF in any way and sadly he passed away in 2004. It's a shame that Hercules is pretty much forgotten. As I mentioned earlier, he never held a title and he didn't seem to be in as many storylines as a guy that was around for six years should have been. So like I said, no intriguing questions and nothing to debate. Just a shout out to a forgotten guy that I watched every week for six years. Feel free to share any thoughts or memories.
If you were watching WWF during that golden age of the Hulkamania era you are certainly familiar with Hercules. He never won any titles and wasn't a main event guy but Hercules was always there. In fact after making his PPV debut at WM2 Hercules did not miss a single PPV until he left the WWF just before WM8. That's 19 consecutive PPVs in the era long before monthly PPVs. Sometimes he was just an extra guy in a Rumble or Survivor Series match. Sometimes he was just in a filler match at WrestleMania or SummerSlam. Still, 19 straight PPVs between 1986 and 1992 is impressive.
Hercules joined the WWF in 1985. He first went by Hercules Hernandez, had long hair, and wore a vest you might see on a Roman gladiator. Herc went through two other managers before ending up with Bobby Heenan in late 1986. After floating around the background for a year Hercules started to hit his groove once he joined the Heenan Family. He ditched the vest, cut his hair, and lost Hernandez from his name. Soon after these changes Hercules got a shot at the world title against Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event. It was obvious Hogan was going to win but Herc was presented as a legit contender and had a pretty good match with the champ.
After his title shot Hercules spent the next two years as the mid card muscle of the Heenan Family feuding with guys like Billy Jack Haynes, Ken Patera, and The Ultimate Warrior. In fact Hercules was Warrior's first feud on his rise to superstardom. In the fall of 1988 an unexpected twist came as Bobby Heenan attempted to sell Hercules into slavery to Ted Dibiase. Of course Herc was none to pleased with this and he turned face refusing to go with Dibiase after Heenan's betrayal. Shortly after the turn Herc appeared on The Brother Love Show and was interrupted by WWF Champion Randy Savage. Savage offered his hand in friendship as kind of an endorsement to let the fans know it was ok to support Hercules now. Herc got a spot on Savage's and Hogan's team in the main event of Survivor Series 88 and things seemed to be looking up. Hercules spent the winter feuding with Dibiase usually being defeated and ultimately losing the feud. At WrestleMania V Herc found himself in the opening match against King Haku and although he won the match it was becoming clear that his face turn wasn't going to push him up the card. In fact it ended up pushing him lower.
For the next year and a half Hercules didn't have any notable storylines. He came out on the losing end in PPV filler matches against Greg Valentine and Earthquake and by the summer of 1990 he was an afterthought. Herc had fallen so far that he began palling with Paul Roma as the two were used for segments like eating ice cream together to promote the WWF ice cream bars. Eventually after a misunderstanding with The Rockers, Hercules and Roma decided to be regular tag team partners and took on Slick as their manager. They became known as Power and Glory and after defeating the Rockers at SummerSlam it looked like both would have a career resurgence as a tag team. They looked good together and I was convinced they would be the ones the challenge and defeat The Hart Foundation for the tag titles at WrestleMania VII. I was wrong as that spot went the The Nasty Boys while Power and Glory were destroyed by The Legion of Doom in less than sixty seconds. After that the writing was on the wall. Power and Glory were no longer a factor and after losing in a six man tag to open SummerSlam 91 Roma left the WWF. Hercules stuck around for about six more months but was about as irrelevant as you can get. If he wasn't used as a replacement at both Survivor Series 91 and Royal Rumble 92 I would have thought he left with Roma.
Hercules never did return to the WWF in any way and sadly he passed away in 2004. It's a shame that Hercules is pretty much forgotten. As I mentioned earlier, he never held a title and he didn't seem to be in as many storylines as a guy that was around for six years should have been. So like I said, no intriguing questions and nothing to debate. Just a shout out to a forgotten guy that I watched every week for six years. Feel free to share any thoughts or memories.
