RR 92, WM8, WM9--Hogan involved in 3 consecutive horrible PPV endings

[BattleCat]

For 3 PPVs that included him in a row, Hulk Hogan was involved in a finish that lessened, if not ruined, what could have been a better finish.

Royal Rumble 92
Hogan gets eliminated fair and square by Sid Justice in this match billed as "every man for himself". And how does this "face" handle it? He grabs Sid's arm and helps Flair eliminate Sid like a sore loser crybaby. Flair had a great post-match interview backstage; but, Hogan, of course, tried to make the end of the match all about him. The crowd hated it as much as I did. So many of us were over Hogan and wanted Sid to win the Rumble. Flair winning didn't bother me as much as how Justice was eliminated. Hogan Fail #1 of 3

WrestleMania 8
I'll leave out the many theories of why this wasn't Hogan/Flair--mainly because I loved everything about the Savage/Flair angle: the mind games, the heated battle...all the way through the post-match interviews of both. Let's skip to the mess of a finish that we got in the "main event"...which had no business ending the night. Justice going into business for himself, Shango missing his cue, what caused Wippleman to jump on the apron--who knows which of these is true/myth? But this was a cluster. Even the Warrior's exciting return was marred by his altered appearance. "Is that really him?" "That's someone else!" Not Hogan's fault per say, but he was a big part of this atrocity. Hogan Fail #2 of 3

WrestleMania 9
Hogan thrusts himself into the limelight, and the championship, with his bullshit again. This time screwing over Bret Hart and leaving poor Mr. Fuji to inexplicably challenge Hogan to face a severely-winded Yokozuna...all to get the strap on crybaby Hogan.

Hogan is the biggest star in wrestling history--bigger than Rock, Austin, Cena...all of them. But, Hulkamania had run its course at this time and I was sick of his crybaby ways. Which PPV of these 3 do you think ended worse? Maybe not because of Hogan, but he is the common denominator.

 

[World Class Mark]

Wrestlemania IX, and it's not even close. Bret doesn't walk out with the strap. Hell, at least keep the belt on Yokozuna after he wins his match. But oh no, more Hulka-- Puke-a-mania, yippee.

The RR had a fantastic ending -- FLAIR WON. When Bobby Heenan marked out, he was marking out for every hardcore fan who hated Hogan. It was a fantastic moment. It was a gift to all the hardcore fans who never liked Hogan. WM-8 was an odd ending, but it wasn't necessarily Hogan's fault. Plus, Warrior's return was a true, genuine mark out moment, so it overshadowed any negatives.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The more I think about the 1992 Royal Rumble, the more I'm positive the decision to have Hogan face Sid at Wrestlemania, instead of Flair, was made BEFORE the Rumble ppv.

The finish achieved several things, and was perfect. It set up the potential for a Sid/Hogan feud, first off, even though, going into the Rumble, both were portrayed as baby faces. Indeed, when Sid came through the curtain he very obviously got one of the pops of the night.

Had Hogan just gone to the back and left Sid facing Flair, NO ONE would have bought Flair 'legitimately' eliminating Sid, and a fluke elimination would have done both no favours either. Before people get on their high horse, the reason I say no one would have bought Flair over Sid is not the size difference, but simply because Flair had been in the match for over an hour, at one point being 'knocked out' by Roddy Piper, whereas Sid entered at #29 and was relatively fresh. Flair would have been easy pickings. Any other result would have made Sid, a guy they had BIG plans for until he screwed it up, look weak. A fluke win (say Sid charging the ropes and missing Flair but sailing over) and Flair's reign doesn't start on the right note. The finish they concocted was the best option, IMO - and had Sid not left just after WM, it's conceivable that they could have had the final two feud at a later point in the year. As I say, they had big plans for Sid.

*as a side note, best post-match interview EVER by Flair, really putting over the WWE Title

 

[The Perfect Max]

Easy decision here. WrestleMania IX for sure was the biggest fuck up. To be fair to the 1992 Royal Rumble, as odd as the finish seemed, I don't mind it because Ric Flair winning allowed us to witness Ric Flair (c) vs. Randy Savage for the WWF Championship. Sure, Hulk Hogan vs. Sid turned out to be a major clusterfuck, but the clusterfuck doesn't compare to the bullshit at WrestleMania IX.

You could argue that the finish to WrestleMania IX is what ranks the entire event so low on the scale of Maina events. Nobody wanted to see it, nobody. I wasn't even around (I was weeks old) and I could smell the bullshit. The ending was so obviously structured for Hogan to just to walk in and take the title. I mean, I know they did things differently back then, but in what era of the WWE could you come out at the end of the pay-per-view and just start a match for the World Championship and go and win it? It was like Money in the Bank, but without the money or the bank. Basically it sucked and was unnecessary.

It's funny because it seems after WrestleMania IX, a lot of what Hogan involved himself in kinda screamed "bullshit" from time to time. Not hating, because I have immense respect for the groundwork that Hogan laid with Vince in the early days to allow the WWE to become what it is. But that WrestleMania IX finish... it haunts me man.

 

[Bruno's Sanctimony]

WM IX wouldn't be the sore thumb it remains had Hogan followed through on the intended storyline which would have had him dropping the strap to Hart at SS and 'passing the torch'.

 

[LODemolition]

I'll have to go with WM9 as well, and I don't think it's close. The Rumble's finish was great in my opinion. Flair won in controversial fashion, which was perfect for a terrific heel like him. It also set up Hogan vs Sid of course since Hogan vs Flair clearly wouldn't be happening. Plus, the WM8 finish was horrible, yes...but the Warrior's return saved it as the fans went completely nuts.

Hogan walking out and suddenly getting challenged by Mr. Fuji just came totally out of left field, but not in a good way. Yokozuna should have either held the title all the way til WM10 or lost at WM9 and won the rematch at KOTR or SummerSlam. Hogan had no business being in the title picture, as he'd be gone for good after KOTR anyway. Bret's time had officially come, and he had the spotlight ripped away from him. It was garbage.

 

[rge2010]

I never understood the finish to Royal Rumble 1992. Hogan was eliminated fair and square but decided he felt cheated and pulled Sid out. Sid had every reason to be pissed so to me that was a heel move by Hogan. Terrible booking.

I had no issues with the Wrestlemania 8. I thought the ending was great. Sure, if the rumours are to believe there was a little cock up with timings but when Warriors music hits it is simply amazing to this day!

As for Wrestlemania 9 I have little issue with that either. I remember watching at the time and loving the 'extra match' and seeing Yokozuna lose his title after cheating to beat Bret Hart. However, that Mania should have been Bret vs Hogan.A shame...

 

[BattleCat]

Yeah, maybe I worded that wrong. I didn't so much mean which ending was worse--I loved the Rumble 92 ending with Flair winning too. And Warrior running down and the crowd in the background going nuts---I watched that over and over and still love it.

I guess I meant which instance of Hogan being a jerk bothered you more.

But, regardless, I'm not a Hogan hater. I just got sick of him at that point.

Still, Warrior's look took a LITTLE away from that moment. Had it been long hair, jacked, Warrior--just a little more awesome. Kind of like Perfect/Hart at SSlam 91. Wish he could have held out a touch more before tapping. Warrior's hair and Perfect's back didn't RUIN these classic moments...just took a little away.

 

[jrush1978]

I'll be man enough to admit I was a kid for all of these, and being a kid I 100% marked out when Hogan pinned Yokozuna at WrestleMania 9.

For me its WM8. It was just botched. Papa Shango getting there late so Sid had to kick out. At that point after Sid had became the first person to kick out of Hogan's leg drop in God knows how long it seemed like there was no need for Papa Shango to even interfere, that interference only works if it keeps Sid from losing.

Looking back I think RR92 would have been better had Hogan eliminated Sid and Flair eliminated Hogan but I didn't mind that ending as much at the time as WM8.

 

[rge2010]

I'll be man enough to admit I was a kid for all of these, and being a kid I 100% marked out when Hogan pinned Yokozuna at WrestleMania 9.

For me its WM8. It was just botched. Papa Shango getting there late so Sid had to kick out. At that point after Sid had became the first person to kick out of Hogan's leg drop in God knows how long it seemed like there was no need for Papa Shango to even interfere, that interference only works if it keeps Sid from losing.

Looking back I think RR92 would have been better had Hogan eliminated Sid and Flair eliminated Hogan but I didn't mind that ending as much at the time as WM8.

Harvey Whippleman has gone on record and said a few times that the ending wasn't botched at all.

The only botch was Sid kicking out of the leg drop. He was mean't to lose, then the attack takes place, Warrior saves the day. Sid kicked out because it was his last match in WWF so he had nothing to lose. He wasn't going out on his back.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Harvey Whippleman has gone on record and said a few times that the ending wasn't botched at all.

The only botch was Sid kicking out of the leg drop. He was mean't to lose, then the attack takes place, Warrior saves the day. Sid kicked out because it was his last match in WWF so he had nothing to lose. He wasn't going out on his back.

Last major match perhaps, but Sid lost to the Undertaker just a couple of weeks later on the European tour. One such match was released on the UK Rampage '92 VHS/DVD

 

[FromGlasgow]

Wrestlemania 8 for sure, I remember really looking forward to and anticipating a Hogan and Flair match which never happened I think that match with the right build up could of been the biggest match of all time especially with Flair being the unbeaten NWA world champion and Hogan being the WWE world champion in kind of a title vs title match, I don't know whose idiot decision it was not to have this match but at least we got it a couple of years later in WCW.
Wrestlemania 9 I didn't mind as at least it was kind of an unexpected ending but would have prefered for Hogan to wrestle and get beat by Bret Hart for the title afterwards at maybe king of the ring or summerslam. Think it would of been a nice match kind of like Hogan passing the torch to the newer generation of Bret Hart before he left to go to WCW.

 

[Headman]

WM8 and RR92 make more sense than people give them credit for. Hogan was being wishy washy about his future with the company. He wanted time off to do more movies and the idea of retirement was used as part of the Sid storyline. RR92 set up Sid / Hogan but gave them some wiggle room just in case Hogan decided he was going to stick around. If Hogan stayed he would have faced Flair and taken the belt off him at WM. If he insisted on leaving for a while he'd work the match with Sid. Although the ending was confusing, especially with the Papa Shango stuff the DQ result let Sid come out of the main event still looking strong. Warrior's comeback, new look or not was huge. Easily one of the biggest mark out moments ever for me.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I think WWE assumed fans would naturally turn on Sid in the RR 92 because he eliminated Hogan....that was a bad assumption, because as popular as Hogan was 1) Sid was way over, maybe more so than he ever was at any other time in his career 2) The match was billed as "every man for himself" and in fact we tuned in largely to see friends and partners forced to battle each other - Remember Hogan was on good terms in the storylines at this point with Savage & Piper but he brawled with them both in the Rumble. Flair & Taker at this point had been tag team partners but they brawled (including one of the best spots in the match when Flair hits Taker with everything he has and the "Dead Man" no sells all of it till Flair hits him with the low blow, even the Living Dead apparently cant take a stiff balls shot!!!) plus we saw Flair battle other Bobby Heenan guys like Haku....Sid dumping Hogan the way the match played out made perfect sense too....Hogan had his back turned, clearly distracted by the nearly eliminated but barely hanging in Flair, so Sid dumps him and attempts to take his chances with Flair, who at this point had been in the ring over an hour (Hogan was in for less than 15 minutes) - As a kid watching this at home it made perfect sense, certainly it is what I would have done. Hogan's post elimination temper tantrum I think was WWE way of perpetuating the idea Sid betrayed Hogan, thus Sid is bad but in this match it's EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF and Sid eliminating the 6 foot 8 guy who has wrestled for 10 minutes so he could face the 6 foot 2 guy who has wrestled for an hour made perfect sense in that setting. WWE clearly wasn't ready for Hogan getting booed by the live audience that night.

WM 8 wasn't really Hogan's fault - his going on last supplanting Flair-Savage was likely his fault although since his bout was billed as his "retirement" that gives it extra meaning. The fact we had to sit through a lot of mediocrity leading into Hogan's match because they couldn't have place his match too close to Flair-Savage or Hart-Piper because those matches would make him look bad did mean the last 30 plus minutes of the biggest show of the year were pretty lame but if Hogan & Sid actually staged an above average match it wouldn't have been as bad. The ending being screwed up wasn't Hogan's fault though.

As far as Flair winning the RR by some fluke means without Hogan's temper tantrum I think that would have been fine, either way WWE establishes what they want with the match....Flair is a veriitable wrestling machine but he's beatable, it wont be easy though. Pretty much exactly what you want from a leading heel in the main event scene. I could have lived with that rather easily.

WM 9 - That was a HUGE mark out moment for fans - After a relatively boring year of the far less charismatic Brett Hart pretending to be Hulk Hogan we had THE MAN BACK! It was a total shock, completely unforeseen, a great ending that not only sent fans home happy with a feel good moment but also totally surprised even the jaded hardcore fans, which drives interest in the post Mania storyline. What was screwed up was wasting all that momentum by Having Hogan only hold the title till the next PPV and lose in screwjob fashion back to Yokozuna, then disappear without a peep. It made no sense for Hogan to take a loss like that and just quietly die, plus all the momentum WWE built up with his title win was wasted. I didn't have a problem with WWE giving Yoko a long run as champ, we had seen what Hart could do, the company didn't have much else and I don't thing Vince trusted Randy Savage anymore after he bailed on him and asked for time off the road during his last reign (when things went south with Elizabeth) so finding a strong, dominant heel for a change of pace was refreshing. It just ruined all the goodwill and charma from Hogan's return to have him lose so quick and disappear like that, plus it marginalized Brett Hart even more, like he didn't exist because Hogan took the belt and Yoko drove him out of WWE and Brett wasn't even in the title picture. I may not have liked Brett much as the flag bearer of the company but at the same time he was company guy who worked his #$% off, he deserved better than that.

Which ending did I hate the most or think was the worst - RR 92 was clearly the worst conceived because WWE didn't even understand the appeal and marketability of a match they created, WM 8 was insipid, WM 9 was great in the moment but wasted afterwards. I guess I vote for WM 8 by default because we already knew Hogan was leaving and having him leave at that point on a really bad match that ended about 30-40 minute portion of really boring action on what was otherwise a fairly good show, sending him off with a crappy DQ win over a guy who got fired anyway.....that was the worst.

 

[WWEWrestleFest]

Topics like this bother me because they're just fueled by hate for Hogan by people who were to young to witness the Hulkamania era while it was actually happening.

First off, there was still one person in charge back then, and that was Vince McMahon. Even if Hogan wanted to walk out of WM 9 with the belt, it was Vince McMahon who had the final OK and approved that ending. Vince McMahon was the owner and the boss back then, and ultimately it was his decision. Even if Hogan had creative control, even of Hogan was pitching ideas that benefited himself more than they benefited the rest of the WWF, it was still ultimately Vince who had the final say.

Rumble 92 - Most will say this is the best Rumble of all time, and you still find need to pick at it's faults? Yes, Hogan pulling out Sid was not the most babyface thing to do. But Vince McMahon never liked pure babyfaces in the style of Bob Backlund or Bruno Samartino. He always wanted babyfaces with a bit of an edge.

Vince McMahon is an asshole. He is. But he sees himself as a good person. In his mind, good guys are jerks. Austin is the obvious example, but Hogan and Cena both did a lot of heelish things while being the top babyface. That's just how Vince likes his "good guys."

WM 8 - I don't know why they didn't go with Hogan/Flair. Vince obviously would have had Hogan go over, he's never going to let WCW get even a small victory over the WWE (as seen by Sting/Triple H at WM 31). So I don't think Hogan had a problem with it. And Flair had no problem lying down for Hogan in his home turf at WCW, so I don't think he'd have had a problem doing it in Hogan's turf at WWF. So I don't think it was a political thing.

But regardless, the Savage/Flair storyline was one of the all time best angles. And it couldn't have worked with anyone else. Savage was the only superstar with an established significant other that people would have actually cared about. And Ric Flair would have been the only "womanizer" that would have worked in this angle. Sure, they had Rick Martel doing his Model gimmick and Shawn Michaels as the sexy boy, but neither of them would have been believable. The only other heel that could have replaced Flair was Rick Rude, and he had already left the WWF by this point.

And Hogan was THE star of this era. They hadn't had a PPV to date without him, he took wrestling to new heights that hadn't been seen before, he wasn't just a wrestling icon, he was a pop culture icon. And this was billed as his retirement match. So it's fitting he finished the show. Like HBK/Undertaker a few years ago, you don't have to finish the show with the world title match every year. Hogan wrestling what was supposed to be his final match after the biggest run in wrestling history definitely qualifies as an event greater than the world title match.

And the Warrior coming back was a big deal. Yes, the ending was cluttered, and as a kid watching at the time, I remember thinking I wasn't really sure what had happened. But seeing the Warrior come back made me lose my mind. It was special seeing the two of them celebrate in the ring again one more time. As someone who was the target audience of WWE at the time who watched it live, it ended on a happy note for me.

Now on to WM 9. First off, Bret Hart never beat Hogan. He never beat Savage. He never beat Warrior. As a result, he was never seen as being on their level. His title match wasn't even on PPV or even on Saturday Night's Main Event or Raw or anything. It was on a house show. Hogan was gone by the time they gave Bret the belt, so you can't blame him. But the way WWE gave Bret the belt, to a kid watching at home, you're watching Superstars or Wrestling Challenge or one of those shows where nothing really happens and the wrestlers just beat up on jobbers. Then it cuts to the studio where Mean Gene announces that Bret Hart is the new champion. Really? Again, Bret never beat Hogan, Savage, or Warrior. He was seen as an IC level guy. By not having him get a real storyline working up to a title victory, it really made him seem like a mediocre champion to kids like me.

And like FlairFan2003 said, he was pretty boring. You went from charismatic superstars like Hogan, Savage, and Warrior to... Bret Hart. He was just as boring as Bob Backlund, just with fancier ring attire and entrance music. Nothing against Bret, a lot of it is just the way he was booked rather than his own fault. But there's a reason WWF lost a lot of viewers after guys like Hogan, Savage, and Warrior left and Bret's "New Generation" era took over. So as a kid, seeing Hogan come back on Raw after being gone almost a year was awesome. Then to see him beat Yokozuna at WM was even better. As someone who was the target audience of WWF at the time, I was very happy when that show ended.

And again, I gotta bring up the fact that even if it was all Hogan's decision, it's still Vince who has the final say. It was Vince McMahon's company, he was the final decision maker.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It actually goes further as a streak... This Tuesday In Texas, Survivor Series 91 and Summerslam 1991 all had horrible endings too.. only Survivor Series was somewhat redeemed by Taker winning, but there had to be interference and Hogan had to get the "belt back" or vacated a few days later... Summerslam might not be 100% his fault and more on Warrior, but it still sucked... Hell you could even go as far as to lump Mania 7 and RR1991 in there and add KOTR 93 on the end.

The last proper decent PPV Hogan did in that era was Survivor 1990, the final battle was a predictable ending but he and Warrior standing tall as Survivors was a strong finish.

There are many theories on Rumble 92, Shango was late or Sid kicked out on purpose... the latter seems more likely as Shango always seemed a little "confused" when he was half running down to the ring, like Vince had said "GO DAMMIT!" and not given any other instructions.