You have to bear in mind, that for all Hogan's stories of Matsuda breaking his leg and early career, he was ALWAYS treated as something special by promoters and he always knew "the right people". Hogan knew very early in his career he was going to not only "be someone" but probably dominate for a spell wherever he went, because with the exception of Andre, he was the first true "phenom" to hit wrestling.
To be honest, I don't know how true that story is about Hulk Hogan's like being broken by Matsuda, I think that could be the biggest tall tale of them all that he usually gives out to folks that want to listen. That's not to knock on Hogan, again I give a free pass to wrestlers who tell stories because even if they are not playing the kayfabe card on the surface, my gut always tells me to never stop thinking of the possibility that even in a "reality based" setting that we could still be getting worked. I think that holds especially for true in the case of individuals like Hogan especially in the era that he came up in. However, the broken leg story could be true considering how seriously the art form was taken back then and how the greats of the business would defend it, so the Hogan leg break could have happened but at the same time, it could definitely be a tall tale. But even if Hogan's lying I could care less, it' an entertaining story and I watched wrestling and listened to guys like Hogan and Savage tell crazy stories and rant and rave because I want to be entertained, whether what these wrestlers say all the time is truth or hyperbole who gives a shit? I am not watching these guys for stock tips, auto repair guidance or how to install drywall in my house.
But you are right with Hogan on certain levels, I am sure to some degree he must have had a taste of what things were like and that he did have something unique to offer wrestling, but I am not sure he could conceive of all of this until he actually did get that Rocky III part, which I will continue my point on in the next paragraph.
Hogan's ego was in play from the beginning, why else would he have the balls to tell Vince Sr. that I am going to do the movie you are "forbidding me" from doing (Rocky III). Cos he knew that Vince Jr. and what he was planning, and his ego took the Dick Jones approach "He's a sweet old man, and he means well..."
So let me ask you this, say you were actually Hulk Hogan...put yourself in his shoes for just one moment and if the stories are true you have legends in the business like The Briscoes and Terry Funk telling you that you have potential to be something in the business what do you do when big name A-List movie stars like Sylvester Stallone tell you "Hey, we'd love to have you be a part of our new movie!" you're telling me you wouldn't do the same thing Hogan did? Yes it's a move with ego involved but c'mon since when was professional wrestling ever known for being a humanitarian endeavor. Last I heard places like WWF, WCW, AWA and any other wrestling organization I ever followed as a kid never had the words "Non-Profit Organization" attached to it in any way.
From what we are told as fans, back then there were no guarantees in the way of what you made for money and it was a job in which you had to fend for yourself. Couple that with the fact that athletics/entertainment are fueled by ego and you have the likely reason why Hogan's ego made him have the balls to tell Vince he's going to go do Rocky III.
Interestingly enough for all the grief Verne Gagne got for being too stuck in his old school ways, he still gave Hogan (a wrestler not his type due to Hogan's brawling base and lack of amateur wrestling background) a chance to hone his skills in the ring and even develop the Hulkamania persona in the AWA. And from what I know it was the Rocky III movie that motivated Verne to sign Hogan and from there we got the ball rolling for one of wrestling's biggest moments ever, so say all the backstage stories are true about Hogan and Vince, Sr.'s tiff over were true and Hogan decided to just be a "good little soldier", one of the greatest movements in wrestling could arguably have been greatly delayed. I am not going to go all the way and say things wouldn't have gotten huge with wrestling because they would have, I feel, even if it wasn't with Hogan or if Hogan was in a different role but let's all be honest Hogan flourished with being the standard bearer of the wrestling world for years and years, whether he was the champion or not. And if that resulted from him looking out for himself first and foremost so be it.
Hogan's ego is apparent even in Rocky III... sure its a role but at the same time, there are trademark Hoganisms all the way through it... how certain moves are slo-moed to make him look more awesome etc... He certainly had Sly's ear on how to make him look good and lets face it, everyone who saw that movie when it came out knew he was Hulk Hogan, even though he is called Thunderlips (the only sop he made to Vince Sr...changing the characters name)
And there's a problem with that?
In terms of WWE the moment for me was that he had to be involved in the WM4 final, where Savage won the belt... Savage won cos of Hogan's interference... He couldn't let Savage have his moment to himself... he had to be part of it... now the Mega Powers was a logical story, but it could have still worked had Savage won the belt single handed and been beaten down after the win... all Hogan did was say "this is yours cos I say it is".
In regards to Savage winning the World Title singlehandedly, I hate to say this as a Macho Man fan but there was NO WAY that was going to happen. And it's a simple reason too, Hogan and Andre was still the main storyline of the WWF at that time and there was no way that was going to be promoted any differently, I mean hell look at all the promotional materials for WrestleMania IV, granted there were references to the tournament but take a look at the images for the poster and program I am about to show you, instead of a collage of all the tournament participants we instead get Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant's likenesses.
So yeah, I am not saying I disagree about Savage having that moment to himself but hell Ted DiBiase maybe should have too because he had Andre in his corner throughout the whole tournament. I put it like this man, even though I agree with you on a personal level about Savage not getting his spotlight, I can't agree with you on this being Hogan's total responsibility and fault. It was obvious that the WWF wanted to still build this WrestleMania on the same momentum that Hogan and Andre had going into WrestleMania III and therefore there had to be a way to get Hogan and Andre involved somehow even if neither was walking out of the event as champion and this was the way they did it, based on that, I find it hard to want to blame Hulk Hogan (at least solely, he might have been whispering in Vince's ear but if that was the case, what would that say about Vince's decision making) for Savage's title win not being celebrated by him alone. "It's your's cause I say it is"....yeah I don't agree with that at all, I think you're oversimplifying things just a bit too much and when you are doing that with just opinion and not fact that's a ridiculous way to rationalize something.
But lets face it, the moment he had Ice Cream bars, a Cartoon and A-Team guest slots the ego was going to get bigger and bigger every moment till he was chopped down, which he never was.
That's because people bought into the Hulkamania craze for better or worse, I will admit I was one of those many that did (or least my parents did at that time, since I was a kid) even when Hogan wasn't the champion in his 1983-1993 WWF run, the fans still were behind him, that did not change, it had to take his leaving the WWF and going to WCW for the WWF title scene to truly change. But had the Ultimate Warrior actually worked out as a long term champion like it was planned then things might have been different but if you want people to actually blame for this then I guess it should be people like me and millions of others that were Hogan fans for years and years. Because it was obvious us as a whole still wanted him in the spotlight and guys like Warrior probably did not have the same willingness to do what it would take to maintain the success that he had. Unlike Hogan who has shown how he could excel in handling the success given to him in the business, which arguably warrants why Vince always came back to putting him over as the champion time and again until he departed in 1993.
WM8 gets a bum rap cos in reality, Papa Shango fucked up his run in... Had it gone as planned, Sid would never have had to kick out of the leg drop... Hogan could have gone into business for himself after that but didn't...
I can't find much to say about this, I have heard similar stories, either way I still thought it was a lame WM ending, period.
As for WM9, it was clearly a vanity title win to get it in that manner, for everyone who bought Bret's "go for it" as many saw it as "get out of my way you idiot".
Yeah, would you be saying that right now if we were still in the internet stone age? I highly doubt it and I was never following dirt sheets at the time since I knew nothing of them like MOST fans and therefore never had the inclination to subscribe to one and get all the "inside stuff" on the wrestling world.
I can't take your rationalization of this statement seriously considering that you have years and years of internet dirt sheet speculation to base as your argument. Because bottom line neither of us really know the story. We're just going off of what we "read and hear", not what we actually know.
Like I said in my last post, Hogan's fifth WWF title win actually made him look like the weakest of the three in this bizarre title exchange amongst Bret, himself and Yokozuna.
Again, the WWF decided to go with this and people never stop to think that the organization at the end of the day should be the one held accountable for what happens on the air. And like I maintain if Ego-Mania wanted to run as wild as it did, you would probably have seen the WrestleMania title match change for the second year in a row like it did at WrestleMania VIII and Hogan could have found himself in the title match immediately upon his return from his sabbatical. Instead the WWF decided to swerve the fans and have Hogan get involved after the match and again this scenario made Hogan look like the weakest and not the strongest. Just my opinion, but think about it for a second when you think about the history of Hogan's dominance at that time.
But ultimately Hogan did the job to Yoko, and pretty decisively too so he did his part...
Exactly and Yoko's win was validated even more because he beat an opponent who got "lucky" the last time, yes while Yoko's victory was tainted (but he was a heel so that's ok since that's what heels do)...Hogan's greatest weapon the Hulk-Up failed and essentially that proved that Yokozuna was even more frightening and monster-like than people already thought. And the fall out of WrestleMania IX's ending (as shitty as people claim it is these days) is the reason why I think Yokozuna's win at King Of The Ring worked so well.
Again, personally speaking there could have and should have been another way for Hogan to have the title before hand but again people still talk about WM IX to this day so from a standpoint outside of my own bias, Vince McMahon obviously thought this was the best way to go and who am I to argue? For all the fault I find with his product sometimes, I can't deny Vince and WWE's ability to tell a story and put on a show. After all Vince makes money hand over fist (even in the reviled "PG era" that people bitch about) in a high rise office building of a conglomerate while I'm sitting on my tired ass on a Saturday afternoon debating with fans about second hand accounts and wrestling urban legends.
