Tugboat: WrestleMania Main Eventer?

[The Brain]

Doesn’t that just sound ridiculous? For as unlikely of a main eventer Tugboat seems I wonder if he would have been Hulk Hogan’s opponent at WrestleMania VII if not for the Gulf War. If you can stop laughing long enough I’ll explain why this was a possibility. Before Sgt. Slaughter returned at SummerSlam 90 it didn’t appear that Hogan had a clear cut opponent for mania. In fact even Slaughter wasn’t obvious until around the Royal Rumble. With Slaughter real life events influenced a storyline and we got a solid main event angle for mania. I know most of you hated it but I stand by Hogan vs. Slaughter being a solid mania main event. If Vince didn’t push the envelope with the Iraqi sympathizer angle with whom would Hogan have worked?

Let’s review some Hogan history. The WWF loved putting Hogan against the big man. From Andre to Bundy to Boss Man to Earthquake among others Hogan versus the big man was always a draw. Tugboat would have fit in that category. Also Hogan had a history of having his friends turn on him. Orndorff, Andre, Savage, and Sid (although Sid would be in the future compared to the timeframe we’re talking about but still proves a point) were all friends who turned on Hogan and went on to have major feuds with him. In fact three of them headlined mania with Hogan. Tugboat came into the WWF as Hogan’s new best friend. I’d say it was possible that an original plan may have been to have Tugboat turn on Hogan sometime in late 1990 and come up with a new name and gimmick to feud with him. I think the seeds were already planted when Tugboat encouraged all the Hulkamaniacs to write Hogan while he was out with injury to inspire him to come back. Tugboat was set to be in Hogan’s corner at SummerSlam 90 when he returned to wrestle Earthquake. A couple weeks before SummerSlam Earthquake attacked Tugboat just like he did Hogan putting Tugboat out of action. Hogan simply replaced him with Big Boss Man and barely made mention of Tugboat. Those are the type of things that set up a slow heel turn back when such things existed. Looking at this through 2011 eyes, hell even through 1992 eyes, the suggestion seems ludicrous. After all, Tugboat didn’t even make it on WrestleMania VII at all much less anywhere near the main event. However, if you look at it through 1990 eyes I don’t think it’s that far fetched.

So how ridiculous is this idea? I’m not saying it was going to happen or that I wanted it to happen. I just think it’s something that might have been kicked around the office before the real mania plans took shape. Do you think this was at least a possibility or am I the only one who would even entertain this idea? I bet this makes some of you appreciate Hogan vs. Slaughter a little bit more now.

 

[Big Sexy]

It's not impossible but I think it's a little far fetched. Even with Tugboat not appearing in Hogan's corner at Summerslam he was still on Hogan's Survivor Series team that year. Tension between the two didn't come until a couple months after Mania when Tugboat fought Hogan in a battle royal shortly before his heel turn. The process could have been sped up and a match could have happened at Mania but it seems unlikely.

I remember reading somewhere that the original main event for Mania 7 wasn't supposed to involve Hogan at all. It was supposed to be Warrior vs Savage for the title. If what I remember reading is correct, Savage wanted time off so instead of a title match they took the title off Warrior at the Rumble and went with the Retirement Match.

If it was going to be Hogan in the main event the whole time then someone would have had to take the title off Warrior at some point and that's another reason why Tugboat doesn't make much sense. If he was busy turning on Hogan then when would he have taken the title off Warrior and why would he even be given a title shot in the first place.

The most logical opponents seemed to be Ted Dibiase or Earthquake. I realize Hogan and Earthquake happened at Summerslam but that feud could have either been delayed or they could have used the count out finish at Summerslam as a transition to a Mania match. Earthquake could have taken the title from Warrior at the Rumble and then it would have set up the Hogan/Earthquake match.

With Dibiase, his history with Hogan was well documented and he could still have been plugged into the Main Event very easily. He could have had the match with Warrior at the Rumble instead of Slaughter and the finish could have gone down the exact same way with Savage interfering. The Dibiase/Virgil split could have easily waited and Dibiase/Hogan could have been a great main event.

 

[Foshinzo]

I think the only problem that I have with your idea is that Tugboat didn't have any name value, and that's what Vince has always tried to, at least, seemingly base Mania around. I think that's why Hogan was the biggest part of all those main event matches: he had the biggest name value. You're right that things get in the way. Isn't that why Flair and Hogan didn't have a match at 8, because neither could put their ego aside to job to the other? Sometimes, things don't work out so well; King Kong Bundy main evented Mania 2, and he didn't have more than a little name value.

Crazier things have happened; Mabel was in the main event of a Summerslam, for Christ's sake. But, Tugboat main eventing a Wrestlemania? They would have had to push the Hell out of him to pull that one off. I mean like, he would have had to win clean in handicap matches against Warrior and Jake Roberts for people to seriously buy him as a threat to Hogan. Your idea makes sense, if it was anyone other than the guy who played Shockmaster.

You probably could have put Earthquake in and it would have made way more sense. The Undertaker would have been better, Ted DiBiase would have been better, even Dino Bravo would have been better than Tugboat, and I'm not saying that to be a dick, I swear. You also could have just done a Warrior rematch, you could have turned Jake Roberts heel and tried it, you could have finally pushed Kerry Von Erich and gave the Texas fans a dream match, you could have put Greg Valentine in that match and at least the NWA crowd would have crossed over to see it. I'm just naming people who were also on the card that could have done better than Tugboat. People would have rather finally seen Piper come back and give Hogan a one on one, even though Piper was out, at the time. There are so many other options that were better than giving Tugboat even the slightest of rubs. Your idea really is good, if it was anyone other than Tugboat.

 

[The Brain]

Crazier things have happened; Mabel was in the main event of a Summerslam, for Christ's sake. But, Tugboat main eventing a Wrestlemania? They would have had to push the Hell out of him to pull that one off. I mean like, he would have had to win clean in handicap matches against Warrior and Jake Roberts for people to seriously buy him as a threat to Hogan. Your idea makes sense, if it was anyone other than the guy who played Shockmaster.

He wouldn’t have needed anything like that. We’re talking about 1991. Being over 400 pounds and turning against the beloved Hulk Hogan after being pushed as his best friend would have been enough. Squashing Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Koko B. Ware would have gotten the job of making him a monster heel done. By the way, he hadn't been Shockmaster yet.

You probably could have put Earthquake in and it would have made way more sense. The Undertaker would have been better, Ted DiBiase would have been better, even Dino Bravo would have been better than Tugboat, and I'm not saying that to be a dick, I swear. You also could have just done a Warrior rematch, you could have turned Jake Roberts heel and tried it, you could have finally pushed Kerry Von Erich and gave the Texas fans a dream match, you could have put Greg Valentine in that match and at least the NWA crowd would have crossed over to see it. I'm just naming people who were also on the card that could have done better than Tugboat. People would have rather finally seen Piper come back and give Hogan a one on one, even though Piper was out, at the time. There are so many other options that were better than giving Tugboat even the slightest of rubs. Your idea really is good, if it was anyone other than Tugboat.

Believe me; I’m with you about Tugboat being out of place in a mania main event. I mentioned in my op that it was a ridiculous idea. I’m just thinking about how the WWF booked events during that era. The feud with Earthquake was over. Undertaker was too new. Hogan had already defeated Dibiase several times over the years. Bravo was a mid carder who was on his way out of the company. Valentine was past his prime and hadn’t been relevant for a couple years. Von Erich was a face and face vs. face only works when both are mega stars. Von Erich was not a mega star for the WWF. Piper wasn’t really active at the time. It’s easy to name guys that you would have preferred but I think Tugboat is the most logical based on WWF’s booking style of that era. Keep in mind it would not have been Tugboat in his sailor suit and hat. I assume he would have gotten a gimmick overhaul and new name. Maybe Slick would have been his manager as he was during a dark match try out in 1989. The key is being a big man turning on his best friend. I don’t Dino Bravo, Greg Valentine, or even Ted Dibiase would have had a storyline to compete with that. One last thing; I’m not saying I wanted this match. This thread isn’t about what you wanted. It’s asking what may have happened. I just imagine a meeting a Titan Tower in June 1990 with ideas being kicked around for mania and Tugboat vs. Hogan being a real possibility. As time went on the idea of Slaughter came about and the Tugboat idea was quickly forgotten.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

If the Gulf War hadn't happened, I think that Vince would have pushed harder on Hogan for a Rick Rude match/run... he was the most logical... Rude was the most natural heel at the time, Tugboats turn could have played into him winning the belt without question, him betraying Hogan and setting up a feud, but Rude had beaten Warrior for the IC title, he was a credible challenger/champion to everyone but Hogan who didn't want to lose to the little guy... with a Tugboat/Earthquake double team, that booking would have worked.

Hogan v DiBiase would have also worked as they never really faced off one on one in a feud... at a stretch, they could have used Jake Roberts turn for that main event, had to be better than the blindfold match.

I doubt Tugboat was ever in serious contention, as there were at least 3 other people they could have used with serious main event potential or experience.

 

[mdj2010]

This did give me a little chuckle, but you make an interesting point. However, as far as I have always heard, Hogan made it very clear to Vince well before Mania that he would only work with Slaughter and that this needed to be put into place. This was of course back in the day where Hulk always got what he wanted.
The main problem is that there wouldn;t have been a selling point to the event if it was Tugboat. Yes, I buy the whole theory of creating the monster heel by weight alone, but there was never any real indication that they would have taken Tugboat in this direction, let alone have Hogan accept working with him for the biggest show of the year.

 

[legendkiller1979]

If the gulf war had not happened, then Sgt Slaughter would not have won the belt from the warrior. The Ultimate Warrior was not working out as champion. Hogan was going to get the belt back at mania regardless of who the champion was. I'm not going speculate who the champion would have been. Whoever it was, they could not have been any worse than Slaughter.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I see your (valid) point about Hogan having a history of friends turning on him, but Tugboat? Gimme a break. Earthquake would be a more likely opponent for Hogan. Maybe Earthquake and Typhoon could have a handicap match against Hogan. All bad ideas, though. Might as well pitch Hogan against Bushwhacker Luke.
Hogan vs Warrior 2 would have been a good idea for Wrestlemania VII, but for some reason they saw Warrior as a failure and non-draw as champion. In hindsight that would have been the way to go, though. But with that not happening Slaughter was indeed the logical choice.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Although the idea is far fetched there is only one other guy who they could have put him with at the time, The Undertaker as he came in at Survivor Series 1990 and came in with more steam than anyone I can remember at the time. Obviously Slaughter was the perfect choice for the WM main event. At the time Taker was too young and a loss at WM would have killed his steam as they were building him into an unstoppable monster at the time, a loss would have hurt that mystique.

Onto the question at hand you may be right, say whatever you want about Tugboat but he was over at the time, all other big names either already fought Hogan (like Perfect) or were caught up in other feuds (like Macho King or Million Dollar Man) so as ludicrous as it sounds it may have been Tugboat turning heel as if it weren't for Slaughter I can't think of a single wrestler at the time that could of jumped in (outside of Taker but as I explained he wouldn't have been a good choice that early in his WWF run).

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

I can only imagine that if the Slaughter angle hadn't been set up that Hogan/Warrior II or even Hogan/Savage II would have been way more viable options than Tugboat. Taker was definitely too young and unproven, and in a world where there weren't any more viable options they probably would have leaned towards star power for WrestleMania.

 

[rokuma]

I don't see it. The main event was set up because Slaughter was the WWF Champion. Now, assuming the rumble winner that year did not go on to meet the champion, I think a matchup with Earthquake was more plausible just because they duked it out at the end of the Royal Rumble that year. It would have been a much more natural feud. The only thing that would have linked Tugboat and Hogan would have been the fact that Hogan eliminated him and they were friends setting up a quick rivalry. If that were to happen, it would've most likely been at Summerslam just because of the lack of TV time in those days or Saturday Night Main Event...not Wrestlemania.

 

[TUFFY54]

I don't see it. The main event was set up because Slaughter was the WWF Champion. Now, assuming the rumble winner that year did not go on to meet the champion, I think a matchup with Earthquake was more plausible just because they duked it out at the end of the Royal Rumble that year. It would have been a much more natural feud. The only thing that would have linked Tugboat and Hogan would have been the fact that Hogan eliminated him and they were friends setting up a quick rivalry. If that were to happen, it would've most likely been at Summerslam just because of the lack of TV time in those days or Saturday Night Main Event...not Wrestlemania.

The only reason Slaughter had the title was the Iraq war.

I certainly think you might be on to something with Tugboat. I could actually see his Typhoon character facing Hogan in a main event. He was actually a very talented big man. However, I think Vince would have gone with someone like Perfect of DiBiase had the war not broken out.

 

[D-Man]

The most logical opponents seemed to be Ted Dibiase or Earthquake. I realize Hogan and Earthquake happened at Summerslam but that feud could have either been delayed or they could have used the count out finish at Summerslam as a transition to a Mania match. Earthquake could have taken the title from Warrior at the Rumble and then it would have set up the Hogan/Earthquake match.

With Dibiase, his history with Hogan was well documented and he could still have been plugged into the Main Event very easily. He could have had the match with Warrior at the Rumble instead of Slaughter and the finish could have gone down the exact same way with Savage interfering. The Dibiase/Virgil split could have easily waited and Dibiase/Hogan could have been a great main event.

It's really difficult to imagine that version of Fred Ottman's wrestling character to be anything more than a comical, kid-friendly character. Hell, "Typhoon" probably had more momentum and believability than Tugboat. At least Typhoon was seen as somewhat of a threat in the tag team title picture. Tugboat would've needed a DRASTIC change in persona and lots of time to work the feud with Hogan, considering that Ottman wasn't very good on a microphone. Nothing about this match-up really added up to any kind of dollars or company revenue, in my eyes.

I agree with Big Sexy, half-way. Back in the late 80's to early 90's, Vince was smart enough to create brand new feuds for Wrestlemania main event matches. Since the feud with Earthquake was already done (and also considering the fact that once Hogan bodyslammed and defeated Earthquake, there was no believability behind another matchup between the two men) Hogan really needed something completely fresh.

After Summerslam 1988, (Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks) Hogan had a storied history with Ted DiBiase and the two men never had a fair, one-on-one feud in a big-time atmosphere. Virgil hadn't turned on DiBiase until January of that year and this face turn easily could have been postponed until during or after Wrestlemania. Matter of fact, if Virgil were the one to cost DiBiase the world title at Wrestlemania, his face turn probably would have become about 100x more successful, but I digress. Anyway, DiBiase and Hogan were masters of the microphone and easily could have marketed a phenomenal buildup and had an even more successful matchup.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

The biggest issue with Hogan working with Ted Dibiase was simple, Hogan can't make the same program work twice. The big issue with Dibiase is that Hogan already defeated Dibiase a number of times in a number of different ways, Dibiase would have had no believability going into a match with Hogan, it just wouldn't have worked.

That was the 1 fatal flaw of the Hulk Hogan character, because he was such an invincible character he couldn't have a repeat program with ANYONE because he always won, therefore guys like Macho Man, Dibiase and Mr. Perfect were out of the question. If Hogan beat all the guys mentioned 10 times already within the last 2 years what believability do they have? Almost every person went back to mid card status after their feud with Hogan and there was a reason for that. Hogan needed someone fresh for Wrestlemania 7.

The only person he could have faced was Warrior but back in late 90/early 91 that match didn't sound as appealing as it did the year before. They brought in Slaughter for the SOLE purpose to fight Hogan at WM7 after he feuded with Hogan Slaughter fell down the ladder just like every wrestler before him. The only major heel he didn't face was Rick Rude but the problem with that is he went to WCW after his cage match with Warrior so he was out of the question too.

As crazy as it sounds, with the roster they had at the time all they could have done was turn someone heel so that leaves 2 guys:

A) Tugboat
B) Jake Roberts

Jake was feuding with Martel at the time and Tugboat was the only guy open. All I got to say was thank god for Slaughter, he was the only person that could have been a viable option for Hogan at WM7.

 

[Big Sexy]

I agree with Big Sexy, half-way. Back in the late 80's to early 90's, Vince was smart enough to create brand new feuds for Wrestlemania main event matches. Since the feud with Earthquake was already done (and also considering the fact that once Hogan bodyslammed and defeated Earthquake, there was no believability behind another matchup between the two men) Hogan really needed something completely fresh.

Obviously if everything went like it did originally then Hogan/Earthquake wouldn't have worked at Mania, but if that was the planned match from the start then the ppvs leading up to Mania would have been booked differently. Instead of Bossman and Bravo being on the outside of the Summerslam main event, they could have made it a tag match. Have Hogan and Earthquake look fairly even in the match and have Bravo take the pin. At Survivor Series basically rinse and repeat with neither Hogan or Earthquake getting the better of the other. Then at the Rumble Earthquake takes the title from Warrior and sets up the one on one match with Hogan at Mania.

With that said, I still like the Dibiase idea better. The feuding between those two never got old and the fact that it was Wrestlemania only would have added to the greatness.

 

[The Future Rises]

If the Gulf War hadn't happened, I think that Vince would have pushed harder on Hogan for a Rick Rude match/run... he was the most logical... Rude was the most natural heel at the time, Tugboats turn could have played into him winning the belt without question, him betraying Hogan and setting up a feud, but Rude had beaten Warrior for the IC title, he was a credible challenger/champion to everyone but Hogan who didn't want to lose to the little guy... with a Tugboat/Earthquake double team, that booking would have worked.

Rude wasn't even with the WWF by 1991.

I agree with The Brain. Back in 1991 Hogan was the man that everybody wanted to see. He was the face of the company that all the "Hulkamaniacs" looked up to. Put him in a feud with a 400 pound behemoth who was his best fried only to turn on him would have been a credible Wrestlemania main event back in 1991. If they would have made Tugboat's character more aggressive and scarier and even giving him a new look with a heel turn then I think he would have been pushed as a good threat to Hogan.