Was anyone else sick and tired of Hogan's schtick(1997-1999)?

[AegonTargaryen]

I was watching Superbrawl VII from 1997- a superb PPV. Almost better than most Wrestlemanias(WM 15, WM 27). But this thread is intended to investigate the main-event match and Hogan's heel schtick.

Now I wasn't old enough in the 90s to watch and understand WWF, let alone know all the stuff WCW was doing with the NWO, etc. That necessarily means I know very little about Piper, except that he is a good talker and I can relate to him in a way as I could relate to CM Punk. And never having watched a single Roddy Piper match, I can only think of him as the CM Punk of the '80s and '90s, one who unfortunately never won a world title. I don't really know how good a wrestler he was. But this particular match had more of a story to it than wrestling. As a matter of fact, it seemed to be entirely garbage as far as "wrestling" goes. And Hogan is an NWO heel so.

So Sting and Savage appear and then Savage unites with Hogan and NWO. Ted Debiase screams at the end that "we never stop surprising you do we". One of the most boring 10 minute ending of a PPV IMO. And whenever I watch a WCW PPV from late 1996 or 1997 it usually seems similar. NWO painting a wrestler, Hogan dancing around like a goofball. Moreover, the entrance was so goddamn boring? He basically took 5 minutes to get to the ring and treats the WHC like an electric guitar. I could go on about the number of awful things about Hogan here.

I understand that he was a heel and NWO was supposed to be the biggest thing WCW had going, especially in a rivalry with Vince Mcmahon. But Hogan's shtick really seems awful and unendurable to me, not to mention his terrible in-ring performances. I have been enjoying most of the matches from 1996 and 1997 WCW ppvs BUT none that involve Hall and Nash. I don't even want to get to how mediocre and untalented Nash was. What was he ever good at besides making a few gestures with his fingers? Absolutely horrid.

My querry is simple. Why was Piper never given a WHC run in WCW? Or would you have wanted to see him as WHC? (I don't really know much about piper's career so I'd like an elaboration on that).

Who else was sick and tired of the same old Hogan schtick? Everything from his in-ring performance, demeanour to his entrance, the ending of PPVS, and so on. And I'm not just asking about the HEELs vs FACE aspect of it. I get it that heels do these things. But the fact that WCW let Hogan do whatever and end so many ppvs with awful NWO beatdowns and multiple men getting involved while the faces are lying down(to the point of redundancy).

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

My querry is simple. Why was Piper never given a WHC run in WCW? Or would you have wanted to see him as WHC? (I don't really know much about piper's career so I'd like an elaboration on that).

That's a simple one to answer: One, Hogan was basically running things (along with Nash) through Eric Bischoff. Meaning Piper was NEVER going to be allowed to outshine Hogan. Second, Piper had already had one hip replacement surgery (and was heading for a second) and couldn't really do anything at all in the ring. He was a part-timer because his physical condition wouldn't let him be anything else.

 

[ilapierre]

Piper was never given a title run in WCW because a title would look awkward on Piper (see his IC title run in WWE). Plus Hollywood Hogan was the man. This whole thread is ridiculous. Of course Hogan is unendurable to you. You are a kid who knows nothing besides forcefed PG era good guy Cena wins in the end crap. Hollywood Hogan was the greatest heel character ever. He barely ever lost and that made you madder and madder and madder because it went on forever. These days it goes on like that for 4 weeks leading up to a PPV when the heel always loses. PG era leaves all the kid marks feeling good when the heel gets put in his place.

 

[relentless1]

Hollywood is the man, bow down in the presence of Hollywood nWoites!!!! The true world champ, one of the greatest heels of all time, I'm sorry you weren't of a thinking age when the nWo ran roughshod over the entire wrestling industry kid but you really really had to be there to know how special that time period from 1996-1999 was in WCW and the WWF, nobody, NOBODY has the balls to execute a slow burn like Hogan vs Sting in todays wrestling environment, the fans of todays product just don't have the attention spans for it or Vince and co are just too out of touch on what makes a great product I'm not sure which. As far as Piper goes, his window to be World Champ was long past and imo he was in the wrong company in his prime if thats what he'd have wanted, WWF in the 80s was a face champ only territory, had Piper stayed NWA he may have had a shot at holding the strap.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Piper was never given a title run in WCW because a title would look awkward on Piper (see his IC title run in WWE). Plus Hollywood Hogan was the man. This whole thread is ridiculous. Of course Hogan is unendurable to you.

You don't really understand this thread and HENCE you call it ridiculous.
I don't need to know that HH was "the man". The very fact that he was the centrepiece of WCW/NWO for 4 straight years(regardless of whether it was on account of his politicking and whether it was a smart thing to do or not) and also the WHC symbolizes his being a "man" . And I am well aware of who he was in the '80s as the WWF's main guy.

I'm not here to challenge his credibility as a main-eventer or whether or not he was "the guy". THAT would be absurd. And there's no point in challenging his credibility as far as a wrestler. To me, Hulk Hogan is, was, and will always be the most overrated, boring, and terrible wrestler of all time, and the only other wrestler whom I consider to be a parallel in that regard is JOHN CENA. The number of things that Hogan was terrible at are staggering, especially in the ring.

You are a kid who knows nothing besides forcefed PG era good guy Cena wins in the end crap. Hollywood Hogan was the greatest heel character ever. He barely ever lost and that made you madder and madder and madder because it went on forever. These days it goes on like that for 4 weeks leading up to a PPV when the heel always loses. PG era leaves all the kid marks feeling good when the heel gets put in his place.

Yeah can we not be judgemental based on my age please? My favourite wrestlers and rivalries from the 90s are Bret/Shawn and Rock/Austin. And Austin/Bret. If I were to choose any heel champion, I'd go with either of Bret or Shawn. I LOVE THEM.

Clearly you didn't and don't discern my main question. I'm not saying that being a heel character is a bad thing or that PG wrestling with faces standing tall is better than Hogan's heel run. I'm simply asking, "who else" was sick of watching Hulk Hogan's schtick. It's not just about him being heel or him winning always. From a kayfabe standpoint, a heel champion who never loses can ultimately culminate into a babyface(Sting) triumphing over adversity.

By being sick, I mean the amount of TV time, PPV time, his mannersisms, the way he held the WHC and acted like it was a guitar, the overinvolvement of basically just about everyone from the roster (Savage, Million dollar man, Nash, Hall), the ending of PPVs with those same old washed-up people? That schtick. And I UNDERSTAND that a heel gets heat by doing all that. But IMO, I've watched shawn michaels as a heel champion and HHH. But I never found it boring or unendurable beyond the kayfabe level. But HH/NWO schtick from 1997, awful. I find it intolerable. And it has got nothing to do with my age, the PG Era or John Cena.

Finally, I think HH tarnished the WHC. I watched that tiring 5-minute entrance and he is basically treating the belt like garbage. Want proof? Watch the ppv. He throws it around, hurls it to Ted Debiase. And again, it would've still been better if Shawn Michaels did that (as an obnoxious rebellious DX heel). But Hogan came across through all these entrances and events, to me he comes across like he never cared much about the belt and took his position for granted. A classy champion like Bret Hart would never do such a thing, face, heel, kayfabe or no kayfabe. But then, HH doesn't hold a candle to Bret Hart. Never did and Never will. Just like John Cena never did and never will, to Punk, Kurt Angle, OR Daniel Bryan.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Hollywood is the man, bow down in the presence of Hollywood nWoites!!!! The true world champ, one of the greatest heels of all time, I'm sorry you weren't of a thinking age when the nWo ran roughshod over the entire wrestling industry kid but you really really had to be there to know how special that time period from 1996-1999 was in WCW and the WWF, nobody, NOBODY has the balls to execute a slow burn like Hogan vs Sting in todays wrestling environment, the fans of todays product just don't have the attention spans for it or Vince and co are just too out of touch on what makes a great product I'm not sure which. As far as Piper goes, his window to be World Champ was long past and imo he was in the wrong company in his prime if thats what he'd have wanted, WWF in the 80s was a face champ only territory, had Piper stayed NWA he may have had a shot at holding the strap.

I can appreciate the fact that you are still high on HH and you admire him over other wrestlers. I have liked Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, CM Punk, Sting, Jericho, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock- you name it. I never have, and never will like HH as either a wrestler, an entertainer, or human being. Overrated and boring. But I won't argue or challenge his credibility as a main-eventer. I'd be insane if I tried to reason the justness of the fact that HH WAS wrestling back in the '80s and to an extent, the '90s. Just as Stone Cold Steve Austin, no one can argue or deny, was the biggest star in the WWF post 1997.

Being an arrogant egomaniacal basically easily despicable heel? Perhaps he was the best at it, or good. I don't know. I think HH in WCW in the late 1990s is not the single responsible factor for being a very good heel. I think it's the NWO and half the WCW roster that were responsible for all that heat, and Hogan just happened to be the biggest star of them all. And yeah he started the NWO with Hall and Nash.

You say it was a "special time" and in terms of business as well as a compelling product it was. But Hogan/NWO schtick? I am unsure again. To me it's the most boring thing on WCW events. I simply cannot stand it. And again, I'm someone who has watched Hart/HBK, DX, HHH and Evolution, and endured John Cena since 2005. I simply find watching Hall, Nash, Hogan from any single WCW event post the beginning 1997 awful and unentertaining. To be a very good heel is one thing, but HH to me comes across as he owns the place and he's the man and all that, BEYOND the kayfabe aspect of being a heel. He treats the WHC belt as garbage, every babyface is beaten down at every goddamn PPV and I see dozens of those washed-up mediocre-talented bums (Hall, Nash, to name two). The contention is not that HH wasn't a very good heel. The contention is that it was very boring ,repetitive, uncreative, and tiring.

 

[Wald]

You lot are forgetting the main reason why Hogan held the belt for so long and why guys like Piper weren't given a run.

Hogan and the nWo were meant to be utterly dominant for a full year and a half so that Sting returning to defeat Hogan at Starrcade 1997 (which was already the long term plan as early as late 1996) would be huge. The entire run of Hogan as WCW champion was to build up to that point and it paid off well. Starrcade 1997 equaled Wrestlemania V for highest grossing wrestling PPV of all time when Sting finally faced off against Hogan.

They obviously made a mess of the finish but that doesn't negate how brilliant the storyline to get there was

 

[N!CKALAS CAGE]

Hogan was a pretty entertaining heel around the time in my opinion, considering I was sick of Hogan's schtick from 1991-1996.

 

[Owen King of Hearts]

Yup i was sick and tired of Hogan's schtick and the NWO Before any one call me a kid and John Cena PG fan, I start watching wrestling during Owen and Bret feud

After a while I beamed sick and tired of all the not clean everyone and their mother intervenes in the match Endings of the PPVs

and English is not my first language

 

[OldSchoolWrestlingFan]

I am going to address why Piper wasn't given a title run in WCW by saying.....Did you know he was never given a world title in WWF either?! Back in those days you didn't need the World Title to be a Big Time Name & Player. Think about guys like Jake Roberst, Rick Rude, Ted Debiase, Ricky Steamboat & especially Curt Henning - all had amazing careers & made an impact on the business, then & now, and never had a World Title Run - you have got to understand that title runs are often overrated! Just ask HHH & Cena!!

Now let me address your entire diatribe about Hollywood Hulk Hogan....at that time in wrestling he was THE MAN! When he turned heel it rocked not just the wrestling world but the entire world as a whole, it made news everywhere!! Everything you are talking about that was boring, etc is what made his entire character because it was so ANTI-HULK HOGAN. Hulk walked to the ring with a bounce in his step shaking hands, Hollywood took his time because he ran things - Hulk helped encourage and build up people, Hollywood spray painted them and humiliated them - Hulk was a humble man of the people, Hollywood was an arrogant jerk that did what he wanted when he wanted how he wanted - Maybe This is one of those situations of "You had to experience it when it happened"!

The sad truth is fans like you look back at wrestling I grew up with and don't "get it" because of the product you are used to getting force fed now. If you would go back and watch storylines like Sting vs Black Scorpion (who is this masked man), DX vs Nation of Domination, The Monday Night Wars or WCW Vs WWF and the list can go on and on you might not understand or get why it was entertaining at the time but they kept us on the edge of our seat because of the time they were in. In closing let me say - HOLLYWOOD HOGAN will go down in history as one of the greatest heels of all time BUT let me also say WWE helped ruin that because of the NWOs crap run they gave them near the end!

 

[Mr.Maikeru_Sawyer]

I am going to address why Piper wasn't given a title run in WCW by saying.....Did you know he was never given a world title in WWF either?! Back in those days you didn't need the World Title to be a Big Time Name & Player. Think about guys like Jake Roberst, Rick Rude,

I had to stop right there with Rick Rude..just an FYI..Rude was a 3 time world champ....3 time WCW International World Champion--WWE World Title equivalant and continuation of the NWA world title after WCW left the NWA

As for the Hogan shtick yes because the NWO was supposed to end &/or become it's own show. but Hogan didn't want to give up his top spot leading to the finger poke of doom, NWO v3 & 4 Hogan killed WCW & Hogan TRIED to kill TNA(almost worked)

 

[OldSchoolWrestlingFan]

I had to stop right there with Rick Rude..just an FYI..Rude was a 3 time world champ....3 time WCW International World Champion--WWE World Title equivalant and continuation of the NWA world title after WCW left the NWA

Actually FYI he was a 4 time world champ he was a 3 time WCW Internaitonal World Champ & 1 time WCWA World Champ - but when I spoke of him as a World Chapion I was talking about in the WCW & WWF which were the recognizable promotions that the wrestlers stated in the topic were linked to. Also I didn't address those title wins because many pro wrestling talking heads & "record books" do not recognize them as World Title Wins because they weren't in "major promotions" -

 

[WWEWrestleFest]

Piper was never given a title run in WCW because a title would look awkward on Piper (see his IC title run in WWE). Plus Hollywood Hogan was the man. This whole thread is ridiculous. Of course Hogan is unendurable to you. You are a kid who knows nothing besides forcefed PG era good guy Cena wins in the end crap. Hollywood Hogan was the greatest heel character ever. He barely ever lost and that made you madder and madder and madder because it went on forever. These days it goes on like that for 4 weeks leading up to a PPV when the heel always loses. PG era leaves all the kid marks feeling good when the heel gets put in his place.

I agree with this. Other than Vince, who wasn't an actual wrestler, Hollywood Hogan was the most hated heel in the 90s. Which is saying something since Hogan was the biggest babyface possible every in the 80s. The brilliant Vince couldn't get Lex Luger over, but WCW got him over by putting him against Hogan. The Savage feud helped DDP get over, but it was the Hogan feud that really made DDP a main eventer. Hogan made Goldberg's entire career by lying down for him on Nitro. And Sting was able to become the biggest babyface in all of wrestling, WWF or WCW, without saying a word because of how good of a heel Hogan was and how much people hated him.

And yes, Hogan won a lot. But he was a heel, and he won by cheating in almost all of his matches when he was in the nWo. It's not like he was Brock Lesnar, destroying all of his opponents. And the fact that he hardly ever lost, it made the losses seem extra special, like the Goldberg match.

 

[rmp0012002]

Actually FYI he was a 4 time world champ he was a 3 time WCW Internaitonal World Champ & 1 time WCWA World Champ - but when I spoke of him as a World Chapion I was talking about in the WCW & WWF which were the recognizable promotions that the wrestlers stated in the topic were linked to. Also I didn't address those title wins because many pro wrestling talking heads & "record books" do not recognize them as World Title Wins because they weren't in "major promotions" -

The WCW International title was considered equal to the WCW title at the time. I think the International title was really the NWA championship but they needed to call it something else because the NWA didn't recognized Rudes win over Flair.

That said, I never considered Rude an NWA or WCW champion. When they dropped the NWA I was pretty much done with wrestling.

As for Piper, in the WWF he was bigger than a belt and having one wasn't going to elevate his status. In WCW he was pretty beat up by then and with bad hips he couldn't wrestle to justify a title reign. If he was healthy he would have gotten a run since everyone else did.

 

[tdmoon]

You mean you hated the heel champion and his maddening antics? Okay.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I was definitely sick of it by 1998. In 1997 he was on a big time run and it was drawing great heat. But like anything, things get stale. By December 1997 everybody was ready for a change. Everybody was ready for Sting and for Hogan's "schtick" to be done with. Now, they botched the finish - but they got two huge PPV buys out of it and by February 1998 Hollywood Hogan should have been done.

They really fumbled the next few months in 1998 with Sting, Savage, Nash, Hogan and the entire nWo fallout/split. Putting the title back on Hogan so quickly after only a couple of months was the wrong call and fans wanted something different. It should have stayed with Sting, while the nWo broke up. Obviously Hogan was running things backstage and always wanted the title, so he got it back and I think around this time people were sick and tired of it.

It did help put Goldberg over though.

 

[whoopin' ass]

I'll be honest - I have never been Hogan fan. When he was doing his thing in wwf, I was watching Stampede Wrestling so I never really watched him and even though I knew who the stars were in wwf, I liked Savage more. So when he went to WCW, it wasn't something that I cared for. His heel turn got me interested simply because the character changed but then he was still the champ and still winning so that got boring quickly.

I will disagree that title runs are overrated. You mentioned HHH and Cena - guys with over a dozen title runs each. Flair isn't a former World Champ, he is the 16 time World Champ. Having a single title run, or a couple runs, is meaningless unless it is a long-term run. But guys are built up on their title runs so the more you have, the more you get to have. Cena can be named #1 contender out of thin air simple because he has won the title 15 times. Someone like Ziggler can't. I do agree a bit that not having a title doesn't really matter to most fans but who does the wwe promote more - Hogan or Piper? Hogan is responsible for Wrestlemania according to the wwe, not the guy everyone wanted to see get beat up. The title run isn't meaningless, it just doesn't mean you are the best or most over in the company all the time.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

I will disagree that title runs are overrated. You mentioned HHH and Cena - guys with over a dozen title runs each. Flair isn't a former World Champ, he is the 16 time World Champ. Having a single title run, or a couple runs, is meaningless unless it is a long-term run. But guys are built up on their title runs so the more you have, the more you get to have. Cena can be named #1 contender out of thin air simple because he has won the title 15 times. Someone like Ziggler can't. I do agree a bit that not having a title doesn't really matter to most fans but who does the wwe promote more - Hogan or Piper? Hogan is responsible for Wrestlemania according to the wwe, not the guy everyone wanted to see get beat up. The title run isn't meaningless, it just doesn't mean you are the best or most over in the company all the time.

I never said title reigns are overrated or any such thing? Not in this particular thread anyway. The whole point of the thread is to ask if someone else was sick and tired of Hogan's schtick including his mannerisms, the 5 minute entrances, his dancing and guitar playing and throwing the WHC belt and those 10-12 minute beatdowns of faces to end almost every PPV from 1997 and so on.

I've been watching PPVs from 1997 and 1998 and to me almost anything involving HH/NWO seems terrible and boring and repetitive. On one ppv from 1996 Big Show comes out and joins the NWO. On a PPV from 1997, Big Show is with Lex Luger and fighting Hall and Nash. On one PPV Randy Savage (I think Superbrawl VII) joins the NWO by betraying Roddy Piper. Then a few months later Savage vs Hogan in a Steel Cage. Goddddddd.

I seriously have been finding Dean Malenko's matches far more interesting
than Hogan and NWO schtick and they can't even wrestle.

 

[Vader]

I'm going to 50% agree with you.

I was certainly tired of Hogan's run. Hogan certainly built wrestling, but he has been detrimental to the sport in almost as many ways. In 96 when he first turned it was entertaining. While he was a top heel he still had the allure of a bad ass character. In 97 and 98 he changed his style up and became a full blown coward and mostly annoying prancing around the ring etc.

In early 99 his Hollywood character started becoming a little more realistic. I think what fans that were left in WCW were tired of the heel Hogan, but WCW at least felt they were tired of the Hollywood character.

In regards to Piper, I have never thought the guy was that marketable. Hogan rolled over from a popular feud with Savage to Piper. Piper headlined several PPVs, but if the WWF hadn't been a cartoon at the time, I don't see many reasons why WCW should have been solidly beating out WWF. Piper was good and could hit some entertaining promos but I never saw much reason for him to be headlining PPVs even into 1998. His finishing move was a Sleeper Hold. I think Piper v. Hogan may have happened about 4 times in WCW.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

You have to remember that just watching PPV's or watching a string of wrestling quickly is much different than watching the weekly programming that existed in the 90's. It is no surprise that you may not enjoy a certain aspect that sold 15 years ago from a heel that is trying to get heat from a live audience that may be getting their only chance to see something live.

 

[Mustang Sally]

You say it was a "special time" and in terms of business as well as a compelling product it was. But Hogan/NWO schtick?

Agreed, his "schtick" was the same old thing he enjoyed through much of his career. Sure, creative control is a wonderful thing for a performer to have .....and admittedly, the guy had to have gone through a lot to attain it in the first place.....but when the concept was first invented, I doubt the management of the wrestling company intended it be used as Hogan did. At best (for him) it made him Superman, Batman and Hercules rolled into one....at worst, it became such redundant garbage that the entire product suffered.

I'm with you in the negative opinion of Kevin Nash's talent, yet before Hogan arrived in his NWO guise, I enjoyed Nash and Scott Hall in their "creation" of it. When Hogan came, it immediately went to hell with everything being arranged around and behind him.....and one just knew Hogan had his hand in the creative direction.

So what was WCW to do? On one hand, you have a chance get Hulk Hogan working for your organization, despite the (apparent) fact he promised Vince McMahon he'd never compete against WWE. The benefits were obvious. On the other side, you know damn well he's not coming aboard unless he gets the creative control, which is something that became so tiresome in WWE that it was almost a relief when he left......and Hogan is gonna use his control to the same degree in WCW. Obviously, WCW decided it was better to have him......and for a time, it was.

As for Roddy Piper, I remember his WWE exploits in the late 80's and early 90's very well. He was unique; never mind alliances, he was the ultimate loner, walking through the federation and handling business by himself, often to his own detriment. He was compelling for the same reasons he sometimes seemed to be self-destructive (kayfabe). He didn't care about winning titles; instead, he was violent and loud, punishing and proud.....it could be argued he might have developed the concept of 'tweener, because as a heel or face, he was essentially the same character......and markedly different from everyone else; a true original.

By the time he got to WCW, he was 43 years old and, never having been one to treat his body as a temple, wasn't in good physical shape....and his ring work reflected it. He still had that mouth, but didn't have the physical means to back up his words. His interactions with Hogan were nothing compared with what we had seen years before in WWE.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

You weren't supposed to like Hogan's schtick as Hollywood Hogan. He was the heel. The bad guy. The one you wanted to see get beat, and kept coming back to watch get beat because he always managed to save the title through various devious means.

The NWO were the 'cool heels', and Hogan's schtick was trying to be one of them... but being painfully uncool when trying to do it. He was like the old guy at a club with a bunch of 20 somethings trying to pick up girls half his age. You laughed when you saw him, but you kept watching him work because it was still entertaining.

Why didn't Piper get a run with the belt? It's already been touched on. The money was in the NWO/Sting program and guys like Piper were brought in to fill time before the payoff match... but also because they had WWF recognition already and could draw. Turner execs were big on this. If you'd worked for the WWF, then you were a guy they wanted and a lot of the time would have big plans for. Also as has been mentioned already with Piper, he was past his prime by this point, and physically was a bad choice to be a babyface champion. Finally, you have Hogan's creative control, which was at it's most tyranical ever by this point. He didn't mind putting people over to a degree in his chickenshit heel role... but you weren't getting that belt from him unless he felt like not being champ for a bit. This led to many bad decisions, such as Hogan/Piper headline a PPV in a non-title match. I remember seeing that advertised and saying 'what's the point'? They never got my money for that one at least.

Someone mentioned that Piper didn't get the belt because it looked weird with him holding a championship, and cited the IC title as an example of that? That's funny, because before he went to the WWF in the 80's, it looked weird when Piper DIDN'T have a belt around his waist. Besides, one of the best one night angles I've ever seen was the night Piper won the IC title at the Rumble, then went into the Rumble match that Flair won the title from. The drama that built up during the course of that match. Could Piper pull it off and win both titles in one night? You knew it would never happen, and fans today might laugh at the thought of it. But to me, they did a great job of making you think that Piper COULD win both that night. It wasn't weird to me.

Also, the old school fan that mentioned all the guys who didn't need World titles? You do realize that Steamboat was NWA World Champ, and Hennig was AWA World Champ. I get your point, but please get the names right.

 

[justtxyank]

You guys blaming creative control for Piper not getting the belt are being ridiculous.

Hogan gave up the belt to Luger for a quick reign later that year before he would lose to Sting. It was a reward to Luger for carrying the house shows all year.

Piper didn't get the belt because he couldn't work a schedule befitting a champion. He couldn't even work Hogan's light schedule.

The first match was non-title because Piper needed the win and they didn't want to give him the strap.

In general I think Piper was positive in his run with WCW, especially considering his seriously limited work rate at this point.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

You guys blaming creative control for Piper not getting the belt are being ridiculous.

Hogan gave up the belt to Luger for a quick reign later that year before he would lose to Sting. It was a reward to Luger for carrying the house shows all year.

Piper didn't get the belt because he couldn't work a schedule befitting a champion. He couldn't even work Hogan's light schedule.

The first match was non-title because Piper needed the win and they didn't want to give him the strap.

In general I think Piper was positive in his run with WCW, especially considering his seriously limited work rate at this point.

You misunderstand.

I never thought that Piper should have had a run with the belt. That would have never worked.

Booking them in a non-title match to headline a PPV though? That was a bush league move. So many other ways they could have furthered that storyline without doing it like that. Sure, it fit Hogan's character, and tied into the fact that Bischoff was in the NWO's pocket... but we're talking PPV. At the time, that was the biggest revenue stream that a wrestling company had.

Put the non-title match on Nitro. Let Piper get the win there. Don't sell a PPV on a match that's been advertised for decades as essentially meaningless, and expect people to shell out money for it.

 

[Vader]

I watched Clash of the Champions and Hog Wild from 96. Of course, both matches were after Hogan's heel turn at Bash at the Beach. It was interesting watching the fans reaction to Hogan.

Keeping mind that the Giant, was the major squash heel at the time, and maybe the biggest heel in the company before Hogan's turn, the fans largely seemed to be cheering for Hogan still in this match. Before the NWO, the Dungeon of Doom was the dominant heel stable, boasting of such distinguished members at the Yetti Cooler.

With Flair, the fans were still largely cheering Hogan and even chanting his name early in the match. The Horsemen who were feuding with the Dungeon of Doom fresh after the Alliance to End Hulkamania, were arguably a tweener stable with their feud against the Dungeon but also by still wrestling against guys like Sting and Savage.

Hogan hulked up in each match to huge pops from the crowd, but both matches had dirty finishes.