Would we hate Hulk Hogan as much as we hate John Cena?

[It's...Baylariat!]

I notice a lot of ill will toward John Cena. And rightfully so. To me, he's an awful wrestler and just a man made out to be a good guy to sell merchandise. Sound familiar? Sound like a certain Red and Yellow clad icon from the 80's? Yea, sounds like Hulk Hogan. Now, hear me out. I know most of us were either children or not born during Hogan's heyday and we were fans of him when we were kids.


But what if we were the age we are now during Hogan's heyday? Would we be bashing Hogan for only knowing two moves, being Superman, and beating all the better wrestlers like Paul Orndorf, Randy Savage, and others? Would we resent Hogan for being champion for so long? Would we love Cena if we were kids?

This is a legit question. To me, I think we'd be all over Hogan like we are Cena. Hogan drew a LOT more money, but he did the same basic concept that John Cena is doing. I think we'd bash Hogan to bits, and there would be people that take up for Cena, and say we need to enjoy wrestling instead of being smarks.

So the question lies... if we were adults back in the days of Hulk Hogan, would we be tired of him, too?

 

[X]

In today's era? Hell yes we would. Even more than some of the IWC hates John Cena, I mean I'm not the man's biggest fan but he's certainly a more skilled in-ring worker than Hulk Hogan was (atleast during his WWE run, he wrestled a much different style in Japan). People think John Cena is too much of a superman, well Hogan defined it. The man would go years without losing cleanly. YEARS. The modern IWC would rip Hogan to shreds even worse than Cena. They'd probably accuse him of having only four moves.

Of course, though it was the pre-internet era, there was a LARGE amount of distaste with Hogan and the superman routine. There were certainly smarks back then, though they were mostly just called NWA fans. NWA was always about "real wrasslin'" while WWF was always about "sports entertainment". Those NWA fans were just as loyal and as outspoken as the internet smarks of today. In a lot of ways, and I know this might sound strange, they were very much like the future ECW audience. They were sick of what they were seeing in the WWF and they wanted to bring the "sport" of professional wrestling back with a focus on in-ring wrestling.

But you add the internet into that mix? Yeah, Hogan would've been Public Enemy Number One if he were in his prime during this era.

 

[Hulkster84]

If we were this age during the 80s era, no we would not be all over Hogan because back then Hogans style was the main style of wrestling. New York always used big guys like Andre, Bundy, Studd, Hercules etc etc. Hogan was much better than them at working. But also, Hogan told a great story in the ring, better than anybody else in wrestling history. He had charisma. He involved the fans. He was much bigger than Cena, so he wasnt expected to move like a 250lb guy because he was legitimately over 300lbs. Hogan always sold offense very very well, and he also delivered it very very well. His moves were more basic than not, but he always DELIVERED them well.. He would ask the fans before he bodyslammed a giant, he would look to the fans before performing a big spot. And because he had such a great feel for the business, his timing and execution was excellent. Its not about WHAT you do in the ring, its about HOW YOU DO IT. Austin couldnt do much in the ring, but he executed everything with a bad ass, ruthlessness that was so full of energy and rebelliousness. Austin had less offense than Hogan. Cenas problem is that he is a dull character! He has no character really.. Hogan was a hero.. but with an unparalleled charisma. He made people believe in him. He became a pop culture icon. He wore in your face colours like red and yellow. He was 300lbs and had an unbelievable tan. he was 6'7! Huge arms. He had the machine gun voice. He could talk. He was cool! Austin was a rebel. Bald head. From texas. Didnt care about anybody but himself. Bashed everyone.. good or bad he didnt care. That was his wrap. Just kick ass and not care. Andre hardly did anything in the ring and he was so beloved. He was a giant. A friendly giant. That was his wrap. It is about creating larger than life characters that fans can live vicariously through. Even when fans became aware that it was sports entertainment and not wrestling, they still believed in Hogan. They believed in Austin. They believed in Rock. Why? These guys had spark. Cena doesnt. He had so much more spark as a heel. Now he has nothing and is boring. It is about being a larger than life character and having the X factor. Thats it. HBK can do all the moves in the world, so can Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy. But they never came close to reaching the upper tier level that Hogan reached. Why? They arent larger than life characters and they dont have enough spark.

 

[stussyman311]

Also need the think there was only what? 2-3 hours of WWF on every week back then to as opposed to RAW, Smackdown, ECW, Superstars. Even though Cena isn't on all those shows, we see Raw Rebounds that just tick us off because they are all about Cena.

Plus, we have PPV's every month, sometimes twice a month. In the 80's we had A handful of PPV's a year. If we had the exposure then like we do now, then I believe we would tear Hogan up to shreds. I never thought about that, so thanks for bringing up that good point.

 

[therealicon86]

Idon't think we would hate hogan like we hate cena. and its not about the style hogan had, or the style cena has. I think that we hate cena alot because of the fact that its like he is being forced down our throats, as if vince is saying "this is your hero of this generation and you will like it." but the thing is hogan was an original character. cena is a rip-off.

Alot of you may be saying well "icon" how is that possible that cena is a rip off? well peeps, i will tell you how....

hogan in his glory days had a thing called hulk-a-mania
cena today has a thing called ceNation.

hulk-a-mania lived by say your prayers and eat your vitamins.
ceNation lives by never quit never give up

hogan gets whooped for 95 percent of the match and wins in 5 moves or less.
cena does the same thing and wins in 5 moves or less.

hogan used the gorrilla press motion to show he can lift some serious weight(andre)
cena throws up the double "ok" motion just like hogan did the gorilla press motion check out the tape or go to youtube and watch hogan's entrance then watch cena's

so class the thing is, the reason that we hate cena is because he is a a hogan rip off no doubt. nowadays we do not want a 5 move wonder we want something new, something fresh, something original. not old, smelly, and memorex.

 

[thelcon21]

I'm going to keep this short. Just watch Raw this week that is why everyone hates John Cena. WWF and WCW never shoved Hulk Hogan down our throats like that. I mean tonight we watched Cena squash CM Punk, cut an awful promo how he will never give up and won't lose a match until he wins his 7th World Title in 4 years, go on an beat the best heel in the company and than win Superstar of the Year. Not to mention we had to see stills of him losing the title at least 3 times tonight.

 

[Remix]

Idon't think we would hate hogan like we hate cena. and its not about the style hogan had, or the style cena has. I think that we hate cena alot because of the fact that its like he is being forced down our throats, as if vince is saying "this is your hero of this generation and you will like it." but the thing is hogan was an original character. cena is a rip-off.

because partiotic characters with cheesy catchphrases didn't exist before Hulk Hogan (whose name is ripped off of a marvel comics character, by the way). and I dont think Cena's a Hogan rip off.

Alot of you may be saying well "icon" how is that possible that cena is a rip off? well peeps, i will tell you how....

this is going to be fun.

hogan in his glory days had a thing called hulk-a-mania
cena today has a thing called ceNation.

and I'm sure a bunch of other wrestlers had equivalent terms for how popular they were. what's your point?

hulk-a-mania lived by say your prayers and eat your vitamins.
ceNation lives by never quit never give up

And Kurt Angle lived by the four 'I's and drink your milk and say your prayers. and once again, your point is.hogan gets whooped for 95 percent of the match and wins in 5 moves or less.
cena does the same thing and wins in 5 moves or less.[/quote]and yet only one is critisised for it. What's your point?

hogan used the gorrilla press motion to show he can lift some serious weight(andre)
cena throws up the double "ok" motion just like hogan did the gorilla press motion check out the tape or go to youtube and watch hogan's entrance then watch cena's

I'm not entirely sure that doing a double "ok" motion is entirely about showing that Cena can lift very heavy weights. I'm also pretty sure that Cena and Hogan arent the only people who make gestures during their entrances that could be interpreted as them being strong and/or awesome. (once again) what's your point?

so class the thing is, the reason that we hate cena is because he is a a hogan rip off no doubt. nowadays we do not want a 5 move wonder we want something new, something fresh, something original. not old, smelly, and memorex.

so why dont you give Kane, The Undertaker, HBK, HHH, Vince McMahon, Ric Flair, Sting, Steiner, Booker T (who havent been original in years), Batista (because generic big guys have never been before), the Hart Dynasty (Hart Foundation Ripoffs), Tommy Dreamer (he's been doing the same old shit since he was in ECW, only watered down), Team Canada (in TNA, for ripping off the WCW version), Petey Williams (for ripping off Scott Steiner), Jay Lethal (for ripping off the Macho Man), Eric Young (for ripping off Kurt Angle (getting spooked by the pyro) and The Hurricane (Super Eric)), Charlie Haas (for his imitation gimmick), Abyss (Mankind and Kane Ripoff), Gillburg (do I need to explain this one?) and anyone who uses the shooting star press (ripping off Jushin Liger) X-Pac heat? Not being original is a lame excuse for disliking a wrestler.

And in answer to the topic, I'm going to say yes we would. I missed the boat on Hulkamania, so I cant really comment on the man in his prime (if he had one) but as I understand it, he was a politicking backstabbing self serving ********. Cena is both universally respected by his peers, never gets in trouble and is a better wrestler than Hogan. If Hogan debeuted today with his 80's gimmick and got pushed as hard as he did in the 80's we'd (A) hate him for 'beeing shoved down our throats' (B) think he's a dousche because of how he acts backstage and (C) think he's a terrible wrestler who's too high on the card and should be fired to make way for talented, underrated talent like Shelton Benjamin. Also, when Kurt Angle was pedling the same stuff as Hogan he got booed for it. Hogan would be no exception. Cheesey OTT gimmicks worked in the 80's. The only reason Hogan can still pull it off is because he's surfing a wave of nostalgia... Brother.

 

[Upgrayedd]

No. Hulk Hogan appealed to not only kids and women but also men and teenagers. Hogan had a lot more charisma than Cena and I'm going to say it... he was better in the ring. If you watch Hogan's matches in Japan you'll see what I'm talking about. Even with a limited move set in the U.S. Hogan's moves meant so much more than John Cena's. Look at the crowd when Hogan would point to his opponents and the entire crowd would yell "You!". The fans loved it. The only people who John Cena appeals to are kids and women.

 

[InterestingDrug]

I was a child when Hogan was king and I hated him with a passion. I just wanted to see someone else with the title. I was a big fan of Mr. Wonderful.. then became a huge Savage fan, just to spite Hogan. I pulled for Ric Flair, because I thought he was a better champion than Hogan.

We hate Cena because we've seen him before, in the form of Hulk Hogan. We've seen this done before. We dont need to see it again. There is one thing that Hogan had that Cena doesnt have... a charisma that is other-worldly. Hogan was infectious. He could give a passionate interview with Mean Gene and get even the most anti-Hogan fans pumped up (i.e. ME). When Hogan was champion and/or the main eventer, you knew that there was no way he was going to lose. Hogan would never lose to someone like The Barbarian.. but Cena CAN lose to Sheamus. That's why we hated Hogan so much. He was never going to lose. Maybe a countout once in a while, but never a pinfall. There's a reason why they call him.. "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan.

Now, we know the McMahons (and TripleH) run the show. Cena has little power overall. He can be pinned, which is something we never saw happen to Hogan. Cena is a Hogan-like character, but we all know he's human and wont be champion forever. He'll never be as popular as Hogan. He'll never be as good in an interview as Hogan. He'll probably never be as popular as Hogan. But this doesnt mean they cant push him like Hogan.

This is why we hate Cena more than Hogan. We dont want to relive our childhoods.

 

[Nadeem Ahmad]

Hulk Hogan simply was more charismatic for getting the crowd involved than John Cena is. It seemed as if Cena would care less if the audience booed him or if the audience cheered him but Hogan still showed off at lots of times when he was in the nWo and wanted people to know that he loved the attention. Look at how he pretended to stroke the belt or the air as a bad guy. The relationship between him and the fans was really unparalleled during the last two decades or three decades.

As for Cena, he really just kept going and continued doing the job as a trashed rapper but at those times when some major portions of people would cheer for him, he did not really change the style significantly until he stopped using that gimmick, which served the point of acting as how he was told to behave but small noticeable differences like these tidbits set them apart emotionally.

 

[proweeks]

Have you forgotten that for those who grew up loving Hogan in the 80's were either adults or just plain tired of seeing him as a babyface in the 90's and this is why he was booed. So, in 1996 the infamous heel turn was staged, the NWO formed and the rest is history.

What am I saying?, the same thing that happened to Hogan is happening to Cena and I'm gonna bring up the several years old idea of turning him heel. Yes it is truly time and I believe it would help things tremendously, the same way Hogan's heel turn helped WCW

 

[CraigThe13th]

I've been waiting for somebody to properly bring this up for a while I would say yes, Hogan would more likely get hammered by the crowd far worse than Cena. I didn't like Hogan too much growing up, bored me a bit then. Later on in life I came to realize his massive contribution to wrestling and that he deserves his place as the biggest icon of them all, even though he has never been my cup of tea.

If roles were reversed I think Cena on the other hand would maybe have even bettered what Hogan did in the 80s. While he is not as good with a crowd as Hogan he is close to, plus Cena is a much more flexible and harder worker.

 

[Brady12]

Well, we are talking about the 1980s vs. 2000s when it comes to this issue. It was a different time back then, but for me, Hogan had more charisma than Cena. Hogan knew how to work a crowd. I loved Hogan as a kid, but as I entered my teenage years, I got annoyed with his boy scout ways.

However, I think this question has already been answered before on a mass scale in the past.

Around 1996, WCW fans were getting sick of Hogan's baby face image. I remember when he came to Cleveland, I went to a live Nitro where he teamed up with The Bootyman (aka: Brutus the Barber Beefcake) and they booed him out the building. The fans loved Flair and Sting though.

In my opinion, Hogan's heel turn saved Hogan's career because we were entering the age were heels were becoming cool. Interesting enough, this was the same year that Stone Cold Steve Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring and was gaining support of the crowd in spite being a heel.

So other than the nostalgia factor we have for Hogan. If we took that away and he entered this era anew. I think we would boo him if he kept the persona he had in the 80s/90s. But I also think that if Hogan was in his prime today, I think he'd be clever enough to have a persona that would click with the fans.

As for Cena, I think he'd oddly enough find more fans as a heel due to his over the top corney baby face persona, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

Ummm....Hogan DOES get that hate. It's all over this board, I see it all the time. I think the best point made is that Hogan had a relationship with the fans while he was in the ring that was beyond what anybody has ever done. The crowd erupted for Hogan in a way when Hogan's music hit that just felt like a "moment". I've said it before, there's a reason that a Hogan right hand gets a bigger pop then an Evan Bourne SSP ever will. Fans cared about Hogan. Hogan was the last guy to rile real emotion in people, thanks a lot to the fall of kayfabe. People were legitimately emotional when Hogan lost, grown people cried, that type of thing.

I like Cena, and I think highly of him, but he's not on Hogan's level.

Wow, got off on a ramble there. My main point was: Yes, Hogan would be hated...I mean, the man gets copious amounts of hate today as it is.

 

[hogan2cena]

I have lurked around for close to a year and finally a thread that I had to throw my two cents into...

If the roles were reversed and Hogan had followed Cena, Hogan would absolutely be hated. The thing is, or at least seems to me to be, that "hating" is in, right now. It's nostalgia, we remember things the way we want to, and we want our time to be "the time"... that's why many of the younger fans love Cena, he is to them what Hogan was to us at their age.

How many of us knew of those who had come before when we were falling in love with this business? Every successful gimmick in wrestling and pretty much every walk of life evolves and borrows from what has come before it. It only makes sense to do so. Having said that of course there are parts of Hogan in Cena, he has stated himself that Hogan is a big reason why he wanted to get into the business.

I think it's funny how I hear that Cena is rammed down our throats, I have been to several live events (including TLC on Sunday) and I can tell you that a good 80-90% of the crowd is pro Cena, why wouldn't they put him out there and give the majority of the people want they want. It's not only kids and women, it's the majority of the grown men too... just not you guys. When Hogan was in his prime, well actually from 1984 to about 1995 (may have been longer, I'm going off the top of my head) I can only remember Hogan losing cleanly once. My friends and I couldn't get enough of him. I realize times change and all but I think having that 1 guy seem indestuctable is one of the things that drew me to wrestling. I can't imagine what it would have done to wrestling, or to me as a fan if Hogan lost as often as Cena does, cleanly or otherwise...

In all fairness, I am a fan of Cena, though Orton is my favorite currently. Hogan was my favorite of all time, so this thread hit close to home.

In 20 years the kids who are watching Cena now will look back on Cena with the same reverence which we afford to Hogan, and they'll hate on the guy who their kids will grow up to love...

Thanks for providing so much entertainment for me over the past several months and for provoking lots of thought and memories through this thread and others.

 

[Vinnymanvinny]

I disagree, one big difference between Hogan and Cena is that Cena is forced down people's throats where as Hulk Hogan, fans could not get enough of him. Also remember that back in Hogan's day it was very hard to win a wwe/f championship. That is why Flair is revered, he won the title in just about every wrestling territory (they had many territories back then besides just WWF). The crowd reactions that Hogan got explain it all. Look at Hulk Hogan's crowd reactions and Look at Cena's. Rock, Austin, and Hogan the crowd bought in to them. Look at Rock, he was getting booed as Rocky Mavia, so he reinvented himself as The Rock and became one of the biggest stars in history. When Hulk started getting booed, he showed that he had the ability to roll with the times by becoming a very successful monster heel. When The Rock started getting booed, he should that he could adapt. Austin redifined what a Face and Heel are. 10-20 years from now people are going to look at Cena and see how he did not measure up to Hulk, Flair, Taker, Bret, Shawn, Rock, Austin, and even HHH. Cena will be look at as a fill in guy until someone else finds their niche. Even these kids can't deny that ratings were double during the runs of Hogan, Austin, and Rock. The WWE last year I believe after the Rock inducted his family to the hall of fame, decided that they wanted Cena to be able to get the crowds to go in a frenzy like The Rock and Austin could. I mean just being real, listen to the ovations of Austin, Rock, and Hogan in their primes compared to cena's. Their average ovations where louder than Cena's loudest ovations. Sorry for being long.

 

[Dagger Dias]

So the question lies... if we were adults back in the days of Hulk Hogan, would we be tired of him, too?

Maybe. Some people might be tired of him the way they get tired of Cena, but many of these fans know more about how the business works nowadays because of the internet. If sites like Wrestlezone or Rajah were around back then to tell us some of the things we know now BACK THEN, then Hogan might have been seeing a similar divided reaction to what Cena sees now because of the fans knowing more about the business and expecting more out of the top stars for that reason.

 

[Nugzy]

I dont think so. I also think if John Cena were around in the 80's he wouldnt be hated on so much. Back then wrestling was more mysterious. There was no internet, and the business wasnt such an open book. Now with the internet and everyone knowing so much about what happens behind the scenes its harder for people to suspend their disbelief and believe in a superman character like Cena. I think if Hulkamania started this decade instead of in the 80's, he would get just as much if not more hate than Cena does. I personally am a Cena fan. Hes probably my favorite current superstar along with Jericho and Orton. But I do wish he would add a few more moves to his arsenal. Its not that hes a bad wrestler or doesnt know how to do other moves, I think he just sticks with what works. And I think Vince probably likes it that way and wants Cena to do exactly what hes currently doing, which is what works. Especially with the PG rating, Cena is the new Hulk Hogan. The kids dont care that Cena doesnt do more moves. They love seeing him get beat up and suddenly come from behind, overcome the odds, and get the win. And after all, thats Vinces target audience now, the kids. He doesnt give a shit about the internet community. I think he correctly realizes that as the fans get older they start to look at wrestling differently when they know its all a work and they know all the backstage happenings and criticize the product every chance they get. So hes building a whole new generation of loyal fans, and I think he'll continue to do so until he retires or dies. Im curious to see who will take over WWE when Vince is gone and what impact it will have on the product. So in closing, I guess my answer is yes we would hate Hogan if he came around today, but regardless of our age, we would love him to death if we traveled back in time to the 80's without all the knowledge from the internet.

 

[Toroc102]

There are so many differnet circumstances that this is a very hard question to answer. I think if the question was simply, would we hate Hogan like we hate Cena if we we're alive and grown in the 80's(without the internet), I think the answer would be no. Unlike Cena, Hogan was much more of a badass in his heyday. IMO the biggest problem with Cena is that he praises his top opponents far far FAR too much. I may be mistaken, but Hogan always took the chance to put the heels down, call them scumbags and the like. IMO Cena constantly praising his opponents as they continue to do the most dastardly, underhanded, brutal things they can do to him makes him look weak and stupid.

A lot of the his mic work also seems very forced and I think he is just a product of the new era of Wrestling, far too scripted, far too influenced by outside forces(Hollywood). I don't think that its an overexagerartion to say that most of the IWC does not like the current state of WWE television(PGWWE) and Cena is the biggest product of that, the face of the era we hate. Hogan was the product of an era we all loved, and he only started to get booed after about 8 years on top, I mean Cena's been getting it since about his 2nd year atop the Main-Event scene.

In the end though, this is a very complicated question with many different possible arguments.

 

[the man called sting]

I've been reading these forums for month's now, and this was the first one which I really felt inclined to post on. I was a child in the 80's and remember clearly Hulk being "Immortal". I am sure that our prior generation had some disdain for his innability to lose. We didn't have so their was no "IWC", no sites that let us look behind the scenes, and definitely no saturation as far as TV and payperviews are concerned. Today we see John Cena every time we turn around. The man is crammed down our throats, but I believe if he had his prime in the 80's he would become just as big as Hogan. He lacks a little in the charisma that Hogan had, but is definitely a better in ring performer. If only he could get the fans to by into things like Hogan did. I think that the best thing for the Cena character would be a heel turn, although if that did happen Orton would probably have to become a face and I can't see that right now. Many careers have benefited from a heel turn. Of course everyone always talks about Austin, Hogan, and the Rock. What about Bret Hart? At one point Chris Jericho was a face, but he gives much better promos and draws more fan attention as a heel. In the 90's you also had another similar "hero" who completely changed his persona, and in doing so is still popular. Does no one remember who sting used to be? He stopped talking for over 1 1/2 years, and just showed up randomly to kick ass. Cena's gimmick needs an overhaul, and I think the WWE would be wise to let him have some creative control.

These are my thoughts sorry for being so longwinded.

 

[thepalaceprince]

I dont think we would hate hogan the way we hate cena. during hogans day most people didnt have a huge move set or a devestating finisher. Its entirely possible that if hogan had come up in this day he would have been encouraged to have a bigger move set. The thing that makes me hate cena is that he cant put anyone over. Rite now orton is helping elevate kofi as well as legacy. Unless cena is goin against another established star its most likely going to be a squash match just like last week against carlito. There was great potential in that match but instead cena destroys carlito. Even last night with an established star like punk cena just destroys him. The way they portray him is ridiculous, he's not superman hes doctor manhattan!

 

[CaptainZaltan]

God, where does this freaking ridiculous argument that Hogan wasn't 'shoved down our throats' come from? Hulk Hogan has been shoved down the collective throats of wrestling fans more than any other performer in history. Hogan got to run over the entire roster in the 80's and 90's as though they existed solely to put him over. He had his own cartoon starring himself as the LEADER OF THE 'GOOD GUYS'. He made bad movies, bad tv shows, etc.
Theres even a term for Hulk Hogan being shoved down your throat....it's called 'HULKAMANIA'.

There has not been an argument used against John Cena that could not be equally applicable (or more) to Hogan. Media ****e? Company shill? Bad in the ring? Holds guys back? Check all of the above. As for Hogan being able to handle a crowd like noone else.....wtf? When? I grew up in the 80's too, and I certainly didn't see it. The KIDS that watched wrestling in the 80's would have cheered Hogan if he had simply come to the ring and taken a nap. Why? Because he was on their lunchboxes, pajamas, and bedspreads, and was portrayed as something equivalent to Superman in cartoons and movies. They do the exact same thing for Cena today. As for size...if that was all that mattered, then we would be talking about Andre the giant or Big John Studd today, instead of Hogan. And at least Cena toned down his white rapper gimmick; Hogan remains to this day a walking embodiment of everything that was cheesy and irritating about the 80's.

What it boils down to is this: We will overlook a lot for the sake of nostalgia, because our memories from our childhood (particularly the good ones) are prescious to us, and we tend to look at the past through rose tinted glasses anyways (I mean....does anyone REALLY think Thundercats or the Snorks were good cartoons?). I'm not trying to completely slam Hulk's career or anything... Bischoff and Hogan did an amazing job of turning our prescious childhood memories of Hogan into pure heat when they formed the NWO, which was great. That move was one of the biggest in wrestling history, and validated Hogan's relevance for anyone who might have doubted it.

But as for the question 'would we hate Hogan as much as Cena'...? Yes. Undoubtedly more.

 

[Toroc102]

The difference I think is that Cena gets booed a heckuva lot of and has been for a long time, that gives the impression that he's being shoved down our throats. Hogan was insanely over for a long run, but that was a way of the business back then. Comparatively Hogans runs we're even shorter than peole like Backlund/Sammartino, even though he was a bigger star than them all. However as the WWF moved into the 90's and Hogan's popularity started to dwindle, his reigns became shorter and his dominance of the WWF decreased, not discounting the whole steroid controversy either.

When he got to WcW, I'd sy they definately misused him. WcW was a different breed of fan with their own heroes in Flair and Sting and Hogan came right in a ran roughshod over all of them, hard not to get booed, in addition to fans being tired of his schtick by then. Of course WcW did the right thing and turned him heel two years later which completely revitalized his career, but WcW tried to parlay that into a much longer run than they should have. By this time Hogan dominating the scene for anything more than 2 years was too long, just like any other superstar dominating for more than that amount of time would be.

If Hogan debuted today, I don't know how receptive anyone would be to him. To be honest I think Cena is the modern day interpretation of Hogan, except he's even more of a goody two shoes, and he's already getting booed. I think its very sad that the WWE, despite the amount of negativity that Cena gets, keeps doing the same thing with him. If they want him to be the top face in the company, then they should tweak his character somewhat at least and not just let him keep doing the same things.

It wouldn't need to be something major, just stop making him such a kiss up good guy, John Cena's character does not work as a face in todays day and age. I kind of view the Hustle, Loyalty, Respect thing as I do Kurt Angle's 3 I's, or Hogans demandments/eat your vitamins say your prayers schtick.

Hogans thing wouldn't work today, and Kurt Angle's character kind of parodied the idea of a face, because it doesn't work that way for any extended amont of time anymore, Kurt Angle was a face at his core, he just added enough arrogance to the character to make him a total heel.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Oh yeah, definitely. Hogan would get himself a new asshole ripped on a daily basis by the IWC. John Cena is someone that, for me, has his moments. Every now and again, there are times in which Cena is just plain great. Most of the time, I think the guy is average overall. Even so, Cena is a much better in-ring worker than Hogan.

Hulk Hogan came across as this near indestructible superhero that could do no wrong and always won out at the end of the day. John Cena does pretty much the same thing, but not to nearly as great of a degree. After all, at least John Cena does lose now and again and loses clean.

 

[Tenta]

I think back to 1994. A time when the internet was relatively a small force, and the was a tiny, cultish figure. He attempted to make his mark in WCW, wearing the Red & Yellow, and feuding with mostly the same men he did in WCW. Actually, to some extent, he actually had better competition to deal with, in Big Van Vader. It could have been booked very well, and had the potential to be a defining feud in the history of WCW. Instead, it was relatively shot down, and shat upon by most, if not all fans. The thing got no reaction whatsoever, and was considered by many an abject failure.

Why? Because, people hated the manner in which he was booked, and they boo'ed him. As a matter of fact, they actually boo'ed him out of the building, and out of being a face. It was so bad, Hogan realized his only salvation was to turn heel, and give the fans a legitimate reason to hate him. Now consider this... How many fans here have posted their desire for Cena to turn heel? How many times do we hear noticeable boos in the audience whenever Cena comes out? How many "mixed reactions" do we hear on a consistent basis for Cena? Simply put, Hogan and Cena both suffer(ed) from something as simple as inefficient booking, and their companies paid the price. If Hogan is booked in today's era in a similar manner to how Cena is booked now, then yes, the IWC would hate him just as much. In truth, I don't think the audience hates Cena so much as we hate the booking of Cena. Considering this, and putting that into context, Hogan would suffer the same fate. We may give him credit, considering his promos, for better or worse, aren't scripted. But the booking would be enough for us to simply forget this, and consider him the second coming of Stalin. It already happened, to some extent, from 1994-1996. And there's absolutely no way Hogan wouldn't have gotten a similar reaction.

Of course.... There also could be the same argument that if Hogan didn't exist, we wouldn't have an IWC. At least typically in the same pattern we have it now. But if we did, and it were the same, we would all detest Hogan