Top 5 Hulk Hogan WWF Moments

Oh, the 80′s. The decade of Wall Street, cocaine, excess, spandex, exotic sports cars, Don Johnson, Spuds McKenzie, Vanilla Ice, Yo! MTV Raps, Max Headroom, neon pink… and wrestling.

I may be biased — a product of this period, I am — but the early 80′s witnessed professional wrestling’s apex, the Golden Age so to speak. From the arena rock entry music and hamfisted handles to the flashy costumes and the corny dialogue, all of it was carefully calibrated for maximum entertainment value. At the head of this historic vanguard was none other than the Greatest Wrestler to ever enter the ring, one Terry Gene Bollea, a.k.a. Hulk Hogan.

When I was 7 or 8 — this would have been late in 1984, I think — an uncle took my cousins and I to the old Boston Garden to see the traveling roadshow that was the WWF. The highlights of that evening were varied, but everyone was there to see the main attraction, Hulk Hogan, with Mr. T in his corner to provide moral support, take on the menacing Big John Stud (this was prior to the first Wrestlemania). Towards the end of an epic match that seesawed back and forth, Hogan busted free from a submission move and, turning the tables, body slammed and piledrived Big John outside of the ring, something that until then, had never been accomplished before (I was later told… perhaps errantly). Regardless, Hogan won the match, the crowd roared in its approval, and I, a young, impressionable child, was thereafter hooked (the allure would fade 5 years later when comics, then music, and then girls took precedence).

Hogan, who was in peak physical form during these years, ruled the WWF with a mixture of bravado, showmanship and brute strength. Clad in his signature yellow-and-red color scheme, he took on a series of super villains and unmoveable object-types during this era, defeating most with a mix of guile, finesse, technique and his trademark Hulkamania. And that awesome theme song…

Most bouts followed a similar template: Hogan would start off on the offensive, fall prey to some kind of sneak attack, then dramatically recover after gaining new strength from the crowd’s collective energy. He would become impervious to attack, a process he described as “hulking up,” and victory would follow.

Wrestling in this period was less of a sport and more of a spectacle (something even more true today, I suppose). Unlike the current day edition, it was more clear cut, the lines of good and bad more cleanly delineated, each bout encapsulating a different stew of plots and subplots, most of which were driven by the combatants prior history, which was often as complex and convoluted as a novel by Tom Wolfe.

In any case, I present for your viewing pleasure, a list of my Top 5 Hulk moments from the WWF years (1983-1993). In recent years, Hogan has descended into a sad shadow of his former self, beset by injuries and old age; it has been truly depressing to watch his personal life crumble to pieces on reality tv, but hey, those are the pratfalls of fame. You don’t know what will happen when you invite the cameras into your home.

I challenge the readers to weigh in with a comment or two below; there were a number of excellent bouts that had to be omitted for reasons of space.

5. Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful (1/3/1987)

Hogan successfully defends his title in a brutal steel cage match against Mr. Wonderful.

4. Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant vs. Big John Stud and King Kong Bundy (11/2/1985)

This one didn’t really have any title implications, but it was a peerless display of technique and showmanship nonetheless. At one point, Andre tries to strangle Bundy with his own costume; later on he treats Big John like a rag doll, tossing him aside with a minimum of effort! Between the four participants, there must something like 1500 pounds in the ring… The Giant gets stuck in the ropes, but Hogan comes to the rescue.

3. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff a.k.a Mr. Wonderful (3/31/1985)

The centerpiece of the very first Wrestlemania, this epic tag team match featured some top-notch grappling from what were then the biggest names in the sport (and others… none of than Muhammad Ali was a guest ref, while Yankee great Billy Martin served as the honorary ring announcer). The bout devolves into a free-for-all at several points, with Hogan pulling out the win for his team after Mr. Wonderful is errantly closelined and falls to the mat.

2. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (3/29/1987)

A watershed moment in WWF history, the featured bout at Wrestlemania III pitted two former friends-turned nemesis against one another (more on that below, btw). Andre seizes control early on after Hogan tries, but fails, to lift the 520-pound Frenchman. Pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, Hogan finds a second wind and successfully body slams the Giant, to the surprise of all watching, including the color commenter, Jessie “The Body” Ventura. Hulk follows with one of his trademark moves, the Leg Drop, pinning his opponent in dramatic fashion.

1. Hulk Hogan vs. Iron Sheik (1/23/1984)

Some of the other bouts on this list had more hype and promotion behind them, but for my money, this was Hogan’s finest moment. He wins his first WWF Championship here, pinning his treacherous foil, The Iron Sheik (peep those fantastic boots, yo) in Madison Square Garden, before an capacity crowd that is truly electric. Things look grim for Hogan after the Sheik applies the “Camel Clutch” (his trademark move), but our hero finds the will to escape, the first man, it should be noted, to ever do so… This is a real treat, enjoy.