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The poor sportsmanship of Hulk Hogan


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I've often read how Hogan was the worst "sportsman" of any babyface champion for his needlessly dickish behaviour in his matches. While I do recall him often whalloping the hell out of Sherri Martel, and Jesse Ventura complaining about his cheating in front of the ref early in a match and it being glossed over by the other commentary, I am having trouble remembering too many specific instances. The most notorious moment of the crowd turning on him would probably be the Royal Rumble, where he eliminated Sid Justice from the outside and the crowd booed him so intensely that they switched the boos and cheers in post production. Can anyone give any particularly egregious examples of dick behaviour by Hogan as a supposed babyface? I am of course talking about examples in matches and interviews, not backstage stuff.

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* Being scared of Andre at Survivor Series '87, being tagged and lying about it

* Not returning Paul Orndorff's calls

* Giving Savage the third degree about losing matches in early '96

* Using chairs in plain sight of the referee and not getting DQ'd because he's Hogan

* Pretending to be concerned about Bret Hart so he could take the title from Yokozuna

* Calling Sting a "vulture" in '95 when Sting was his friend

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* Not returning Paul Orndorff's calls

I think it's safe to say that every time one of Hogan's best friends turned on him, he had it coming. He didn't return Orndorff's calls, he was condescending to Andre in that whole trophy mess, he pawed Savage's woman and tried to take away the limelight during Savage's victory celebrations. It's a wonder he was able to get any friends at all after a certain point.

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I seem to remember him slamming Earthquake on a table to get a countout win. There was a lot of back rakes, chair shots, etc. throughout his babyface run too.

 

Are we just talking about from a kayfabe stance, or what? Because him kicking out on the 3 count against Warrior at 'Mania 6 was pretty shitty too.

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I seem to remember him slamming Earthquake on a table to get a countout win. There was a lot of back rakes, chair shots, etc. throughout his babyface run too.

 

Are we just talking about from a kayfabe stance, or what? Because him kicking out on the 3 count against Warrior at 'Mania 6 was pretty shitty too.

Kayfabe. Plenty of examples of Hogan being a dick as a person, I'm looking for examples of him being a dick as a babyface character.

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To me, the issue with Hogan acting like a dick as a babyface character was when the person he acted like a dick to may have been a jerk, but did nothing to Hogan personally, or Hogan's actions was absolutely Hogan being selfish.

 

Hogan may have been a dick in not returning Orndorff's calls, but it's hard to say Orndorff was then justified in ambushing him during a tag team match. Orndorff may have believed Hogan was a jerk, but then he acted like a jerk in return.

 

On the other hand, Hogan coming out to Hart's defense and then helping himself to a title shot was simply Hogan being a jerk toward Hart, with Hart having done nothing to Hogan. Ditto for Sid eliminating Hogan fair and square in the Royal Rumble and Bossman and Akeem doing the same, with Hogan pouting about it.

 

And the other thing that always bothered me was, when Jesse called Hogan on illegal tactics, Vince did a terrible job of explaining things. It's one thing to say, "I know it's illegal but Hogan is upset, so I can understand why." But Vince never called it that way, he just said along the lines of "Hogan is justified because he is." Whenever Jesse justified a heel's action, he made sure to explain why he believed he was justified and not just "because he is."

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* Not returning Paul Orndorff's calls

That was my favorite.

 

Hoback's son is a big Hogan Fan. We don't quite get it since he's not a massive wrestling fan like his dad, he doesn't watching a lot of wrestling, his dad hates Hogan, but the wrestling he does like is watching Hogan beat up heels. Actually... I think we do get it: he's a Hogan Fan because his dad hates Hogan, so it's a way to be a wise ass to his dad. Pretty smart for a pre-teen. :)

 

Anyway, I let Hoback have my copy of Corey's terrific redone Hogan set so that he could watch a bunch of Hogan with his son. Of course there's load of stuff in there Caleb had never seen, including the entire Hogan-Orndorff angle. And Hoback loved getting Caleb gripping over how Hogan isn't treating Orndorff right by not returning his call, that you just don't do that to a friend, how Hogan was showboating in the Moondogs match, and... BAM! Orndorff takes out Hogan.

 

"Hogan deserved that! You don't treat friends like that."

 

Damn near drove the kid to tears. Which was fair payback for driving his old man nuts by being a Hogan Fan. :P

 

John

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Anyway, I let Hoback have my copy of Corey's terrific redone Hogan set so that he could watch a bunch of Hogan with his son. Of course there's load of stuff in there Caleb had never seen, including the entire Hogan-Orndorff angle. And Hoback loved getting Caleb gripping over how Hogan isn't treating Orndorff right by not returning his call, that you just don't do that to a friend, how Hogan was showboating in the Moondogs match, and... BAM! Orndorff takes out Hogan.

 

"Hogan deserved that! You don't treat friends like that."

 

Damn near drove the kid to tears. Which was fair payback for driving his old man nuts by being a Hogan Fan. :P

 

John

Ah, good story !:)

 

My nephews were big WWE fans last years. I didn't had the heart to tell them it sucked.;)

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He just seemed holier-than-thou in general. He wasn't about being a nice guy and helping his friends; he was about indoctrinating the weak-minded to his moral code and overshadowing everything with self-aggrandizing displays. He was clearly much more Old Testament God than New Testament God. As a kid, I was invariably thrilled when anyone turned on him, because it always seemed like the reasonable human response.

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He just seemed holier-than-thou in general. He wasn't about being a nice guy and helping his friends; he was about indoctrinating the weak-minded to his moral code and overshadowing everything with self-aggrandizing displays.

I won't go into politics, but Hogan was so much a product of Reagan's America it's not even funny.;)

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Lets look at the big betrayals first.

 

Paul Orndorff: Now lets overlook the fact Orndorff was a creep that tried to help Hogan's arch enemy end his career the previous year. Or that Hogan quite magnanimously teamed with Orndorff after all of that. Hulk Hogan was a very busy man. In addition to being the WWF Champion, he had various commercial and television commitments. All he told him was that he would have to call him back. Hardly a good reason to betray a guy who had tolerated a lot of your crap. As a side note even after all of that Hogan forgave him again.

 

Andre: Andre never once hinted he wanted a title match. Since is it the job of the World Champion to track down challengers. He is the champion you come to him. Hogan was betrayed because Andre went to a creep like Heenan who had tried to destroy both Hulk and Andre over the years.

 

Savage: Hogan was a great friend to the Macho Man. Savage would not have won the title in the first place if not for Hulk Hogan. Did Hogan once ask for a title match? No because he wanted Savage to have his time in the sun. Savage was ate up with jealously. Deep down he knew he did not beat the true WWF Champion to win the belt. Every time Hogan helped him, it ate Savage up just a little bit more. But Savage could never openly face this, so he fabricated a story of Hogan wanting Elisabeth.

 

Now for beating up managers. Exactly at what point were the likes of Heenan, Sherri, Jimmy Hart and Slick these upstanding pillars of society? If given a proper chance they would kill Hogan, rip out his kidneys and leave him in a tub of ice. Hogan was wrong for bashing their skulls in? If anything he was too gentle.

 

 

There is no defending his actions at the 92 Rumble.

 

 

I seem to remember him slamming Earthquake on a table to get a countout win.

You mean the dude who tried to end his career months before?
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He beat up Sherri. Sherri is a woman. Beating up managers in general is fine.

 

Concerning Andre, his immediate reaction was that if Andre ever wanted a title shot, all he had to do was ask. Well, that's exactly what he did. He got Bobby Heenan involved, but he confronted him face to face and simply asked him.

 

Not to mention the trophies the week before. As Jesse Ventura pointed out, Hogan's trophy was made of REAL GOLD (It's true!), while Andre's was simply "rotten old lead".

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He beat up Sherri. Sherri is a woman.

So? Sherri would routinely knock the shit out of Hogan. It would be worse if he let it slide. Steve Austin would of left her in a shallow grave.

 

 

Concerning Andre, his immediate reaction was that if Andre ever wanted a title shot, all he had to do was ask. Well, that's exactly what he did. He got Bobby Heenan involved, but he confronted him face to face and simply asked him.

Which is the point. He involved a creep like Heenan. A man who less than a year before tried to end Andre's career. Who had Bundy break Hogan's ribs. Who two years before had Bundy break Andre's sternum. Who humiliated Andre and raped him of his dignity.

 

Not to mention the trophies the week before. As Jesse Ventura pointed out, Hogan's trophy was made of REAL GOLD (It's true!), while Andre's was simply "rotten old lead".

That is an issue with WWF management.
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