Top 3 Hulk Hogan Matches Of All Time: Hulk Hogan, one of the biggest professional wrestlers of all time and the face of the industry for many to this day, passed away at the age of 71 due to a cardiac arrest. And while his legacy today might be more complicated than being one of the most recognisable faces in pop culture, his passing has prompted millions of his fans to remember his work in entertainment.
While Hogan acted in films, produced music, had reality TV shows, and was an entrepreneur, he will always be a professional wrestler in the minds of most people. Many fans of wrestling will put him on the hypothetical “Mount Rushmore” of wrestling greats.
So today, after the passing of one Terry Gene Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, we will remember some of his greatest wrestling matches. While never known for his in-ring skills, Hogan rose to the highest levels of his profession because of his infectious charisma, the way he strung words together in a compelling way, and his Greek god-like stature and physique.
Today, we will look at the top 3 Hulk Hogan matches of all time.
Top 3 Hulk Hogan Matches Of All Time
3) Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WrestleMania 6)
This match was one of the first examples of a very complicated match dynamic on the highest levels of pro wrestling, that is, a babyface vs. babyface title match. All major matches in the then-WWF at the time, especially the main events, saw a face take on a villainous heel.
However, after seven years of Hulkamania ruling over WWE, the company was looking to replace the ageing Hogan with a new face of the company, which they believed would be The Ultimate Warrior. Like Hulk, Warrior mostly relied on his physique and charisma to get popular. And so, the two behemoths face off in the main event of WrestleMania 6. Hogan put his WWF Championship on the line, while the Warrior put his Intercontinental title on the line.
While the match wasn’t the greatest in terms of in-ring action, the sheer fact that two of the most popular wrestlers of the era were going one-on-one with two titles on the line shook the roof off of the Skydome in Toronto, the location for ‘Mania.
In a goliath vs. goliath battle, the Ultimate Warrior emerged the champion. And while he did not become the face of the company like Hulk was, this match is a gold star on the legacy of the two men.
Check Out: Top 3 Hulk Hogan Matches Of All Time
2) Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (WrestleMania 3)
Arguably the most culturally significant match in the early years of WrestleMania, this match showed what the biggest wrestling show of the year was all about—fine storytelling, massive spectacle, mega stars, pomp, and circumstance. Hulk Hogan, the face of the company and the WWF Champion, defended his title against former friend-turned-enemy, the undefeated (not really) Andre the Giant.
Today, this match is remembered mostly for being a bad in-ring product. Andre was way past his prime in 1985 and struggled to even walk. Hogan, while in the prime of his career physically, was not a technical wizard who could extract a decent match out of The Giant.
However, despite it being a slow, plodding, and sometimes boring match of professional wrestling, it might be one of the sport’s biggest blockbusters. Fans enjoyed this David vs. Goliath battle, and Hulk’s win here propelled him to being the face of the profession for his era.
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1) Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock (WrestleMania 18)
12 years after WrestleMania 6, the Biggest Show of the Year returned to the Skydome in Toronto. By this time, Hogan had left the company and joined WCW, become the biggest star of that company, taken them ahead of WWE in the Monday Night Wars with the NWO, flamed out in that company, and returned to the WWE after they bought out WCW.
Hogan was now the heel heading into a WrestleMania match for the first time, taking on one of the new faces of the company, The Rock. However, on this night of March 2002 in Canada, the fans must have thought it was 1990 the way they were cheering for the Hulkster, despite him being the heelish leader of the NWO.
While this match is a typical big-match Hogan affair, with slightly better wrestling than the two matches before on this list and the crowd going equally crazy, what pushes this match above those two was what the two wrestlers did. As two of the greatest of all time, Hulk Hogan and The Rock read that the crowd, in a nostalgic fervour, was cheering for the heel Hulk. And so, the two men changed their roles mid-match. While Hogan started to act like a face, The Rock acted more heelishly.
This was one of the most successful on-the-fly experiments in WWE history. So much so that Hulk Hogan turned face after the match. This match did what very few matches in wrestling have ever done: take its fans on a complicated yet compelling ride.
Check Out: Top 3 Hulk Hogan Matches Of All Time
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