5 Times Hulk Hogan Was A Complete Jerk On-Screen (& 5 Times He Was One In Real Life)
There are very few people who ever reached close to the level of popularity Hulk Hogan attained in WWE’s Golden Era. He was the face of the promotion for its national expansion, and was still a huge name and popular with fans for the front end of his WCW run, such that his heel turn to launch the nWo was a legitimate shocker.
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Despite these points, Hogan also has quite the reputation for poor behavior behind the scenes, whether it was using his influence toward less than stellar ends or making offensive remarks. Interestingly enough, even as a babyface, he could also act like a jerk on-screen as well.
10 On-Screen: Costing Sid Justice The 1992 Royal Rumble
Hulk Hogan was generally a figure of virtue throughout the original Hulkamania run. However, after fellow babyface Sid Justice eliminated him from the 1992 Royal Rumble, The Hulkster was anything but sportsman-like. He reached out, ostensibly to shake Justice’s hand, but then held on. At minimum, Hogan held Justice in place, keeping him from returning his attention to the match; at worst—and it certainly looked that way—Hogan pulled at Justice, edging him over the top rope.
The last other man in the Ric Flair, took full advantage, coming up from underneath and behind against a distracted Justice, and sending him crashing to the floor. Given his size advantage and relative freshness, there’s every reason to believe—in kayfabe—Justice would’ve bested Flair in an over-the-top-rope challenge if Hogan hadn’t cost him.
9 Real Life: Denying Sting His Moment At Starrcade 1997
The details of what went wrong at Starrcade 1997 remain oddly uncertain as all the key players—Hulk Hogan, Sting, Eric Bischoff, and Nick Patrick—seem to have holes in their memories about how the ending grew as messy as it did. Regardless, it is clear that Hogan rejected Sting going over cleanly and decisively the way he was originally planned to.
At the least, Hogan was part of the decision-making process that he would pin Sting before the match was restarted and The Icon picked up the submission victory. At worst, he may have pressured referee Patrick to not deliver a fast count on the pin, giving his character a legitimate claim to actually beating Sting. Regardless, Hogan was a key figure in making the climax of one of the biggest storylines in wrestling history super confusing and denying Sting what may have otherwise been the greatest moment of his career.
8 On-Screen: Stoking The Coals Of The Macho Man’s Jealousy
The story of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Miss Elizabeth as The Mega Powers was all about the two top babyfaces working in tandem with the most popular manager in wrestling behind them. The story hinged on Savage being over-protective and jealous when it came to Liz, though, ultimately betraying Hogan because he felt insecure and wronged.
Despite Savage turning heel and Hogan remaining a babyface, one wrinkle in this story was that The Hulkster actually did take some liberties, visibly touching Miss Elizabeth’s butt to get her up on Savage’s shoulders and openly stating he loved her. It all became too much for Savage when Liz got knocked unconscious at ringside and Hogan took it on himself to pick her up and carry to her the back, leaving Savage to fend for himself in a match while another man handled his girlfriend.
7 Real Life: Playing Politics In His Randy Orton Feud
Summer 2006 saw a fun angle take shape when Randy Orton took his Legend Killer gimmick to the next level—romancing Hulk Hogan’s daughter Brooke, then RKOing The Hulkster in a parking lot to set up a showdown at SummerSlam.
RELATED: Hulk Hogan Vs. Randy Orton The Final WWE Feud Of The Hulkster's Career, ExplainedWhether Hogan should have won or lost the blow-off match is subject to opinion. However, it was reported at the time that WWE wanted Orton to go over, and upon learning that was the case, Hogan started hemming and hawing about nagging injuries and questioning whether he could work the match. WWE took its foot off the gas on the angle while they worked out details, taking a lot of heat off the feud. From there, the match itself was just OK, working the Hogan formula and seeing The Hulkster prevail in the end.
6 On-Screen: Disparaging TNA History
Upon his arrival in TNA, Hulk Hogan wielded a great deal of influence on and off screen. He was reportedly the leading figure in dispatching the promotion’s traditional six-sided ring in favor of a squared circle, and addressed the point in an early promo.
Hogan called the six-sided ring that loyal fans had come to associate with TNA a “playpen” in a promo that largely buried the promotion’s talent and history. While it was fair for him to spearhead a new era, the comments felt disrespectful toward all the work on-screen and behind the scenes to build up the company, not to mention the fans who had already invested in the product for years.
5 Real Life: Making The Undertaker Feel Bad On His Crowning Night
Survivor Series 1991 saw what may have been a passing the torch moment as The Undertaker pinned Hulk Hogan to win his first world title. While not a true veteran, The Dead Man had been working hard to establish himself in wrestling for over four years at that point, including a lot of uncertainty when WCW didn’t recognize his potential. Winning a world title off the biggest star in wrestling at a PPV should have been one of the happiest nights of his life.
However, Hogan implied that The Undertaker had injured his neck with the Tombstone. Given Hogan was still the biggest draw in the business, The Phenom felt mortified and like he might be blackballed for the error, only to learn later that—by all indications—Hogan was fine and had been lying for the purpose of shaming the new cham, so The Hulkster could protect his own spot.
4 On-Screen: Making Fun Of Andre The Giant’s English
In the build to WrestleMania 3, Andre the Giant was cast as a villain, but a sympathetic one. While he had an overwhelming size advantage, he had been a babyface for most of his career up to that point. Moreover, he had a legitimate gripe that his supposed friend Hulk Hogan had never offered him a title shot, and there was a subtext that the Giant was being manipulated by his new manager, Bobby Heenan.
In a contract-signing segment that has not aged well for The Hulkster, Hogan overtly made fun of Andre for his French accent and less than perfect English, interrupting his comments and yelling at him to “Speak to me in English when you talk to me!” This was one of a number of instances when, despite being the babyface, what Hogan had to say suggested he was a heel all along.
3 Real Life: Undermining A Wrestler Union
In the 1980s, Jesse Venture foreshadowed his political career when he attempted to get the ball rolling on organized labor in wrestling—forming a union among WWE wrestlers to look after their working conditions.
The biggest wrestling star in the world, Hulk Hogan, getting on board with the union likely would have forced the issue and brought the idea to fruition. The Hulkster went in the opposite direction, though, not only not joining in, but purportedly running to Vince McMahon with the plans so he could get ahead of them and squash any attempt at unionizing.
2 On-Screen: Attacking Andre The Giant After The Survivor Series 1987 Main Event
Survivor Series 1987 saw a rare instance of an early WWE PPV ending with a heel going over. Andre the Giant was the sole survivor from the main event traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match, last pinning Bam Bam Bigelow.
RELATED: 10 Things WWE Fans Should Know About Survivor Series 1987Hulk Hogan returned to the ring, though, despite being eliminated mid-match, and attacked Andre. Rather than letting anyone else have a moment of glory, he sent the Giant packing so he could flex his muscles for the crowd to close the show.
1 Real Life: Not Paying Respects To The Ultimate Warrior’s Widow
One of the more famous elements of The Ultimate Warrior’s last week on earth was that after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and while appearing at WrestleMania 30, he ran into Hulk Hogan backstage and they made peace. Cameras caught the exchange and a bit of it even made it into more than one of the WWE documentaries about WrestleMania weekend and Warrior more specifically.
Warrior’s widow, Dana, has painted a less than complimentary picture of The Hulkster, though. She claimed that he put on a nice face in front of the cameras, but noted that he hadn’t so much as contacted her to express any condolences after Warrior’s passing, suggesting that what kindness Hogan expressed was performative, and he isn’t such a nice guy.
