Turning Hulk Hogan heel between 1984-1993

[tafkaga]

May 22, 2022 19:26:00 GMT -5 nisidhe said:

I'm an old woman.

I was following a lot of wrestling in 1986-7 and was almost as keen on what going on in UWF as in WWE. So, when Hacksaw Jim Duggan came into WWE shortly after Wrestlemania III there was a _shitpile_ of interest. Some of us figured that this guy was going to be the one who'd replace Hogan, but wasn't quite sure how something like that would play out.

Duggan was the working-class schlub who was over af in the South despite being from upstate New York. He was a former footballer who brawled like nobody's business, who could appeal to the kids and didn't have the stink of elitism about him. It was possible to see him in the same mold as Bruno or Pedro, that kind of guy who worked hard to get where he was and would pass the MSG test.

Then came the traffic stop and being seen in the car with Sheiky and a couple joints and that was the end of that, I think. He got a briefish suspension but never got near the title.

Do you think, even if your last paragraph didn't happen, that he could have been *that* guy the way Vince used him as kind of a jingoistic buffoon?  I never understood the appeal of Hacksaw until I saw his Mid South stuff.  In WWF, to me he was about half a step above a Bushwhacker.

[nisidhe]

May 26, 2022 11:52:54 GMT -5 tafkaga said:

Do you think, even if your last paragraph didn't happen, that he could have been *that* guy the way Vince used him as kind of a jingoistic buffoon?  I never understood the appeal of Hacksaw until I saw his Mid South stuff.  In WWF, to me he was about half a step above a Bushwhacker.

I think he would have been a Dusty to Volkoff's Koloff, possibly, as that storyline played out a little in WWE, but he was absolutely headed for bigger and better things when he jumped from UWF.

Vince was _always_ looking for the next big thing to replace Hogan - the question was who he'd tap for the job and how it would play out. I have a feeling that the Duggan-Sheik incident may have nudged Vince's hand towards turning Randy Savage babyface.

[jason1980s]

As mentioned by others I think that 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993 would be good times. The guy is a real life heel so not exactly hard to play the role on TV/PPVs. Macho, Warrior, Sid and Bret were in positions to take over a main event spot while Hogan takes a step back but he can't handle it. There's probably even more stories we don't know about behind the scenes. We just happened to be spoiled by Bret who was the only one of the four to reveal what Hogan did.

1989 and 1990 I can see Hogan still being important to WWF but by 1992 and 1993, fans were ready for someone new whether it be Sid or Bret.

[sportatorium]

There would have been plenty of ways to do it, I just don't think Vince ever wanted to.

[wildojinx]

Here's an interesting one. The WM9 ending happens like usual, only this time Fuji deliberately throws salt in Yoko's eyes and Hogan pins him and then celebrates with Fuji. Hogan's excuse was that he'd do anything to win the belt back, so he set the whole thing up with Fuji. Yoko does NOT turn face because of this though, but still wants Hogan while Bret is angry with both of them, leading to a three-way feud (they didnt do triangle matches in 1993, but you could eventually have a round robin thing to end it, with Bret coming up on top).

[nickcave]

I think the best time to turn him was 1992 instead of turning Sid Justice heel.

[wildojinx]

May 27, 2022 11:34:35 GMT -5 nickcave said:

I think the best time to turn him was 1992 instead of turning Sid Justice heel.

So does he still leave after WM8, and if so, how? Does Warrior do the run in, only here he takes out Hogan?

[nickcave]

I would assume you'd have him put over Sid clean and then he goes off to do his movie thing if this was a world where Hogan had no ego lol