Hulk Hogan vs Ravishing Rick Rude

[Chuck Conry]

I saw a podcast clip where Ric Flair talked about how Hulk never would wrestle Rude, calling him the "Tasmanian devil" in the ring. Said when he came to WCW he didn't want to work with Vader or Rude, but ended up facing Vader but never ever faced Rude. And he made it a point to say that in WWF or WCW Hogan never wrestled Rude.

That, however, is not true. I googled it and it turns out Rude took on Hogan at least once. It was a bit strange because the red, white, and blue ropes were put up out of order with red, blue, and white.

Does anyone know if this was a one and done or if they had a series of matches?

[andrew8798]

Just one match

[Joe Neglia]

Hogan had several "reasons" for not facing Rude, apparently. Allegedly, he felt Rude was "too small" to be taken seriously against him (not entirely sure on that one, given Hogan's earlier program with Piper and his later one with Perfect), that he worked too rough (also not entirely sure on that one), and my favorite is that Hogan was legitimately intimidated by Rude, as Rude didn't kiss his ass and Hogan knew Rude could hurt him. Not sure on that one either, but given Rude's arm-wrestling credentials, I imagine he wasn't one to tolerate some of Hogan's BS.

[Mozenrath]

Apr 11, 2016 19:45:50 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

Hogan had several "reasons" for not facing Rude, apparently. Allegedly, he felt Rude was "too small" to be taken seriously against him (not entirely sure on that one, given Hogan's earlier program with Piper and his later one with Perfect), that he worked too rough (also not entirely sure on that one), and my favorite is that Hogan was legitimately intimidated by Rude, as Rude didn't kiss his ass and Hogan knew Rude could hurt him. Not sure on that one either, but given Rude's arm-wrestling credentials, I imagine he wasn't one to tolerate some of Hogan's BS.

Didn't Rude and Vader turn down putting Hogan over when he got to WCW, anyhow? I guess some of it might have been Rude returning the favor for Hogan not working him in WWF, if that is the case, but maybe the disinterest was mutual.

[MolotovMocktail]

Apr 11, 2016 19:45:50 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

Hogan had several "reasons" for not facing Rude, apparently. Allegedly, he felt Rude was "too small" to be taken seriously against him (not entirely sure on that one, given Hogan's earlier program with Piper and his later one with Perfect), that he worked too rough (also not entirely sure on that one), and my favorite is that Hogan was legitimately intimidated by Rude, as Rude didn't kiss his ass and Hogan knew Rude could hurt him. Not sure on that one either, but given Rude's arm-wrestling credentials, I imagine he wasn't one to tolerate some of Hogan's BS.

Given Bret's story of how Rude once threatened mid-match to rip Warrior's head off and shove it up his ass, and Warrior caved like a house of cards, this is entirely believable.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Rude definitely had the rep of being someone you didn't want to f*** with.

[lildude8218]

They had the match that made Hogan's DVD set and one in Vancouver the same year. I remember watching a Bobby Heenan shoot where he said Hogan didn't like Rude's attitude. I can't remember if there were any more details.

[efarns]

Rude shooting on Hogan would have been the worst decision of his life. Whatever the outcome, he loses.

[Mozenrath]

Apr 11, 2016 22:56:46 GMT -5 efarns said:

Rude shooting on Hogan would have been the worst decision of his life. Whatever the outcome, he loses.

He was probably too much of a professional to f*** with the end result, likely, but he could do what Flair did to Scott Steiner and deliberately have a poor match.

[auph10imitated]

I love Rick Rude. Such a cool dude. I posted about this recently actually, they did face off once in 1987 (below) they may have done some other matches on house shows but it wasnt much. As for WCW, wasn't Rude injured on May 1st 1994 in Japan and Hogan didnt sign until June, so the timing is off on that one. I mean it may have come in conversation between Flair and Hogan but it cant have been something that was even considered at that point.

Rude doesnt look that small at all, probably the same size as Dibaise, Piper, Savage, Perfect, perhaps slightly smaller than Orndorff but not by much. I mean hes slimmer than Hogan but height wise he looks fine

Rude vs Hogan
www.dailymotion.com/video/x36thq_hulk-hogan-vs-ravishing-rick-rude-w_sport

I was looking into this a bit more and found this, they say Savage and Rude faced off which I was not aware of, turns out its true they headlined shows in December of '88

Kelly of Beech Grove, Ind. asks: Keep up the great work on the site! Anyhow, thinking about Hulk Hogan's momentous run in the WWF from the mid-'80s to early-'90s, it seemed as if he had a nominal fued with every top-tier heel that was in the company during this time with one exception: "Ravishing" Rick Rude. Why did we never see a Hogan-Rude feud in the WWF? Thanks.

PWTorch columnist Pat McNeill answers:

Hulk Hogan vs. Rick Rude actually headlined house shows in January 1988. In fact, if you have the Hulk Hogan Collector's Series DVD set WWE put out a few years ago, it has their match from Boston Garden on January 9, 1988.

Rude was in WWF for a little over three years before quitting the company in October 1990. During that time, Hogan made two movies (No Holds Barred and Suburban Commando) which cut into his wrestling schedule. Rude fought Randy Savage for the WWF Title in a series of matches in late 1988 (spelling Andre the Giant) and then he spent most of 1989 feuding with Ultimate Warrior and Roddy Piper. When Warrior won the title in 1990, Vince McMahon knew Rude could get decent matches out of Warrior. So Rude feuded with Warrior AGAIN for several months. That didn't leave a lot of time for Hogan vs. Rude.

Yes, there are rumors that Hogan wasn't interested in a long-term feud with Rude because (1) when Rude was available, he had just come off losing feuds against guys who were beneath Hogan, (2) Rude was smaller than Hogan, (3) Rude had much better definition than Hogan, (4) Rude, a former bouncer, could have taken Hogan in a legit fight, (5) Hulk would rather use his limited dates working with friends like Randy Savage or John Tenta. But those are just rumors.

Also here is Hogan on Rude (when talking about the Warrior showcase in 2k15)

On which WWE legend will challenge fans the most: “Well, I think Rick Rude was never given his due. And I know the Warrior got the best of Rick Rude, but I think when it comes down to the gamers, they’re going to find out that Rick Rude is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I think it’s going to be the Warrior’s biggest challenge, to tell you the truth. They were so similar and so much alike, but I actually think that Rick Rude was stronger in some aspects. Apparently, no one in the dressing room could beat him at arm wrestling. So, you carry that into the ring and lock up with Rick Rude, and you’re definitely going to have a tough day at the office.”

[jmule]

What about the 87 survivor series match?

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Rude got injured while Hogan was negotiating with WCW so I doubt the story of him refusing to work with Hogan is anything more than bluster, a backstage expression of how peeved he was at that turn of events.

[johnnyk9]

This could've been a great feud

[BlackoutCreature]

If I'm correct those handful of matches Hogan had with Rude were pretty early in Rude's WWF run, long before he hit his peak as a worker.

Supposedly the original plan coming out of SummerSlam 1990 was that Warrior would beat Rude convincingly (which happened) and Hogan would beat Earthquake convincingly (which didn't happen). Then they would segway into a Hogan-Rude program. Hogan vetoed the idea. He supposedly felt that Rude was too small for anybody to believe he could threaten Hogan and Hogan insisted his program with Earthquake continue. Personally I just think Hogan didn't want to work with the Warrior's sloppy seconds.

Rude was then penciled into a program with the Big Boss Man, which of course never really got going. At that point Rude evaluated his career - he had just finished his second program with the Warrior, he wasn't getting another. Hogan made sure he was never gonna get a program with him. He wasn't gonna get a title reign, either World or IC, anytime soon. There really were no other main event slots open to him. He figured he had done all he could possibly do in the WWF and decided to leave for WCW.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Wasn't there some rumor about Hogan's buddy Beefcake pissing off Rude to the point that Rude stood up and knocked out Beefcake with an open-handed slap?

[auph10imitated]

Had Rude stayed in 1990, he would have been a better choice than Slaughter as the transitional champion between Warrior and Hogan. Rude vs Hogan at Wrestlemania VII.But I guess when you think about it Rude (as the heel usually does) had lost most of his feuds with top names, Jake Roberts, Ultimate Warrior, Roddy Piper, Ultimate Warrior again. From that perspective I can see Hogan's point, he has only previously been booked against strong opponents there were to new to be tainted or had been put over by others.

[jmule]

What if rude gave Linda Hogan a rude awakening? Oh brother!