When Hulk Hogan Dies (BE NICE!!!)

[hollywood]

godz said:

hollywood said:

Hogan's done a lot for the business, good and bad. His detractors like to forget the good, and his fans like to ignore the bad.

His detractors are so busy raving about how many people's careers he ruined, how egomaniacal he is, and more, that they forget that he helped usher pro wrestling out of the small market it once held and into the spotlight of America's mainstream. Even though Andre is credited with selling out WrestleMania 3, Hogan was still a big part of that. And he carried the WW(F)E through the 80's almost single-handedly.

His fans also like to forget the careers he ruined. It's cliche, but I've got three words for you: World Championship Wrestling. WCW went under because they never could get past the Hogan/nWo era. Hogan refused to put a number of people over, and Bischoff was scared to death to do away with his most successful angle. Bischoff and Russo deserve the majority of the blame for WCW's demise (IMO), but Hogan had a small hand in it. Hundreds of people lost their jobs because WCW died, and even baring only the smallest fraction of the responsibility for that will always be a dark spot on his legacy.

However, to quote another cliche, no one is perfect. Even Ghandi made a few mistakes. (I'm not likening Hogan to Ghandi, BTW). Hogan will long be remembered as a VERY important part of pro wrestling's history. And in an industry that tends to ignore and rewrite its history, that will always be one hell of an accomplishment.

And you may have a point there, but my point in turn is basically this:

You can blame Hogan (Or HHH) all day for the things he "did", but in the end the blame really falls on the Bischoffs and the McMahons that allow them to do it.

In my defense, I DID say most of the blame falls on Bischoff and Russo. But just because Bischoff LET Hogan get away with it, doesn't leave Hogan blameless. That's all I'm trying to say.

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

hollywood said:

godz said:

And you may have a point there, but my point in turn is basically this:

You can blame Hogan (Or HHH) all day for the things he "did", but in the end the blame really falls on the Bischoffs and the McMahons that allow them to do it.

In my defense, I DID say most of the blame falls on Bischoff and Russo. But just because Bischoff LET Hogan get away with it, doesn't leave Hogan blameless. That's all I'm trying to say.

Well I should have worded what I said a lot better, in retrospect. When I said "you", I wasnt refering to you directly, just the average person who says Hogan or HHH ruined wrestling.

[thesunbeast]

hollywood said:

Hogan's done a lot for the business, good and bad. His detractors like to forget the good, and his fans like to ignore the bad.

His detractors are so busy raving about how many people's careers he ruined, how egomaniacal he is, and more, that they forget that he helped usher pro wrestling out of the small market it once held and into the spotlight of America's mainstream. Even though Andre is credited with selling out WrestleMania 3, Hogan was still a big part of that. And he carried the WW(F)E through the 80's almost single-handedly.

His fans also like to forget the careers he ruined. It's cliche, but I've got three words for you: World Championship Wrestling. WCW went under because they never could get past the Hogan/nWo era. Hogan refused to put a number of people over, and Bischoff was scared to death to do away with his most successful angle. Bischoff and Russo deserve the majority of the blame for WCW's demise (IMO), but Hogan had a small hand in it. Hundreds of people lost their jobs because WCW died, and even baring only the smallest fraction of the responsibility for that will always be a dark spot on his legacy.

However, to quote another cliche, no one is perfect. Even Ghandi made a few mistakes. (I'm not likening Hogan to Ghandi, BTW). Hogan will long be remembered as a VERY important part of pro wrestling's history. And in an industry that tends to ignore and rewrite its history, that will always be one hell of an accomplishment.

Very well said.

I think with the WCW thing though, is that WCW wasn't all that great before Hogan got there. Yes, he had a hand in bad business in a company that had no leadership or direction when they had no where else to go but down, but Hogan was a key element I the company rising to the heights it did in the first place.

I think that half of Hogan's politics may not have been justified, but that's what bosses are for, the're suppossed to make the decisions. I also think that his views may have been justified some of the time though. If you're not good enough to take Hogan's spot and draw more money than him, than you shouldn't get his spot.

[thesunbeast]

godz said:

hollywood said:

In my defense, I DID say most of the blame falls on Bischoff and Russo. But just because Bischoff LET Hogan get away with it, doesn't leave Hogan blameless. That's all I'm trying to say.

Well I should have worded what I said a lot better, in retrospect. When I said "you", I wasnt refering to you directly, just the average person who says Hogan or HHH ruined wrestling.

It's funny that there's people out there that think that Hogan ruined Wrestling.

[hollywood]

thesunbeast said:

godz said:

Well I should have worded what I said a lot better, in retrospect. When I said "you", I wasnt refering to you directly, just the average person who says Hogan or HHH ruined wrestling.

It's funny that there's people out there that think that Hogan ruined Wrestling.

Depends on your perspective. I imagine the old fans of AWA sincerely believed he ruined it.

[Aaron E. Dangerously]

Hogan didn't ruin wrestling. He made an impact on a lot of things. There is a chance that Billy Kidman could be recognized as one of the greatest cruiserweight main eventers to ever reach the main event, and Randy Orton could have a much more legit main even status as a top heel, idk.

But there is the chance that the WWE would flop, and would be a promotion that would MAYBE have the upper hand on the AWA, and the NWA would still be baby promotions. That's the impact he had.

One man revolutionized the industry just by having a rich man put his face on some posters and show him to millions. He made the curious into fans, and made the fans into the shocked, interested, amazed, and disgusted. That man is Hulk Hogan.

That said, it would send shockwaves throughout the wrestling world. I'm talking earthquake shockwaves. Every wrestler would have a powerful emotional reaction, whether it be "Good riddance, to that old jackass!" or "My god, this is so sad. I can't believe it! This is impossible!". Tears will be shed, flaming would occur on various boards, and I can tell you, I for one, will be speechless.

I predict RAW dedicated to him, ECW shows a montage, and SD has a memorial match between maybe HBK and some other "old time" wrestler or some Hulkamaniac superstar.

[bigjimmy]

ok good or bad i dont wish death on many (well no wrestlers at least) but i dont think i would shed a tear i have some respect for the immortal one but i was never a hulkamaniac and was barly a fan (even during his greatest times) but i will say that now but actually in that situation i really would not like to know and may it be a long time befor i have to find out!!

[bitteroldman]

I'll play the devil's advocate on this. How much of the success was Hogan and how much was WWF marketing and the way he was booked? I'm not saying he isn't charismatic, but I do believe that there were a number of wrestlers who could have been put in that spot and had similar results.

As far as putting wrestling in the national spotlight, it wasn't as if it hadn't been there before. During the 50's, wrestling was a national phenomena, and "Gorgeous" George Wagner had much to do with it. Wrestling was on national TV on a weekly basis, and it was mainstream enough that Bob Hope would reference it (and George) in his monologues. Hell, George was even parodied in a Bugs Bunny cartoon (down to having gold bobby pins in the toon).

Hogan was in the right place at the right time.

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

bitteroldman said:

I'll play the devil's advocate on this. How much of the success was Hogan and how much was WWF marketing and the way he was booked? I'm not saying he isn't charismatic, but I do believe that there were a number of wrestlers who could have been put in that spot and had similar results.

As far as putting wrestling in the national spotlight, it wasn't as if it hadn't been there before. During the 50's, wrestling was a national phenomena, and "Gorgeous" George Wagner had much to do with it. Wrestling was on national TV on a weekly basis, and it was mainstream enough that Bob Hope would reference it (and George) in his monologues. Hell, George was even parodied in a Bugs Bunny cartoon (down to having gold bobby pins in the toon).

Hogan was in the right place at the right time.

I have to disagree on that. If Vince could've made anyone into a worldwide phenomanon, why would he have waited for Hogan to come along?

Because he had to. Jimmy Snuka and Bob Backlund and the like were competant grapplers and certainly had a great deal of worth, but neither of them would've ever took off like Hogan.

[-Lithium-]

Itll be sad, but atleast to me, not nearly as said as the EG and Owen deaths/tribute shows because well, those guys werent jerks...

[paulbearer]

Don't you know that Hulkamania never dies , his son just takes over the "mantle"....kinda like The Phantom lmao

[oltrelamorte]

Every channel will play Hogan's awesome movies such as Santa With Muscles, Mr. Nanny, The Secret Agents Club, & Thunder in Paradise: The Movie for weeks on end. Brother.

[Bub (BLM)]

One down, Triple H to go.