That was a bit tongue-in-cheek. WWE already mostly whitewashed Hogan’s first WWE run as a heel when they brought him back. During through all the hype leading into the Hulk/Andre feud, they gave the impression the two had never feuded before. Even recently, when Hulk has talked about his feud with Andre, it sounds like he forgot that the two were second bill on one of the then WWWF’s biggest shows before PPV (right behind top-billed Sammartino/Zybysko at Shea Stadium). When he does bring it up though, he likes to say how he and Andre were the reason for the Shea gate when the two couldn’t sell out a high school gym without Bruno and Larry on the card.
Anyway, I was always been a huge Backlund mark (while my brother usually liked the heels, except for Morales and his “fiery Latin temper”). I started getting into wrestling right around the time he took the WWWF belt from Superstar Billy Graham. I was initially excited for Hogan, but his shine worked off real, real fast. People complain about Cena and his 5 Moves of Doom[sup]®[/sup]. That was 3 moves more than Hogan ever used.
I’m fairly sure that term was used to refer to Hogan’s finishing sequence long before Cena was wrestling - finger wag, three chops to the chest, Irish whip, kick to the chest, leg drop.
I never got to see the WWWF matches before the mid-80s. I think my first exposure to them was when Iron Sheik had Backlund in the Camel Clutch and somebody threw in the towel to make Backlund lose the title. Then the next week, Hogan did the Leg Drop of Doom to win the title. I remember there were a lot of former NWA stars there like Sheik, Greg Valentine, Nikolai Volkov, and Sgt. Slaughter. But it was pretty much the Hulk Hogan show. I could tell even back then the success was getting to his head.
Arnold Skaaland, Bob Backlund’s and Bruno Sammartino’s manager - basically Vince Sr. giving a vet a paycheck for a few more years after his working days, because he never did anything. Rarely spoke on camera, rarely got involved with the heel managers (and all the heels had managers in those days) - he just would accompany Backlund to the ring, then sit at ringside.
They have also removed Hulk Hogan’s Rock & Wrestling from the network, and while they haven’t gotten around to removing all of his matches (the way WWE Classics on Demand did with Benoit), so, for example, WM 9 would end with Yokozuna having the WWE title, it appears as if all shows with Hogan in them have the “Benoit Disclaimer” at the start.
hehehe They’ve already erased the Axlemania gimmick, so now Curtis has to find a new source of heat. Maybe he and Sandow can spoof the Road Warriors next, and call them the Legion of Dumb.
Or they can be the Road Hog J. Jonah Jameson and the Bad Smelly Ass Billy Goat, the Old Age Outhouses. The possibilities are endless.
I can see it now. Right in the middle of the main event, someone pops in a copy of the sex tape where Hogan is ranting and it goes out on nation wide cable…
In other news, it’s being rumored that tonight there’s going to be a new addition to the newly-reformed Wyatt Family, since Erick Rowan is out injured;
Leo Kruger! Apparently, Adam Rose posted a “farewell” on his Twitter today, accompanied by a picture of himself as Kruger.
If true, it’ll certainly be an improvement over his current gimmick.
Rosa Mendez would be out of a job, unless they have her be possessed by Sister Abigail and be the birth mother of the new society after The Apocalypse or something. I got into NXT just before he became Adam Rose, so I don’t know what the Leo Kruger character is like. I’m sure Bray will deliver a true conspiracy-angle promo talking about how Leo fell victim to all the lies people told him, that he should be a partying buffoon to become accepted into “their” society. I’ll be fine if he at least ditches the eyeliner.
So apparently everyone fell asleep at the wheel last night and they televised a house show. Which now makes two weeks in a row that the wrestler combinations weren’t directly tied with their storylines (for the most part). I think I like it more because it lets the rivalries breathe and they don’t constantly fight each other and ruin the buildup, but I’ll need to see if they keep it up.
A 4 hour long PPV? Holy hell WWE you expect me to watch you from 7-12 (preshow ya know) and you’re making no more money on it than a typical RAW? What’s the business plan here? It’s also hella late
Props to Cena for not only getting his nose bashed in, but for just going “nah I’m good” and STILL having a good match
There’s already so many complaints about the length of tapings and how they lose the crowds. I cannot see this being a good thing. I guess I’ll find out first-hand in 3 weeks when I go to the RAW show here.
Skipped my gaming last night because I hurt too much, then went to bed at 8:30 CT - halfway through RAW, because I was too damned tired. I vaguely remember a really stupid Lana/Rusev skit which seems to be proving out what we all suspected. Rusev is following the Koslov route of being a comedy joke after being built up as another disposable monster to face Cena.
Kruger’s gimmick was that he was a huntsman who’d spent years roaming the African bush tracking the deadliest animals in the world, and had grown so bored with it that he decided it was time to start hunting The Most Dangerous Game. (Funny story; he’s one of the only people to have a pinfall victory over Roman Reigns.) It really wouldn’t take much tweaking to make Kruger work as a Wyatt - just have him come out with his leopard sash on (and maybe a cape made of rabbit fur) and start destroying people, and never mention Adam Rose ever again.
Anyway, it looks like we’re going to be seeing Cena vs. Rollins for the title at Summerslam. Early prediction; CENAWINSLOL, Sheamus cashes in on him and wins the world title leaving him still as US champion, and come WrestleMania Sheamus drops it to either Roman Reigns or Daniel Bryan.
(Good news on the Bryan front, BTW; he confirmed in an interview over the weekend that his neck is 100% fine and he’s been out because of a concussion he suffered in April. His doctor has already cleared him to wrestle, and the only thing holding up his return is that WWE doesn’t want to be seen as bringing him back too soon while they’ve got this concussion lawsuit in progress. He hopes they’ll clear him in time for the Royal Rumble.)
