It’s fascinating to watch legends at various stages of their career, and it’s really wild in the case of Hulk Hogan. Other guys would change slightly – Hogan had very distinct stages in his career. Think back to Hulkamania yellow and black, Hollywood black and white, heck, even when he went to TNA he had a unique look that was different from other times in the ring.
Today, we’re going to go the time before he came (back) to the WWF to win the world title as he takes on a feller named John King. And let me tell you, it’s a good thing that they put that chyron on there because had they not I would have thought this was a preview of the Hulkster taking on a yet to make his fortune Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase!
Live (well, no) from St. Louis, we get Hogan and King tying up but that doesn’t last long as Hulk uses his hulky muscles and shoves him back into the ropes. BROTHER! Wait, no, I don’t think he was using that lingo yet. Sorry for that miscue.
King locks in a side headlock, so Hulk decides to show him who’s really in charge here, lifting his foe and pops him up on top of the rope like he’s playing with one of his kids. Nasty Nick, I think.
At this point, Hogan decides to show off his technical acumen! Nerds always want to tell you that Hogan sucked in the US but was great in Japan, but that right there tells you he did it in the US as well. In St. Louis, no less! It also tells you Hogan KNEW how to do this stuff but just chose never to do it during his prime because folks didn’t care about that – they just wanted to see him rip the shirt, point the finger, and drop the leg. Still, it’s a lot of fun seeing Hogan doing all kinds of wackiness like this.
King takes over briefly and makes the mistake of trying to slam Hogan’s head into the turnbuckle. Hulk stops him and starts stalking him like a freaking horror movie monster! Seeing that makes me very sad THAT didn’t become a permanent part of his act. Imagine a horrified John Studd running for his life when he realized he’d done the Hulkster wrong!
No we start seeing some more familiar stuff with Hogan giving King a gigantic body slam, a clothesline, and a really nice looking elbow. Does anyone do a good standard elbow drop these days? Is that a lost art?
Hogan figures out he’s not getting paid by the hour and gives King a vertical suplex (from what looks like the wrong side) then drops the leg for the 1-2-3. Bust out the double bicep big guy! You deserve it after a SQUASH OF THE WEEK!