411’s WWE Rivals Report: Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior

-Let’s get this out of the way now: I am going to love everything about this episode. This is my childhood. I did a Retro Review of a lot of the stuff that built to this match and I will include links to each as we get there. I am excited for this one! Let’s get to it!

-Gabriel Iglesias is joined at The Table by Natalya, JBL, Kevin Nash, and Cody Rhodes. Nash is a good choice just for the fact he was there for the WCW fiasco between Hogan and Warrior.

-Nattie brings up Warrior looking like a real life superhero. Cody says Warrior/Hogan was one of his favorite things as a kid and he was not Team Warrior or Team Hogan. He loved them both. JBL mentions Hogan went from Andre to Savage to Warrior and how that is as divergent a group as you can get and Hogan made it all look real. “Hogan was the one steering the ship.”

-Hogan says whenever you are in front of the audience you have to make them believe. Seth Rollins was a Hulk-a-maniac and we see footage of him as a kid. Heyman notes that Hogan was by the far the biggest box office attraction in the world of pro-wrestling. PREACH! Hogan says the nature of the beast is to have a leader and people wanting his spot.

-Sean Mooney (still so cool to see him on these shows) talks about the territories and in Texas there was The Dingo Warrior. Heyman says Jim was a kid thar grew up dirt poor in a trailer in Indiana, who had a father that left him at 11. He went to a gym to build his body to become a man. Warrior (old footage) obviously talks about wanting to make his body look like a superhero.

-We are in the middle of Hogan’s era and Warrior makes his WWF television debut in Wisconsin in 1987. He is given the rocket push and Hogan says he saw the Warrior character and thought it was brilliant. He admits he was jealous that Warrior’s had brighter and cooler colors than him. We get some classic Warrior promo wackiness and hear the theme song. HHH asks what kid doesn’t want to look like that.

-Hogan had been on top for years and at some point he had to be replaced. Vince wanted out of the Hogan business while it was at it’s hottest. Hogan knew Vince was getting ready to strap the rocket to Warrior.

-The Honky Tonk Man had been IC Champion forever and always escaped, but we get one of the greatest mystery opponent pay-offs ever as Warrior SQUASHES Honky in epic fashion to win The IC Title. Great stuff! My really old review of that show can be found here.

-Cody says they knew what they had with Warrior and needed to get him to that level.

-Royal Rumble 1990: My review is here! We get the moment that had the Earth shaking as Warrior and Hogan are left in The Rumble alone and have to face-off. LOOK AT THAT CROWD REACTION! I LOVE PRO-WRESTLING! Hogan says Vince wanted Warrior to replace him, and nobody had Warrior prepared for that.

-Commercials!

-Back to The Rumble as they clothesline each other. Hogan then eliminates The Warrior, and sure it looked like he stabbed him in the back, but it’s every man for themselves. Hogan says it was an easy story to tell as it was young lion trying to take the spot of the old lion.

-First they put Hogan and Warrior as a tag team on Saturday Night’s Main Event (review here) and they beat The Genius and Perfect. Heyman says everyone in the industry was in awe of this story. Warrior and Hogan nearly come to blows after the tag match. Rollins notes every match usually has a hero and villain and this didn’t, so you were forced to pick a side (unless you were Cody apparently).

-Hogan notes he was still on fire, but Vince would tell him the red and yellow were kind of fading away. Hogan kind of figured what was coming. Warrior notes he was out on the road getting over and we see him on The Arsenio Hall Show.

-HHH notes no torch gets passed easily in this business and mentions the rivalry behind the scenes was just as good. Jack Tunney makes it official: Hogan vs. Warrior: Title vs. Title at WrestleMania VI. Heyman wonders how there couldn’t be personal jealous between the two. We see footage from the contract signing. Warrior says Hogan didn’t help him with whether he should talk like his character in the press conference or talk like he is now. I mean, it would be weird if he was not acting like The Warrior. Hogan again says Warrior was not ready.

-WrestleMania VI (review here), and Mooney says Warrior was wound tighter than usual, but he understood why as it was the biggest day of his life. Warrior wanted no parts of the ring carts and told Vince he was running to the ring. Warrior: “it’s a long fucking run to that ring.” Mooney says Warrior running to the ring as a sign it was a new era. Jimmy Hart gets chills talking the match even now. GOOSEBUMPS LIKE THE ROCK! Hogan notes how loud it was in the building and when the locked up he could hear Warrior breathing heavy. The nerve had gotten to him and he was blown up. No kidding!

-Commercials!

-Back to the table as Nash brings up the story that Warrior so was blown he wanted to end the match early. JBL notes that Hogan could have buried Warrior and didn’t. Hogan says once Warrior settled down, he listened to him and helped make him look like a million bucks. Go back and watch and you will see that Hogan carried a lot of that match while Warrior was getting air back into his lungs. It was an amazing match and yes, it deserves every bit of *****. Warrior gets the shocking, clean win, and we have Sting saving it was awesome and he was jealous.

-Hogan says Warrior knew they accomplished something special because it was right. He notes Warrior told him he loved him and thanked him as he presented him the belt. Hogan sounds emotional talking about. Warrior says he was emotional after it happened, but within a few days was thinking, ‘what’s next.”

-Gene says Hogan was devastated by the loss. I will say I watched the match at my friend’s and ran back to my house crying because Hogan lost.

-Undertaker says it was obvious watching Warrior that he felt the pressure and Hogan was still there. Mooney says it was clear that Warrior was no Hulk Hogan. Others note once he won the Title, Warrior didn’t seem as special. Prichard notes business was not as good with Warrior on top as it was with Hogan. We see Warrior lose The WWF Title to Sgt. Slaughter at The Royal Rumble (my review here).

-Hogan then beats Slaughter at Mania VII (that review will be out in a few weeks) and Mooney says that is where the jealous from Warrior really started to simmer. Taker tells a story of Warrior snapping on a kid asking for an autograph and WWF demanded Warrior tape an apology.

-We see Vince trying to get a pissed off Warrior to film the apology. He is not happy about it at all and doesn’t know whether to be in character or not. Twenty-four hours after the taped apology, Warrior writes a letter wanting to be paid the same was Hulk Hogan and won’t wrestle until he is paid $550.000.

-That takes us to SummerSlam 91: It’s Hogan and Warrior against Slaughter and his crew. Hogan says you don’t get anymore unprofessional than holding up a promoter right before the show for money. Hogan wanted to get it in the ring where they could break Warrior’s legs.

-Commercials!

-Back to SummerSlam and JBL says what Warrior did is something you never do. Cody plays Devil’s Advocate and mentions Warrior was told he was the guy over and over and now he believed it. Hogan notes threatening to break Warrior’s legs was not correct and that’s not who he is now, but apparently that’s who he was back then. Slaughter says Vince told Hogan no as he didn’t need a lawsuit.

-The match happens and Warrior takes a chair to chase off Slaughter’s flunkies and Vince hands Warrior a letter. The letter reads that Hogan is a legend who is more popular than Warrior, has more years in the ring than him, and is in more demand than him. He notes that Warrior is a legend only in his mind. Damn! Is there a full copy of both of those letters somewhere? Warrior was then suspended indefinitely.

-We jump to WrestleMania VIII and we get Warrior’s shocking return as he saves Hogan from a two on one attack from Sid and Papa Shango. Warrior says he will never forget the way the crowd exploded and calls it the loudest pop he had ever heard in his life.

-Mooney notes a year later, Warrior was gone again. Heyman says larger than life characters were being replaced by authentic, extreme characters. The fans of the mid 90s even resented Hulk Hogan, and thus Hollywood Hogan is born.

-We jump to 1998 and Hogan says Eric came to him and there was a chance to grab Warrior. Hogan told Eric he could work with Warrior. “If there is money to make, let’s make it.” Warrior makes his WCW debut on Nitro and the place goes crazy for him. Hogan: “Now I have to beat him.”

-Commercials!

-Aug. 17, 1998: Warrior shows up in WCW and immediately confronts Hulk Hogan. Cody: “confronted him and talked a lot.” JBL says they put Warrior out there without a safety net and let him do his own thing. Nash buries the promo and Eric says he knew that night it wasn’t going to be a long term relationship. Hogan says Eric was standing next to him and losing his mind. Eric says they had missed a commercial break and it killed the rest of the show.

-Halloween Havoc 98: Eric: “all of it sucked.” Hogan takes blame for the match and says he screwed it up. “It was probably one of the worst matches I ever had.” Hogan talks about the botched fireball. Warrior: “They used Turner’s check book to buy me back and lose to Hulk.” Well, he could have declined the check.

-Hogan goes back to the WWE and gets one last run as WWE Champion when he beats HHH. Warrior is out there trying to find his place in the world. Warrior goes scorched Earth and WWE releases The Self Destruction of Ultimate Warrior DVD (I reviewed that too). They just ripped Warrior to pieces on that one. Prichard says it was uncomfortable but honest. I am not a big Warrior fan, but saying the DVD was honest is sure a take.

-Warrior sues and we get people being questioned by lawyers. Hogan admits under oath that Warrior was a flash in the pan. Cody says that probably hurt Warrior hearing that from Hogan. Warrior then filmed his own video and went nuclear on Hogan. Slaughter said he had to turn it off as it was making him sick. Is there a full video of that out there somewhere?

-Commercials!

-Back with Warrior’s video ripping Terry. Hogan told his lawyers to let it go as he wanted it all to go away.

-Three years later (2014) Warrior mends fences with WWE and gets inducted into The WWE Hall of Fame. Stephanie says she is happy that Warrior was able to go through the healing process.

-Hogan mentions he was the host of WrestleMania XXX and saw Warrior backstage and we see the video of them apologizing to each other. Hogan brings up that Warrior felt fragile. Warrior accepts Hogan’s apology. Hogan says he was sorry for what happened and he wanted Warrior to heat it coming from him mouth.

-The night after on RAW Warrior gives an eerie speech about every man breathing his last breath. He was accepted back into the family and Heyman says Warrior had nothing left to hate. HHH told Warrior the whole process was worth it for that and breaks down.

-The next night Warrior passes away at 54 after he collapsed outside a hotel room. Steph, crying, says Warrior went out the biggest way he could. She is so happy he found closure and had that moment with the fans. Cody notes that Warrior gave his own eulogy.

-JBL: “This was a lot of people’s childhood.” No kidding man! Nash says this is a business and Hogan and Warrior did incredible business. Hogan says Jim is a really good guy that did what he thought he had to do to survive in the business. Hogan things their rivalry could have gone on forever.

-Easily one of the best episodes in this show’s history. As I mentioned at the top, I was already in the bag for this one. I can understand if some out there don’t have the same thoughts. Hogan pretty much gave the same account he has been giving in regards to this rivalry. Obviously, we don’t have Warrior around to offer more than what he has said in the past. I would say this one was slanted more towards Hogan, but he didn’t hold Vince up for money, so I can see why. Definitely a must watch and for those of us who grew up in this era the nostalgia is thick. Thanks for reading!