Ask 411 Wrestling: What Was Hulk Hogan’s Greatest WWF Feud?

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Lee in Liverpool sent in one of the approximately five billion questions I received about Hulk Hogan after his passing.

That is to say Hogan’s passing. Lee is still alive and well as far as I know:

Could you please rank Hulk Hogan’s WWF feuds between 1984 and 1993, from worst to best?

I fully expect that this one will get me yelled at on Disqus, but here goes:

45. Zeus (1989): Make a barely trained actor into a wrestler and give him the ridiculous motivation of feeling overshadowed in the film he and Hogan starred in together, where no reasonable person could have thought he would be the headliner over Hulk. Hard pass.

44. Sika (1987): You don’t remember the big Sika singles run of 1986 and 1987? You should, because I just stalked about it when I ran down the history of the Anoa’i family in WWE a couple of weeks ago. Forgettable as his run may have been, Sika did get a Saturday Night’s Main Event title match against Hogan.

43. Killer Khan (1987): Hogan and Khan were opponents in the early 1980s in New Japan as well, and they circled back around to do battle in the WWF in ’87. The matches didn’t light anybody’s world on fire but did, uniquely, include a couple of stretcher matches.

42. David Schultz (1984): At various points in 1984, “Dr. D” David Schultz sought to capture the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan, in places like Montreal, Boston, and Los Angeles. They had good chemistry going back to the AWA, and it would be interesting to see if they interacted on a bigger stage if Schultz didn’t attack John Stossel.

41. Ken Patera (1985): Also originally crossing paths in the AWA, Hogan and Patera locked it up again for a handful of fairly nondescript matches in the WWF in ’85. A couple of years later, they would wind up as tag team partners.

40. Adrian Adonis (1986): Adonis and Hogan wrestled each other all over the country during the summer of 1986. This was during the height of of the “Adorable” Adrian gimmick, so Adonis was not at his best, but Hogan was so hot that the shows did well regardless.

39. Nikolai Volkoff (1985): In a lot of ways Volkoff feels like he should have been a prototypical Hogan villain, but they really didn’t wrestle too much and didn’t click that well when they did. They did have their SNME flag match, for whatever that’s worth.

38. King Haku (1988): Nothing against Haku, but his series of matches against the Hulkster just felt like Hogan was killing time after Wrestlemania IV.

37. Bob Orton (1985): Hulk Hogan and Cowboy Bob didn’t have that many matches in the grand scheme of things, but I have to put their rivalry a bit further up the list than it otherwise would have been, in part because the Saturday Night’s Main Event match between the two and in part because of Orton’s involvement as a cornerman in the first Wrestlemania.

36. Money, Inc. (1993): A lot of people were just over Hogan by this point, and it left this whole affair feeling flat, even though Hulk had done good work with Ted DiBiase just a few years earlier. (More on that later.)

35. Rick Rude (1988): This one is more of a “What if?” than anything else. Rude and Hogan were in the ring a fair amount when the Ravishing One was party of the Heenan family, but they had only two title matches in January 1988. This is one that I wish we could have seen on a larger platform.

34. Jake Roberts (1986-1987): Like the Rick Rude feud, this one falls in the “What could have been?” file. The Hogan/Roberts feud was cut short at just three singles matches, with the Snake claiming that was due to his cult popularity threatening to overshadow Hogan. I wasn’t in the arenas, but the story at least sounds plausible.

33. Dino Bravo (1990): The Italian-Canadian legend challenged Hogan several times during 1990 and, though there was nothing offensive about it, it falls relatively low on the list because the matches always felt secondary to Hogan’s real issue with Earthquake, which we will be talking about down the road.

32. Jesse Ventura (1984-1985): Though they didn’t have a widely televised match, arena encounters between Ventura and Hogan occurred on several occasions, and running the match in cities usually promoted by the AWA (where both men had previously been stars) helped the WWF’s expansion into the Midwest.

31. Brutus Beefcake (1985): We all know that Hulk Hogan always took care of his buddy Brutus Beefcake, as they traveled the territories together long before their time in the WWF. Even though Beefer was primarily thought of is a tag team wrestler in 1985, Hulk still got him a run of main events in major markets like Chicago and Philadelphia. It had to have been better than when they headlined Starrcade.

30. Yokozuna (1993): Am I just burning through all the 1993 stuff? You bet I am, because it’s all pretty lousy due to its cartoonish nature and Hogan’s ego not allowing him to show much vulnerability.

29. The Wild Samoans (1984): Yes, we saw Sika earlier on the list, but this goes back a few years early. As part of his WWF return in 1984, Hulk had a series of singles bouts against both Afa and Sika due to his return angle being a save for Bob Backlund during a Samoan beatdown.

28. Great Muta (1993): While WWF Champion in 1993, Hulk Hogan headed to Japan to wrestle the Great Muta in a feud that became infamous for Hogan referring to his WWF Title belt as a “toy” and putting over Muta’s IWGP Championship as the real title to gun for.

27. Masked Superstar (1984) : Often forgotten, Bill Eadie (later Demolition Ax) was really Hogan’s first regular opponent after he won the WWF Championship for the first time. They weren’t classics, but it gave Hogan a competent hand to get off the ground with.

26. Hercules (1986-1987) : Hercules was a competent but not particularly outstanding opponent for Hogan in the mid-1980s, with their most notable match coming on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event from South Bend, Indiana.

25. Bad News Brown (1988-1989): Bad News’ run with Hogan in the WWF was somewhat similar to the run with Hercules. Former rivals from New Japan, the two went around the horn on WWF house shows but didn’t have much of an angle that is seared into fans’ minds years later, though it did culminate with a Saturday Night’s Main Event match.

24. Tatsumi Fujinami (1985): Hogan and Fujinami’s series of matches begin before the Hulkster ever set foot in the WWF, as they faced each other several times, even in singles matches, in the early 1980s in New Japan. When Hulk was the biggest wrestling star in the world and returned to Japan as WWF Champion in 1985, he trusted Fujinami and went back to him as an opponent. They even faced each other once more in 1994 when Hogan was between the WWF and WCW.

23. Greg Valentine (1984-1985): Cosmetically, you would not think Greg Valentine was a threat to Hulk Hogan, but the Hammer knew how to carry himself in the ring to make their matches work. The two main evented three of the WWF’s biggest venues at the time of their feud, those being Maple Leaf Gardens, the Philadelphia Spectrum, and, of course, Madison Square Garden. One of their matches even wound up on Prime Time Wrestling.

22. Sgt. Slaughter (1991): Some people might balk at me putting a feud that headlined Wrestlemania so far down on the list, but the reality is that this is one of Hulk Hogan’s very few business disappointments during his initial WWF run. Granted, that probably had more to do with the tastelessness of the angle than it did either man’s performance, but when you literally have to move your show to a smaller venue because tickets aren’t selling, that’s a huge problem.

21. Don Muraco (1985-1986): Hogan and Muraco did well enough that they actually got two different stints against each other on the house show circuit, once in 1985 and once in 1986, hitting several of the same cities in both runs. The second round of matches was helped by an angle on an ’86 episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, where a Muraco/Hogan match ended without a proper finish and turned into Murco and King Kong Bundy double teaming the Hulkster to set up Wrestlemania II. More on that later.

20. Kamala (1986-1987): Fans these days often talk about how Kamala was turned into a cartoon character in the WWF and, though that did happen later, when he came back to the promotion in 1986 he was still portrayed as the serious, dangerous character he was elsewhere. He parlayed that into a financially successful feud that lasted about six months. It also generated one of the weirdest tag matches of all time, with Hogan and Koko B. Ware taking on Kamala and the Honky Tonk Man.

19. Terry Funk (1985-1986): Funk mixed it up with Hogan in both singles and tag team action, securing quite a few WWF Championship matches and also facing Hulk and the Junkyard Dog alongside his brother Dory Jr. (Excuse me . . . his brother Hoss.) They had two SNME matches with each other, one a singles bout and one a tag, and it brought out Hogan’s rougher side that would shortly fade away as he became more family friendly.

18. Harley Race (1986-1987): Hogan’s feud with Harley Race is in some ways similar to his feud with Funk, as an older former NWA World Champion was brought in as an opponent who could put together some solid matches with wrestling’s newest, biggest star. The difference is that, when Terry Funk’s feud with Hogan ended, it wasn’t implied the Hulkster killed him as it was at the end of the Race feud.

17. George Steele & Mr. Fuji (1984): George Steele had several WWF Title matches against Hulk Hogan but, more notable, Steele and his manager Mr. Fuji once teamed to face Hogan and . . . “Mean” Gene Okerlund. Though this lead to some well-remembered comedic vignettes of Hogan training Okerlund, the match is more important because it was held in Minneapolis and one of the first big instances of Vince McMahon spitting in Verne Gagne’s eye during the national expansion. (Well, aside from the whole stealing talent thing.)

16. One Man Gang/Akeem (1987-1988): Hogan faced the man born as George Gray under both of his WWF gimmicks. As One Man Gang, they had numerous WWF Title matches around the horn. As Akeem, they interacted less frequently but tangled in a memorable SNME tag team match during which the Mega Powers exploded.

15. Big John Studd (1984-1986): Though very little of it was televised, the Hogan/Studd rivalry did so well at arenas and the Hulkster was so comfortable with it that this one of the feuds that the company actually went back to for three separate runs, as the two men had a series of matches in 1984, a series of matches in 1985, and a series of matches in 1986.

14. King Kong Bundy (1985-1986): I feel like I have to give this one a fair amount of credit because it headlined a Wrestlemania and therefore became more legendary almost by default, but if you consider the feud apart from what Mania has become, it does seem a bit . . . boring, to be honest. It’s just a pretty by the numbers WWWF/WWF champion versus massive heel feud, put on WM before the event had the same level of panache it does now.

13. The Iron Sheik (1984): Similar to the Bundy feud listed above, this one gets as high up on the list as it does because of its historical significance. The matches here weren’t particularly interesting, and the feud really doesn’t have any memorable moments, aside from that initial Hogan title victory in Madison Square Garden. That one match alone was enough to get the Sheik a key spot in Hogan’s rogues gallery, though.

12. Mr. Perfect (1989-1990): I’ve always had an affinity for this feud because it felt like something different from the Hulkster. Rather than having him go up against a foreign menace or the largest human being that the WWF could find, this pitted Hogan against a more cerebral opponent who was going to cheat at every turn with the aid of the genius. Plus, you’ve got the memorable image of Perfect destroying the WWF Title belt, back when he was actually allowed to call it a “belt.”

11. The Undertaker (1991): There aren’t very many men who can say that they’ve defeated Hulk Hogan in the middle of the ring for the WWF Championship, but the Undertaker is one of them. Their Survivor Series and Tuesday in Texas matches are iconic, and it’s almost enough to make me forget about their dismal feud in the early 2000s (which I acknowledge is outside the scope of the question that was asked).

10. Sid Justice (1992): I just talked about Mr. Perfect being something different for Hogan, but this was an effort to bring back the classic style of Hogan feud, and, unfortunately, people were a little bored of it. I’m still putting it relatively high on the list because you just have to love Sid’s intensity (even if his wrestling stunk) and because I love the schadenfreude of Hogan getting booed when he eliminated Justice from the Royal Rumble.

9. Big Boss Man (1988-1989): These two were near perfect opponents for each other, as Boss Man not only looked like he was a physical threat to Hogan but also was athletic enough that he could sell and even bump for the Immortal One when it was time to make his comeback. Of course, everybody will remember their steel cage matches involving a wild superplex spot, which happened not just on Saturday Night’s Main Event but also house shows throughout the country.

8. Ric Flair (1991-1992): People still debate whether this should have been the main event of Wrestlemania VIII, but even without that main event, these two headlined in every major market the WWF had, including St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angels, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and two matches in Madison Square Garden. It was wrestling’s biggest dream match at the time, and it delivered.

7. Earthquake (1990-1991): If you want to know how much faith the WWF had in John Tenta, he didn’t just get to feud with Hogan and didn’t just get to get some heat on him. He got to actually put him on the shelf for months. That was unheard of at the time, and it lead to some huge matches between the two, including the main event of Summerslam 1990. Plus, it got a ton of kids to send the WWF their addresses so they could get put on the company’s mailing list.

6. Ultimate Warrior (1990): Warrior and Hogan had exactly one match in the WWF, which in some respects seems like a stretch to call a “feud,” but Wrestlemania VI was such a watershed moment in the careers of both men and the promotion, I don’t know how I could in good conscience leave it off this list.

5. Ted DiBiase (1987-1988): Now we’re getting into the part of the list where I had to make some really difficult choices. It goes without saying that the Million Dollar Man is a classic Hulk Hogan opponent, but I decided to place him at the bottom of the top five because in some respects the issue between DiBiase and Hogan goth overshadowed by the issue between Hogan and another fellow who we’ll get to momentarily . . .

4. Paul Orndorff (1984-1986): I’ve mentioned in this column previously that I think Paul Orndorff is supremely underrated when it comes to his role as a rival for Hulk Hogan. Though he did have other feuds before getting to Orndorff, this felt like the Hulkster’s first real major angle after winning the WWF Championship, when a personal issue was necessary to spark interest as opposed to just the novelty of seeing Hogan. He was also one of Hogan’s best drawing opponents in terms of tickets sold, which I think a lot of people forget about simply because the height of their feud wasn’t as highly televised or on pay per view. After all, the Big Event, headlined by Orndorff and Hogan, was the company’s second most attended event of the 1980s behind Wrestlemania III.

3. Roddy Piper (1984-1985): When it comes to the top three on this list, you could put them in any order and I wouldn’t feel the need to argue with you too much. Obviously, Piper/Hogan is a classic, but I have to ding it a bit compared to the other two rivalries that are higher up on the list simply because it felt like it never got a proper conclusion, with Rowdy Roddy never wanted to drop a fall to Hogan. I understand his rationale behind doing that as far as preserving his own career is concerned, but I don’t know that it was best from a story perspective as a fan.

2. Andre the Giant (1987-1988): I feel like I don’t even need to explain myself much on this one. Wrestlemania III is what solidified Wrestlemania as what it is in wrestling fans’ minds, and that dynasty was all built on the back of Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant. Plus, this feud also gave us the Survivor Series, which was essentially created as a way to sell another Hogan/Andre encounter on PPV without giving away a singles rematch. Plus, you’ve got so many iconic moments, from the Mania III staredown to the bodyslam to Andre ripping off Hogan’s cross to the double cross with the Hebner twins.

1. Randy Savage (1985-1987; 1989): And here it is. Was it easy to choose between this and Hulk/Andre? No. Again, I think you could make a very compelling case for either, so this primarily came down to personal preference. While Wrestlemania III delivered a much bigger event than anything Hogan/Savage ever did, I have always preferred the storytelling in the feud with the Macho Man, and I think you would have to be drunk to think any match between the Hulkster and the Giant was better than what he did with Savage. Additionally, I would say that this feud had more legs because not only did you have the year-long angle leading into Wrestlemania V, you also had a separate series of matches that drew well back to when Savage was Intercontinental Champion.

So, there it is. I look forward to being told just how wrong I am.

We’ll return in seven-ish days, and, as always, you can contribute your questions by emailing [email protected]. You can also leave questions in the comments below, but please note that I do not monitor the comments as closely as I do the email account, so emailing is the better way to get things answered.