Bruce Prichard Discusses Shawn Michaels Overselling In SummerSlam Match With Hulk Hogan, Hulk & Shawn Working Themselves Into Shoot

In the latest edition of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed the Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan match at SummerSlam 2005, Michaels overselling Hogan’s moves, why it was only a one-match series, and much more. His comments are below.

On the debate surrounding whether Hogan or Michaels would win the match: “The match, the finish, everything about it was debated nine ways from Sunday before they ever got into the ring and for weeks ahead of time, trying to get two matches out of it, trying to get three out of it. What do we do? What’s the first finish? What’s the second finish? In the end, through all the machinations, I truly believe that deep down inside both guys wanted to do business. I just think that both guys wanted to do business in a little bit of a different way.”

On Michaels overselling Hogan’s offense: “The match was highly entertaining because of Shawn overselling shit and going fucking nuts and almost doing a parody of a Hulk match from 20 years ago. So to that, the entertainment value of it, it was incredibly entertaining. That may have been Shawn’s nod to say ‘Hey, I’m gonna go out here and I’m gonna do this and I’m gonna make you remember it because of my antics.’ Could it have been different? Absolutely it could have been different. Was it the best thing? I don’t know if it was or not. I think when Shawn first started overselling things, the reaction was one of ‘What the fuck is he doing’ and then the more he did it, the more you saw the story Shawn was telling. And Shawn was gonna tell his own fucking story, which speaks to how good Shawn is…..it’s a parody of Hulk matches 20 years before. I think Shawn fans see it as Shawn doing what he had to do, and I think Hulk fans would say ‘How can they disrespect him and not just sell all his shit’ the way they thought it should be sold. Hogan still did all his shit and got over in the end.”

On whether WWE considered doing more than one Hogan vs. Michaels match: “There was definitely an idea, yes. I think we were gonna get to Survivor Series with it if I’m not mistaken. But as you got into it, it just became ‘What do you want to do?’ And I think Vince looking at it going ‘Do I really wanna do this three and is it going too far with all the real shots we’re taking back and forth?’ That’s when he started questioning it.”

On whether Hogan was the one who decided to pull the plug on a three-match series after Michaels’ promo on RAW the night after SummerSlam: “Vince pulled the plug. Vince was unsure even before the match if he wanted more matches. It was Vince’s call. And Shawn did run everything by Hulk. And Shawn was very concerned about the shoot stuff with Hulk and did ask every fucking time he did it to make sure it was OK. The answer always was ‘Yes.’ And everybody did agree to it. I just think it got into feelings were hurt, he said/she said, and it turned into what it turned into. They basically worked themselves into a shoot.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Something to Wrestle with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.