2011 Pro Wrestling Thread

I kind of liked Hogan's heel mannerisms and fighting, just because they were so bizarre and different from everyone else. I do agree with you that the back raking was silly though; no one could really sell that well.

Hogan is like the minimalist wrestler, or some shit like that. He had the legdrop, the big boot, hulking up and getting the crap beat out of him, in addition to the basic punches and kicks. That's about all he did. I've heard that if you watch some of his Japanese matches, he busts out things like dropkicks and moves from the top rope, but if all you need to rally the crowd is to hold your hand to your ear, why bother?

 

I think it was on Wrestlecrap one week (don't think the story is up now), but apparently when Hogan "taught" Hillbilly Jim how to wrestle, he broke out some surprisingly strong chain wrestling and I think maybe even a German suplex. But once he got pushed to the moon on the strength of the Hulk Up/Point/Say YOU!/Punch/Punch/Punch/Irish Whip/Big Boot/Legdrop/Pin/Cup Ear combo, as you point out, there's little reason to deviate from the script. And by the time he joined the nWo, he was already broken down and old, so busting out exciting new moves wasn't in the cards.

 

Hogan is somewhat better in his Japanese matches. He even breaks out an enziguri (!) against the Great Muta. But it's true about being minimal in order to get a reaction. Mick Foley said that he killed himself for years dropping elbows on concrete to get a reaction, and ended getting a bigger one pulling a sock out of his pants.

In the end, it's all about getting a reaction. And Hogan got the crowd going, night after night, year after year.

 

I thought Heenan's comments were great, because he's always hated Hogan. It would've been out of character for him to be cheering along with Schivanoe and Rhodes for him to be saving the day. Plus, some may have dismissed the comments anyway ... thinking no way that's happening because Heenan just said it.

 

I just found two reasons why Maryse's release is a good thing: 1. She was ready to move on, anyway. 2. If she had stayed, she was going to be put into an angle where she was being stalked by Hornswaggle.

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/244507-update-details-on-maryse-being-released-a-future-plans

 

By the way, I'm assuming that no one is talking about Raw because it really was that fucking bad. It's good that Cena recruited The Rock for his match, given that he steamrolled The Miz for the 800th time on Raw Monday, and then took out Truth after the match.

 

Punk and Cena beat Truth and Miz after that match, then Punk beat Miz in a 1-on-1 match in the second dark match Monday night.

 

I remember watching a house show on the old MSG network, must've been late 80s or early 90s. Hogan was wrestling Big Boss Man in a cage match.
They -- yes, Hogan and Ray Traylor -- did a superplex off the top of the cage. For two guys not known for that sort of thing, it was pretty damn impressive. I've never been a Hogan fan, even as a kid when I was "supposed" to be (I got tired of him winning all the time), but that move has always stuck with me.

 

I always thought Boss Man was a pretty capable performer, but he was one of the guys who definitely suffered when they want from a cartoonish to a more realistic style. Him as a heel prison guard type was pretty horrible.

 

It was a lot better than some of the gimmicks they had back then ...

 

I was in the arena, live, in Daytona Beach for Bash 1996. Crazy moment in my life.

rb

 

Hogan and Bossman also did the steel cage superplex on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, which I remember was a pretty early "Holy shit!" moment. They both laid on the mat for what seemed like forever after that.