No single wrestler has had a bigger impact on wrestling than “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan. His rise with the WWE in the 80s helped transform wrestling from “sports entertainment” to a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Despite all his successes, Hogan was never the best in-ring performer.
Although Hogan was no “Bret Hart” in the ring, he usually performed his average wrestling moveset well. He was one of the best wrestlers to ever cut a promo and that’s what helped him shine. Despite being a legend, Hogan still had a few big-time mess-ups in his career (both in the ring and during promos) and this list will examine the top 10 biggest botches of his career.
10 Hogan Burns Himself
Although everyone talks about the way WCW “wasted’ Bret Hart as a wrestler, fans should also remember that the company also wasted The Ultimate Warrior. Sure, Ultimate Warrior was not “Bret Hart” in the ring, but he was a huge wrestling star.
His awful tenure in WCW built up to a match between him and Hogan at Halloween Havoc 1998. The awful match turned comical when Hogan burned himself with flash paper that was supposed to be thrown at Ultimate Warrior as a fireball.
9 The Weakest Chokeslam Ever
By 2002, Hulk Hogan was nearly 50 years old. It didn’t stop him from being featured in high-profile rivalries in the WWE. One of those major feuds was against the Undertaker who ended Hogan’s reign as Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.
Their title match at Judgment Day 2002 ended with one of the worst Chokeslams ever delivered. Hogan didn’t jump to help sell the move and the Undertaker ended up slowly placing Hogan on the mat.
8 The Richard Belzer Incident
One of the biggest botches of Hogan’s career happened away from wrestling. During a promo tour for WrestleMania, Hogan appeared on Hot Properties, a show hosted by Richard Belzer. Belzer requested that Hogan put him in a wrestling move.
Hogan warned Belzer that he could get hurt, and he did. Hogan botched a Chin Lock on Belzer that ended up passing Belzer out. The move became such a serious issue that Belzer sued Hogan.
7 Hogan Clearly Blades Himself
In 2000, Hulk Hogan started a feud with Billy Kidman at WCW. Although the feud was nothing special, it led to a match at Slamboree 2000. It also featured a botch where Hogan clearly bladed himself on television.
Eric Bischoff was supposed to cause Hogan to bleed by sneak-attacking him during a promo. Hogan clearly bladed himself before taking the chair shot.
6 Figure Four Leg Lock Botch
By 1996, Hulk Hogan had established himself as a top name at WCW. In one of the feuds that predate the nWo, Hulk Hogan competed against Arn Anderson & Kevin Sullivan in a Handicap match.
Before Hogan inevitably won the bout, he attempted to perform a Figure Four Leg Lock on Sullivan. He completely botched the move and ended up putting Sullivan in a strange Leg Lock that was not a Figure Four.
5 The Chair “Shot” On Konnan
Chair shots to the head are a relic from the early days of wrestling. WCW featured violent chair shots, but Hogan delivered one of the softest chair shots in the history of WCW. Hollywood Hogan interfered in one of Konnan’s matches with the help of Kevin Nash.
The setup for the chair shot was clear, but Hogan barely tapped Konnan on the head. Although he protected Konnan’s skull, Konnan sold the move as if Hogan had delivered a bigger blow.
4 Hogan Botches His Lines Twice
Hulk Hogan was a promo machine in his early days in the WWE. Times had changed when he returned to the WWE in 2002. During a promo where Hogan was supposed to say that Vince assumed he was the “right guy in the right place at the right time,” Hogan botched the line twice.
First, by flubbing the words. The second time, he called himself the right “gay” instead of “guy.” The whole segment was a mess.
3 The Undertaker’s Bike
Not every major botch in Hogan’s career was his fault. During his feud with The “American Badass” Undertaker, Hogan was supposed to perform a segment on Raw where he stole Undertaker’s motorcycle and attempted to run him over with it.
The bike kept turning off on Hogan as The Undertaker stood there and tried to sell the clear botch.
2 Blood, Sets, and Tears
In 2009, Hogan left the WWE and signed with TNA/Impact Wrestling. Hogan struggled to make any major impact at the company and even bothered some wrestlers with the changes he made.
His first pay-per-view promo also featured one of the funniest botches at the company. At Genesis 2010, where Hogan was famously booed by the crowd who wanted a six-sided ring, Hogan flubbed words during the high-energy promo. Instead of saying “blood sweat, and tears,” Hogan said “blood, sets, and tears.” It seems the boos shook him.
1 The Infamous Tombstone
Although the Undertaker has claimed that Hulk Hogan faked his neck injury to steal the spotlight away from his big moment, Hulk Hogan has claimed that the Tombstone Piledriver he took on a chair at Survivor Series 1991 did hurt him. Today, Hogan claims that The Undertaker didn’t botch the move.
Hogan claims he didn’t flex his neck and although Undertaker was safe, Hogan claims his neck was dislocated. It’s a botch Hogan owns, which might mean it probably isn’t a “Hogan lie.“
This content was originally published here.
