Shining a Spotlight 9.01.06: The Hulkster and the Nature Boy

Posted by Michael Weyer on 09.01.2006

A look at Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair and why they still have fans cheering for them today. Plus, my thoughts on Kurt Angle and reader mail.

I'm not sure yet what to write about Kurt Angle, given how already a few columns have focused on him. I will miss him as he was a truly amazing athlete and a hell of a talker. But I'd rather he bow out now then risk his entire mobility for the rest of his life. For the record, I do believe this is for real and do not subscribe to the belief that Angle is healthy and looking to face new competition in TNA. My hope is that WWE will realize this is the perfect time to give him a great mutli-disc DVD, which he definitely deserves.

It's ironic to mention Angle, a man bowing out at his prime when my column this week focuses on two major stars who just won't go away. They are two men I, and many others, grew up watching, the two men were basically were wrestling in the 1980's. They were the ones who helped make it huge and paved the way for wrestling to be the major success it is now. They're also two men who insist on keeping themselves in the main wrestling scene today despite being past their primes.

I am of course talking about Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.

It's difficult for those who weren't around in the ‘80's to fully realize the impact these two had. Hogan was the public face of wrestling, the one that got people's attention, the one who made it break through in the mainstream. Flair was the sport's heart, the ultimate technician, the hated heel but still respected, able to get four star matches out of almost anyone. They were in many ways opposites but also much the same as the leaders of the two top rival promotions of the time and almost always champions.

Today, they are seen partly as nostalgia acts and even put down by those who say it's not right for them to hog the spotlight that should go to younger talent. There's also the fact that their best days are behind them. However, as they both played major roles at Summerslam, I think it's a good time to look at the place these two play in today's wrestling climate.

Now I'm going to admit something right now. I was always a Hulkamaniac. Hogan was just taking off as champ when I hooked onto wrestling and I was swept right along with him. You have to understand things were so different back then. There was no Internet to spread around rumors and reports and backstage happenings so the mark/smart ratio was much more slanted toward the marks. Thus most fans had no idea of Hogan's power backstage. All we saw was this man who talked so much of America, of caring for the fans, who seemed to feel honored to be the WWF champion, facing often high odds and always winning. We as fans wanted the Superman hero then, we wanted the classic good guy and Hogan fit the bill. As laughable as it seems now, Hogan really seemed to like the fans, posing for them and drawing on their cheers.

Today we know the truth. The IWC is filled with one story after another of how Hogan did everything possible to keep himself on top and others down. It was big in WWF, with him not giving the right shine to the likes of Curt Henning or Sid. WCW was much bigger as Hogan shot down one plan after another to get the belt off him. He was supposed to lose it to Flair in August but said no only hours before the match. He pretty much sent Vader's whole career into a tailspin by refusing to sell his powerbomb. He completely wrecked the year-long buildup to the 1997 Sting encounter by pinning Sting cleanly and started the slow downward spiral of WCW.

That attitude continues today when Hogan makes his annual appearances. TNA made a big fuss of setting up a Hogan-Jarrett match complete with Jarrett going all the way to Japan to smash Hogan's head with a guitar. However, Hogan had to get knee surgery and also objected to the plans that he'd job to Jarrett. He would be backstage at the first Victory Road where Randy Savage challenged him to a real fight and they had to be separated. Then at Wrestlemania 21, he came out to do his usual routine of fighting down Muhammad Hassan to save Eugene. While it would have been nice for him to invite Eugene to do it with him, he just did it himself. Then we got the Summerslam match with Michaels where Hogan did do some nice blading and selling but ended up winning. That brings us to today and his match with Orton where Hogan teased not showing up with an injury but did in order to beat Orton.

This leads to a question many ask, especially younger fans. How is it that Hogan still retains this bizarre popularity? How can people keep cheering him on despite knowing all the harm he's done to careers? How is it that even I, a person who knows about his ego and his need to be on top, can still mark out big time when "Real American" starts playing?

My best guess is nostalgia is the answer. As I mentioned, Hogan represents a prime time for wrestling, a time when the fans always got what they paid for, a time when Vince McMahon was simply an announcer. There was no T&A, no long skits, no stars hogging the microphone for twenty minutes at a time. I don't know if I'd say it was a "better" time than today but it seemed so much simpler. Then again, a lot of things seem simpler when you look back at them. That's especially true with the ‘80's. Rock was rock, MTV actually showed music videos, we had only one clear cut enemy, Russia and it just seemed like a grand old time. We know that's not really true but Hogan represents the image we had then, the image that going over the top meant success. So in some ways, it's that we're cheering, not Hogan himself.

Then again, Hogan has always had that strange appeal with WWF/E fans. Even when his star was fading as the ‘90's began, he still got monster pops wherever he went. That didn't work in WCW because they had been conditioned to reject the very appeal of Hogan and WWF. Hogan hardly helped matters by turning WCW into a carbon copy of ‘80's WWF so it wasn't that hard to turn him heel in '96. It was pretty surprising to everyone that when Hogan came back to WWF in 2002, he was welcomed like a hero. That stays today because of the way Hogan carries himself. He's one of those people who has an incredible charisma, who seems to suck you in and make you want to like him. That, to me, is the reason he became one of the greatest stars in history and why he can still get a crowd going even as a shell of his former self.

For the record, there have been times when Hogan has showed a surprisingly charitable side. I read an interview with Kamala where he said Hogan wanted to put him over by a countout in one match but Chief Jay Strongbow, a WWF office guy at the time, said no. Hogan and Strongbow were unaware Kamala was listening in when Strongbow called him "A big black n---er with paint on his face." Hogan came back and simply told Kamala that he couldn't talk sense to Strongbow, not mentioning the slur. And I read one with Jacques Rougeau saying that before one card, a non-champion Hogan told Jacques he appreciated all those times he had wrestled the first match of the night to get the crowd in a good mood and as a reward, let Jacques pin him in his hometown of Montreal.

But the emphasis is on Hogan's refusal to job, as with Orton. Beating Hogan would have been a huge feather in Orton's cap and reinstate his role as a "Legend Killer." But Hogan is not going to come back just to lose. On the one hand, that can be seen as pure ego, his refusal to put anyone else over, even though he only wrestles two or three matches a year at most. On the other hand, you can argue that after all he's done for WWF/E and for wrestling as a whole, Hogan has definitely earned the right to refuse to job if he doesn't want to. Let's not forget, there are many stars who have benefited from matches with Hogan like Piper, Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Earthquake and Brock Lesner. He still has that aura of a star, an icon even, who is able to get a crowd going like most modern-day workers can only hope. You can't take that away from him.

Just as you can't take away the appeal of Ric Flair. Newcomers to the IWC will no doubt have noticed that Flair is regarded as close to the greatest wrestler of all time. That was especially true in the ‘80's as Flair could go out and deliver a 60-minute classic with almost anyone. I mean anyone. Brad Armstrong, Ricky Morton, Road Warrior Hawk, men who were either tag team wrestlers or mid-carders were able to get into feuds with Flair where fans honestly believed they had the chance to win the belt. Flair, as the old saying goes, was the kind of person who could wrestle the proverbial broomstick and get a classic bout.

What made Flair so different from Hogan wasn't just ability but also the fact that Flair was willing to give the rub and do the job to those who felt were worthy. He did it with Kerry Von Erich to give Texans some happiness after the death of David von Erich. Of course, Flair knew Kerry wasn't right for a long-term champ so got the belt back fast. He seemed ready to give Magnum T.A. a run before Magnum's car crash ended his career. In 1988, he wanted to give the title to Sting but Dusty Rhodes wanted Lex Luger, who Flair didn't think was ready, leading to a long battle. When he finally did drop the belt to Sting, Ole Anderson had to wreck it with the Black Scorpion. Time and again, WCW tried to push Flair aside as past his time and time and again, Flair came back and proved he could still be on top.

One of the few who could match that was Ricky Steamboat. If you want a true look at what wrestling could be like, catch any of the bouts they had, the classic trinity in 1989 and their 1994 Spring Stampade battle. I tell you, if it wasn't for that back injury he suffered winning the US title from Steve Austin in 1994, Steamboat would probably still be out there pulling the lowliest of mid-carders to four star matches. Of course, we still have Flair chugging it along.

Like Hogan, Flair shows no signs of dropping out for good anytime soon. Like Hogan, he's slower and while he used to be wrestling's Dorian Gray, his age is finally showing. Also like Hogan, he has to take on a newer generation of fans who have only heard of his past exploits and who now label as him as dull and just repeating the same spots in every match (Then again, so do a good 70% of all wrestlers). Yes, it's true he's not as great as he once was but considering he was arguably one of the best, that's not taking much away. In the last year, Flair has shown that not only can he still hang with the young dogs but he can keep young crowds enthralled as well. Witness his reign as Intercontinental champion and how he proved yet again how he can make a championship belt part of him. Or his battles with Edge, MITB at Wrestlemania and Foley at Summerslam. He may seem slow, he may seem an old man trying to be young but just when you think it's time for Flair to hang it all up, he shows he still has it.

There's two reasons these two won't give it up yet and money is not one of them (although I'm sure that's an incentive). First of all, it's the simple fact that they're getting older and like many old people (not all but many), they want to keep onto their youth as long as they can. When you are completely on top of the wrestling world as they were, it's hard to let go of that. Especially seeing as they can still get fans riled up. The second reason is ego, which both men possess in spades. They still believe they can go out there and do more for this sport than any of the younger workers out there. They don't want to accept that their time has pretty much passed them by.

Of course a reason for that is that the fans won't let them. Online columnists can bitch and moan over seeing Hogan and Flair shoved at them but watch and listen and you can tell these men still have crowds in the palm of their hand. This despite all the stuff that's been written about them, despite Hogan's rep for pushing others down and Flair's myriad personal and legal issues. The fans will still cheer these men on and they'll do their best to live up to that. That "best" may not be as incredible as it once was but it's still something.

In many ways, Hogan and Flair have always been standards for the industry in terms of getting fan heat and delivering big matches (if in different ways). They have influenced so many of today's workers and can continue to do so now. The vast majority of wrestlers today should only hope they can deliver half the goods when they get to Flair and Hogan's ages. So maybe they are a bit long in the tooth. As far as many fans are convinced, they still pack a good bite.


Mailbag's been pretty quiet the last few weeks but thought it was high time to open it up a bit and see what we've got. Jza starts off with a command on my Divas article from a few weeks back:

Not sure if you knew this or not, but on the subject you raise of WWE not looking for international talent, they recently hired Nikita from FWA here in the UK. I only ever saw one of her matches, but the hype is real strong about her, (not to mention being quite fit ) she will be defiantly one to look for when they bring her up. She used to teach at the FWA academy in Croydon, although I haven't heard how she was as a trainer.
Thanks for the article and take it easy.

This does sound like a good addition as anyone who can help the Divas train better is good. My hope is that WWE can really push on her talent and not try their usual repackage that weakens her skills (ie Bertha Faye).

The uniquely named Givemeaguatah has this on the Divas:


really enjoyed your insight on the current state of the women's division and how to liven it up and keep it flowing with the departure of Lita & Trish. But I'm kind of dumbfounded over the expressed interest of the Diva Search winner, Ashley Massaro. I do think Michelle McCool has loads of potential and even Candice Michelle is starting to step it up, but I do think you forgot to mention Kristal Marshall. She has not been giving enough credit for the ring work she has put forth at this point already in her career. She already pulled one good match out of her ass with Jillian Hall ( in which I'm still waiting for Ashley Massaro to do, especially when she was on RAW ... a program filled with women wrestlers / not to mention ANOTHER ring injury ) and she even carries herself as a wrestler.

I'm just pointing out that she's also a Diva Search contestant that has loads of potential yet I'm not very sure she gets the same amount of credit .

Kristal does have more skill than I expected in the ring, which is a definite bonus. She's on Smackdown now which limits her potential rise but a bit more time and she could be a top player. As for Ashley, she turned into a better competition than expected before her injury and can perhaps rebound from it. Let's not forget, Trish spent time out for a while with an injury in 2001 and we all saw how she turned out after that.


Onto my Edge & Christian column, Justin has this nice piece:


What can I say Mike, another awesome job. You are without a doubt the best read on 411. As far as your thoughts on E & C go I have to agree and disagree.

I don't believe either man has the World Champion feel. Although I'm a huge Christian fan I have to agree with all you said about him but I feel most of it applies to Edge as well.

Edge is no better in the ring than Christian and when it comes to being comfortable on the mic I believe Christian has the advantage. I will agree that Edge does feed off the crowd heat well and that's the type of heat Christian doesn't get.

The difference for me is that Christian got over all on his own and DESPITE the fact that he wasn't the chosen tag member. Edge was fast becoming Billy Gunn with the many failed main event pushes the E was forcing. It took the whole Lita/Hardy thing for his career to really take off. True he has taken full advantage of that but I believe that was the main reason for his rise.

While I don't see either as the figure heads of their companies (that's more of a Cena and Joe role) both fit well in that championship contender with occasional runs with the belt role (kind of like how both are currently being used to varying degrees)

Edge is good but doesn't stand out to me. He isn't a Cena or HHH kind of guy. Christian isn't either but he comes off so comfortable on the mic that he far out shines Edge in that category. I guess the bottom line is for me Christian is just the more entertaining performer.


Maybe Christian has the advantage on the mic but Edge has come into his own as a promo guy, especially as a heel. True, it took LIta to put Edge over the top but as I pointed out, he was on the rise as WWE saw the potential he had that he's finally been able to utilize. I do agree about both men not quite being right as figureheads for a company but I can still buy Edge as champion a lot more than Christian.

For my review on the Vince DVD, Joe Mostonardo had this to say:

I didn't know that Vince really tested the Owen Hart harness first. It's funny, in all my years of being a huge wrestling fan I don't think I heard that mentioned. You're right when you said that point is skipped over. Do you know when he tried it out ( day of Over the Edge ) or any other details about Vince doing the stunt first? I just thought I would ask.

I read about it in another review of the DVD and it fits with Vince's ability to motivate people by not making them do things he wouldn't do. Vince was getting more physical in '99 and more daring. If you've read JP Prag's "In Defense Of…" from a few months back, it's striking that Owen himself didn't do a run-through of the stunt the afternoon of the show, which once again takes away from the "Vince killed Owen" mentality.

Nestor Mateo had this on my Cena & Batista article:

Just thought I'd comment about your article talking about Cena & Batista. After reading it through it really does seem like Cena has more of an edge (no pun intended) when compared to the big man. I know Cena isn't as big as Batista, but he isn't a small guy either. So for him to pull off power moves with some added speed works out for it. I also think that for him to add a submission in his arsenal is helping him slowly grow a limited move set that he had as a so called "street fighter." Hell, I was surprised when he pulled off a flying body press. Batista on the other is one of those guys that Vince does seem to have a "big business boner" when it comes to body building work horses. But again Batista isn't one of those big men freaks like "Big Drippy" Mark Henry or The Great Kahli. Now I don't know how big Dave's move set was down in OVW, but if he had any kind of wide ranged move set, then I think he's being used wrongfully so. I mean look what happened to Mark Jindrak & Sean O' Haire. When I saw these guys back in WCW it was amazing that these guys could pull of high risk shit & still work their big man form at the same time. I know Batista's not that athletic, but if he does have more moves in his bag of tricks then he should be able to use them more.

There's this bizarre habit WWE has of making OVW guys do away with a lot of the moves that made them big down there. I do agree Batista is better conditioned and more to offer than a lot of the other big guys Vince pushes but as the champion and poster boy for one of the brands and TV shows, he's seriously lacking. You did hit it on the head how Cena's arsenal fits his character perfectly and adds to his appeal which is why he has the edge over Batista.

Finally, Matthew Eli shares a big letter on that article as well:

Hey man, good stuff. You know what you're talking about, it's obvious, but I must respectfully disagree with your opinion that John Cena is better than
Batista.

First of all, how is being booed when you're supposed to be the top face a good thing? It doesn't show interest, it shows contempt. The Rock and Stone
Cold Steve Austin were NEVER booed when they were supposed be to faces. You could argue The Rock, especially in his encounters with Hulk Hogan and Brock Lesnar, but at the time he had sort of left to do movies. He was an on-again, off-again Superstar.

Batista is consistently cheered. The guy is apparently turning into a bit of an idiot backstage, and SmackDown! is taped, so reactions can be edited,
but 'Tista is a more dependable main event guy than Cena. If you put Shelton Benjamin against Cena, you'd get the fans split. Put the same man against
Batista, and I guarantee you'd have the fans nearly entirely behind Batista.

I'm not sure if you did this on purpose, just to enhance the effect of your writing, but you seem to take a few liberties with Batista's journey to
glory. He got the push to the top, not because Vince liked him, but because of a promo he cut at Survivor Series 2004 (I believe) where he said he would
have Triple H's back. They come from the front, Evolution would be ready; the side, Evolution would be ready, etc. People began to take notice of
Batista then, and he had little bursts of awesomeness that got him over.

I'm 90% certain the finish to the 2005 Royal Rumble was planned to protect Cena, as well. I don't think Batista screwed that up. He has been botching
the Batista Bomb lately, though.

The IWC LOVED the Muhammad Hassan character. They hated it when the WWE turned him into a terrorist, which was counterpoint to the whole concept behind the character. The IWC may be harsh at times, but you can't really argue their opinion is unjustified. If they swarmed to Dave Batista, surely there must have been SOME basis. The same as to why John Cena is booed. Leviathan Dave must be doing something Prototype John isn't (or vice versa). You seem to be of the belief that John Cena is more charismatic than Batista. If that were true, why is Batista being cheered whilst Cena being booed. I think all the evidence points to 'Tista being the better character of the two.

Just a little note to finish on: The WWE seems to believe John Cena is the next Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock. But they've already
given him a push comparable to all three men. He's been made invincible, he's been made WWE Champion, and he has won mid-card Championships. He's not really booming the industry is he? I'm not anti-Cena. I was actually one of the first people to raise their voice against his push (I was a HUGE
advocate for JBL beating Cena at WrestleMania 21, and I wanted to see Jesus Aguilera win the US Title at Armageddon in their Street Fight), but I am
also one of the few to acknowledge the can work when he needs to. His work in OVW and on SmackDown! has proved that. I believe he is the future of the industry, but not as the WWE thinks. I believe John Cena will be the next Triple H. The top heel. The guy who attacks his opponent with a foreign
object before the match, and works over that body part during the match, cutting promos that gather instant heel heat, etc. I believe the way John
Cena is going to be at the top, is by being the heel that defends the WWE Title at WrestleMania.

Maybe John Cena is a victim of circumstance? He's being pushed as the top face, yet he doesn't have anyone to do the job to him. No one's handed him
the torch, and the industry isn't booming. Perhaps the guy following John Cena will defeat John Cena, get the rub he needs, and change the industry as
a result? If I ever see Hulk Hogan on my TV again, I think it should be jobbing to John Cena. Perhaps Cena should end The Undertaker's WrestleMania
streak? Either way, right now, no one gives a crap about John Cena. He hasn't boomed the industry, hasn't had any classics, is constantly booed
(despite being the top babyface). He is a failure in my eyes. The only difference between John Cena and Batista is this: Batista gets cheered.
Until Cena changes the industry, I don't think anyone can constructively argue that he's more worthy of being the top guy than Batista, who has been
accepted, whilst Cena rejected.

I'm really looking forward to your column next week. I'm going to guess that it will be on Hulk Hogan and Mick Foley (originally I though Ric Flair, but
then I realized that both Hogan and Foley are on-again, off-again Superstars, and they are basically polar opposites). I hope it is just as
engaging as your column this week. Your opinion is as valid as anyone's, and there's a reason you get the bigger stage at 411 Mania. I just had to reply
to your column this week, so my hat's off to you. Truly a compelling and involving read from a truly compelling and involving writer.


Being booed can be bad but the right worker can make it work. Witness Cena at One Night Stand where he kept throwing his shirt into the crowd and they threw it back but he played into it and kept throwing. As for more dependable in the main event, Cena is better conditioned, better moveset and just has better heat than Batista does. Also, not sure about Shelton against Batista as Shelton has a nice fan base that's growing. Actually, the common perception is that Batista was supposed to eliminate Cena clean but went too fast and knocked them both over.

I agree, Muhammad was liked more before the terrorism angle but so many harped on how horrible the character was and how they hated him yet suddenly had his back when he was let go. As for basis of fan cheers, let's not forget Kevin Nash got the fans big on his side and we all know how that turned out. As for Cena not booming the industry, well, the industry is a lot different than when Hogan or Austin came along and a boom isn't as big as it could have been. Yes, he can be a great heel but remember, he was tried as that and it was the fans who decided to make him a face. And for handing the torch, he's gotten in big matches with Angle, Undertaker and HHH just put him over big time, twice.

I think Cena's been getting back over with fans since they dropped the title and the big mega-push while Batista had his shot against Booker and came up short. As you mentioned, he's been botching moves and the long absence seems to have cost him a lot of the big love he had when he left. Overall, I still think it's Cena, not Batista, who is the current top dog with WWE and will keep that way for a while.


All for this week but some of my fellow columnists talk a lot about Kurt Angle:

The Goodness has O'Dog thanking for the memories.

Piledriver Report gives a terrific recap of his entire career.

Meehan discusses his impact to the business and how it shows the wellness policy working.

Top Ten looks at the wrestlers that really deserve big-time contracts.

The Fink discusses the possibility of new ECW titles.

Don't forget Column of Honor, 3 R's, Triple Threat Ask 411 and Crystal Ball.

Next week, with the loss of Angle and rumored departure of Monty Brown, I look at what wrestlers both WWE and TNA should try to grab. For this week, the spotlight is off.