Dark Pegasus Video Review: Hulk Hogan's Unreleased Collector's Series (Disc Three)

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 11.17.2009

After a stellar career, Hogan called it quits in 2002 and was never heard from again. He certainly didn't sign with a rival company.

Hulk Hogan's Unreleased Collector's Series (Disc Three)

by J.D. Dunn
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Hogan was played out in the WWF, so he took some time off and jumped to WCW to revitalize his career.

Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage (w/Jimmy Hart & Renegade) vs. Ric Flair & Vader (w/Arn Anderson — 05/21/95).
Hogan finds himself stalked by some guy in the distance. He's too far away to see, but we can tell he's HUGE. Actually, the way they teased the Giant debut was darned cool. Jimmy Hart is a poor substitute for Elizabeth. But then, Renegade is a poor substitute for the Ultimate Warrior. Vader goes 50/50 with Hogan but clobbers Savage and sends him to the floor. Hogan runs roughshod over Flair before Flair goes to the eyes. Hogan fights back and slaps on the figure-four. IRONY! Arn tries to break it up and gets small packaged. Jimmy Hart points out Paul Wight watching from the entryway as Hogan no-sells a suplex. Vader gets frustrated and knocks down the ref. That sets up the avalanche in the corner and a pump-splash. A second one misses. Savage gets the hot tag and drops the elbow on Flair. Arn drags Savage to the floor, though, and suckers him into Vader. Renegade stares down Vader, so the big guy tosses Savage back in and moonsaults him. Savage is a grease spot. Hogan makes the save and cleans house. Arn trips Hogan from the floor to break up the legdrop. Renegade chases after Arn, setting up their PPV match. Hogan makes his own save and drops the hammer on Flair to pick up the win at 18:56. One of the good things about 1995 WCW was that they kept a lot of threads running in the main event at once, so it was never boring. I'd rather Vader and Flair didn't look like hapless jerks, but with Paul Wight debuting soon, it was understandable that Hogan had to get them out of the way. Entertaining main event. ***

WCW Title, Steel Cage: Hulk Hogan (w/Jimmy Hart & Dennis Rodman) vs. Vader (07/16/95).
Thankfully, Vader decided to go stiff for this match… in his use of punches, I mean. That doesn't make it a good match, but it saves it from the horrid depths it might have reached. Hogan grabs Vader's helmet and headbutts him with it. Vader slugs back but misses a clumsy senton. Hogan goes for a slam but collapses under the weight and nearly gets counted down. Hogan hulks up and slams him on the second try, but he hurts his back. Vader clubs him and hits a splash off the second rope. ONE, TWO, TH-NO! HE'S HULKING UP! Zodiac and Kevin Sullivan run down to interfere, but Rodman chases them away. Hogan rakes the eyes and drops the leg. Instead of going for the pin, Hogan tries to go over. What an idiot. Vader catches up with him, and they brawl on the top. Hogan knocks him back and goes over for the win at 13:15. Vader deserved better than to dumb things down to do a "Hogan vs. Big Slug" match. In fact, this would be his last PPV match as he'd get into trouble backstage and jump to the WWF not long after. *1/2

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting (11/20/95).
Randy Savage comes down first, distracting Sting. They actually tease heel Hogan months before it happened as he's dressed all in black and he comes through the audience, teasing a Pearl Harbor job. The fans are firmly behind Sting early. Hogan looks *really* off his game here, stumbling on a clothesline in the corner and then whiffing on another swing. Cool spot as Sting goes for the Stinger Splash, but Hogan catches him a bearhug. Bischoff tells fans who just tuned in during a Raw commercial break to stick with Hogan vs. Sting. Given that the big Raw angle involved Marty Janetty, Sid and the 1-2-3 Kid, I'd say Hogan vs. Sting would be a safe bet. Hogan powers out of the Scorpion Deathlock but hurts his leg on the big boot. Sting avoids the legdrop and applies the Scorpion Deathlock again. Hogan: "He's gonna break my leg, Macho!" Thankfully, The Dungeon of Doom hits the ring to prevent Hogan from jobbing. That's a DQ at 9:30. Hogan and Sting team up to clear the ring, but the Giant comes down and grabs them both. Savage gives him a chairshot to break up a chokeslam and winds up getting chokeslammed himself. Sting and Hogan team up again to knock the Giant over the top. Interesting match in that it set up a template for Hogan's heel career seven months later. Sting was still a good worker at this point, and it showed. **1/2

WCW Heavyweight Title: Hollywood Hogan (w/The Dallas Cowboys) vs. The Giant (01/25/97).
The Giant became the "Sting" of the nWo, joining in late 1996 only to win World War III and earn a title shot. The nWo threw him out for having the audacity to actually ask for a shot at Hogan's title. Man, the Giant looks, dare I say, crisp in the ring at this point. Bischoff starts a trend by comparing Paul Wight's hand to a suitcase. Hogan smacks him around but goes for a small package. Say what!?! Giant just hauls him up and tosses him. Giant chases him to the floor where Hogan tosses powder in his face. Giant fights back but misses a top-rope elbow. Yes, there was a time when he could actually come off the top. Hogan comes back and drops the leg. Giant no-sells and hits the chokeslam, but evil nWo referee Nick Patrick says Hogan is kicking out. Giant chokeslams Patrick, then Buff Bagwell, then Vincent, then Bubba Rogers. He's about to chokeslam Syxx when Hogan smashes him with a guitar. Yep. The Giant was felled with a powder-filled guitar. The Outsiders rip off the Giant's tights and spraypaint "nWo" on him. No closing bell, but the nWo poses with the Giant's prostrate body as the fans chant "We want Sting!" (12:00ish). Better than their Hog Wild match, that's for sure. The creepy Souled Out atmosphere didn't do them any favors, though. **

Hollywood Hogan vs. Bret Hart (09/28/98).
Yes, the marquee matchup that people were talking about since 1993 happened on free TV. You'd think they'd learn from the Goldberg Situation. Hogan actually wants to mat wrestle with Bret early, and he holds his own. It's not long before Hogan gets nasty and drops Bret's leg on the barricade. Hogan tries to injure Bret's leg, but the nWo Wolfpac comes down and saves him. Sting offers to take Bret's place as they wheel Bret to the back. Oh, but the EMTs are Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell in disguise. That in no way resembles the time Steve Austin did the same thing. Bret hobbles back to the ring as Sting avoids the legdrop. Sting slaps on the Scorpion Deathlock, so Bret cheers him on and then DDTs him… drawing the DQ… in the match which started with Bret… so Bret just got himself DQd by DDTing his surrogate? None of it matters because it turns out Hogan and Bret were in it together all along. Bret destroys Sting's knee to set up their feud. Eventually, Konnan and Luger come down to rescue Sting. Silly waste of Bret. **1/4

The WWE fans were "shocked" when Hogan came back in nWo colors instead of the red and yellow. That's a bizarre retconning. However, they begged him to come back to the forces of good, and he couldn't resist.

Undisputed Championship, No DQ: Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair (05/13/02).
Yep. They did this 10 years after it meant anything and one year after they made fun of WCW for running the same main event. Flair was the "owner" of Raw and wanted to break his own record for most title reigns. At least it's not as bad as their YAPAPI strap match. In fact, it's just like all their others only slower. Hogan puts Flair in the figure-four. There's no one to small package this time, though, so Flair just makes the ropes. It's no DQ, so it shouldn't matter. Hogan drops the leg, but X-Pac breaks up the count. Big Show attacks Hogan, but Bradshaw knocks him to the floor. Steve Austin runs down and Stunners Flair. That sets up another legdrop at 8:45. The rivalry ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. **

#1 Contender's Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Triple H (06/06/02).
Hogan's 2002 run pretty much exposed him as not being able to adapt. The fans had a fun big of nostalgia for about a month – kind of like hooking up with an ex. Then they realized why they broke up in the first place. Here, Hogan goes through his usual, but Hunter kicks out of the legdrop. Hogan is oblivious, so Hunter finishes him with the Pedigree at 6:43. After the match, Hogan shrugs him off but calls him back for a handshake. HHH and Hogan pose to "Real American" for poops and giggles. *1/2

WWE Tag Team Titles: Hulk Hogan & Edge vs. Billy & Chuck (w/Rico — 07/11/02).
Hogan and Edge took the titles on Independence Day, so Billy & Chuck are exercising their rematch clause. The faces clean house until Edge runs into Billy's tilt-o-whirl slam. Edge plays the face-in-peril even taking a spinkick from Rico. Edge gets out of trouble, and it's THE HOT TAG TO HOGAN! Hogan goes for the finish, but Rico trips him up. Edge gets rid of Rico with a spear, allowing Hogan to kick out of the Fameasser and hulk up. Legdrop on Billy, and the champs retain at 6:16. Solid, if rushed, match. **1/4

Hulk Hogan vs. Kurt Angle (08/01/02).
Winner gets Brock Lesnar. Hogan shrugs off Angle's puny attempts at offense and clotheslines him over the top. Angle punches a mudhole in the corner and hits a suplex. More suplexes lead to the hulk-up. Angle pops up and hits the Angleslam to counter the legdrop. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Angle slaps on the Anklelock, but Hogan kicks him into the referee. Angle grabs a chair and charges… right into a boot. Hogan covers, but there's no ref. Brock Lesnar runs down to attack, but Hogan fights him off. Angle uses the distraction to hit Hogan with a chairshot. Oh, but the ref recovers just enough to see it and DQs Angle at 10:31. Hogan would get more than he bargained for as Brock cut his comeback short the following week. **1/2

In 2005, after what some might call a modestly successful career, Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The 411: It delivers what it promises – a supplemental DVD set for those of us who already have the earlier releases. How much you like this set will depend on how much you like Hogan. As I said on the second disc, when you get down to matches like Hogan vs. Haku, Hogan gets exposed as a one-trick pony. If you like that one trick, though, this is the set for you. Mildly recommended

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]