HITMAN383 Rant for WWE Home Video: Hulk Still Rules

- The HITMAN383 Rant for WWF Home Video’s Hulk Still Rules. This is DVD edition (Remember when you had to choose?) of the new Hogan project which looks VERY promising. (Originally written in August 2002)

- BTW, I use this system:
***** - Excellent,
**** - Great,
*** - Good,
**- Okay,
* - Decent,
DUD – Nothing Match.

- Like to Mick Foley DVD, I’m going to work on the extra features as opposed to the main DVD content. Just to say, I did watch the actual feature, and it’s pretty cool, hosted by Hogan himself, and running through his entire career (including WCW). Anyway, on with the extras.

- Disk 1:

- Hulk Hogan vs. Ted DiBiase: This is Hogan’s WWWF debut, December 1979 at MSG. This is so weird to see, as Hogan looks so young, and DiBiase completely looks like a teenage boy, and NOTHING like the Million Dollar Man of the future. Hulk overpowers him to start, as the crowd sits dead. This is WAY pre-Rocky III here, so Hogan isn’t exactly crazy-over just yet. I think Rocky II was just released around this point, actually, let alone the third. Anyway, Ted manages to dump the Hulkster with a series of armdrags, and draw a nice pop for himself. It’s also weird to see Ted play the face, and Hogan the heel. He also looks so much like Piper at this point that at first glance I thought he WAS Piper. Criss cross allows Hulk to show off him power some more, and a suplex hits hard. Legdrop gets two (since it means nothing at this point), so Hogan slams him for two. Big back elbow sets up a chinlock, and the bell sounds, but it was just a mis-cue as the match isn’t quite over. Infact, Ted even takes a page out of Hogan’s future book by rallying to a comeback after two arm drops. DiBiase hammers away on the big guy, and a series of dropkicks hit. Blindcharge actually works (!!), but a second misses. Damn, Ted. That move NEVER works, so if you manage to hit it … don’t push your luck, ya know what I mean? Hulk with a backbreaker, and a bearhug polishes off DiBiase at 11:14. No reaction from the crowd for that, believe it or not. Match was decent for the era, but in no way good today. ¼*. This gets an easy point, for obvious reasons. 1 for 1.

- Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant: This isn’t from WrestleMania III, but rather from Shea Stadium in August of 1980 in front of about 36,000 people. Weird set up for this show, as the ring is placed about where the pitching mound is (this is the Mets home stadium), and there are no fans on the actual field. Everyone is in the stands, so even the “first row” is REALLY far from the ring. Man, Sid would LOVE that set up. NO ONE would hear him calling spots, or anything. It would be like heaven for him. Andre overpowers Hogan to start, so Hulk tries a headlock. It might have worked for him, too, but I think he got lost in the ‘fro of DEATH, or something. Criss cross to establish that they’re both big, and to establish that DAMN, those ropes are loose like an old French whore. Andre stretches him out a bit, then gets sick of that strategy, and trades it in for the old punch in the face. Well, whatever works for you, right? Hulk goes to a bearhug to try to subdue the Giant, as we get a view of Hogan’s back WAY before he started waxing. And DAMN, is he a hairy man! (The best scene from Hogan Knows Best is the one where he makes Linda shave his back for him. And people were shocked they split up?) Andre manages a suplex, but the follow-up splash misses. Hogan hammers away, and tries the slam, but fails miserably. Andre does it with ease, of course, but bumps the referee at the same time, allowing Hogan to takeover. Slam (!!!), but there’s no ref, so Andre slams HIM again, and a splash finishes at 7:31. Total, total DUD, but it’s an easy point if only to write-off the whole WrestleMania III myth about “their first meeting,” and “the first time he slammed him.” 2 for 2.

- From December 1983, we see Bob Backlund wrestling Afa of the Samoans. The Samoans (and manager Lou Albano) cheat like mofos, obviously, so Bob brings out Hogan. This was a big deal at the time since this was after Hogan’s hiatus from the WWF to make Rocky III, and his stint in the AWA. To say the crowd goes crazy would be a grand understatement. Anyway, Hogan cleans house, and everyone’s happy. Backstage, Gene finds Bob and Hulk, so Bob can endorse Hogan, and let the big guy rave. 3 for 3.

- WWF Title Match: The Iron Sheik vs. Hulk Hogan: From MSG, January 1984. Hogan mugs him to start, and beats the holy shit out of him, much to the amusement of the fans. Big boot gets one, and a big elbowdrop gets two. Cross corner clothesline misses, however, and the champ goes to work on the lower back. Backbreaker gets two, and the Boston crab follows, but Hogan powers out. Sheik still manages a gutwrench suplex for two, and now the camel clutch looks to finish, just as it did Bob Backlund a month previous. Hogan powers out of THAT, however, and the legdrop crowns Hogan WWF World champion for the first time at 5:30. Short and sweet, as the old saying goes. ½*, but an EASY point, as this one match kicked off the trend that would put the WWF on top, and make Hogan the most famous wrestler, EVER. 4 for 4.

- From August 1984, on the T.N.T. talkshow, we see Hogan training Gene to get in shape. Pretty funny stuff actually, as he makes Gene drink raw eggs, run around, and do all this other workout stuff. Worth a look. 5 for 5.  (Definitely one of the all-time classic segments)

- WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff: From August 1986 at the Big Event in Toronto, Canada, in from of over 64,000 fans. From my original review: This was a pretty big match, as Hogan was a mega-face, teamed with Paul, but Orndorff turned on him, thus setting this match up. It was pretty big at the time, from my understanding. Remember I was ONE at the time. Big heel heat for the challenger (who comes out to Hogan’s music), and a big pop for the champ! Orndorff follows the Dream Team and attacks him with a VICIOUS, VICIOUS lariat during the frisk. Whoa! Slugfest (as the crowd goes nuts), and Hogan wins, wildly popping them. To the floor, Mr. Wonderful dominates, but gets rammed into the ring apron. Inside, Hogan hammers away. Elbow drop, and a cross corner clothesline follows. Paul nails him low, which gets no sold, so Heenan distracts the champ. That fails, too, and Hogan atomic drops him. He goes after Heenan, but Paul stops the chase with a kick to the face. Well, that’s one way. Paul viciously clotheslines him to the floor, as Orndorff is getting more stiff on Hogan than I’ve EVER seen. Beautiful suplex out there, and he knees him in the nose on the way back in. He drapes him over the apron, and drops an elbow to knock Hulk to the floor, in ANOTHER stiff shot/bump. You go, Hulk! In, Paul sends in a shot to the throat. The crowd wildly cheers on the Hulkster, but Paul still slams him. Elbow drop causes Hogan to oversell (yeah, I’m as shocked as you are) for two, and a flying fist connects. You know, say what you will about Hogan, but unlike so, so many guys, at least he sells. Piledriver, so Hogan backdrops out, but it’s only a limited comeback, as Paul chokes him right back down. Biting now, and Orndorff side suplexes him for two, since he’s in the ropes. Hulk starts no selling, and the ref gets bumped by his ego in the process, but Hogan still clotheslines him. Piledriver, but Bobby whacks him with a chair, so Paul covers. The ref starts to recover, and crawls over for the dramatic two count, only to tap Paul on the shoulders to end this at 11:00. Paul takes the title, and gloats, but the decision ends up being a DQ win for Hogan, instead of a clean win. I guess they wanted to blow it off at an even BIGGER show (maybe WM III) later on, but that got scrapped for Andre. Whatever. Still, easily the best match of the show, and quite entertaining! ** ½. 6 for 6.

- WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant: The biggest match in the sports history, from WrestleMania III, in Detroit for 93,000 people. This is March 1987, for anyone who doesn’t know. From my original review: The building is now DARK, setting a great atmosphere for the main event. On the way out, Andre nearly gets booed out of the state, and gets pelted with trash. He still waves at the crowd like he’s a face, however, just showing how confident he is. Plus, on those little carts that drive them to the ring, he looks EVEN BIGGER, which is added height this guy doesn’t need. He’s pretty menacing as it is. Hogan gets a terrific reception, of course. Big staredown to start, of course, in one of the most famous shots in wrestling history. Pretty much every historic WWF tape since has featured it, in some way. Hogan tries the slam right away, but Andre topples him for a near two count, which a lot of people felt was three. Hulk’s momentum is done right away, since his back is in deep shit, and Andre pounds that. The crowd is NOT pleased. Andre easily slams the champion, and then does it again, just to tease him, since Hogan couldn’t do it, and Andre can do it with such ease. He then walks over Hulk’s back, a spot that must have been quite painful for the champ. Hogan gets thrown into the corners a couple times, as Heenan coaches the Giant from the floor. Headbutts, but he misses one, and hits the corner, so Hogan hammers away. Andre reels, so Hulk rams him into the turnbuckle ten times. Big charge, but he runs right into Andre’s BIG boot. Bearhug, which actually pumps the crowd up, something a rest hold usually does not do. The arm drops twice, after quite the effort to escape, but he takes it up on the third, and pounds his way out, a feat with took him a lot of effort. He even sells the fact that Andre has a hard head by making it look like his hand hurts from punching him. A series of shoulderblocks fail to knock Andre over, so the Giant literally kicks him out of the ring to the floor. He follows, and tries a headbutt, but Hulk moves, and he hits post. Hogan exposes the floor, and dumbly tries a piledriver, but Andre weakly backdrops him on the “concrete.” More like the plywood, since they built the ring area on a platform. Inside, Hogan finally takes him down with a big clothesline, which alone drives the crowd into a frenzy. He hulks up, with Heenan having a fit, and hits the big slam!!! Leg drop, and Hogan retains at 11:35, with the crowd running absolutely wild. WOW! ¼*, but WHO CARES? This was like Rock-Hogan at X-8, the quality really means shit, this was a CLASSIC. Afterwards Hogan, goes into his usual pose routine, with all 93,173 eating it up with a spoon. 7 for 7.

- From August 1984, we’re back to the T.N.T. show, as Hogan makes a steroid drink for Alfred Hayes and Vince McMahon. Hogan to McMahon: “enough of these will turn those garden snakes you have there into pythons, brother.” Pretty funny stuff, again. 8 for 8. (Another all-time classic bit)

- Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake vs. Zeus & Randy Savage: From SummerSlam, in Jersey, August 1989. From my original review: The heels have Sherri, and the faces have Elizabeth, and I just THANK G-D this wasn’t a six-person tag. What’s up with Liz’s hair though? It’s all, 80s. Oh wait, this WAS the 80s. Never mind. Big brawl to start, with Zeus no sells all of Hogan’s shots. Slam fails (why, he’s slammed MUCH bigger men than Zeus), and he chokes him. The faces double team him, but that fails too, so Zeus bearhugs Hogan. Savage tags, and nails him with an axehandle, and then another one. This’ll be decent if Randy is motivated tonight. Between WM V-WM VII he was in a rut, if you will. Chinlock, as a “Hogan” chant busts out. He fights his way out, of course, but doesn’t even bother doing the “two arm drops” routine. Hogan dominates Savage, but Zeus knees him, and tags in. Bearhug (since that’s about his ONLY MOVE), which kills some time. This time they do the two arm drops spot, but Hogan doesn’t power up, instead Zeus topples him and gets some two counts. So, if Zeus was pissed that Hogan was gonna win in the movies, couldn’t he, you know, NOT AGREE TO DO THE MOVIE? I mean, it’s called a SCRIPT! Tag to Savage, who side suplexes Hulk Morton for two. He misses the Nash rope-choke spot, and some elbows, and tags the Barber. He uses a high knee for two, and hooks a sleeper. Man, what is with all these restholds tonight? Even if it IS his finisher. Poor Randy, too, since he’s made to look like such a weak link in this team. Randy escapes, and tags the big man, so Beefcake rakes the eyes. Sleeper, but Savage whacks him with Sherri’s purse to break the hold. Randy tags in to get a two count off of it, which Hulk breaks up. He beats up Macho, and chases him around the ring, then beats him up some more. Zeus comes in for some chokes (lots and lots of chokes), as I wonder what I did to deserve Zeus in general. Randy tags in, and a FAST-PACED criss cross leads to a double clothesline. Beefcake makes the hot tag, and Hulk goes off on Macho with a cross corner back elbow. Solid big boot, and a suplex back in, but Sherri tugs the leg, giving Macho two. Clothesline, and the big elbow drop, but the WWF champ no sells. Poor Randy. Atomic drop puts Macho on the floor, and in comes Zeus (he got a blind tag), popping the crowd. Hogan hammers, getting massive heat, but can’t knock him over! Clotheslines get him to one knee, so Sherri comes in, allowing Liz nails her! Randy goes upstairs in the meantime, but Brutus clobbers HIM, making his drop the loaded purse. He whacks Zeus with it, and does the big slam. Legdrop, and we’re out at 15:07. Afterwards, Hulk atomic drops Sherri, allowing Liz to whack her with the purse, and Beefcake to cut her hair extensions. The match sucked, but the crowd was into it, so what else really matters? ½*. No real reason to show this, so no point this go around. 8 for 9.

- Disk 2:

- Handicapped Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Ben Hortez & Angelo Gomez: From WWF TV, January 1980. Hogan overpowers these two little guys with ease, as this is obviously a squash in the old Yokozuna style. Hogan tries an overhead backbreaker, but fails, so instead, he accidentally debuts the powerbomb in North America. He tries the spot again, and this time gets it, and ends the match at 4:57. Total DUD, and no relevant point for this DVD. 8 for 10.

- WCW World Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan: From Bash at the Beach, in Hogan’s WCW debut, July 1994. Criss cross off the bat allows Hogan a shoulderblock, but Flair starts strutting around and outrunning his challenger. Hogan responds in kind, so Flair goes to the arm to punish him. Hulk again responds in kind. We have a chase on the floor now, so Flair hides behind Sherri (well, DUH, she’s more of a man then either of them), and that causes Hogan to go back in. Well, THAT makes no sense. Normally, Hogan has no problem going at Sherri, but moving her out of his path is now a problem for him? Please. (Seriously. The guy basically threatened to full on punch her in the face every night in 1989, but suddenly he won’t get physical?) Inside, Hogan dominates, and goes for the big boot, so Flair bails to Sherri again. Hogan makes the mistake of following him, however, which allows Flair to chop away on him on the way back in. Hey, no one can ever say Ric doesn’t know what to do out there. Kneedrop misses, so Hulk clotheslines him, and pounds away on the world champion. Sherri trips him up, however, and Flair is right there to assault him. Chop floors Hogan (now that’s quite a chop, huh?), and Sherri tries to use a chair. Jimmy Hart stops it, however, as I wonder which of the two is wearing more makeup. Flair realizes that if you want it to get done, you’ll have to do it yourself, so he runs out to lay the beating in. Inside, it continues, but Hogan starts no-selling the chops, and hitting a series of his own. They scuffle on the mat like some grade-schoolers for a bit, but Hogan gets sick of that, and just clotheslines him for two. Snapmare allows Flair a chinlock, but the arm only drops twice (gee, what a shock there), and Hogan powers up. Series of shoulderblocks reel Flair, and the Flair flip leaves him on the floor. On the floor, Hogan hits a side suplex, and leaves Flair down there to take the count. Well, that’s bad strategy. Heenan calls him on it, too, so Hogan suplexes him back in. Gee, might as well call Hogan “Chris Benoit” here with all these suplexes, eh? Legdrop misses, however, so Flair tries the figure four, only to be cradled for two. Figure four again, but again Hogan counters, so Flair hits a hanging suplex. Impressive. Hogan no-sells, however, and the big boot gets two, since Sherri pulls the referee out. She takes Hart out, too, and hits a splash on Hogan inside. Figure four, and another referee runs out to takeover. Well, so much for Hogan’s debut … he’s already 0-1. Oh, wait, Hogan makes the ropes. Sherri’s a REAL bitch, however, choking him with a stalking, and raking the eyes like nuts. Flair works the knee, and goes to the chops in the corner. They fail, however, as the no-selling kicks in. Hogan with a cross corner clothesline, but he runs into a back elbow. Sherri tries another splash, but misses, so Flair goes up. He gets slammed off, however, and Hogan clothesline’s both of them down. Figure four on Flair, but Sherri tosses Flair some knux, and Hogan lets off. Mr. T comes down to cart Sherri off, but it’s too late, as Flair clocks him with the knux. It only gets two, however, and he hulks up. Flair throws everything at him, but fails, and the big boot/legdrop combo finishes at 21:22. Good, *** ¼ match, and certainly worth a point. 9 for 11.

- From T.N.T., October 1985, Hogan chats with Vince and Alfred, and … well, that’s about it. Pointless bit. 9 for 12.

- Hulk Hogan & Gene Okerlund vs. George Steele & Mr. Fuji: From August 1984, this is the payoff to the training vintages from earlier. It’s so weird to see Steele as a heel after watching years and years of him as a dumb-founded, puppy-love babyface. Hogan and Fuji start off, and Hogan kills him, of course. Slam, and Fuji bails into a tag. Steele quickly (well, relatively quickly, considering who we’re talking about) takes over, but Hogan starts no-selling, and cleans house. The fans are just rabid for this. Hulk high-fives Gene for support, but the referee takes that as a tag, and makes them switch off. They bitch and moan about it, of course, but Hogan talks him into getting in there with the Animal. Gene outruns him, and tags Hulk right away, who goes back to work on George. Even Gene bites at him! Fuji tags in to take his end of the abuse, which he takes in stride, but Hogan makes the mistake of covering in the heel corner, and gets beat up. Hulk-up routine, and Hulk throws Gene on top of Fuji for the win at 6:25. The match was horrendous, but atleast the comedy value was good for something. DUD. A point, but it’s really close. 10 for 13.

- WWF Title Match: The Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan: From This Tuesday in Texas, a PPV that directly followed the Survivor Series, December 1991. This match came about after the ‘Taker and Flair screwed Hogan out of the title at the aforementioned Survivor Series. ‘Taker jumps Hogan on the way in, but Hulk is JUST TO ‘ROIDED and fights back at him. Clothesline puts the Undertaker on the floor, as Paul Bearer pleads with him to kill HulkaMania. ‘Taker takes it to heart, and drags Hogan out for some pummeling. Chokehold inspires a “Hogan” chant, so he fights his way out, only to run into a big knee. Ropewalk forearm hits, and we go back to the chokes. Hogan bails out to re-group, but the ‘Taker follows, and posts him. In again, more claw hold action. This match is just enthralling, isn’t it? Hogan comes back with what can make ANY man reel back (the low blow), but ‘Taker trips himself up in the ropes, and fucks up a clothesline spot. Big boot by UT, and the jumping clothesline gets two. Ropewalk forearm again, but it obviously won’t work again, so Hogan throws him off. Enter Ric Flair, just as Hogan starts the hulk-up routine, who argues with Jack Tunney on the floor. Meanwhile, Hogan floors ‘Taker, then runs out to chair Flair (in a SOLID shot), just to clean house. Inside, a series of clotheslines and chops reel the champion, but an eye rake turns the tide. Cue Flair with a chair, but Hogan reverses the move, and UT eats steel. Big boot, but UT hits a shot to the throat. Bearer’s up with the urn, but a shot with THAT hits ‘Taker too, so Hogan dumps the ashes out of the thing. A shot of that to the eyes is enough for Hulk to roll him up for the title at 13:08. BIG pop for that. Another nothing match, but historically it’s valuable enough for a point. DUD, but 11 for 14.

- WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan vs. John Studd: From October 1985, in Puerto Rico, during a downpour. The ring here is TINY, probably half the size of a regular WWF ring, and the crowd has to be no more than 800 people. They mess around with the tie up for a while, and then Studd hooks him in a test of strength. Yawn. Hogan fights out, and hammers away, but falls prey to the bearhug. Well, that’s fun. During the hold the rain REALLY starts to come down, and the ring is getting just drenched. Meanwhile, the fans start using everything from umbrellas to chairs to cover up, as the bearhug drags on. Damn, this is a REAL downpour here. Anyway, this one spills (pardon the pun) outside, and Hogan wins at 7:25, for reasons unspecified. DUD, but worth seeing for the camp value. 12 for 15.

- WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Nikolai Volkoff: From October 1985, on Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME). Volkoff jumps the champ from behind, tears the shirt off his back, and then chokes him with it! Oh, he has BALLS. Cross corner clothesline from Hogan to comeback, and another big clothesline grounds the Russian. The action spills to the outside, where Hogan tries to dump him on a table, but gets rammed into the post instead. Inside, Nikolai goes to work. Impressive backbreaker gets two, and a cross corner whip keeps the hurt on the part. Piledriver, but Hogan backdrops his way out. Hulk up city, but the routine changes a little this time, as Nikolai misses a charge into the post, and Hulk legdrops him into oblivion at 5:18. Completely decent match here, * ½. An easy point, too, for decent wrestling, and an example of the 80s formula of “Hogan vs. the Evil Foreigner.” 13 for 16.

- Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. Perfect: From April 1990, on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Hogan is crazy over here, proving that the fans really didn’t want him losing any WWF title a couple weeks before this. Hogan shoves him around to start, and Perfect oversells it by flying over the top to the floor. G-D bless ya, Curt. Tie-up, and Perfect actually hip tosses Hogan! Hulk responds in kind, and then hits a pair of slams, causing Perfect to bail out. As a note, the Genius’ hair is long here, which makes me think maybe they shot this prior to WrestleMania, but aired it after. Anyway, Hogan tries the big boot, but Hennig ducks, and bails to the floor. Hogan’s in no mood, however, and follows him out for some abuse. Oversell off a whip into the post follows. Inside, Hogan hits a big clothesline, as the crowd goes wild. Cross corner clothesline kills Perfect, and he chops away. Running forearm smash, and a cross corner back elbow floor Hennig. Out there, Hogan goes to work, but the Genius comes from behind. Hogan catches him, however, allowing Perfect to nail him with the scroll on the side of the head. Inside, Perfect-plex gets two, and it’s hulk-up time. Big boot/legdrop put this one to bed at 5:57. Afterwards, Genius takes a great bump, as Hogan slams him over the top to the floor. Hey, I guess he just wanted to out-do his brother from WrestleMania V. Match was, again, perfectly okay for what it was. **, and 14 for 17.

- Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant vs. John Studd & King Kong Bundy: From SNME, November 1985. Hogan and Bundy start, and Hulk hits a quick high-knee to take him down. Slam, but Hulk messes can’t quite do it, so he settles for a cross corner whip. Tag to Andre, who chokes away, as the crowd eats it all up with a spoon. Hogan back in for a 2nd rope axehandle, but he gets caught in the heel corner, and Studd goes to work. Hogan manages an atomic drop (poor one, however), and the tag to the Giant. He goes to work, but the referee goes down, and everyone brawls! The faces clean house, as another referee joins us to restore order. The faces just destroy Studd at will for the next few minutes, until Bundy comes from behind to assault them. They go to work on Andre (who is caught in the ropes), which draws a DQ at 5:01. Energetic, but not much of a MATCH. ½*, but I’ll still give it a point since this is one of those big matches that always gets shown on clips leading up to WrestleMania II or III. 15 for 18.

- WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper: From the Wrestling Classic, November 1985. From my original review: Even in 1985, Roddy was starting to get some minor face pops because he was so freakin’ cool. Still, Hogan is clearly the fan favorite. They brawl to the floor right away, where the champ wins a slugfest. Inside, both men rake the eyes, which the challenger wins. He sends some chops into the throat, but takes a cross corner clothesline. Side suplex from Hogan (in the early 80s he was still pretty decent, moveset-wise), and a slam follows. A series of elbow drops connect, and he works him over in the corner, only to take a thumb to the eyes. Roddy goes to the 2nd turnbuckle, and leaps, only to be caught in a bearhug, which he breaks with a thumb to the eye. Gee, enough of that trick already. Punches get some two counts, as a “Hogan” chant breaks out in Chicago! Sleeper, and the arm drops twice, but … amazingly … he powers out on the third. Wow, never seen that one before. How innovative. Both men tumble out during Hulk’s escape attempt, and Hogan posts him, so Roddy starts hammering. It all gets no sold, however, and we have a slugfest inside. Hogan wins, and hits the big boot, and then an atomic drop. Criss cross leads to a ref bump, allowing the challenger to snag a chair. He works Hogan over with it, but Hogan stops him, and whacks him himself. Sleeper of his own applied, as the ref wakes up, but in runs Bob Orton to nail him with his cast, and earn the champ a DQ win at 7:15. The heels go to work, so Paul Orndorff makes the save, and they pose for a while. Decent, but nothing special. ¾*, and a point for the historical value. 16 for 19.

- Royal Rumble Match: J.I.P. at #25, this is the January 1990 version of the match. From my original review. WWF Champion Hulk Hogan draws #25, to a super big pop, and tosses Snuka right away. Haku goes next, proving again that Rikishi was right. Tito gets dumped by Warrior, and Shawn Michaels comes in at #26. Hulk tosses Honky, and Warrior goes into roid rage and dumps Martel and Shawn. Down to Hogan and Warrior! The crowd goes absolutely CRAZY, in SUPER LOUD fashion as they face off! Even Bobby Heenan stays ringside to watch. They do a big criss cross for a bit, and both guys go down in a double clothesline spot. Man, they must have KNOWN what a crazy buyrate WrestleMania VI would draw at this point! Barbarian breaks it up at #27, and works on both superstars. Rick Rude runs in for #28, WAY before his time came up, presumably because they didn’t want to give away too much of Hogan/Warrior before WrestleMania. He and Barbie kill the super-men, and try to dump Warrior, but can’t do it. Hogan hulk’s up, and tosses Warrior out himself, getting a big pop! Hercules joins us at #29, and helps Hogan against the heels. #30 is, of course, Mr. Perfect, who like I said, was originally booked to win this.
- Hennig goes right for Hogan, and probably gets in a couple stiff shots in retribution. Barbie gets tossed by Herc, and we’re down to: Hogan, Hercules, Rude and Perfect. Fine field. Herc goes first, via Rick Rude, and the heels work on Hogan. A miscommunication spot allows Hogan to get rid of Rude, however, and he pounds Curt. Hennig comes back, and hammers the Hulkster, hitting the Perfect-plex. Hogan no-sells, however, popping the crowd. He does the usual hulk-up routine, and dumps Mr. P at 58:44 to win his first of two Royal Rumbles. Hey, fine, fine Rumble, and a BIG BIG pop. In my opinion, the 2nd best Rumble ever (after 1992), and a hot crowd to really make it work. **** ¼. Again, personally, I would have gone with Warrior, but Hulk was a good choice, too, because the crowd loved it. This clipped version is still very entertaining, although I would definitely recommend tracking down the whole thing. 17 for 20.

- Survivor Series Elimination Match: Akeem, The Red Rooster, Haku, Ted DiBiase & The Big Bossman vs. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim & Hercules: From Survivor Series, November 1988. From my original review: Couldn’t they stick Andre in there instead of Terry Taylor? In addition: The whole night, everyone came out with their team as a unit … but not Hogan. Oh no. He gets a separate entrance with his music, and everything. Even World freakin’ champion Macho Man doesn’t get that! Talk about ego! Savage starts with DiBiase, since they’ve fought about 20,000 times over 1988, and know each other inside out. Ted controls, but misses a charge to the corner, and Savage clotheslines him. Hercules gets in, so Ted bails out, and tags the Rooster. Terry hits an atomic drop, and goes for a Sharpshooter, but Herc escapes and tags Koko. He doesn’t fare well with Taylor, however, and Akeem comes in to hammer a bit. He’s too fat to do more than that, however, so he tags Haku in. He quickly misses a leg, and Herc gets back in. Slugfest won by Herc, and he tags Hogan. He hammers Haku, and clotheslines him out of his boots. Well, Haku doesn’t WEAR boots, but you get it. A series of elbow drops follows, and in comes the Hillbilly. He and Hogan hit a double big boot for two, but Akeem gets tagged in anyway. Oh, this should be classic. Luckily, Akeem knows he sucks, and tags Rooster right away. Taylor gets slammed, however, and Koko gets in. Powerslam by Ware for two, and he hits a nice missile dropkick for two. Hogan comes back in, and kills the Rooster, but allows Savage to finish him with the big elbow at 6:10. I’m shocked Hogan let Savage get the fall! A brawl erupts between the sides, which the faces easily win, and celebrate like they won the match. Gee, it’s just the RED ROOSTER! You didn’t eliminate Bossman, or DiBiase or anything. Once it all settles down we have Haku and Savage fighting. Savage loses that, so Hogan comes in, to fix everything. He takes a dropkick, however, as Haku is kicking BOTH Mega-Powers asses. Hulk comes back with a slam, however, and tags Herc. He drops some elbows for two, but takes a side suplex from Haku. Akeem gets in, and misses an elbow, so Hillbilly gets in to hammer him. A big boot staggers the fat man, but the proportions of his gut allow him to clothesline Hillbilly, and hit the 747 splash for the fall at 9:54. Ware fights him next, and catches with a dropkick from behind. That staggers Akeem, and Ware tags Hogan. He throws the fat man around some, and brings Savage in to hammer him. They STILL can’t knock him down, however, so Herc gives it a try. Still they can’t knock him out, so Koko tries. He fails, too, and misses a splash to the corner. That allows Bossman to tag in, and hit the Bossman slam to eliminate Koko at 11:45. Hogan comes in to face the Bossman, and the crowd goes nuts to see this. Hulk destroys him, and atomic drops him into the face corner for some abuse. Gee, Bossman used to be MUCH fatter than he is today. A big boot stagers him, and a slam finally gets him off his feet! He tries a shoulderblock, but takes a spinebuster slam as a result. He tags Akeem, and the Towers take Hogan down with a double back elbow. Haku tags in, and pounds Hogan, using a headbutt to get a two count. Bossman comes back in to try his luck, and hits the Nash rope-choke spot. First of all, to answer a few questions I’ve had about this, I KNOW Nash wasn’t the inventor of that spot. I mean, here we are in 1988, and Bossman just did it. I just call it the “Nash rope choke spot” because I want Kevin Nash to always be associated with a spot I don’t particularly care for. I mean, the guy just sits there and waits for the other guy to sit on him. Please. So Big Kev. gets that distinction. Now that that’s settled, let’s get back to the match. Bossman chokes Hogan with his boot, and tags DiBiase, who clotheslines the Hulkster. He drops a fist a couple times for a two count, and Hogan hulks up. Atomic drop connects (because you KNOW it’s the 80’s), and Herc gets in. He had an issue with DiBiase at this point, so the crowd pops. Herc absolutely kills him, as DiBiase sells like a champ, but Virgil trips up Herc, and allows Ted to roll him up for the pin at 16:34. That leaves the Mega Powers against DiBiase, Bossman, Akeem, and Haku! Ted is still distracted with Hercules, however, and Savage sneaks in to roll HIM up for the pin at 16:55! Talk about irony! Haku comes in to face off with the Macho Man, and hammers the champ, but misses a falling headbutt. Savage, intelligently, clips Hakko’s leg before he tags Hogan to prevent HIM from tagging in the meantime. Now THAT I can really appreciate. You know a wrestler doesn’t have it in cruise control when he does stuff like that. Haku kills Hulk, however, and Bossman comes in to slam him. He waists time before the cover, so it only gets two, and Akeem comes in to do his thing. His thing consists of forearm shots, basically. Haku comes in with a suplex for two, and does the nerve hold. Hey, at least they went a full twenty minutes before they started out with rest holds. ESPECIALLY considering who’s in there. Bossman gets the tag, and hits the Bossman slam, but doesn’t make the cover. Dumb ass. Even Slick yells at him about it. He heads up top, but takes his sweet time to do it, and then misses his splash, of course. Hulk makes the hot tag to the champ, who beats up the WHOLE heel team, but gets tripped up by Slick. He then oversells it in total Hennig style by doing THREE flips. That allows Bossman to hook a bearhug, and since both faces are hurt, Slick tries to kidnap Liz. Hogan stops him in the isle, however, but Akeem nails him from behind. He beats Hulk back to the ring, where the Bossman is waiting, and he handcuffs Hogan to the bottom ring rope. Hey, at least it was without the ladies shoe this time. During all this, however, Bossman gets counted out, and is eliminated at 23:30. Doesn’t matter to him, however, as he still beat the hell out of Hogan with his nightstick. And he’s REALLY fat, BTW. I mean HUGE at this point. Since Hogan’s stuck, the heels have their way with Savage, and Bossman chokes HIM with the nightstick, too. However, since Bossman was already eliminated, but Akeem and he worked over Savage, Akeem gets DQ’d from the match at 25:01. Gee, will ANYONE of the upper-carders do a clean job tonight? I mean, if I can’t expect it from AKEEM, I certainly don’t expect it from Hogan. But that was the 80’s mentality. They felt that if you jobbed, you wouldn’t get your heat back so easily, but once the 90’s rolled in, they started figuring things out. Anyway, Haku destroys Savage, since Hogan is still cuffed to the ropes, and every time Savage makes a mini-comeback, he has no one to tag! A heel miscommunication allows Liz to steal the keys from Slick, and Hogan gets the cuffs off. In the ring, Haku hits a 2nd rope splash for two, and Savage finally tags Hulk. Hogan kills Haku, and hits the leg drop to end the match at 29:06. Afterwards, the faces celebrate, and Hogan gives Liz a big hug. That leads to Savage shooting him a pissed off glance, and would eventually build to WrestleMania V ! The match itself was really fine, especially considering who was in it, and the lack of resting, exciting storyline and pace kept it good. *** ¼. 18 for 21.

- We get a bunch of interview clips from SNME in the 80s where Hogan runs down various wrestlers in pre-match interview bits. Decent bit, but not worth a point. 18 for 22.

- Bottom Line: History galore here, along with some pretty good matches from a guy who was never known for good ring work. This DVD is a must see for any Hogan fans from the 80s, or anyone who just wants a TON of history for about seventeen bucks. Well worth your money! (Definitely. Lots of cool stuff, and not too much focus on the same old WrestleMania matches we’ve seen a million times. Great set)

- Highly Recommended.