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People all across the world recgonize the name, "Hulk Hogan", even if their not a fan of the sport. Hulk is considered the biggest attraction in World Championship Wrestling, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan was the cornerstone of the New World Order and the first leader of nWo Hollywood. After enjoying the best stint in the WWF, Hulk eventually signed with WCW on June 11, 1994 and defeated Ric Flair in a much hyped match for the WCW title in his first match. Things began looking down for Hogan however; although was initially widely popular in WCW, many fans became sick and tired of Hogan's in-ring dominance and refusal to J.O.B. or give other wrestlers win. After some pathetic angles, Savage entered WCW, and teamed with him once again. Hogan and Savage would later lobby to reinstate Ric Flair, who served in a managerial role for Vader...Vader and Hogan feuded wildly for some time...at the Clash of Champions XXX, Hogan got up after a Vader powerbomb, shattering Vader's air of invincibility...after Vader was later forced to team with Hogan, Vader left WCW...Hogan's popularity continued to decline as he refused to job to wrestlers, and it was soon felt by many that it was getting old FAST. After the Hogan-Vader feud ended and the Hogan-Flair feud subsided, Hulk Hogan found himself less and less popular with fans...many fans openly booed Hogan as he appeared on Nitro... no longer the WCW champion; Hogan became involved in a long and bitter feud with the Dungeon of Doom...after bringing in several clown-like wrestlers to take on Hogan such as Kamala, the Shark (formerly known as Earthquake and Avalanche), and the Zodiac (Ed Leslie with yet another gimmick), Sullivan brought in a huge wrestler called the Giant (Paul Wight) who claimed to be the son of the late Andre the Giant, Hogan's old nemesis (although no real relation) Hogan feuded bitterly with Sullivan, the Giant and the Dungeon of Doom until he left WCW for a hiatus from wrestling to film a movie. Many fans were glad to see Hogan gone, since the WCW title was then regularly defended and other wrestlers received deserved attention. He had not been forgotten however, as promos continued to be shown featuring the "Hulkster"...Hulk Hogan would return to WCW in dramatic fashion, in a manner which would revitalize his sagging career and shake up the entire wrestling world...at the 1996 Bash at the Beach pay-per-view, Hogan returned during a match between Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage versus Scott Hall and Kevin Nash...while the fans believed Hogan appeared to aid Sting and Savage since Luger had been injured earlier and carried out on a stretcher, Hogan legdropped Savage and reveiled himself to the mystery "third man" who was the partner of Hall and Nash. The legdrop marked Hogan's first time as a heel in well over 10 years...after the match (which ended in a DQ after Hogan threw the referee out of the ring) Hogan gave one of the best interviews of his career in which he denounced the WWF, stating that he was the reason for the federation's success ("I made people rich up there," Hogan said) Hall and Nash claimed to be attempting to "take over" WCW, Hogan's involvement with the two men seemed to imply he was against WCW all along. Indeed, Hogan's heel turn marked the birth of the New World Order, and it was this organization which would help shift the balance of power to WCW in its war with the WWF. Hogan began feuding with then the current WCW Champion the Giant (who defeated Ric Flair). Hogan beat the Giant (who would himself later join the NWO) at WCW Hog Wild '96 in Sturgis, SD for Hogan's second WCW title. This time, however, Hogan would desecrate the title belt by spray-painting it with the letters 'N.W.O.'. Hogan began calling himself "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, since he claimed to be a star in Hollywood (actually, none of Hogan's movies have been big hits according to Hollywood standards). Began another feud with his old rival Randy Savage, and Hogan and the NWO gave Savage numerous beatings...Savage failed to beat Hogan for the WCW title at Halloween Havoc '96, after which Roddy Piper appeared and challenged Hogan, saying he was the only wrestler whom Hogan had never beaten. Piper would later defeat Hogan in a non-title Starrcade '96 pay-per-view match after putting him in a sleeper. Hogan claimed the Giant "dropped the ball" after the Giant lost his match against Lex Luger, though he himself lost on the card as well...the Giant would later be kicked out of the NWO after the Giant requested a shot against Hogan after winning World War 3. Hogan faced the Giant at NWO Souled Out, but the match ended in a no-contest after the NWO attacked the Giant. Hogan defeated Piper at Superbrawl VII after Randy Savage interfered, who joined the NWO at the event in spite of his bitter history with the organization. Hulk began a bitter feud with Lex Luger, who actually defeated Hogan for the World title just days before the WCW Road Wild pay-per-view, only for Hogan to regain the title to begin his third WCW title reign at the event. Hogan then began a huge feud with Sting, which had been slowing building for several months and culminated at Starrcade '97, WCW's biggest pay-per-view of the year. Sting, who was WCW's biggest supporter and the biggest threat to the NWO, returned from over a year off of wrestling to face Hogan at the event, which would end controversially, after seemingly defeating Sting following a legdrop and a three-count by referee Nick Patrick, Bret Hart, who had recently joined WCW and had been courted by the NWO, stormed to the ring and demanded that the match be restarted, claiming Patrick made a fast count...Hart, who had been named a referee by WCW for the event to ref the Eric Bischoff/Larry Zbyszko match earlier in the card, restarted the match and eventually gave Sting the victory and the title. However, the controversy over Hart's role in the match, Nick Patrick's three count, and a similar finish following Monday Nitro the next night, eventually caused the title to be held up by WCW. Hogan then became the focus of inner turmoil in the NWO, as fellow NWO member Randy Savage had begun to once again turn against him. Hogan was ordered to face Sting in a rematch at the Superbrawl VIII pay-per-view, the winner to be named the undisputed WCW World Champion. Nick Patrick, who had been suspended by WCW following Starrcade, was reinstated by JJ Dillon just prior to the event, though another referee had been named to be the official for the Hogan/Sting match. Although he had been reinstated, Patrick (a former member of the NWO) was considered untrustworthy by WCW since Hogan paid for his attorney fees to lobby for his reinstatement. However, after the assigned referee for the Superbrawl match was injured during the bout, Patrick ran in as the new official. As Hogan tried to cover Sting following a legdrop, Patrick made an unusually slow count which Hogan disputed. This actually would cost Hogan the title, since the NWO ran to the ring shortly afterwards, followed by Savage, who turned on Hogan by hitting him from behind with a can of spray paint. Sting covered Hogan to become the new undisputed world champion. Thrusted out of the WCW world title picture for the first time in years, Hogan once again feuded with Savage, who still claimed to be an NWO member. Hogan faced Savage in a steel cage at the WCW/NWO Uncensored '98 pay-per-view, where the loser of the bout was expected to be booted out of the New World Order. This didn't happen however, as there was no clear finish to the match. During the bout Sting came down from the rafters into the cage, and while many expected Savage to side with Sting against Hogan, Savage attacked him. The Savage/Hogan feud continued, and it escalated even further when Savage was actually hit by a car. After being injured prior to the Spring Stampede pay-per-view, an angle occurred where Savage was run down by a red and yellow Viper sportscar, seemingly driven by Hogan. After the attack, Hogan's "Disciple" (Ed Leslie in his newest gimmick) grabbed Elizabeth who attended to the fallen Savage, saying "he's not so Macho now, is he". With the Disciple beside him, Hogan showed no sympathy for Savage and even hinted that he was the driver of the vehicle. This fact became all too clear later as Hogan repeatedly tried to attack Savage. After Savage's injury, Kevin Nash became the only man in the nWo to publicly show support for Savage while condemning Hogan. Nash, whom Hogan has had disputes with in the past, openly began challenging Hogan's leadership of the New World Order. As Hogan continued his disputes with Savage and Nash, never were the problems in the nWo so openly prevalent than at the Spring Stampede event, where Savage competed despite his injuries. With the help of Kevin Nash, Savage actually won the world title, prompting Hogan and the Disciple to attack the two after the match was over. On the following Monday Nitro, Hogan claimed that the title should still be his and he challenged Savage to a match with the title on the line...after interference by the Disciple and Nash (who actually jackknifed Hogan and laid Savage on top of him), Bret Hart came to the ring and hit Nash with the world title belt, and shockingly, put Hogan on top of Savage, causing Hogan to win the WCW title once again. With the sides drawn, Nash would become the leader of the red and black "nWo Wolfpac" faction and Hogan would lead the original black and white stable, which was referred to as "nWo Hollywood", with Hart at Hogan's side as an associate but not a formal nWo member. Hogan rarely defended the world title after his victory (which was usual for Hogan), and lost months later to the highly pushed newcomer Bill Goldberg at their first meeting on WCW Monday Nitro. Apparently this loss marked Hogan's final title run...during the year of 1998, possibly Hogan's final year in wrestling, Hollywood added yet more major milestones to his career. Tagged with Dennis Rodman against Diamond Dallas Page and the NBA's Karl Malone at Bash at the Beach 98, and Hogan's team won. At Road Wild 98 however Hogan's team was not successful, as Hogan and Eric Bischoff lost against Page and the Tonight Show's Jay Leno, whom Hogan and Eric Bischoff feuded with after they "took over" the Tonight Show during a summer broadcast. After Road Wild, Hogan began feuding with the Warrior and the two resumed their feud from 8 years earlier, which was supposed to culminate in the "Rematch of the Century" at Halloween Havoc 98. Although the match did happen and Hogan prevailed, the match itself was an abysmal failure as the feud received no heat at all from fans and the Warrior's wrestling return was a huge flop. The failure of this feud was a major factor in Hogan's decision to retire from wrestling, since many felt that Hogan could no longer draw heat from fans. In this modern era of wrestling, the mainstream opinion was that Hogan was just too old and shouldn't wrestle anymore. However, true to form, Hogan went out with a bang as he announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the year 2000 (prompted by Jesse "The Body" Ventura's victory as Governor of Minnesota)...ironically, Hogan announced his retirement from wrestling on Leno's Tonight Show, making up with his former rival and plugging his candidacy, though Hogan wouldn't provide details as to his presidential agenda...strangely, Hogan make no public comments in reference to nWo Hollywood after his retirement, though on the following Nitro, Eric Bischoff announced "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner as the new leader of the Black and White. Hogan has recently made his return on a Nitro telecast, by "defeating" Kevin Nash for his World Title; where Hogan tapped Nash on the chest and pinned him for the title. This signified the knife in the wolfpack/hollywood feud, and re-unified the nWo in true heel fashion. Hogan is currently set to fight Flair at Superbrawl 99.
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