Source: American Chronicle
By: Eric Schomburg
For years, Hulk Hogan has been the quintessential paradigm of sports-entertainment. Throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s, and the 21st century, Hulk Hogan has sold out arenas, collected revenue intake from merchandise sales, and garnered an elaborate history of being the salient icon of professional wrestling.
However, as Hogan would be used to thousands of “Hulkamaniacs†screaming until their throats were RAW, no pun intended, the University of Virginia would give Hulk Hogan a taciturn reaction. Hogan didn’t come out to cheers. Hogan didn’t come out to a smattering of boos. Hogan came out to silence. Unforgiving, silence. Silence is the worst possible reaction a wrestler could get whether you’re a face or a heel.
Hulk Hogan’s lackluster feud with Randy Orton is possibly THE WORST storyline of 2006. It was poorly thought out, it was booked horribly, both Hogan and Orton couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag with this crappy storyline, and worst of all, Brooke Hogan is the reason why these two are feuding. I believe Randy Orton is infatuated with Brooke Hogan like I believe Richard Simmons is really straight; in other words, Orton himself doesn’t believe that Brooke Hogan is hot enough to “boink!†Quite frankly, she’s not! Brooke is just another dumb, blonde, tanned, bimbo, that sings crappy pop songs with a rap beat. I believe Brooke is too late, 1999 ended a long time ago, better luck next time.
What is interesting about this storyline is, Hulk Hogan’s legacy has been diminishing for quite some time. At the second episode of the prosaic Saturday Night’s Main Event, Hulk Hogan was clearly advertised to show up on a WWE program since the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony several months ago. However, NBC and the WWE would only receive a 2.6 rating, which is even lower than the first episode of the returning Saturday Night’s Main Event, and after clearly advertising that Hulk Hogan would be there, it seemed no one cared. Oddly enough, this was the lowest rating that Saturday Night’s Main Event EVER had. Because of this fiasco there have been rumors that NBC’s affiliation with the WWE is ready to diminish and with it Saturday Night’s Main Event would be extinct yet again. Karma sure is a bitch, isn’t she, Vince?
Hogan would then make another appearance on an episode of RAW in which he would get a great ovation, but nothing compared to the usual ebullient Hulk Hogan pop that he normally gets. This was an omen of things to come for Hulk Hogan.
The “Immortal†Hulk Hogan turned mortal all of sudden and was embraced with a “leg injury.†Despite some fans believing Hulk Hogan was pulling a Kevin Nash (faking an injury), it was obvious that the SummerSlam match between Hulk Hogan and Randy Orton wasn’t going to happen. Rumors spread like wildfire as to what was happening, and Hogan’s political viewpoints got in the way again. Rumors say that Hogan was outraged by Vince, because Vince wants Orton to beat Hogan; however, Hogan would “walk out†and Vince would say that Hogan had a leg injury to write off Hogan as injured. Once Hogan realized this, he decided to come back; however, what was the reason why he came back? Did Vince agree for Hogan to win the match, and now Hogan is happy? Who knows? Who cares?
On August 14th, 2006, Hulkamania would get a reaction like it’s never gotten before. Silence.
Randy Orton would come to the ring and besmirch the Hulkster; however, the “Real American†music would play, and nobody would cheer, nor would they boo, it was silent. The faux-Hulk Hogan would come out, and still the silence burgeoned. Orton and the faux-Hogan would do their segment, and the “Real American†music would play again, finally the real Hulk Hogan came out to an uncomfortable sound of a few cheers, and then silence.
Hogan would chase Orton away and go toe to toe with the faux Hulk Hogan. It was so quiet you can hear Hogan telling the faux Hulk Hogan to take three punches, and fall to the ground. The crowd was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. No one was excited, in fact it seemed that some people were garnishing their belongings and heading for the exits. No one has seen Hulk Hogan get treated like that in wrestling by wrestling fans, and if you watch the episode you can clearly see that Hogan wasn’t happy with the fans being silent.
Face it, Hulk, you’re done!
The proof is in the pudding, Hulkamania is dead! Anyone who denies that Hogan’s star power isn’t there anymore is either a Hulk Hogan sycophant, toady, mark, or butt-kisser of Hulk Hogan, because the proof is there, no one cared about Hogan beating up an imposter. No one cared about Hogan getting RKO’d on the trunk of a car. No one cared about Hogan having his little leg injury, despite he’s still wrestling and walks just fine (rolls eyes).
Face it, the nipple of Hulk Hogan’s star power has been milked for all it’s worth and now it’s run dry.
Hulkamania is officially dead, so can we please move on to something different that doesn’t consist of old washed up has been’s believing they are still World Champion, when in reality they are just a mere shadow of their former self? Please!
No, Vince, no one cares about your great story idea where you are the father of Stephanie McMahon’s baby. Believe me folks, I wish I was making that storyline up.
