The Hulkster Hulk Hogan

The Hulkster Hulk Hogan is part of the Coliseum Video “Collector’s Series” and is a HUGE memory. It’s one of the earliest tapes I remember renting, probably in 85 or 86 sometime. I haven’t seen it since I was a little kid, but I remember parts of it well. Watching a tape like this brings me right back to being a kid. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I’m right back in the mid 80s again.

The tape is ridiculously short, only 40 minutes, so it’s not much of a showcase for Hogan. Vince McMahon introduces the tape and prattles on in an overly-serious tone about Hogan and the matches that we’re about to see.

1) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Brutus Beefcake (w/ Johnny V) at 9:45 with a roll up as Beefcake was celebrating with Johnny V, believing he had scored the pinfall when in fact Hogan’s leg was outside the ring during the cover; after the bout, Hogan cleared both men from the ring after they attempted to double team him (2/16/85; Philadelphia Spectrum)

The tape begins with a ‘current’ Hogan match. This is the most memory match on the tape. I vividly remember having an orange sleeping bag set up on my basement floor as a ring, and wrestling with pillows while watching this video. I would do this a lot before I got my LJNs, especially while watching Superstars and wrestling tapes. Watching this match now is really interesting, especially knowing that Hulk Hogan and Brutus are best buddies. Brutus is just ridiculous in his selling, with goofy facial expressions and over exaggerated reactions. The crowd however is hot to see Hogan bulldoze Beefer, but this is not-so surprisingly an even back and forth battle. The commentators even suggest that this could be the night that Beefcake wins the belt. The ending of this match is ridiculous, as Beefcake thinks he wins the belt, then Hulk simply rolls him up while he’s celebrating.

2) Hulk Hogan pinned WWF World Champion the Iron Sheik (w/ Freddie Blassie) at 5:40 with the legdrop to win the title after ramming the champion back-first against the turnbuckle to escape the Camel Clutch; after the bout, Gene Okerlund interviewed the new champion backstage in which he was congratulated by Andre the Giant, Rocky Johnson, and Ivan Putski

The Birth of Hulkamania. We’ve all seen this match and this moment a million times before. Hogan steamrolls the Sheik, who barely gets in a punch. The match isn’t much, but the fans and the history books don’t care. This tape featured all the post match celebration, with Andre, and Hulk’s parents (who look more like his grandparents). I remember seeing this for the first time, and loving the big celebration.

3) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan fought the Iron Sheik to a double count-out after Hogan began attacking the challenger on the floor with Sheik’s own boot, cutting him open, after Sheik did the same thing to the champion earlier in the match; after the bout, Hogan continued attacking the challenger inside the ring with the boot until he was pulled away by several wrestlers (5/5/84; Philadelphia Spectrum)

Unfortunately, this Hogan-Sheik rematch was clipped and only a few minutes were shown. After watching this tape and Hulkamania 1, it’s so weird to see that most of Hogan’s 84 and 85 matches were blood-filled wars, with tons of weapons, brawling, countouts, DQs, etc. Seems so weird to see how they initially booked Hogan, before they settled into a clean-cut formula. Both wrestlers are bleeding buckets, as they use the Sheik’s spiked boot as a weapon. I would like to see more Hogan-Sheik battles from 84.

4) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Don Muraco (w/ Mr. Fuji) in a steel cage match at 9:05 by escaping through the door moments after the challenger’s head became entangled in the ring ropes (6/21/85; Madison Square Garden)

Another bloodbath. The WWF was just throwing heel after heel at Hogan. It’s interesting how he took on all comers, regardless of their position on the card. This match featured several clipped parts, but it was a relatively slow-paced cage match. The ending is anticlimactic as Hogan basically just walks out of the cage door.

Fun fact: When I was a kid, I would usually watch the tape I rented at least two or more times before returning it to the video store!