So why was Hogan so limited in the WWF?

[seabs]

[size=xx-small]Oh brother[/size]​

During the gold age of wrestling one man ruled the entire kingdom, clad in red and yellow he hailed from Venice Beach California, it was indeed the immortal Hulk Hogan. He showed he could go in Japan in match ups against Muta and Hansen in the late 80s and early 90s but his matches in the WWF were all incredibly formulaic he'd start strongly before being beaten down and hulk upping for the big win, it's a blueprint the WWF has followed ever since.

I understand people wanted to see the hero beat the odds with his famous surge of energy. I understand he was wrestling houseshows every night so I'm not expecting classics from him all the time but he could have done so much more than he did and still provided the high points, Hogan going head to head with someone in a more even match would have been more entertaining for the fans and would have helped cement his opponents as the man who pushed him and lost in an even match moreso than losing in a match in which they dominated. Now I'm going to through some Puro in here firstly to show Hulk could go like a champ and secondly prove that an equal match was much better for his opponent also.





So even though Hogan is the subject of this gripe feel free to transfer it over to Cena, HBK, Hart, Austin, Rock, Taker or any other major face who was limited beyond what they could do by the WWE/F

 

[Lockard 23]

It might have been Vince's call. The less work he does or the less bumps he takes (more time spent getting kicked or put into huge bear hugs or rest holds), the less chance of injury or something. Vince wanted to protect his precious asset as much as possible. It may have also been Hogan's decision, knowing he didn't have to put forth much effort if the fans were just gonna eat up what he was doing with his limited move set as it was. Irritating to know he was actually better than what we saw, though.

If you watch some of his matches in the AWA, he wrestled pretty much close to how he wrestled in WWF as well.

 

[seabs]

It might have been Vince's call. The less work he does or the less bumps he takes (more time spent getting kicked or put into huge bear hugs or rest holds), the less chance of injury or something. Vince wanted to protect his precious asset as much as possible. It may have also been Hogan's decision, knowing he didn't have to put forth much effort if the fans were just gonna eat up what he was doing with his limited move set as it was. Irritating to know he was actually better than what we saw, though.

If you watch some of his matches in the AWA, he wrestled pretty much close to how he wrestled in WWF as well.

You're probably right on both accounts especially the part about the crowd eating up whatever he did, in Japan they're alot more demanding in their performers which probably encouraged him to bring his "A" game more.

 

[Stopspot]

Most likely that both WWE and Hogan wanted to protect "the investment". As you said, in Japan they are more demanding, plus Hogan wasn't the main attraction or there in the long term so him going more hardcore in Japan compared to his much heavier workload in America where he was also expected to carry the company sounds logical.

 

[seabs]

Most likely that both WWE and Hogan wanted to protect "the investment". As you said, in Japan they are more demanding, plus Hogan wasn't the main attraction or there in the long term so him going more hardcore in Japan compared to his much heavier workload in America where he was also expected to carry the company sounds logical.

Whilst this is true I still don't understand why it was taken to such an extreme, protect him fine but did he really need that much of a limitation?

 

[Stopspot]

Whilst this is true I still don't understand why it was taken to such an extreme, protect him fine but did he really need that much of a limitation?

Until Macho Man showed up there was no one who could carry the company for Vince without seeing a massive decrease in buys and ratings (Even Savage didn't draw to Hogan levels but the decrease wasn't as big) so I can understand Vince. Had Hogan gotten injured he would have a hard time finding a replacement. Kind of like with Cena now, Ryback has shown some promise but hasn't gotten a chance to prove it yet.

Austin was also limited but not nearly as limited as Hogan, likely because there was more talent that could step up if he got injured like Rock or Hunter.