The Idea Of Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan VS Genichiro Tenryu - SWS SuperWrestle In Tokyo Dome 12/12/1991

CJD: I don't remember if as a kid I liked the idea of Hulk Hogan. As you know my first pro wrestling memory was the Mega Powers VS the Mega Bucks and Hogan is the least of that memory. I did enjoy watching his feud with Savage because it was a story that felt very real to me as a kid and I thought it was neat that someone was seemingly equally powerful as Hulkamania. Years later I loved when Ultimate Warrior beat him. And that's about all I remember about Hulk Hogan as a kid. But I was a weird kid. I loved Max Moon and High Energy and loved to hate Repo Man and Papa Shango. I probably wasn't their target audience.

As a "smart" teenage fan in the 90s I agreed with court of opinion that Hogan was the worst. Shit worker, held everyone down, total asshole. Then in my early 20s I thought, hey, Hogan was fine for what he was. Now it's 2020 and public opinion has shifted a lot since the mid 2000s and with good reason! But if there's one thing Hogan's racist creepy ass has going for him, I don't think your average fan considers him to be as shitty at the actual act of pro wrestling as they used to. Right? Right?? Ah fuck him either way.

ANYWAY, even if you don't think Hogan was the shits, and even if you've seen some Hogan in Japan working a more technical style, this match will still knock you on your ass first time around. By the end I think it's more of a spectacle than a great match, but what a spectacle it is. I knew a little bit about SWS before watching this but read up more after and what a glorious trainwreck it sounded like it was. Thankfully it lasted long enough and had deep enough pockets to produce this once in a lifetime encounter. I used to wonder why Tenryu would pop up in WWF from time to time. Now I'm wondering why he never had a run in New York!

JJZ: When I saw you played this match forward my first thought was Hogan can't half ass this match. And right from the start his moveset is different and his strikes are harder. I believe Tenryu would have made him pay if they weren't. Hogan's demeanor is so different in this match than any other I have seen before. Tenryu looks like he doesn't give any fucks who Hulk Hogan is and I even thought he was gonna drop the Hulkster on his head with that powerbomb. I was impressed with how giving Hogan was in this match. I don't want to give anything away but I was shocked at the things Hulk let Tenryu get away with. This was a really good match with a hot ass crowd. I thought the offense was 50/50 and both guys came out looking good.