One Soft Infested Summer, Me And Terry Became Friends

Hulk Hogan/Junkyard Dog VS Terry Funk/Dory Funk Jr - WWF 3/8/1986

JJZ: Alright baby cakes! This match had a whole lot going on in it. Right off the bat seeing how incredibly over Hogan is at the time. We all know about Hulkamania but when you can feel the crowd through your screen it really puts a stamp on it. JYD is a perfect partner for Hogan since he is also super over and can do the dirty work with the Funks. With the Funks I loved the gaga from Terry and Dory. So many wrestlers do good comedy wrestling but they never feel like a serious threat in the match. The Funks go to both sides of the spectrum. I mean Terry is tripping over cables and then is choking the life out of his opponents. His wild man gimmick doesn't feel like a gimmick. He is real as real gets in the ring. And Hogan really did well in the match. I didn't get the mailing it in feeling in this one. I don't think Dory and Terry would have let the Hulkster get away with that. Fuck, watch her homie. Enjoy.

CJD: The Funks in WWF felt like such an alternate reality, like a Marvel What If? storyline. It's not what I want when I watch the Funks but I'm glad it happened just to add yet another chapter into the epic novels of their careers. You nailed the amazing ability they had to still feel menacing despite turning the gaga up to 11 opposite two all-time babyfaces like Hulk and JYD. I would have liked a little more of the face in peril to build to the finish but with a match like this you take what you can get. Waking up to white knee pads Hogan, Gorilla and Lord Alfred on commentary, with a cup of green tea for breakfast and a side of Terrible Terry and Hoss Funk is fine by me babycakes!

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.

You Are, As We Say In Latin, An Orndorkus Malorkus

Hulk Hogan (c) VS Paul Orndorff - WWF Championship 7/7/1984

JJZ: I believe when I was a kid I liked the idea of Hulk Hogan. Larger than life hero that can overcome all odds. I remember renting WrestleMania 7 from West Coast Video to watch Hogan VS Sgt Slaughter. I came out of that show loving Savage VS Warrior and being bored to tears by the main event. This is the total opposite of that Hogan match. The crowd is hot as fuck and this is one of the most vicious Hulk matches I've ever seen. Now it ain't Joe VS Necro but for a 80s WWF match it's pretty snug. It's not your normal Hogan match at all. And Paul plays a great goddamn heel. The crowd is foaming at the mouth to see Hulk rip his head off. Hope you enjoy CJD. I know Orndorff never won the title but in this match I honestly believed he could have. His "I'm going fuck you up" attitude really made me feel like he was equal to the Immortal Hulk Hogan.

CJD: By 1984 standards that chairshot was no joke! The more we get into this mid 80s WWF time period the more I'm realizing how little I've seen. I've always read about how limited the "New York" style was. While that may be true you can see them start to put the formula together that is going to create a cash generating monster and a lot of that is boiling things down to their most basic elements. If that's your strategy a big 3 of Hogan, Piper, and Orndorff is about as perfect as you can get. They all work best in broad strokes, although with Orndorff I'm realizing he does a lot of little things better than I ever gave him credit for. You mentioned his attitude and he is great here at not just projecting that to the back row but also in fighting and clawing his way back into this match no matter how much Hulk tries to eat him up. Hogan brings the heat too, that running elbow was a beaut. As a brawl I liked the Piper match better, but as a Hogan title defense this was a fun ride. And "I believe when I was a kid I liked the idea of Hulk Hogan" is one of my favorite sentences you've ever written.