Wrestling Angles that worked

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1. Hulkamania (WWF, 1984-1987): Hulk Hogan as the all-American hero who conquered all obstacles worked very well in it's early years. When he beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, it was a great moment.

It's truly amazing that Vince McMahon made such a great choice for his "chosen one". Hogan had gained popularity in the midwest AWA region due, in part, to his appearance in Rocky III. But, for McMahon to annoint him as champion immediately upon his entrance into the WWF in January of 1984 and for Hogan to take off like he did seems almost magical. Within half a year, wrestling went from a saturday afternoon TV show to something which was being show live on MTV (Moolah vs. Richter & Hogan vs. Piper) and then to great success in close-circuit TV and Pay-Per-View.

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Interestingly enough not only did McMahon choose Hogan but he also used the formula from Rocky III basically exclusively during those years.

Popular champion loved by people. unstoppable monster climbs the ranks quickly destroying his competition. I believe the lineage went Big John Studd (Madison square gardens, King Kong Bundy (WM2) and Andre The Giant (WM3. Each time Hogan would first get beat up or embarrassed and seem to be completely overmatched.

Good Stuff.

Another good Hogan angle from the time was when Paul Orndorff (Mr. Wonderful) turned on Hogan after a tag team match and pile drived him in the center of the ring.

The one constant in all the Hogan feuds? Bobby The Brain Heenan. Piper gets a ton of credit but it was Heenan IMO who was ultimate Hogan foil. It was quite similar the Lex Luthor vs. Superman type.

[LesJ]

Sting vs. Heel Hogan in WCW. They actually took their time and built up Sting coming to the resuce of WCW over a period of several months. He dropped down for the rafters and saved "WCW" workers from the evil Hogan and NWO for months before they FINALLY squared off in a main event match. Even with the constant battles with WWF for ratings at the time, they resisted the urge to hot-shot that match.

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Sting vs. Heel Hogan in WCW. They actually took their time and built up Sting coming to the resuce of WCW over a period of several months. He dropped down for the rafters and saved "WCW" workers from the evil Hogan and NWO for months before they FINALLY squared off in a main event match. Even with the constant battles with WWF for ratings at the time, they resisted the urge to hot-shot that match.

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Yes! Excellent choice. That's what is missing today the slow burn build up for matches.

Boy did they sure [censored] up the booking of the actual match though. Classic WCW screwing up something that writes itself.

[Jack of Arcades]

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Sting vs. Heel Hogan in WCW. They actually took their time and built up Sting coming to the resuce of WCW over a period of several months. He dropped down for the rafters and saved "WCW" workers from the evil Hogan and NWO for months before they FINALLY squared off in a main event match. Even with the constant battles with WWF for ratings at the time, they resisted the urge to hot-shot that match.

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And then they [censored] it up when they actually did it.

Of course, then they screwed up Goldberg vs Hogan.

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Sting vs. Heel Hogan in WCW. They actually took their time and built up Sting coming to the resuce of WCW over a period of several months. He dropped down for the rafters and saved "WCW" workers from the evil Hogan and NWO for months before they FINALLY squared off in a main event match. Even with the constant battles with WWF for ratings at the time, they resisted the urge to hot-shot that match.

[/ QUOTE ]

And then they [censored] it up when they actually did it.

Of course, then they screwed up Goldberg vs Hogan.

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They definently scewed up Sting - Hogan. Horrible match booking as I said.

Why do you say they screwed up Goldberg - Hogan though? I thought that was one of the most exciting Nitros and I was actually unsure as to who would win because Hogan looked like he would never give that title up.

My only complaint would be that it should have been a PPV but I thought the match itself was fine.

[Jack of Arcades]

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Sting vs. Heel Hogan in WCW. They actually took their time and built up Sting coming to the resuce of WCW over a period of several months. He dropped down for the rafters and saved "WCW" workers from the evil Hogan and NWO for months before they FINALLY squared off in a main event match. Even with the constant battles with WWF for ratings at the time, they resisted the urge to hot-shot that match.

[/ QUOTE ]

And then they [censored] it up when they actually did it.

Of course, then they screwed up Goldberg vs Hogan.

[/ QUOTE ]

They definently scewed up Sting - Hogan. Horrible match booking as I said.

Why do you say they screwed up Goldberg - Hogan though? I thought that was one of the most exciting Nitros and I was actually unsure as to who would win because Hogan looked like he would never give that title up.

My only complaint would be that it should have been a PPV but I thought the match itself was fine.

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It was a good match but it was rushed, and they definitely could've saved it for a PPV. they screwed themseleves over by blowing it on a nitro, they could've gotten a huge ppv out of it.

[[censored]]

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[ QUOTE ]
Sting vs. Heel Hogan in WCW. They actually took their time and built up Sting coming to the resuce of WCW over a period of several months. He dropped down for the rafters and saved "WCW" workers from the evil Hogan and NWO for months before they FINALLY squared off in a main event match. Even with the constant battles with WWF for ratings at the time, they resisted the urge to hot-shot that match.

[/ QUOTE ]

And then they [censored] it up when they actually did it.

Of course, then they screwed up Goldberg vs Hogan.

[/ QUOTE ]

They definently scewed up Sting - Hogan. Horrible match booking as I said.

Why do you say they screwed up Goldberg - Hogan though? I thought that was one of the most exciting Nitros and I was actually unsure as to who would win because Hogan looked like he would never give that title up.

My only complaint would be that it should have been a PPV but I thought the match itself was fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

It was a good match but it was rushed, and they definitely could've saved it for a PPV. they screwed themseleves over by blowing it on a nitro, they could've gotten a huge ppv out of it.

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I thought one problem was that it vaulted Goldberg too quickly when he still had a number of mid card level wrestlers he could have taken on in a believable fashion (believable in terms of could defeat him) If I recall correctly he had just one the U.S. Championship the week prior against Raven and had not even started messing with the NWO.

Once he beat Hall and then Hogan in the same night those matches could no longer be done with any interest and we were forced to wait 1/2 a year until Starrcade where he would face Kevin Nash.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on how badly WCW screwed up the first Goldberg - Sting match and run up to the match (basically non) God what a [censored] joke

[Jack of Arcades]

He had actually just won the U.S. Championship *that night* vs Raven.

Memory fading though, I was in an out of wrestling during that time, and would be off/on/off until today. Christian leaving pretty much sealed my fate since I don't catch USA though.