Hulkamania is dead.

Taiso

THE SISSY!?!?!?
25 Year Member
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If you'd have told me Ric Flir was gonna outlive Hogan five years ago, I've have doubted your sanity.

RIP Hulkster. A very flawed man and an illusionist without peer, but his impact on the business is undeniable.

EDIT: And yeah, Hulkamania will live forever. In a world where people still defend Vince McMahon, Hogan is going to have his vocal supporters.
 

Fygee

Bewbs! Z'OMG, Teh BEWBS!,
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terrible person, terrible wrestler, terrible actor
Terrible wrestlers don't have the career he had. The character, the personality, the promos, the "moichendising", and the in-ring chops were all there. He certainly was no Bret Hart or Mr. Perfect when it came to technical skills, but he definitely wasn't the Ultimate Warrior either.

Kids and adults the world over loved him in his 80s WWF prime, and his 90s heel turn in WCW to start the NWO was probably the best ever. Anything from the 2000s on was super lame, but that's usually how it goes with wrestlers as they age into their 50s and beyond.

Terrible person though? Absolutely. Richard Belzer had him pegged long before many of us knew.

I look forward to what Cornette has to say about his passing.
 

fickmichcommander

War Room Troll
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15,487
The in-ring chops were not there. What the fuck are you talking about? He was 100% look and charisma, he could barely fucking reverse a wristlock. There's a reason he only did four moves and it's because he sucked.

And lots of guys that couldn't wrestle had huge careers. Bill Goldberg, Ultimate Warrior, even John Cena is just a more mobile version of the same archetype.
 

wyo

Warrior of the Innanet
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Ozzy and Hulk gone this week, truly a sad time :cry:
 

Fygee

Bewbs! Z'OMG, Teh BEWBS!,
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By in-ring chops I mean he was able to perform and sell his moves in a manner that was convincing, dramatic, and entertaining. Especially true with his target audience of mostly kids and teens who were the bread and butter audience of WWF in the 80s and early 90s who didn't know any better regarding actual wrestling skill. It looked good and felt good. That's what's was and still is important.

You can be a technical expert all day long, but if you can't sell your moves or those of your opponent in a way that's exciting and engaging, the audience isn't going to care.
 
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Average Joe

Calmer than you are.
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17,094
Being a great wrestler isn't just about the technical aspect of the physicality, because if you can't sell your gimmick/character then you're just not going to get to that level of greatness.

Hulk Hogan is a GOAT contender on his character persona/personality alone and it's silly to think otherwise due to the sheer impact he had on American culture.
 

Dr Shroom

Ol' Stoker likes to toss my name around
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A stunning tribute from Hulk Hogan to Hulk Hogan.

Hate to say this, but I have to agree with fami: terrible wrestler, terrible person.
Macho was always better in the ring but never received the recognition he deserved.
 

Taiso

THE SISSY!?!?!?
25 Year Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2000
Posts
20,019
By in-ring chops I mean he was able to perform and sell his moves in a manner that was convincing, dramatic, and entertaining. Especially true with his target audience of mostly kids and teens who were the bread and butter audience of WWF in the 80s and early 90s who didn't know any better regarding actual wrestling skill. It looked good and felt good. That's what's was and still is important.

You can be a technical expert all day long, but if you can't sell your moves or those of your opponent in a way that's exciting and engaging, the audience isn't going to care.
This. Professional wrestling is more about the characters and the drama than it is about work rate. Of course, you want someone that can do it all but in ring ability only gets a guy so far in a business that evolved into a TV model. Wrestling is still for children, even overgrown ones like us.
 

max 330 megafartz

The Almighty Bunghole
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Dec 14, 2004
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On the bright side, my No Holds Barred laserdisc just went up in value. On the negative side, now a laserdisc of Suburban Commando is gonna cost me more. :emb:
 
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