[1990-04-28-WWF-Saturday Night's Main Event] Hulk Hogan vs Mr Perfect

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I don't think the IC title win had aired on Superstars yet, so Perfect isn't wearing the gold, and The Genius is still with him. Good match to put Hogan back in the swing of things. Genius's beautifully flowing wig cracks me up.

[PeteF3]

I didn't really need to see the Genius flirting with Sean Mooney. Hogan by numbers, with Ventura ramping up the Hogan hate to borderline-annoying levels. Genius' celebratory prance around ringside after Perfect executes a hiptoss is the highlight.

[soup23]

These free tv showcase Hulk matches really piss me off. Perfect didn't seem to be willing to go as bump freak as he normally did to. Hogan kicks out of the perfect plex and picks up the win.

[shoe]

Hennig did a good job of making Hogan look good, though it felt like an extended squash.

[Kevin Ridge]

Mr. Perfect with The Genius and not Bobby Heenan nor with the Intercontinental title so must have been taped way before. Hogan promo. Is that Undertaker’s hat in the background? Teasing what’s to come later in the year? Think it’s a Texas themed Main Event.

 

Perfect is bouncing all over the ring for Hogan. Hogan uses his Axe Bomber clothesline. Seemed like he never really used that much in WWF. The scroll gets involved and Perfect turns the tide against Hulk. Perfectplex and Hogan hulks up. Totally kills the move like that. Same old finish wins it for Hogan. Hulk just launches Genius over the top rope with a bodyslam. Well, that was uncalled for.

[Cox]

From looking at taping results, it looks like this match was taped the same night as Perfect's IC title win, which took place later in the show, so this is likely the last time The Genius manages Perfect.

 

The outcome for this one never feels like it's in doubt, which might be why Hogan/Perfect never drew. As much as I like Hennig, he never feels larger than life enough to work a program with Hulk Hogan.

[garretta]

I liked this one. Yes, it was the typical Hogan extended squash, but Hogan showed energy, which he doesn't always do in bouts like this. Curt knew better days were ahead, so he basically played out the string, taking a few bumps but otherwise being inoffensive. The commentary here was typical of SNME, with Vince slobbering all over Hogan and Jesse pointing out every little flaw in detail (though he gave Hogan credit for forcing Curt into a brawl, which suited Hogan better stylistically) . It was all a little tiresome by now, but what else did you expect?

 

About Hogan killing the Perfectplex: Baloney. He killed it for himself, definitely, but it was still a guaranteed finisher for anyone else when it was used on them. Just like Savage's elbow and Sheik's camel clutch, both of which he survived but no one else did. I don't know what people want out of the Hogan character sometimes. He's not going to show all that much vulnerability, because he's not your ordinary everyday wrestler. He's a breed above, a force that's unlike anything human ever, a comic book come to life. You may disagree with Vince adopting the philosophy, but he adopted it and stuck to it.

 

Is a hooked leg, which is all the Perfectplex is in the end, supposed to be enough to beat a guy who outweighs Curt by forty-five pounds at least and is much stronger than he is simply because that's the move Curt chooses to finish everyone else off with? How about the double chinlock, a rest hold at any other time which is only different because Sheik pulled the arms back as he applied it? The so-called "greatest force in the universe" jobbing to, or even bothering to sell, a freakin' double chinlock? I wouldn't have either if I was Hogan, especially as a finisher. You can even say the same about Savage's elbow, unless there was a loaded elbowpad involved. Are there certain finishers he should sell? Sure. Orndorff's piledriver, Bundy's avalanche, Quake's splashes, and there are a few more. But even if he hadn't (and he sold a ton for Bundy and Quake), that doesn't mean that fans shouldn't expect ordinary humans to have severe neck injuries or to be crushed like grapes and go to the hospital after taking one. It just means that Hulk Hogan isn't an ordinary human. It takes more to put him away, and those three guys are just three more who don't have what it takes.

[Jingus]

Is a hooked leg, which is all the Perfectplex is in the end, supposed to be enough to beat a guy who outweighs Curt by forty-five pounds at least and is much stronger than he is simply because that's the move Curt chooses to finish everyone else off with? How about the double chinlock, a rest hold at any other time which is only different because Sheik pulled the arms back as he applied it? The so-called "greatest force in the universe" jobbing to, or even bothering to sell, a freakin' double chinlock? I wouldn't have either if I was Hogan, especially as a finisher. You can even say the same about Savage's elbow, unless there was a loaded elbowpad involved. Are there certain finishers he should sell? Sure. Orndorff's piledriver, Bundy's avalanche, Quake's splashes, and there are a few more. But even if he hadn't (and he sold a ton for Bundy and Quake), that doesn't mean that fans shouldn't expect ordinary humans to have severe neck injuries or to be crushed like grapes and go to the hospital after taking one. It just means that Hulk Hogan isn't an ordinary human. It takes more to put him away, and those three guys are just three more who don't have what it takes.

I don't get this argument. Since when do real-word physics matter with wrestling finishers? Hell, if we're talking finishers, Hogan's was never devastating, it was a simple leg drop (and was often applied sloppily, with Hulk barely even touching his opponent). The Rock Bottom does nothing but force you to take a normal back bump, same as a hundred other power moves. The Stone Cold Stunner does practically nothing at all; you suddenly bend forward, and that's enough to knock you out? Some moves wouldn't even work at offense in real life; you try the Samoan Spike in a barfight, and you're gonna accomplish nothing but breaking your own damn thumb.

 

It doesn't matter what move a guy picks as his finish; what matters is that it's HIS finish, and in kayfabe theory he's able to hit that move better than anybody else on the roster. Countless guys use a figure-four leglock as basically a rest hold; what makes it when Flair does it? It's still the exact same move. The difference is it's Ric fucking Flair doing it, and in wrestling's phony storyline he's mastered using that hold at a level that nobody else has. What's the difference between Shawn Michaels' superkick and every other wrestler who ever kicks another guy in the head? There IS no difference, except that the storyline PRETENDS it's somehow different because it's this one guy's signature move.

 

Saying "Perfect shouldn't be able to get a 3-count with that move because Hogan is too big" is silly. In real life, Curt Hennig probably would have kicked Terry Bollea's ass in a fight; Hennig was a college athlete while the future Hulkster spent his youth playing guitar and laying on the beach. Anyone could have kicked out of all the same moves that Hogan kicked out of; the only difference is, he's the only guy the promoter told to do that.

[garretta]

So you're faulting Vince for telling someone he wanted the world to see as the greatest wrestler ever to not allow himself to be pinned by a guy that he looks like he should be able to crush with one hand?

 

Look, I know Hogan disgusts people now more than ever, and I can't blame them for that. But almost from day one, he's gotten nothing but disrespect from the vast majority of the so-called "smart" fans. He didn't demand to be made unstoppable by Vince back in 1984, Vince chose to make him that way out of his (Vince's) own free will, and made a lot of money as a result. Should Hogan have said, "No, Vince, making me the world's biggest wrestling star will only hurt the little guys down South. I better stick with Verne"? It's because he was unbeatable and invincible in the eyes of the public, and because Vince chose to make him that way, that he had any worth at all. Supermen don't lose to hooked legs or double chinlocks, period. If they do, they're not supermen, just clumsy, unathletic guitar players.

 

In short, if I was Vince I'd do exactly what he did: chew up and spit out a hundred Curt Hennigs in order to feed the reputation of one Hulk Hogan.

 

(If it doesn't seem that I answered Jingus' argument, maybe it's because the whole thing sounded like a long-winded way of asking me if I knew that wrestling was predetermined. If anyone else can tell me what they think he meant, let me know and I'll try again.)

[Loss]

I think you're arguing that the Perfectplex doesn't look convincing enough. And Jingus is arguing that he doesn't think that's important because it was a move that was presented as credible for nearly 18 months before this, and that in wrestling, the presentation and booked consequences of moves is more important than how good they look aesthetically. Actually, Hogan did have the shining moment you like from him too, because I believe this was the first time anyone had ever kicked out of the move (unless Hogan or Warrior did it in their house show series earlier in the year). It was definitely the first on national television.

[Dooley]

The idea that Hogan "killed" Hennig's finish is kind of silly when Hogan's whole schtick was taking his opponent's finish and then hulking up.

[drew wardlaw]

Kind of a cool match for Hogan to get his groove back. Not as many crazy Hennig bumps, and I mean, it's a Hogan TV match, but it served a purpose and felt important in that respect.

[dawho5]

I was thinking Perfect was a good guy to have as Hogan's first "big" opponent after Warrior. Big bumps and lots of stalling to make the Hulkster look good on national TV. That the outcome was never in doubt is probably not something that was considered in the planning.