[1980-04-12-WWF-Philadelphia, PA] Bob Backlund vs Hulk Hogan

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Hulk Hogan - WWF Philly 4/12/80

 

This might be my favorite Bob Backlund match. It is definitely the one I have seen the most. It is so much fun and really represents who Bob Backlund is at a professional wrestler. The core characteristic that defines Bob Backlund is the phrase "anything you can do I can do better". He will out-wrestle, out-brawl and out-power you. That's why I love Backlund. He is so versatile. He adapts the Bob Backlund match to his opponent. It is not just lets have the same match with Hulk Hogan as I do Adrian Adonis. Those are two very different wrestlers, but he never ever loses his identity either. It is still very much a Bob Backlund match.

 

What makes this match so interesting is that it is Bob Backlund's core tenet of his identity "anything you can do I can do better" actually costs him the match. There is a little bit of hubris there that we don't see from the champion. Hogan is so cocky early on as he is taller, heavier and stronger than Backlund, but Backlund understands leverage and is crazy strong himself. We see Hogan throw Backlund off. Backlund does a great job putting Hogan over in these exchanges and they make the shine that much stronger. He is not scared of Hogan, but he is cautious and realizes that this a major test. The way he rubs his hands on the top ropes before the test of strength. He acknowledges he is at a disadvantage, but he wont back down from a challenge. Of course, we get the really fun Backlund shows up his opponent spots like his single pick ups. Backlund really cranks the headlock. Really good stuff before Hogan hits a Robinson backbreaker. The weakest part of the match is Hogan's arm work. There is no urgency and just no real wrenching. So Hogan had hoisted Backlund up to the top rope to embarrass Bob and Backlund was pissed took a swing at him. This all sets up the mother of all deadlifts as Backlund powerlifts the 300lbs, 6' 8'' Hulk Hogan from a short arm scissors. Always an incredible sight! Hogan goes to the bearhug, which is the move I think he should have controlled with. I think Hogan focusing on the back would have been for the best. In my second favorite spot of the match, Backlund transitions out of a bearhug into an awesome piledriver! Both guys are spent and Hogan hits a vertical suplex. Throughout the match we have seen Backlund do Hogan's offense right back to him. There is a big suplex struggle and Kal does a great job putting over that Backlund cant afford to take another suplex. When Backlund hoists Hogan up for the suplex and the crowd went apeshit! Finally Hogan gets Backlund up for the airplane spin. Of course, Backlund's natural instinct is to put Hogan in the airplane spin, but they tumble to the outside so he does another one out there, but as he is revolving he puts Hogan back into the ring and he is left dazed and confused on the outside to lose by countout.

 

Just a pitch perfect finish to a great story. This was such a great consistent story. Everything Hogan did, Backlund would do right back to him and do it better. This built to that amazing deadlift and suplex. However, that hubris was Backlund's fall as he was so committed to out-powering Hogan that he lost due to the airplane spin. One of the best narrative-based matches you will ever see. ****1/2

[bradhindsight]

My original review from Titans of Wrestling #12 thread:

 

 

I promised Parv I'd watch Hogan/Backlund prior to listening to the podcast review. 29 minutes of just a tremendous match. Hogan bumps more in the first minute than he does in the entire Tito match from the same YouTube viewing channel sequence-thing (?). Such a cool dynamic with Backlund outhustling Hogan to spots and outworking him early. Crowd eats it up and is super hot throughout. Both guys are put over strong with how they sequence this match. Hogan gets his control segment with the backbreaker out of the headlock. One of my only minor quibbles is Hogan goes to the arm, which goes nowhere, rather than working the back (off the backbreaker and setting up his bear hug + suplex finishers). That and the announcers pondering "do you think Hogan will ever win the title? Maybe in a couple years" OR, YOU KNOW, THE WWF TITLE MATCH YOU'RE WATCHING RIGHT NOW. Way to play up the potential upset.

Bob gets some cool power-out spots, including the one where Hogan flips him back into the armbar. Hogan moves into the bear hug then finally and they crescendo into trading bomb for bomb with two counts including the awesome pile driver spot out of the bear hug. I like Hulk going for the quick covers after he's kicked out himself, showing how the suplexes tax both men.

Fucking Dick Worley is fast-counting like crazy when both guys are down in the ring and I got jumpy hoping that wasn't the finish. It wasn't, so that was cool to be that invested. Then both guys trade airplane spins (ugh) but Backlund manages to topple both guys to the outside NEVER RELEASING THE MOVE. Amazing, but of course fast-counting Dick Worley (no way he went to 15, a fast 10 I'd bet) counts Bob out after he puts Hogan on the apron.

Backlund wants to fight after the match and Hogan dismisses him to a chorus of boos to just seal how awesome this match is.

****1/2

 

Awesome match.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Best Hogan match ever? I think so.

[Makai Club #1]

This was tremendous wrestling. At first, I wasn’t fully engaged in what they were doing. Not that I thought this was bad at the start, just lacking but the work was perfectly good in its own way. The match got interesting pretty quickly after a short while. They built to the big tremendously well such as Backlund suplexes Hogan. The crowd was great too. The audio quality wasn’t the best so it’s quite a feat that they came through as well as they did. Another highlight of the match has to be Backlund doing his signature stretch spot that always gets me to pop huge and Backlund changing course after failing to knock down Hogan with a shoulder block which puts over Hogan’s size and stretch as well as his adaptability and wrestling smarts. Great match. Big contender for Hogan’s best match, in my opinion. ****1/4

[paul sosnowski]

Available on the WWE DVD set "Hulk Hogan Unreleased Collector Series", Disc One

[SirEdger]

Just watched this match this afternoon. I always thought Hogan did his best work in Japan but man, in this match, he absolutely killed it and Backlund is a big part of that. I never understood how Backlund was freakishly strong for his size until I saw the shortarm scissor deadlift spot. This one clearly made me interested into seeking out other confrontations between Hogan and Backlund afterwards.

[tcg91]

Didn't really enjoy this. This was decent, but you can clearly see the difference between a match with good matwork and a match with stalling rest holds, they milked some of them for sooooooo long and all those submissions didn't go anywhere at the end. Probably Hogan was too green to lead a 30 minutes match and things only got better when he started focusing on Backlund's back, which fits the story because he's so much bigger than the champion. To their credit, the crowd is into the match all along and Backlund's selling was good, he also managed to lift Hogan with one arm only and that is impressive. It's the 80s, non-finishes are very common if a rematch is on the way, but that finish makes Backlund look really dumb
**1/2 - **3/4