[2003-03-30-WWE-WrestleMania XIX] Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon

[Superstar Sleeze]

Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon - WrestleMania XIX Street Fight

This has been gotten some play recently as a surprisingly great match so I thought I'd check it out as on paper it is not something I have ever felt compelled to watch. 

It is two of the all-time great characters in wrestling history. They do a great job building the match bringing up Hogan testifying against McMahon is a great touch. McMahon is just one of the best heels ever. I love him stabbing the pen into Hogan's open wound and then signing the contract. He is so good at being the reprehensible corporate boss. He has such great facial expressions. I have always though McMahon's greatest redeeming quality is his intelligence to always show ass and let himself look like the fool at the end of the day. 

This is a bit different than most McMahon matches where he usually just gets his ass kicked the whole time. In this match, he does work on top quite a bit. It is funny that the man that I always assumed hated limb psychology uses it here. He is targeting Hogan's arm and he even works a hammerlock! McMahon's biggest impediment to being a great wrestler is that he is tremendously uncoordinated and stiff (stiff in the sense that he is not limber. He is not stiff in how hard he hits). Once both men start bleeding buckets, this picks up. Lots of steel chair shots. The one that popped me the most is Hogan hits Hugo the Spanish announcer in the head with a chair (stiff shot, unprotected) and busts him open. I've never seen anything like that before and totally caught me off guard. Vince hitting a legdrop off the ladder was pretty insane and unexpected. There is a classic Vince face when he has the Crimson Mask and is getting the lead pipe from under the ring. It was clear in the production meeting told everyone he would be doing a Vince face and make sure to get it as we get a close-up and Michael Cole screaming that "we are looking into eyes of Satan". I bet Vince believes "it is better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.". Hogan stops the lead pipe with a ballshot; McMahon was the first to used a ballshot for the record. Here's RODDY! Oh shit I forgot about this. Then Mr. America floods back into my head. I was like O Hogan must lose because they keep saying Hogan's career is on the line. Piper blasts Hogan with  the pipe. Im like Ok this is it. 1-2-Kickout. That's weird. Here comes crooked ref Sylvain Grenier! Shit I forgot about him! Ok this must be it, Vince drops the leg. Still no! HULK UP! WHAT A FUCKING HULK UP! SEATTLE EXPLODED~! Hogan decks McMahon and then sends the evil Quebecois ref packing. Hogan drops the Leg not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES! 1-2-3! Huge pop!

Weird! I thought for sure because of Mr. America Hogan would lose they must have gotten him fired some other way. The Hulk Up & Hogan win was clearly the right thing to do and almost always when Vince is in the ring he does the right thing, he is the one left looking up at the lights. This definitely overdelivered. Hogan was still moving around quite well at this point in his life. McMahon bled, made his heel faces and jumped off a fucking ladder through a table so you cant ask for much more. I think there could have been more gimmicks personally. My favorite street fights have cowboy boots, belts, and powder at least and they greats have fire balls. So I enjoyed this, but I thought it was still a bit tame.  ***1/2

[cactus]

This might just be my favourite match of Hogan in WWE. This was padded out with big weapon spots to hide the limitations or a banged-up Hogan and a 57 year old non-wrestler. Vince might not be a good worker per se, but he's an excellent entertainer who knows how to control the crowd. You got Vince's demonic facials, Roddy Piper and Shane McMahon's surprise returns and you've even got a poor Spanish announcer doing a bladejob after getting struck by a wayward chair shot. It's mental, it's wrestling, I love it! 
★★★★½