Hulk Hogan is hands down one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step into the ring. No doubt, he’s a legend and one of the most influential figures in wrestling history. But at the same time, he’s also one of the most disliked wrestlers out there, mostly because of his huge ego and the way he’s been known to manipulate matches to work in his favor. WrestleMania 9 was a prime example of that.
He basically twisted the outcome of the main event to suit himself and walked away with the championship, even though he didn’t have a scheduled match. That whole stunt turned the event into one of the most disappointing WrestleManias ever.
Hulk Hogan manipulated WrestleMania 9’s ending to his advantage and ruined the event
The main event of WrestleMania 9 was a total head-scratcher. Bret Hart lost the championship to Yokozuna, only for Yokozuna to drop it to Hulk Hogan just minutes later. The whole thing felt rushed and underwhelming, but it wasn’t even supposed to go down like that.
Originally, Bret was set to defend the title against Yokozuna and had been promised a long championship run by Vince McMahon. But out of nowhere, McMahon decided that Hogan would be the champ, even though he wasn’t officially part of the match. Bret Hart opened up on the incident in his book, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling.
On April 2, 1993, [I] went to my room just in time to answer a call from Vince, who asked me to come to his suite to talk. I knocked on his door, and he answered it with that goofy grin. We sat down, and Vince said, ‘This is what I want to do. I want you to drop the belt to Yoko tomorrow.
Vince McMahon laid out the plan for how things would go down: Yokozuna was going to cheat by throwing salt in Bret Hart’s face, and then Hulk Hogan would rush in to back Bret up. But somehow, in all the chaos, Hogan would end up walking away as the champion.
This was not what I had expected. I sat there dumbstruck as he went on to explain how Fuji would screw me by throwing salt in my face, blinding me. After Yoko was handed the belt, Hogan would rush to my aid and in some kind of roundabout way Hogan would end up winning the belt from Yoko right then and there!
Vince McMahon had originally promised Bret Hart a long championship run, but out of nowhere, the storyline shifted, making it seem like Hogan had influenced the decision to benefit himself and snag the title.
To make things even worse, Hogan had told Hart beforehand that he’d return the favor, but when the moment came, he backed out and left Bret hanging. The whole situation raised a lot of eyebrows and left fans questioning what really went down behind the scenes.
Bret Hart reveals how Hulk Hogan betrayed him
In his book, Bret Hart revealed that Hogan had promised to return the favor, but when the moment of truth arrived, he completely went back on his word in the worst way possible. After WrestleMania 9, Vince McMahon called Bret and assured him he’d be getting the title back from Hogan.
But when Vince told Hogan about the plan, Hogan straight-up refused, saying that Bret wasn’t on his level and that he’d rather drop the title to Yokozuna instead.
Vince wanted to make Hogan into the Babe Ruth of the WWF and use him as more of a special attraction. He asked me not to say anything until he had spoken to Hogan. Ten days later, Vince called again. He warned me that he was about to tell me something that would make me really angry: Hogan was flat-out refusing to put me over, saying I wasn’t in his league.
Bret Hart was really disappointed, but he had no choice but to accept what happened. Hogan had a habit of making sure he always looked like the best, doing whatever it took to protect his reputation. At first, this worked for him, but over time, fans and wrestlers saw through it, and he became one of the most disliked figures in WWE.
His personal life was also full of controversy, including accusations that he had an affair with his best friend’s wife, being pissed at not being paid enough for clicking pictures with disabled children and many more incidents. In the end, because of Hogan’s actions, WrestleMania 9 ended up being one of the biggest letdowns in WWE history.
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