Hulk Hogan’s 10 historic rivals who made him a legend and helped wrestling and WWE conquer the world

Hulk Hogan will likely hold onto his title as the most recognizable figure in wrestling history long after his death on July 24 at the age of 71 following a cardiac arrest.

Known for his flamboyance, blond horseshoe moustache, bandanas and overuse of the word ‘brother,’ Hogan, real name Terry Gene Bollea, is credited by many for the huge boom professional wrestling experienced in the 1980s. However, it takes (at least) two to tango in the squared circle, and his success wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for several iconic feuds with some bitter on-screen rivals.

Nick Bockwinkel

Hulkamania may never have existed without Nick Bockwinkel. After Hogan left the WWF for the first time in 1981 because of his involvement in Rocky III, he joined the American Wrestling Association, where he became a ‘babyface’ (i.e. crowd favorite) for the first time. In the AWA; he was pitted against long-time ‘heel’ (villain) Bockwinkel, who proved to be the ideal foil to get Hogan over with fans.

The Iron Sheik

Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik in 1983 to win his maiden WWF World Heavyweight Championship, a title he went on to hold another five times. Ironically, the WWF’s only Iranian-born champion held onto the belt for just 28 days after defeating previous champion Bob Backlund, who had a 2,135-day reign.

For that reason, the Iron Sheik’s dislike of Hogan continued throughout the 1980s, although he failed to win the championship back on several occasions.

Roddy Piper

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper is seen by some as wrestling’s greatest ever ‘heel’, making him the perfect opponent for heroic all-American Hogan in 1984, just after the Hulkster had rejoined the WWF for a second spell.

The duo, along with Mr. T and Paul Orndorff, headlined the first ever Wrestlemania that year, which followed a memorable storyline with pop star Cyndi Lauper at the center of their feud.

André The Giant

André The Giant and Hogan first faced off in the latter’s villainous first run in the WWF in 1980. However, their rivalry reached a new level in 1987 following Hogan’s return to the company. The roles were reversed, with the previously beloved André turning ‘heel’ for the first time, and Hogan playing the ‘babyface’.

Turning the tables captured the imagination of wrestling fans, with 93,000 watching their WWF World Heavyweight Championship battle at Wrestlemania III at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan.

Bobby Heenan

Bobby Heenan and Hogan never went face to face in the ring, yet “The Brain” remained one of the Hulkster’s biggest nemeses in the 1980s. Heenan managed Bockwinkel in the AWA, as well as Hogan’s second and third Wrestlemania opponents: King Kong Bundy and Andre The Giant. Often coming out on the wrong side, Heenan claimed to have “hated” Hogan for more than a decade.

Randy Savage

Hogan and Randy Savage were bitter enemies prior to forming the incredibly popular Mega Powers tag team in 1987, mainly due to having common enemies. However, they split in 1989, with Savage believing Hogan had feelings for Miss Elizabeth, the pair’s manager and Savage’s wife.

Savage turned heel and their battling resumed, with Hogan regaining the WWF Heavyweight Championship from his former partner at Wrestlemania V, their highest-profile face-off. They also feuded in later years after moving to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), albeit with slightly less fanfare.

Ric Flair

Ric Flair and Hogan were the biggest stars of WCW and the WWF respectively in the 1980s, so it was only natural they would go head to head when the “Nature Boy” jumped ship in 1991 for a two-year stint.

They continued feuding when Hogan moved in the opposite direction in 1994, with the Hulkster dominating their rivalry in the ring (60 wins, 13 defeats, according to Cagematch). Despite being two of the biggest names in the business, they never faced off at a major PPV in their time in the WWF.

Sting

Hogan and Sting’s rivalry played out almost exclusively in WCW in the mid to late 1990s, when the former teamed up with The Outsiders, a tag team rumored to be working for the WWF. As one of WCW’s leading lights, Sting led the fight against what became the New World Order (nWo), a storyline which persisted in WCW for a number of years. The duo headlined Starrcade, the company’s flagship event, in 1997, with Hogan losing the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by submission.

The Rock

When a heel “Hollywood” Hogan made his second return to the WWF, soon to become the WWE, in February 2002, his legendary status meant he would come up against the leading lights of the new era, including The Rock. The two biggest stars of their respective generations only went up against one another twice, but their meeting at Wrestlemania X8, both the pre-match segments and the in-ring action, is considered some of the best work of Hogan’s career.

Vince McMahon

The following year, Hogan, now a babyface again, faced off against the WWE’s disgraced former owner Vince McMahon in a street fight, their only meeting.

The match allowed the pair to express their well-documented animosity toward one another in the ring. McMahon has gone on record as saying he was “heartbroken” by Hogan’s decision to leave the WWF for WCW in the mid 1990s after he had “made a huge star out of him”.

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