Former WCW wrestler offered to face Hulk Hogan for free – but the plan went horribly wrong

Casey Thompson recently recalled how he attempted to land himself a huge match against wrestling icon Hulk Hogan in WCW.

Thompson, also known as Mike Casey, made several WWE appearances in 1991 and 1992 before wrestling for WCW between 1996 and 2000. During his time in WCW, Thompson found out one night that Hogan was scheduled to face an enhancement talent. Given The Hulkster's star power, Thompson wanted to be his opponent.

On the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast, the former WCW wrestler said he asked referee Pee Wee Anderson if he could face Hogan for free:

"I said, 'I'll tell you what, I'll give you my payday if you can pull strings and it's me,'" Thompson stated. "He's like, 'Seriously?' I said, 'A hundred percent.' He's like, 'All right, it's you.' The next day, you go there, it said, 'Hulk Hogan versus Casey Thompson.' (...) Everyone's like, 'How did you pull that off?' 'I don't know.' I just play dumb." [41:57 – 42:23]

Hulk Hogan usually worked with wrestlers at the top of the card, such as Randy Savage, Ric Flair, and Sting. At the time, enhancement talents rarely got the opportunity to go one-on-one with one of wrestling's marquee attractions.

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Why Casey Thompson vs. Hulk Hogan didn't happen

On the day of the show, WCW officials nixed Casey Thompson's match against Hulk Hogan. Instead, the eight-time WrestleMania headliner teamed up with Randy Savage to face Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma.

Thompson planned to spend the night at home in Orlando, Florida, after the match cancelation. However, WCW's decision-makers booked him to face Vader instead.

"I go from potentially wrestling Hogan to having the night off," Thompson said. "I'm like, 'I'm still getting paid.' I don't care, right? To, 'Oh, we got you a match.' I'm like, 'Who is it?' 'Oh, you're wrestling Vader.' Again, for like the hundredth time." [42:43 – 43:00]

In Thompson's opinion, Vader was a "careless piece of s**t" in the ring. He felt that the WWE Hall of Famer purposely tried to hurt his opponents.

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Please credit the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.