5 times Hulk Hogan refused to lose a match

Hulk Hogan is easily one of the greatest in pro wrestling history. The man is almost synonymous to WWE and he is one of the first names that come to mind when people think about WWE.

Hogan, at one point, was untouchable and he was the face of the company. He reportedly used to have creative control and also was the one deciding what would happen in his match.

The sad truth about this power is that Hogan misused it a lot of times. While WWE wanted to do things one way, he refused to listen and this mainly happened because he did not want to lost to the superstar he was pitted against.

Here are 5 Superstars who Hogan refused to lose to:

#5 Bret Hart

While Hogan was an established name in the business, Bret Hart was slowly becoming the next big thing in the company. Vince McMahon wanted to put him over with the fans and who better to help to do it than Hogan?

However, that was not what Hulk Hogan had in mind. He was unhappy with the storyline pitched to him and outright refused to lose to Hart. Confirming the same, Hart said:

“On May 29, [1993], Vince called me at home to tell me the big news that I was getting the belt back. What I didn’t expect to hear was that he was getting ready to call Hogan and hated the thought of telling him that he was too old and tired for a company whose marketing strategy was now based around a “new generation” concept. 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.”

Bret added:

“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. Vince had decided that Yoko would be getting the belt instead. I couldn’t believe that Hogan would do this to me. I remembered him shaking my hand at WrestleMania 9, and telling me he’d be happy to return the favor. Vince said he’d have one more meeting with Hogan to try to sell him on it, but if he didn’t go for it, I’d work with Lawler at SummerSlam -instead.”

In December 2018, Hulk Hogan held a Q&A on Twitter in which he revealed why he had refused to lose to Bret Hart. Replying to the fan's question, Hogan said: “Back then before you were born, we still drawing huge money, his era did [not] start yet brother.”

#4 Ric Flair

Not once, but twice!

Not only did Hulk Hogan refuse to lose to Ric Flair, but he also did the same thing twice...in two different promotions! The first one took place in the then-WWF while the second happened in WCW.

Ric Flair was the top heel in WWF in 1992/93 while Hulk Hogan was the top face. The two were in their prime that time and the fans were looking forward to a showdown between them at WrestleMania 8.

However, both were not willing to lose the match and thus, WWF booked Hogan vs Sid Vicious while Flair lost the title to Randy Savage.

Hogan and Flair were a part of WCW in 1994 when the creative team there convinced them to face-off and win one match each. After Flair dropped the title in the first match, Hulk Hogan refused to lose the next one. He claimed that the fans did not want him to drop the title and he kept hold of the title as he had creative control in WCW.

#3 Jake 'The Snake' Roberts

Don't get cheered

Hulk Hogan wanted to be the top guy in WWF all the time, and he was ready to go to any extent to do it. Hulkamania reportedly even buried a lot of stars on the way and one of them was Jake 'The Snake' Roberts.

The two were involved in a segment during the mid-1980s and ended with Roberts dropping Hogan with a DDT. While the segment involved a lot of arguments between the two, the crowd cheered after the DDT by the heel.

The cheers did not please Hogan, and he refused to get into a feud with Jake Roberts. Instead, the Snakeman was pitted against Randy Savage and was cheered once again.

Hogan was asked why he pulled out of the potential feud by Wrestling Observer in an interview years later, and he simply said that he did not believe that a lot was riding on it. He did not see the feud getting any money for WWF, and that was apparently the reason for him not going ahead.

While this was not really a match Hogan refused to lose, he just didn't want to put Jake 'The Snake' Roberts over.

#2 Shawn Michaels

2 into 1

Back in 2005, Shawn Michales and Hulk Hogan were the household names when it came to pro-wrestling. While Hogan was just inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, HBK was slowly becoming the top face once again.

The two were scheduled to face-off in two matches that year – one at SummerSlam and the other later on. The plan for them was to win a match each so that there would be a 'decider' later on in their careers.

The match at SummerSlam was set to be a face vs face battle, but Hogan insisted that HBK turned heel for the match to work. While Michaels did an impressive job as a heel, he was scheduled to lose the match at SummerSlam and then get his 'revenge' later.

However, when SummerSlam was close, Hogan revealed that he could do just one match and not two as planned. Moreover, he insisted that he won the match at SummerSlam leaving Michaels hanging as someone who turned heel, just for one match that he was going to lose!

#1 Randy Orton

Legend Killer? Nah.

Randy Orton made his WWE debut in 2002 and was a part of the Evolution straight away. The Viper was so good that he was made the youngest WWE champion ever – just 2 years after his debut.

At the age of 26, The Viper also earned the nickname Legend Killer after taking out or mocking the likes of Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes etc. The plan was to have one other big name in the list – Hulk Hogan.

WWE got the two to face each other at SummerSlam in 2006, and Hogan was in it just for Orton to pin him in the one-off match. However, Hogan refused to lose to the Viper and pinned him in the middle of the ring, clean.

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How many of these stories did you know about? Have we missed out on any other top star? Let us know in the comments section below!