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Bruce Prichard is an expert when it comes to all things wrestling and has been involved in the wrestling scene in one form or the other for quite a few decades now. On his Something to Wrestle podcast with Conrad Thompson (h/t 411 Mania), Bruce Prichard is known for regaling his audience with stories from his experiences in wrestling. On a recent episode on his podcast, Bruce Prichard shared a story of the time Shawn Michaels faced Hulk Hogan at WWE SummerSlam 2005.
The match was one of the more controversial matches for what happened. Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan were supposed to have a series of matches where they exchanged wins, with Hogan winning the first one at WWE SummerSlam. However, before SummerSlam, Hogan cited injury issues and said that his match at SummerSlam would be a one-off — coincidentally the match that he was supposed to win. Shawn Michaels did not take too kindly to this and reacted by overselling everything that Hogan did in that match, making for something hilarious.
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Bruce Prichard reveals backstage details of WWE SummerSlam 2005 match between Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan
Bruce Prichard revealed on his podcast, that although in the build-up to the match at WWE SummerSlam Shawn Michaels turned heel, whether there was any need to turn or not was a matter of debate backstage in WWE.
"But I don’t think you really had to turn anybody. Shawn could do heelish things, and Hogan did do heelish things. Their fans forgave them, and the other person’s fans despised them for that. It was just kind of playing into both men’s personalities and not making a full-fledged ‘Oh my god, this guy’s gotta be a heel.’ Yeah, eventually we got there. But even when we got there, I think it was still divided somewhat.”
“Again, as I’ve said before, as far as turning heel and what people considered turning heel to their audience and fans, they weren’t turning heel. They were saying everything that was true and they were doing what they wanted them to do. Both guys in a traditional sense turned heel.”
Bruce Prichard went on to reveal that ahead of the WWE match both men were receptive to the idea.
“In the beginning, yeah both were very receptive to it. It was a conglomeration of the writing team in getting to this match. It might have been Michael Hayes even that first suggested the match, to the best of my recollection. It was something everybody was saying ‘If we can only get to this, shit, this could be good.’ Because again, you had the two heroes from two different eras.”
Unfortunately, things did not play out how anyone in WWE expected it. While due to the ridiculous nature of the match, it will never be a WWE classic, it is still looked on with some fondness by fans.
