WWE History Volume 6: Hulkamania Running Wild

#11 Hulkamania, depleted, cannot save WCW

Hulk Hogan in WCW circa 1995.

Hulk Hogan would have another WWE world title run before leaving WWE to film the series Thunder in Paradise. However, it was obvious that Hulkamania's glory had faded, and it was time for some new blood in the WWE title picture.

Hogan planned to be done with wrestling, but was heavily courted by World Championship Wrestling, the Ted Turner owned company which sought to compete directly with the WWE for fans and ratings.

The Hulkster joined WCW in 1995, and because of copyright agreements with the Marvel Comics Group was able to keep his trademark yellow and red tights as well as the Hulkamania brand name.

Hogan would quickly become world champion, dethroning WCW stalwart Ric Flair to capture the title. But Hulkamania had been depleted, and was no longer the force it once was. While Hogan's presence did increase ticket sales and PPV buyrates, it was not at the level which WCW hoped.

Hulkamania had faded from glory, and the final straw was when Sting and Hogan wrestled on Monday Nitro. Though the announce team tried to pretend otherwise, Hogan was booed heavily in favor of the home grown hero, Sting.

Fortunately for WCW, they realized that while Hulkamania may have been done for, they could still bank on Hogan.

He turned heel and formed the nWo, which not only made WCW the top company for almost three years, it extended Hogan's main event career by a similar amount.