WWE History Volume 6: Hulkamania Running Wild

#8 The Mega Powers Form

Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth

At Wrestlemania IV, Macho Man Randy Savage won the one day tournament to crown a new champion. Hogan featured heavily in his victory, having prevented interference from Andre The Giant and Virgil.

Hogan took a sabbatical from the WWE to film and promote his movie, No Holds Barred.

The idea was Hogan would spend most of his time making movies, while appearing on WWE as a special attraction.

No Holds Barred enjoyed a strong debut for the era, with four million in domestic gross, and was the number two film behind the third Indiana Jones movie. However, the movie dropped off severely after the opening week, and barely broke even.

Also, ticket sales were down with Macho Man as champion. While Savage was a popular wrestler, he could not compete with Hogan's massive charisma and mainstream appeal.

Hogan was brought back to wrestling as an ally to Savage, and the two soon formed the Mega Powers tag team in response to the Dibiase/Andre alliance.

The strategy worked, allowing Hogan to appear at major events while still keeping Savage as the champion.

But soon, the Mega Powers would explode in one of the most personal and dramatic story lines in WWE history.