Match of the Day - Hulk Hogan wrestles as himself to take on younger wrestlers trying to get over

Hulk Hogan as Terry Bollea vs. Mike Awesome - WCW Nitro (2000)

Would you like the long version or the short version?

Short version it is.

In 2000, WCW had a big brain idea to pit young up-and-comers with seasoned vets and well past-their-primers. Though the intention was to get the new guys over, WCW management made the god awful decision of putting the two biggest wrestling personality heels, Eric Bishoff and Vince Russo, in charge of the young talent. Combine that with the fact that the veterans were known as The Millionaire's Club and led by Hulk Hogan, a man who supposedly passed the torch on in 1990 but still needed the spotlight every year he wasn't making terrible movies in Hollywood (sound familiar), made the chances of the young guys getting over a lot harder. Like WCW hard.

I understand that sometimes a company already has solid top guys and don't need green competitors getting a push, but this was WCW 2000; the top guys of the past were gone and it was time for the top guys to carry the weight of the company.

So, in the mist of the New Blood (the young guys looking for a break) versus the Millionaire's Club (the guys who needed to step down from their pedestals , Hulk Hogan decided that he needed to take matters into his own hands and fight as himself, Terry Bollea, to take on Mike Awesome, an up-and-comer with high potential to keep the power of WCW to the old guys.

Hulk Hogan also had a running feud with Billy Kidman, a kid who was never big enough to be a main eventer, as well as his own nephew, Horace Hogan, who was always just destined to be in a B-list NWO. Soon after he would feud with Jeff Jarrett before leaving the company after the Vince Russo shoot/work incident at Bash at the Beach. A story for another day.

As for Awesome, he was never given the main event status push he really deserved and was repackaged numerous times starting with the "Career Killer" gimmick, then the "Fat Chick Thrilla" gimmick, then "That 70's Guy" gimmick, and then finally the "Canadian Career Killer" gimmick after joining Team Canada in the dying days of WCW. It should also be noted that his gimmick as the Career Killer was because he could kill careers but in an ironic turn of events is what killed his career.

Theme Results:

Jeans: Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea