Match of the Day - The One Warrior Nation is now zero.

The Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan - WCW Halloween Havoc (1998)

By now you may have heard the shocking news that the Ultimate Warrior has passed away. It's a truly bizarre and tragic event that has taken place only mere days after Warrior's inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and only about 24 or so removed from his appearance on Raw last Monday night.

Warrior and his character he left to the wrestling world will forever be remembered.



While I did not grow up during the time of Ultimate Warrior's major run in WWF  or during the peak of Hulkamania, I did grow up in the time that the Ultimate Warrior was making another return to wrestling, and this time it was in a nWo-heavy World Championship Wrestling. I remember renting WCW's Halloween Havoc '98 at Blockbusters (RIP as well) when I was just beginning to really sink my teeth into all this wrestling business, I didn't really know much about the Warrior at the time, but the cover on the box at the store had Hulk Hogan strangling a man with what looked like cake all over his face and the words "The World's Most Terrifying Wrestling Event" labeled above it. I'm not sure why looking at the cover made me want to watch this PPV immediately, maybe it was the fact that I really needed to find out why Warrior had cake all over his face, but it did.

People may give this Hogan/Warrior match at Halloween Havoc a lot of crap, but for someone who had not seen a lot of wrestling at the time this was a huge spectacle to watch. Also, I did not see the build up to this match which included Warrior appearing in the mirror, a lot of smoke, and, of course, profound Warrior promos, so this was really the first time that I was treated to the likes of the One Warrior Nation (that's nWo backwards).

There will never be another Ultimate Warrior. He is simply unrecreatable. Rest in peace.

Match of the Day - The Nash/Hogan vs. Piper/Giant bat match?

Kevin Nash & Hollywood Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper & The Giant - Baseball Bat on a Pole match - WCW Spring Stampede (1998)

It's the first day of Spring and that can only mean one thing: A Spring Stampede match is in order for today.

This match here is from Spring Stampede 1998, the year I started collecting WCW action figures apparently because every wrestler in this match looks exactly like the plastic form of themselves I had when I was growing up.

Despite the rules of the match, a tag team pole match where anyone who pulled down the baseball bat could use it anyway they wanted, Vince Russo was not working for WCW at this time. Even with the painfully bad "bat switch" towards the end of this match, I must remind everyone, Vince Russo was not working for WCW yet.

If you don't know who Vince Russo is, look up the San Francisco 49ers match, or the Viagra on a pole match, or the leather jacket on a pole match, or the Judy Bagwell on a pole match. The man loved his object(s) on a pole matches. Except for the last one there on the list, the Judy Bagwell one, she couldn't fit on a pole so they used a forklift instead. 

Match of the Day - Abyss chokeslams AJ through the ring with the power of Hulkamania

Abyss vs. AJ Styles - TNA Heavyweight Championship match - TNA Destination X (2010)

While there have been good encounters between Abyss and AJ Styles ( i.e. Lockdown '05), this is not one of those encounters. No, this encounter is in the thick of Hulk Hogan's takeover of TNA in 2010 starring heel AJ Styles taking on face Abyss. During this glorious downward spiral of TNA, "the future of TNA" AJ Styles was put under the wing of wheelchaired Ric Flair, while Abyss, you know - "The Monster" Abyss - was given the powers of Hulkamania by Hulk Hogan in order to dethrone Styles of Fortune (TNA's try at the Four Horsemen, I guess) and eventually become champion. Abyss's Hulkster power-up included a new Real American mash-up theme, a few bits of ketchup and mustard on his attire, and Hulk Hogan's Hall of Fame ring. Yep, Hogan gave his ring to Abyss rather than pawning it for some quick cash. Silly Hogan... it's not like he can get another one. Oh, just you wait.

Abyss and AJ have a pretty alright match that could have just been done and forgotten about. Instead, Abyss with his new found Hulkamania powers takes a page out of The Big Show (who also once pretended to be Hogan) and Undertaker's book and chokeslams AJ Styles through the ring. Technically, AJ's body just collapses the ring, but as the camera mistakenly looks down at AJ in the hole we see that he is being cut through the mat by some mysterious scissor people that reside under the ring.

So that's it, right? Abyss chokeslams AJ through the ring and wins the belt for the sake of Hulkamania? Actually no; since AJ is sucked down into the abyss, hah, and was unable to return, the match was thrown out just like when a champion walks out of the match in a last ditch effort to retain their title. Abyss wins the battle and AJ Styles retains his title, but the nonsense doesn't end there. As Hogan himself comes out to celebrate with Abyss, Ric Flair gets wheeled back out to confront Hogan who had kicked him out earlier in the match. The wheelchair bound Flair is then dragged into the ring by Hogan's monster, gets sprayed by some pepper spray, and flops around on the mat for a while until Desmond Wolfe comes out to save him. Wolfe does not save Flair, instead he gets beat down by Hogan and Abyss, pepper sprayed, and finally, trips over the selling-like-it's-gonna-win-him-another-Hall of Fame-ring, Ric Flair into the hole in the middle of the ring. In one final act of total nonstop acting, Flair does his best Shawn Michaels impression from Summerslam '05 and overly sells a fall into the hole with the already buried Desmond Wolfe and AJ Styles.

Theme results

Ring Destructions: Abyss hulks up and chokelsams AJ "through" the ring.

Match of the Day - The 1992 Royal Rumble match

The 30-man Royal Rumble Match for the WWF Championship - Royal Rumble (1992)

Considered by some as the greatest Royal Rumble match, the 1992 30-man battle royal was unique in that it was not just for a chance to take on the WWF Champion down the line, but a chance to immediately win the championship upon survival. It might sound easy enough, but with 29 other men, some of which never getting this opportunity again, it made for quite an all or nothing situation.

Watch this colorful spectacle before tuning in to the Royal Rumble tonight or watch this instead, either way watch this for one of the greatest Royal Rumble moments of all time. Enjoy!

Match of the Day - Duggan/Slaughter flag match for Flag Day

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Sgt. Slaughter - Flag Match - 2nd Annual Battle of the WWF Superstars (1991)

Hacksaw defends Old Glory against the ultra-heel Sargent Slaughter in his 1991 pro-Iraqi run; a time we'd like to forget.

It's a crazy match filled with lots of interferences, lumber, and camouflage.

Happy Flag Day!

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