There are very few figures in professional wrestling who have captured the imagination of fans quite like hulk hogan and The Last Warrior. Hogan was the defining star of WWE’s national expansion and Golden Era, not just the world champion for much of this period, but the undeniable face of the company that became a household name, even to people who didn’t. they followed sports entertainment.
Warrior was in the top tier of supporting players during this era: a colorful character who, in his heyday, stood alongside the likes of Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, and Ted Dibiase as icons fans immediately linked to this moment in wrestling. free. Hogan and Warrior had a particularly interesting relationship with each other, both on and off screen.
The history of The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan as on-screen opponents and partners
From the mid-1980s to 1990, Hulk Hogan was the top star in WWE and the babyface around which all other bookings revolved. Meanwhile, The Ultimate Warrior rose to become the clear number two main hero. While he may not have been as objectively gifted as an actor or in-ring conversationalist as several of his peers, the combination of his incredible looks, connection to the fans, and how well-protected he was in terms of wins and losses made him a big star
WWE set the stage for a dream match between these two at WrestleMania 6. Looking back, fans know that Hogan had a reputation for politicking behind the scenes, so it says something about Hogan’s belief in Warrior that he was on board. for this then rare. babyface vs. babyface matchup, let alone that he was willing to take Warrior down cleanly on the biggest stage possible. Fast-forward to 1998, Hogan kept his faith in Warrior as a draw by advocating for WCW to sign him and pick up the feud from him there (despite far less successful results in terms of storyline or combat quality).
Hogan and Warrior also found themselves allies in the stories more than once. WWE SummerSlam 1991 featured the two teaming up against Sgt. Slaughter and the Triangle of Terror Unit in a main event billed as The Match Made in Hell. Also, when Warrior returned from an extended absence, he went to save The Hulkster from a beating at the hands of Sid Justice and Papa Shango at the end of WrestleMania 8.
Real life tensions between Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior
Despite Hulk Hogan proselytizing that people should never get involved in a film set, he found himself in real life at odds with his onscreen rival, The Ultimate Warrior. It started after Hogan put Warrior up for the WWE Championship. There was a working theory that the two could co-star in WWE as main stars on the same level, which means double the viable headliners for house shows and double the merchandise sales. Warrior could also be someone to hold the fort while The Hulkster tested the waters in Hollywood.
As Bleacher Report documented, the situation between the two, as well as Warrior and WWE in general, began to deteriorate as Warrior resented making less money than Hogan. This came to a head when Warrior demanded what he considered back pay for not winning as much as he thought he should before working the 1991 SummerSlam main event alongside Hogan. As Vince McMahon discussed in WWE’s documentary The Self-Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior, he paid Warrior what he needed and then couldn’t wait to send Warrior home after working the announced match.
Speaking of the Self-Destruction documentary, Hogan was among a chorus of voices that slammed Warrior multiple times throughout the production, even blaming him for the flaws in his feud with WCW. That led to Warrior speaking out against Hogan in different shooting settings, and a war of words between the two ensued in the years that followed.
The final interactions between The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan
The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan crossed paths over the weekend of WrestleMania 30, the weekend Warrior agreed to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and less than a week before Warrior passed away. Hogan discussed in the most flattering documentary ever produced by WWE, Warrior: The Ultimate Legend, that they met on WrestleMania Sunday and made amends for their past issues.
Although the camera crew caught quite a bit of their exchange, mostly Hogan apologizing and Warrior accepting it, Warrior’s widow, Dana, would later question Hogan’s sincerity. In a formal statement and in an interview with HannibalTV, she suggested that Hogan was just trying to present a good image of himself. She specifically claimed that Hogan never offered his condolences to her, unlike other figures in the wrestling world, and that the kindness she offered him publicly was pure posturing.
Clearly, the relationship between Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior is a complicated one. For wrestling fans of a certain generation, their names will always stay linked. However, professional jealousy and personal slights drove a wedge between them, not to mention the nuance of Hogan’s sincerity in making peace with Warrior in his final days, a matter only Hogan himself can know the full truth about.