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Hulk Hogan, the wrestling icon who made professional wrestling what it is today, died Thursday at the age of 71.
Hogan became Vince McMahon’s prized possession, as Hulkamania ran wild for decades in and out of the ring. Wrestling until the early 2000s, Hogan provided generations of fans with unforgettable moments.
WrestleMania VII – Real American
The patriotic Hogan faced a bout with Sgt. Slaughter, whose character was dubbed an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War.
During the match, Slaughter attempted to pin Hogan while holding the Iraqi flag, but Hogan kicked out and ripped it. Hogan then used the everlasting leg-drop to win his third championship, and waved the American flag in the ring as a celebration.
Bash At The Beach 1996 – The Heel Turn
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, with a mystery partner, were in a tag-team match against Randy Savage, Sting and Lex Luger at the Daytona Beach WCW event. To everyone’s surprise, Hulk Hogan came into the ring during the match, with many thinking he was there to support Savage, Sting and Luger.
However, out of nowhere, Hogan hit Savage with not one, but two leg-drops, revealing himself as the third partner, turning heel for the first time, and officially forming the New World Order (nWo). He then hit one more leg-drop before Hall gave the three-count.
Fans were so angry that they threw debris into the ring.
WrestleMania X8 – Icon vs. Icon
Hogan made sporadic appearances in the WWF, and then WWE, in the early 2000s, but as the company pushed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to be its next top star, The Rock came face-to-face with a legend.
The decibels in Toronto’s Rogers Centre reached that of Joe Carter’s walk-off home run in 1993, as the two came face-to-face, and infamously turned both ways to address the crowd.
Ultimately, The Rock came out on top, which is often a sign of respect to the older wrestlers in the business – but the two shared multiple embraces in the ring together and got the crowd going amid their sign of unity.
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