WWE Championship: Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan: January 23, 1984-February 5, 1988

Hulkamania was born on January 23, 1984 when Hulk Hogan beat The Iron Sheik for the WWF Championship with his famous leg drop. Hulk would go on to defend that title for four years. One of Hogan's famous matches as champion was when he defended against Nikolai Volkoff during a flag match at the second ever Saturday Night's Main Event. He also teamed with Mr. T to beat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff at the first ever Wrestlemania. He would also defend his title against Roddy Piper at The Wrestling Classic. 

At the start of 1986, Hulk Hogan fought challengers such as Don Muraco, Terry Funk, Paul Orndorrf, Hercules Hernandez, and main evented Wrestlemania 2 against King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match. In early 1987, Hogan was given a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three year and Andre the Giant was given a smaller trophy for being undefeated for fifteen years. Andre got jealous and was hired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his mouthpiece. Andre challenged Hogan to a match at Wrestlemania III. Hogan would go on to defeat Andre the Giant and even bodyslammed the 520 pound behemoth. 

Finally, during the first ever airing of The Main Event, Andre the Giant beat Hogan for the championship. After a belly to belly suplex, Earl Hebner counted Hogan's shoulders down for a three count when clearly his left shoulder was up. The rest of that story will be explained in Andre the Giant's championship profile. 

Scores:

Strength: Hulk Hogan defeated many of the great Heels of the time and even defeated the fifteen year undefeated streak of Andre the Giant. He only loss the title after a controversy caused by the referee. 10/10

Length: He held the title for 1474 days. 10/10

Opponents: He defeated many worthy opponents including Andre the Giant, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, and Nikolai Volkoff. 10/10

Matches: Now for the matches I will go to Scott and Justin's Pay Per View Reviews to get their scores on his Pay Per View Matches as Champion. I will also try to include some of their thoughts. 

Match 1: Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff at Wrestlemania 

Scott's Score: 3/5 This was the pinnacle of sport's entertainment at the time and Madison Square Garden exploded when Hogan got the pin on Orndorff. This match also set up three very important events: 1) Paul Orndorff's heel turn, 2)Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T at Wrestlemania 2, and 3)Many great Hulkamania moments at Wrestlemania. 

Justin's Score: 3/5 The wrestling wasn't great, but sometimes that isn't always what makes a wrestling match great. 

Match 2: Hulk Hogan defeats Roddy Piper by Disqualification when Bob Orton interferes

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 The crowd was hot and Piper didn't seem to care if he won the title. He just wanted to take out Hogan.

Justin's Score: 1.5/5 The match was just ok and a basic brawl. The main thing was that Piper kept his heat, but Hogan didn't lose the title. 

Match 3: Hulk Hogan defeats King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match at Wrestlemania II

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 This was a big win for Hogan and he first ever WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania.

Justin's Score: 2.5/5 A solid cage match with a great build up and some legit mystery over who the winner would be. 

Match 4: Hulk Hogan defeats Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 This is the biggest main event in professional wrestling history. 

Justin's Score: 3/5  Just an unbelievable match and storyline and blowoff, and its hard pressed to find anything like it throughout history

Match 5: Andre the Giant, Butch Reed, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, and Rick Rude defeat Hulk Hogan, Ken Patera, Don Muraco, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Paul Orndorff

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 The match was hot for the first few minutes, dead in the middle, and hot at the end. Has a crappy finish when Hogan comes out and hits Andre with the belt during his celebration of the win. 

Justin's Score: 2.5/5 The match is decent, the ending is exciting, but the end of the Pay Per View was poor with Hogan hitting Andre. 

Overall Match Scores: Hulk Hogan was never known to be a workhorse in the ring. Most of his matches were about storyline and that is why Scott and Justin rate them as high as they do. Hogan was great at getting the crowd on his side. 7/10

Final Score: 37/40=92.5% A