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

Royal Rumble Profile: Boris Zhukov

All time
Number of Appearances: 1
Best Performance: 18th

Worst Performance: 18th

Highest Draw: 10

Lowest Draw: 10
Longest Time: 2:33

Shortest Time: 2:33
Total Time: 2:33
Most Eliminations: 0
Total Eliminations: 0

1988 Royal Rumble
Entry Number: 10

Time: 2:33

Performance: 18th

Eliminations: None
Eliminated By: Jake Roberts and Jim Brunzell

Boris enters the match and that is about it. He is thrown over while his partner is arguing with refs about being let into the match. 

WWE Championship: The Iron Sheik

The Iron Sheik: December 26, 1983-January 23, 1984

The Iron Sheik challenged Bob Backlund to the title at Madison Square Garden on December 26, 1983. During the match, Sheik locked in his patented camel clutch on the injured back of Backlund, but he refused to submit. Arnold Skaaland, Backlund's manager, decided to throw in the towel. The referee awarded the championship to The Iron Sheik by submission. 

The Sheik would defend the title against greats such as Chief Jay Strongbow, Pat Patterson, and Tito Santana. Eventually he would drop the title to one of the greatest WWF Champions of all time, Hulk Hogan. 

Scores: 

Strength: The Sheik's reign was merely supposed to be a transitional reign between Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan. 1/10

Length: He held the title for 28 days. 1/10

Opponents: As stated above, Sheik defended his title against Pat Patterson, Tito Santana, and Chief Jay Strongbow, until eventually dropping the title to Hulk Hogan. This gets a low score because none of the opponents he defeated have held the championship before or will in the future. 1/10

Matches: He did not have any outstanding matches during his championship reign. 1/10

Final Score: 4/40=10% F

Update

I am no longer going to do a Power 25. I just got full time job and it is too time consuming. I will still be doing Pay Per View predictions and other columns every now and then. I am going to try to do the Royal Rumble and Championship profiles periodically more than I have.

My Power 25: Week of 10/21/12-10/27/12

Just another list because I am very busy again. If you agree or disagree with my rankings, please leave a comment. I noticed that I have over 1000 views, but I would like to know who actually reads this whenever I post. Also leave comments if you like the posts I do now (PPV Predictions, Power 25, Royal Rumble, WWE Championship) and what other kinds of posts you would be interested in reading. With all that out of the way, here is my Power 25:

25. Justin Gabriel (LW=Unranked)
24. Tensai (LW=22)
23. The Miz (LW=23)
22. Zack Ryder (LW=21)
21. Jinder Mahal (LW=24)
20. Prime Time Players (LW=19)
19. Heath Slater (LW=20)
18. Santino Marella (LW=18)
17. Brodus Clay (LW=16)
16. Layla (LW=15)
15. Wade Barrett (LW=17)
14. Kofi Kingston (LW=14)
13. Dolph Ziggler (LW=13)
12. Eve Torres (LW=12)
11. Antonio Cesaro (LW=9)
10. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara (LW=8)
9. Big Show (LW=11)
8. John Cena (LW=7)
7. Team Rhodes Scholars (LW=10)
6. Randy Orton (LW=5)
5. Ryback (LW=6)
4. Team Hell No (LW=2)
3. Alberto Del Rio (LW=4)
2. Sheamus (LW=1)
1. CM Punk (LW=3)

Goodbye:
David Otunga (25)

Hell in a Cell Predictions

Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship

Kofi is going strong after two wins in a row over The Miz. The Miz declares that Kingston is just a B-level superstar that only goes, "Boom! Boom! Boom" I think that hopefully The Miz's loss means that he will be put up in the main event level a little more. Hopefully Kofi's reign as Intercontinental Champions will help to bring him closer to the main event that he seems to dodge throughout his whole career. Since Kofi Kingston just won the title from the Miz, I am going to go with him winning. 

Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio

This has been a pretty one sided feud. With Randy filming his movie Twelve Rounds and only appearing a few times during this feud, I must say that ADR surprised me. Usually he bores me to tears. I am not a fan of him, and if I DVR an event I usually skip through his matches just to see who wins. I did pleasantly enjoy his mocking of Randy Orton on Smackdown. After all is said and done, I do not think that Del Rio will be able to overcome The Viper and Randy Orton will get the win.

Eve vs. Kaitlyn vs. Layla in a Triple Threat Match for the Divas Championship

 

Another surprise to the card. Not because I wasn't expecting the Divas to have a match, but because we have a Divas match that actually has an extensive story to it. After reading the blurb about this match on wwe.com there is another thing that is interesting about this match. Layla won the 2006 Diva Search, Eve won the 2007 Diva Search, and Kaitlyn won the 2010 season of NXT. To predict the winner I will automatically throw Kaitlyn out of the running. I do not believe she has a chance of winning this match. Eve just won the title not too long ago, and I do not think it is time for Layla to redeem it. On another note, I believe Kaitlyn will have a title run in her future now that Beth Phoenix is rumored to be leaving, Kelly Kelly left, and Kharma left. But, at Hell in a Cell Eve will be your winner to retain her championship.

Team Hell No vs. The Rhodes Scholars for the WWE Tag Team Championships

I am a huge fan of Team Hell No and I really like the direction the tag team division is going. I also really enjoy the Team of Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes. I am afraid that if Team Hell No loses the titles here they will be broken up and I do not think that is the smartest move. Both Daniel Bryan and Kane are main event level superstars, but the main event is very crowded right now. I think that the smart move is to keep them as a tag team until the time is right for one or both of them to move up. With that I predict that Team Hell No will retain their titles. 

Sheamus vs. Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship

This is not as easy to predict as some would think. On one hand, you have Sheamus who beat Daniel Bryan for the title at Wrestlemania in 18 seconds. On the other side, you have Big Show, who loss the World Title to Bryan in 45 seconds. There are multiple ways the WWE can go about with this match. Most of those ways don't even rely on the competitors in the match. Let's just say I do not see Big Show walking out of Hell in a Cell as World Heavyweight Champion. He could win the title, but he won't leave the champion. But, I am going to take the safe route and say that Sheamus retains his championship, but don't be surprised if Dolph Ziggler cashes in Sunday night.

CM Punk vs. Ryback in a Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship

The WWE have backed themselves into a corner with this match. At the end of the night, either CM Punk's 340+ day WWE Championship reign will be over, or Ryback's undefeated streak will be over. I think that it was too soon to put Ryback into the title hunt, but I understand that with John Cena's health it was a safe route to take. I just cannot see Ryback leaving as the champion. If this was not taking place in the cell, a no contest would be an easy way out. For some reason the WWE decided to make this match in a cell and backed themselves into a corner. I say that CM Punk will retain, but don't be surprised if Paul Heyman has some shenanigans with the match. Possibly bringing back Brock Lesnar.

 

My Power 25: Week of 10/14/12-10/20/12

Just a quick note: This is just going to be the rankings. I had a busy weekend and did not have enough time to do a full post, but I did not want have no post and cause confusion next week.

25. David Otunga (LW=23)
24. Jinder Mahal (LW=24)
23. The Miz (LW=18)
22. Tensai (LW=25)
21. Zack Ryder (LW=20)
20. Heath Slater (LW=21)
19. Prime Time Players (LW=19)
18. Santino Marella (LW=17)
17. Wade Barrett (LW=16)
16. Brodus Clay (LW=15)
15. Layla (LW=14)
14. Kofi Kingston (LW=22)
13. Dolph Ziggler (LW=12)
12. Eve Torres (LW=13)
11. Big Show (LW=11)
10. Team Rhodes Scholars (LW=10)
9. Antonio Cesaro (LW=9)
8. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara (LW=4)
7. John Cena (LW=5)
6. Ryback (LW=8)
5. Randy Orton (LW=7)
4. Alberto Del Rio (LW=6)
3. CM Punk (LW=2)
2. Team Hell No (LW=3)
1. Sheamus (LW=1)