Hulk Hogan actually Wrestling Properly for the Japanese Audience

28 comments

1. He had the freedom to do so. He was handcuffed in WWE

2. For all the arguments about puroresu’s historical lack of personality, Hulkamania beginning in Japan isn’t talked about enough.

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   Also I can’t help but think about the time the Hulkster begged Mama Hogan to call Terry Funk and ask for his paycheck after a Japanese tour because he didn’t believe the Funker when he said he wasn’t paid yet either but would get it to him when it came.

3. His match with Hansen at the Wrestling Summit joint show is maybe his best performance ever, he could turn it on when he wanted to. He just didnt need to for a lot of the time.

4. I don’t know why, but one of the few things I find enjoyable about Hogan is that he literally only showed that he could wrestle when he was in Japan. Everywhere else he was playing into the Hulk Hogan gimmick and not much else. But once he stepped into a Japanese ring dude turned into a machine for some reason.

5. Hogan was actually a decent wrestler, even in the early 90s when he was slowing down. It’s just that Vince always booked him to have his pattern match and never allowed him to show what he could do.

6. It’s funny, if he actually kept the Lariat for his finisher, the man would have wrestled alot longer or

7. Yo, this actually looks like a really good match. You know, unlike literally every Hulk Hogan match. He was never known as a worker over here.

8. AXE BOMBAAAH!

9. The bar w/Hogan’s usual work is so low that when he does some super basic moves he looks like the man of 1000 holds in comparison lol

10. Silly me in actually surprised at this lol a bit surreal to see him with actual wrestling moves

11. I’ve always considered the atomic leg drop a guilty pleasure. Something about it just fuckin works for me.

12. When I first saw his work in japan, my reaction was, “Holy shit he can actually wrestle?!”

13. The man pulled out an arm bar….

14. Fucking hell an enziguri

15. Hogan doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to read a crowd and work it to his advantage… when his ego didn’t get in the way. The guy knew how to draw.

16. Dude does a standing switch and all the sudden he’s Mitsuhara Misawa🤣

17. I was the originator of Japanese strong style dude. I saw a lil kid in the audience of 90,000 hulkamaniacs who said he wants to make it rain one day brother. I said you’ll be the best wrestler in the world if you go blonde like me Jack.

18. Given how much money SWS paid, he had to.

19. I love Hulk Hogan and I really love that he busted his ass in the ring when he came to Japan. Let’s not act like Hogan is the absolute best at the WWE Style. People pretend like Hogan doesn’t have good matches. His fight with Goldberg where Goldy beats him clean for the WCW Title is fucking awesome. Hogan vs Brock Lesnar is one of my favorite tv matches ever. Hogan vs Kurt Angle is a kick ass match where Hogan does the job too. Hogan vs Undertaker is a straight classic as well. but against Hansen and Inoki and Muta we see The Real Hulk Hogan

20. Oh my god, Hulk did an enziguiri…

21. Who the fuck is this guy?

    Ain’t no “Hogan” I’ve ever seen wrestler.

22. Hogan vs. Great Muta is my all time favorites.

    Now, per se. What if you put Roman Reigns in New Japan? What would his style be as opposed to what he’s currently doing in WWE?

23. Definitely showed some decent skill in Japan. Still one of the worst working punches though.

24. Holy shit… Hogan with a back brain kick!!!???

25. Hogan knew what the audience wanted. He could get away with being a cartoon because that is what American fans wanted to see.

    Japanese fan however wanted to see more actual wrestling. The guy was trained by Hiro Matsuda, so he could go if he needed to do so.

26. That flying knee looked brutal. I could of gotten behind this Hogan

27. Hogan was a master of doing exactly the bare minimum to get over in front of his audiences. So in Japan, this is what he needed to do. In the US it was just flexy flex, take your vitamins, and be a babyface in words and a heel in wrestling matches, see the eye rakes and the back rakes and hitting people with chairs.

28. Can I call dibs to repost this next week?