5 times WWE stars turned down Vince McMahon's pitches

#2 Hulk Hogan refused to drop the WWE Championship to Bret Hart

The Immortal Hulk Hogan

The Immortal Hulk Hogan had a very illustrious career in WWE. He was a top babyface during his most dominant run in the company and even became a top heel in WCW as Hollywood Hogan.

Due to his stardom, Hogan had input on his booking in WWE, meaning he could refuse to lose a match if he wanted to, which is exactly what he did to Bret Hart. The Hitman was starting to grow more popular with fans. Vince McMahon thought it would be a good idea to have his top star drop the WWE Championship to Hart.

Hulk Hogan, however, didn't like the idea, and refused to lose to Bret Hart. Speaking on the matter, Hart stated:

“On May 29, [1993], Vince called me at home to tell me the big news that I was getting the belt back. What I didn’t expect to hear was that he was getting ready to call Hogan and hated the thought of telling him that he was too old and tired for a company whose marketing strategy was now based around a “new generation” concept. Vince wanted to make Hogan into the Babe Ruth of the WWF and use him as more of a special attraction. He asked me not to say anything until he had spoken to Hogan.”

Bret continued:

“Ten days later, Vince called again. He warned me that he was about to tell me something that would make me really angry: Hogan was flat-out refusing to put me over, saying I wasn’t in his league. Vince had decided that Yokozuna would be getting the belt instead. I couldn’t believe that Hogan would do this to me. I remembered him shaking my hand at WrestleMania 9, and telling me he’d be happy to return the favor. Vince said he’d have one more meeting with Hogan to try to sell him on it, but if he didn’t go for it, I’d work with Lawler at SummerSlam - instead.”

At WrestleMania 9, Bret Hart lost the WWE Championship to Yokozuna. After the match, Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna's then-manager, challenged Hulk Hogan to a title match against the newly-crowned champion. In less than a minute, Hogan won the match and became the new WWE Champion for the fifth time.