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Hulk Hogan is known for being part of major controversial decisions in WWE. There has been a trend where, if Hulk Hogan can get a win, he gets a win. However, at WrestleMania IX, when Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart thanks to his manager interfering when the referee was not looking, Hulk Hogan came out seemingly to console Bret Hart.
However, things would change soon after that, as instead, Hulk Hogan had an impromptu match then and there at the main event of WrestleMania against Yokozuna for the WWE Championship, and then won it. The decision for Hulk Hogan to come out of nowhere and win that title has been criticized immensely.
Recently, during his Grilling JR podcast (h/t 411 Mania), Jim Ross looked back on that moment and talked about it.
Jim Ross on the reason why Hulk Hogan beat Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX
Jim Ross talked about how the decision was made to put Hulk Hogan over at WrestleMania IX as a face needed to be put over a heel, and that was why it was decided that Hogan would take that role once Yokozuna had defeated Bret Hart. This also gave Yokozuna an excuse to lose, as he had already wrestled once that night, meaning that he was protected.
“It’s not anything new. Cowboy Bill Watts told me one time when he’d do something like that, he always gave the heel and the heel’s manager if he had one, an out and an excuse – I wasn’t ready, and this in case, he’d already had another match. The part about that was, Fuji would have a hard time language-wise explaining that. But that’s what the announcers are there for. The theory has been over the years in the territories, you have the big upset or a finish you didn’t perceive, but sometimes it’s better to beat your top heel – instead of having a match, it almost comes off like a fluke. Can it happen again? If they wrestle 10 times, is that the one time the babyface would go over? That was kind of the reason for it in that regard. If you only look at it from an isolation point of view, no, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But understanding the quick loss – the fluke – was a way to protect the heel as good as you could in doing the honors at an event like WrestleMania……some people may not understand or agree, but I thought it worked really good.”
Jim Ross went on to add that if Hulk Hogan winning is something that the viewer did not want, they would not like the angle. However, he himself did not hate it, but looking back on it, knowing that Hulk Hogan would soon leave WWE, he admitted that it could have been booked differently.
Hulk Hogan cutting a promo with the WWE Championship.
"If you’re not for Hogan becoming champion again, you’re not gonna be for this angle. I didn’t know the long-term plans at that time for Hogan and WWE, but obviously, it didn’t last long because he was gone a few months later. I didn’t despise the angle. But here’s the thing – you’ll draw a different opinion of the angle once you get down the road a bit and see Hogan leave two or three months later after King of the Ring. If down the road you know Hogan’s gonna be gone, you wouldn’t like the angle as much. At the time, hell, I didn’t know what they were gonna do."
Readers can also check out Sportskeeda's interview with Jim Ross here.
