Refusing to lose to WWE legend, Faking injury - 3 times Hulk Hogan almost jeopardized other WWE Superstars career

Hulk Hogan's extraordinary talents and magnetic personality captivated fans worldwide, propelling him to unparalleled success in the sports entertainment industry.

The Hulkster greatly impacted the success of numerous wrestlers during his career. He played a significant role in boosting their careers, but unfortunately, some faced negative consequences due to his influence.

Hulk Hogan could handpick his opponents, which occasionally resulted in other brilliant athletes being overlooked. He occasionally failed to recognize the potential in certain wrestlers or felt intimidated by their presence, causing him to potentially jeopardize their careers.

Here, we will take a look at three such stars whose careers were almost jeopardized by the 70-year-old veteran:

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#3. Hulk Hogan refused to put over Bret Hart

At WrestleMania IX, Yokozuna emerged victorious over Bret Hart by using a sneaky tactic involving his manager, Mr. Fuji, throwing salt at Hart's face during the main event.

Bret was denied a rematch for the title following a controversial match. To make matters worse, Hogan somehow weaseled his way into a title shot and stole the belt from Yoko right after he had just won it. Hart despised this idea, and his anger grew when Hogan refused to drop the title to him months later.

Even when he was defeated, Hogan was always concerned about maintaining his image. Since Hart was smaller in size than the Hulkster and had recently been promoted to the main-event scene, he refused to drop the title to The Hitman. Instead, he dropped the title to Yokozuna due to outside interference, making him look strong in defeat.

That wasn't a lengthy detour, but it impacted Hitman. In his book, My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, Bret recalled the confrontation with The Hulkster.

"'You told me at WrestleMania IX that you'd be happy to return the favor, and as I understand it, now you don't want to even work with me; you won't put me over, and I'm not in your league.' Hogan stood there speechless, so I carried on. 'Well, you're right. You're not in my league. On behalf of myself, my family, and most of the boys in the dressing room, you can go f**k yourself!''' he wrote.

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#2. Faked an injury when The Undertaker Tombstoned him at Survivor Series 1991

It's a nightmare scenario when you're new to the company and accidentally injure the top star in your first main event.

At Survivor Series 1991, a 26-year-old Undertaker found himself in a similar situation. He went head-to-head with Hulk Hogan for the WWE Title. To everyone's surprise, The Deadman came out on top, securing the championship after hitting Hogan with a Tombstone onto a steel chair.

After the match, Hogan managed to trick The Phenom into thinking he had inflicted a significant injury on him. Hogan was yelling in agony behind the scenes.

Finally, The Undertaker caught sight of the tape days later and decided to approach Hulk Hogan. He addressed Hogan about his injury, stating that he never hit the chair. The Immortal then blamed the injury on The Phenom putting too much pressure on his head with his knees.

Being the gentleman he is, the legendary star decided not to drag the conversation, but he did learn about Hogan's true character. The Deadman recalled the event during a recent episode of The Six Feet Under podcast,

As soon as my knees touch, ‘Oh brother, you got me!’ and all of a sudden I hear Hogan go, ‘Somebody get my wife and kids on the phone!’ They take him off to the hospital. ‘Oh, I just crippled the Golden Goose; I’m done!’ It took a few years before I got to see the footage; his head never touched,” said The Undertaker.

He continued:

“Now there’s ‘This Tuesday in Texas’ pay-per-view I’m thinking, ‘Oh man, this is going to be my punishment; they’re [WWE top brass] going to take the title away from me!’ Terry shows up, and I was like, 'I watched the footage back; your head never hit!' ‘But you [The Undertaker] had me so tight that, when I came down, like, 'I didn’t have any room to move. It wrenched my neck!''' It let me know everything that I needed to know about who he [Hulk Hogan] was as a person.” [H/T KhelNow]

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#1. Refusing to lose to Shawn Michaels

The Heartbreak Kid and Hulk Hogan locked horns at SummerSlam 2005. It was a battle between two wrestling legends. However, it's largely remembered because Shawn Michaels oversold everything Hogan threw at him.

Initially, the idea was to have a three-match showdown between two virtuous characters, but Hulk Hogan had a change of heart. He opted for a more traditional clash between a villainous character and a hero. The original plan was for Hogan to emerge victorious in the initial match, paving the way for a rematch the following night on RAW, which Shawn Michaels would win.

During a Q&A session in the UK, HBK shared his thoughts on the incident. Mr. WrestleMania mentioned that he proposed a three-match rivalry that would culminate in a Cage Match.

“We were going to do a best of three, and in the last minute, [Hulk Hogan] backed out. So that day, and I will admit this. I poked the bear all day!” he said. [H/T EssentiallySports]

Things took a turn for the worse on the night of the event. Hulk Hogan revealed that, due to an injury, he would only compete in one match and emerge victorious. HBK was livid about it and decided to oversell every move. Hogan eventually won the game, but the match did not turn out the way he would have liked.