Hulk Hogan at Judgement Day, 2002.
Sounds like a once in a lifetime dream match doesn’t it? About 14,500 fans converged at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee expecting to see two stars collide.
Undertaker entered first followed by Hogan. As soon as the latter slid into the ring, The Deadman started hitting him with Hogan’s red and yellow leather belt, note that the bell hadn’t rung yet. Hogan got up, showing that the hits had not effect on him and reciprocated The Deadman’s actions, the bell rung after Hogan tossed the belt out of the ring.
This match didn’t produce the expected effect though. That, Hogan was far from his best and Undertaker wasn’t that great either. It was stupefying enough that Triple H dropped the title to Hulk Hogan right after winning it from Jericho at Wrestlemania 18.
Lack of any real action, poor selling on the part of both wrestlers and most notably the poorly executed chokeslam to Hogan made this match really painful to watch, especially considering what fans were expecting, given the promos and the legacy of the two wrestlers.
Right after executing his Atomic Leg Drop, Hogan looked over to the ramp expecting to see Vince McMahon come out and then again a few seconds later. Both these times, he didn’t.
Undertaker DDT’d Hogan and went out to get a chair whilst Vince was entering. While the referee was “distracted,” Hogan Big Booted the chair onto Undertaker’s face and then took care of the boss.
By that time, The Deadman got to his feet and struck Hogan with the chair while the referee was a just a few feet in front of them and tossed it away; a Chokeslam was all that was needed to pin Hulk Hogan.
J.R. even said “he got rid of the smoking gun”
