Bret Hart Vs. Hulk Hogan Actually Happened (& It Absolutely Sucked)

• Hulk Hogan was the face of WWE, with the Hitman next in line.
• At WrestleMania 9, Yokozuna beat Bret Hart for the title, only for Hogan to win it minutes later.
• Hogan dropped the WWE Championship back to Yokozuna at King of the Ring. 

The politics in pro wrestling have always been a tough place for those in the main event, especially babyfaces on the rise in the era in which Hulk Hogan was still atop the mountain. Bret Hart was the next individual receiving a major push to the main event scene in WWE, and it looked like he could well be the face of the new era for the promotion. With Hulk Hogan appearing less frequently and getting older, Hart was on the verge of taking the WWE Championship and embarking on his next journey as WWE’s top babyface. One way to propel him higher would’ve been a star-making win over Hulk Hogan, passing the torch from one icon to a future one.

Going into WrestleMania 9, Bret Hart was the WWE Champion and set to defend his title against Yokozuna. As revealed in his Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling book, Hart recalled Vince McMahon telling him the change in plans that would see Hart drop the title, only for Hogan to win it mere minutes later.

“This was not what I had expected. I sat there dumbstruck as he went on to explain how Fuji would screw me by throwing salt in my face, blinding me. After Yoko was handed the belt, Hogan would rush to my aid and in some kind of roundabout way Hogan would end up winning the belt from Yoko right then and there!”

The idea was for Hogan to give back the favor to Hart in the months following, dropping the WWE Championship to the newer babyface in order to elevate him, before parting ways with the company. Instead, Hogan opted out of this and dropped the title back to Yokozuna at the King of the Ring event that year. Hogan vs. Hart never ended up happening in WWE.

Hulk Hogan & Bret Hart Met Again In WCW

The Hulkster & The Hitman Crossed Paths Eventually

• Hogan left WWE and formed the NWO in WCW.
• In 1997, Hart left WWE and headed over to WCW as well.
• Despite backstage politics, Hogan faced big names like Sting, Ric Flair, and Roddy Piper.

Hulk Hogan’s loss of the WWE Title led to him heading to WCW, where he would eventually form the NWO and change the face of WCW forever (for both better and for worse). Hart went on to lead the line during the New Generation Era, working mostly as the top star for WWE and reigning several times as WWE Champion. With WWE’s business dropping and WCW on the rise, Hart was enticed by a new opportunity in WCW, leading to his WWE exit in 1997, which came alongside the infamous Montreal Screwjob.

Hart and Hogan were finally under the same roof once again, and WCW had the opportunity to do what wasn’t done in WWE - a dream singles match between the pair. If backstage politics were rife in WWE, they were more so in WCW, but that didn’t stop Hogan from still facing all the biggest stars in the company over the years - Sting, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, and more, all to varying levels of quality. Instead of a match on PPV, WCW ended up giving fans Hogan vs. Hart on free TV… but the match would be better off ignored.

Bret Hart Vs. Hulk Hogan In WCW Was A Disaster

Hogan & Hart Wrestled On A Random Monday Nitro

• Hart vs. Hogan didn’t happen on a WCW PPV.
• They wrestled on a random episode of Monday Nitro in September 1998.
• The match ended with a disqualification due to Sting attacking Hogan.

On September 28, 1998, Hart and Hogan were booked in a singles match on Nitro. The in-ring action was slow, lethargic, and far from their best, with Hart doing the majority of the heavy lifting. Hogan kept things remarkably simple, aside from pulling out a random Cross Armbreaker out of nowhere. It wasn’t quite what fans were expecting when these two major forces of nature came head to head, but it was not good in the slightest. To make matters worse, WCW’s marquee overbooking made its presence known.

Sting arrived to cause a no-contest, attacking Hogan… until Hart decided to turn his back on Sting too and beat him down, which proved to be an absolute mess creative wise and, as ever with WCW’s booking, lacked plenty of logic. After waiting for years, fans were given this travesty of a dream match between Hogan and Hart. It had no clean finish, no rematch, and no real feud to build from in order to make it succeed. Despite facing each other in WCW, Bret Hart vs. Hulk Hogan still very much remains a “what if” scenario.