Vader vs. Hogan in WCW ’95
Since arriving in WCW during the summer of 1994, Hulk Hogan had been at the top of the promotion. Hogan had little trouble with Ric Flair, whom he defeated at Bash at the Beach in July to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan ended up also beating Flair at Halloween Havoc in October to “retire” his hated rival. With Flair out of the way, a new challenger needed to be found.
That challenger would be found in the form of the current WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, Big Van Vader. At Starrcade 1994, Vader was able to defeat Hogan’s buddy “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan to win the US championship. Also at the event, Vader confronted Hogan backstage and made it clear that he was issuing a challenge towards the World champion. The biggest challenge of the Hogan’s first reign as champion in the company.
They would first meet at Clash of the Champions XXX on January 25th, 1995. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage had just defeated the Butcher and Kevin Sullivan in the main event, when after the bout, Vader came out and would powerbomb the Hulkster. Hulk would actually no-sell the powerbomb, pop back up, and along with Savage send Vader to the arena floor. Considering that the Powerbomb was Vader’s finishing move, having Hulk no-sell the move prior to their first pay per view match is just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Why not just have Vader lay Hogan out???
Their first singles match would take place at Superbrawl V on February 19th, 1995. Hogan wasn’t greeted with an overwhelming positive reaction, which made for an interesting atmosphere. They would battle for fifteen minutes until Hogan retained the championship via disqualification. Since Hogan no-sold Vader’s finish the month prior, Vader returned the favor by kicking out of the leg drop at a count of one! It was actually a good match, and the DQ finish was needed to keep the feud going. Oh, the DQ was because Ric Flair got involved and attacked Hogan. Yeah, retirement angles never last in wrestling.
The Renegade. The “ultimate surprise” at WCW Uncensored 1995.
Seemingly not strong enough to face Vader on his own, Hogan teased having the “ultimate surprise” for Vader at Uncensored on March 19th. The tease made some believe that it was in fact the Ultimate Warrior coming to WCW. That wasn’t quite the case. At Uncensored, Vader would get another shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the pay per view. The match would be contested under a stipulation, though. The stipulation being the ridiculously named “YAPAPI” strap match. Check out the terrible promo below.
In what was one of the most confusing and idiotic booking decisions in WCW history, Hogan would retain the title. The way he retained? Hogan ended up manhandling a interfering Ric Flair and was able to drag Flair around the ring and touch all four corners. What is idiotic about the whole situation is that Flair wasn’t booked in the match and was actually, in storyline, retired. So, there was no reason for this. If you don’t want Vader or Hogan to lose, you shouldn’t book the angle. Somehow Hogan won the match by defeating an illegal opponent.
Moving on to Slamboree 1995 on May 21st, Vader would team with Ric Flair to take on Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Of course, Hogan and Savage went over as Hogan pinned Flair after a leg drop. At least they are protecting Vader, right?
They wouldn’t wrestle at the Great American Bash in June ’95, though they would have a segment on the Main Event prior to the pay per view. Vader would get physical with WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel, claiming to be fed up with what was going on. This led to Hogan attacking him from behind before other babyfaces stepped in.
Cover for WCW Bash at the Beach 1995
In the blow off to their feud, Hogan and Vader squared off at Bash at the Beach on July 16th, 1995. What I find humorous is that the show took place on an actual beach. Free of charge. Zero money being earned for the company. The match this time around took place inside a steel cage. Hogan was able to secure the win after he escaped the cage by climbing out over the top. Afterwards, Vader would begin a babyface turn as Flair came out to berate him for losing the match. The face turn would never completely materialize as Vader would be fired a few months later for an altercation involving Paul Orndorff backstage.
Bob’s Thoughts:
The feud started off rather promising between Hogan and Vader, but Hogan’s seemingly refusal to drop the title hurt this one pretty badly. In my opinion, Hogan should have dropped the strap to Vader at Superbrawl V. Hogan would have held the belt from July 1994 to February 1995, which is a decent run. Vader could’ve worked with a guy like Savage at Uncensored 1995 while Hogan took two months off. Then, Hogan returns at Great American Bash 1995 and reclaims the gold from Vader inside the cage a month earlier than he did. Mainly, so there can be a gate for the event instead of making it a free event at a Baywatch Taping.
WCW was protecting Vader throughout the feud, which can be appreciated, but it damaged the feud a great deal. Plus, the treatment of Ric Flair during the feud was just awful. The things he had to do for the company in 1995 would make anyone depressed and not feel appreciated at all.
This should have been a huge feud for the company and I really feel like this should have been a time when Hogan was chasing the championship. While Vader was protected, he wasn’t made out to look strong at all. So, it is probably a good thing that he was fired and went to the WWF in early 1996.
I’m giving the overall feud a thumbs down. A big waste of an opportunity.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the feud below!
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