Coliseum Video Presents:Hulkamania 6
by Scrooge McSuck
Having gone through a decent chunk of the Hulk Hogan related home video releases, I'm surprised I never got around to this one. This was released in November 1991, but we've got some odd picks that take us as far back as 1986! Sean Mooney is our host from their generic studio and it's dressed with a bunch of Hulk Hogan merchandise and memorabilia. Gotta shill "No Holds Barred" until the bitter end, I suppose.
WWF Championship Match:
Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer):
Taped on July 29th, 1991 from Worcester, MA. Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes are calling the action. Hogan rushes the ring and Taker starts putting the boots to him. He rips the shirt off Hogan's back and chokes him with it. Hey, that's Hogan's gimmick! Now he whacks Hogan with the title belt, and the referee is cool about it. Those shots are weak sauce, so maybe the referee doesn't feel like they hurt enough to justify the call. Hogan avoids a jumping elbow drop and starts choking Taker with the shirt, righting the balance of the universe. Paul Bearer picks the ankle as Hogan hits the ropes, allowing Taker to regain control. He connects with the Tombstone and it's time to HULK-UP! He unloads with the right hands and the big boot. Bearer gets involved again, but this time we get heel miscommunication and Hogan casually rolls Taker up to retain at 4:36. Just as casually, Taker pops up and leaves. It was short, so it was more watchable than their matches on PPV. *
Mean Gene Okerlund is on assignment, getting in on the fun while Hulk, Randy Savage, and Brutus Beefcake work out. This segues to footage from the Main Event in February 1989, where the Mega Powers EXPLODE! That leads into...
WWF Championship Match:
Hulk Hogan (c) (w/ Elizabeth) vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/ Sensational Sherri):
Taped on April 13th, 1989 from Paris, France. Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred calling the action, and Monsoon makes a fat joke about Pat Patterson for the hell of it. Savage hides on the floor, baits Hogan into a chase, then holds the ropes for him to get back in the ring. SENSATIONAL. Lockup and Hogan sends Savage to the canvas. Lots of stalling early on. Savage grabs a side headlock but is wiped out by a shoulder block. Sherri hops in the ring and blatantly joins in on a 2-on-1 attack. Is the referee not allowed to DQ Hogan opponents or something?! Hogan no-sells it, sends Savage out of the ring with an atomic drop and focuses his attention on Sherri. Savage pulls her to safety, but Hogan follows and slams them both face-first into the apron. Sherri gets a double helping because BABYFACES ABUSING WOMEN IS "COOL". Hogan continues to dominate until one of Sherri's distractions works and Savage knocks him to the outside with a high knee. Savage bombs away from the apron, then another inside the ring for a two-count. Savage with a LONG chin-lock that turns into a sleeper. Sherri trips Hogan up during a comeback, giving us the 5th or 6th time he gets physical with her. Savage with the loaded purse and it's HULK UP TIME. Elizabeth gets a free shot on Savage and has Sherri bumping for her outside the ring. Hogan with the running clothesline and leg drop to retain at 11:59. Post-match, Savage and Sherri get a double noggin-knocker for the hell of it. I can see why some of the more die-hard fans didn't like Hogan when watching matches like this. Kudos to Sherri for allowing herself to be the center of abuse, but it was way too much. Definitely a day-off formula from both men. *½
Suburban Commando advertisement, and of course one of the scenes is when Hogan and some kid are clearly playing After Burner but their description of it is something completely different.
Hulk Hogan vs. Stan Hansen:
What a weird match to include, based on the audience in 1991. Taped on April 13th, 1990 from the Tokyo Dome as part of a cross-promotion event. We've got Sean Mooney and Alfred back on commentary, so that should be fun. Lockup and neither man with the advantage. Hogan does his usual chain wrestling sequence that brings us to a shoving contest. Hogan with a drop toe hold into a front chancery. REALLY? FROM HOGAN?! They trade blows and eye rakes until Hansen dumps Hogan out. Hogan blocks the post and gives Hansen a taste instead, busting him open. Back inside, Hogan with a back suplex for two. He unloads on Hansen with kicks to the face, knocking him to the outside. An abdominal stretch doesn't work out as Hansen easily counters. They bring the fight to the floor again, with them brawling over the guardrail and Hogan slamming Hansen onto a table! Whip to the corner and Hogan charges in with a clothesline. Interesting that Hayes is painting Hansen as a babyface in this match instead of passing it off as typical WWF Hogan vs Monster Heel territory. Hansen gets a boot up in the corner and lays out Hogan with a shoulder block. Now it's Hogan getting tossed around on tables and gets bonked with a chair, busting him open. Hogan attempts to choke Hansen with his own bullrope and pays for it. Whip and Hogan counters the lariat with a running elbow. Hansen avoids the leg drop and jumps on top for a two-count. Whip and Hogan with a cross body press for two! Hogan blocks a roll-up, hits a charging Hansen with the big boot and AXE BOMBER~! gets three at 12:34. Definitely different from your typical WWF Hogan formula. Not a classic, but a good match to change things up. ***We get about a minute of "rare" footage of Hulk as a youth, and that leads us into the match from WrestleMania 2 against King Kong Bundy! What the hell is THAT doing on this tape?! It's most of the match, as well! Now we've really entered the territory of maximum recycling. I've covered the match in great detail in my WrestleMania 2 Re-Visit and it's a perfectly fine match that people dunk on in hindsight because Bundy wasn't as believable a challenger as far as taking the title off Hogan.
Highlights of Hogan visiting the troops that I think is lifted from the last episode of the Main Event, broadcast on February 1st, 1991.
Hulk Hogan vs. Gen. Adnan:
Taped on March 11th, 1991 from Pensacola, FL and featured on the Prime Time "Superstars and Stripes Forever" WrestleMania special. It's very rare to see Hogan wrestling on TV, so we're wasting it on Sgt. Slaughter's manager. Whatever, a match is a match. Adnan attacks with a thumb to the eyes and raking the back. Whip to the ropes and Hogan connects with a boot to the chest. He unloads with rights and comes off the ropes with a running clothesline (AXE BOMBER~!). Slaughter immediately puts an end to this nonsense and attacks Hogan with the Championship belt, triggering a DQ at 1:04. He continues to punish Hogan with the riding crop and slaps on a Camel Clutch as Adnan taunts Hogan with the belt. Pat Patterson and Rene Goulet try to resolve the situation and get poked with the flag pole. Just an angle to build last-minute interest for WrestleMania VII.Speaking of WrestleMania VII, we're getting the entire match between Sgt. Slaughter and Hulk Hogan! This turned out to be quite an easy tape to get through with all this recycled footage from previous WrestleMania's. Hogan gives chase on the floor. Lockup to the corner. Hebner breaks them apart, but they go right back to it until Hogan shoves Slaughter across the ring. Hogan with a side headlock and shoulder tackle, with Slaughter over-selling. Hogan follows him to the floor, but an Adnan distraction allows Slaughter to bop him with a chair. Hogan completely no-sells it, as does the referee for not calling for the DQ. Slaughter goes to the eyes and rams Hogan to the buckle. Hogan rolls away from an elbow and unloads with rights. Whip to the ropes and Hogan with a clothesline. Whip to the corner, he follows in with an elbow, and an atomic drop gets two. Whip to the ropes and Hogan with an elbow for two. Whip to the corner and Slaughter does his chest-first bump. Hogan with a running high knee, followed by a slingshot to the post. Hogan with a clothesline in the corner, followed by mounted rights. Hogan with a slam and a pair of elbow drops. He makes a rare trip to the top rope, but Adnan slows him down, and Slaughter slams him off. Slaughter with a clothesline, sending Hogan to the floor. Slaughter with more chair shots, in clear view of the referee, followed by choking with some ringside cables. Back in the ring, Slaughter with a back breaker for two. Slaughter continues to work the back and slaps on a Boston Crab. Hogan tries to muscle out, but resorts to hooking the nearby ropes. Slaughter comes off the top with a stomp across the lower back, but Adnan is distracting the referee for no good reason. Slaughter with another chair shot, and Hogan blades in clear view of the camera. Slaughter with the Camel Clutch. Hogan powers to his feet, not unlike a certain match from MSG in 1984, but Slaughter lets go and sends him crashing to the turnbuckle. He covers Hogan with the Iraqi flag, and it's HULK UP TIME. He tears the flag up, hits the three roundhouse rights, big boot, and leg drop for his 3rd WWF Championship at 20:23. Not an outstanding match, but considering the quality Slaughter was producing during his return, and the typical Hogan formula at the time, this was surprisingly decent. **½
Hulk Hogan & "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. Sgt. Slaughter & Col. Mustafa (w/ Gen. Adnan):
Taped on July 9th, 1991 from Edmonton, Alberta, and we're back with Mooney and Alfred for the final match of the tape. Slaughter sells having a shirt thrown at him. He unloads with forearms and Hogan cuts him off with a rake of the eyes. Hogan stuffs the shirt in the mouth and Slaughter takes his signature chest bump that sends him over the ropes. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER on the outside to remind us Mustafa is part of this match.. Duggan uses the 2x4 in clear view of the referee. Where's Jesse Ventura to throw a tantrum about this terrible referee work?! Duggan tags in and is immediately in trouble, doing his butt ugly flopping to sell punches. Mustafa with choking. Hogan suckered in, allowing a double-team. Mustafa with the softest choke I've EVER seen. Duggan and Slaughter smack heads, setting up the hot tag. Hogan with rights and the big boot. Adnan throws the powder in Hogan's face, but who cares, as he simply cradles Mustafa seconds later at 5:06. What a terrible nothing-happening excuse of a TV Taping Main Event. ΒΌ*Final Thoughts: What a weird tape, grabbing matches from all over the timeline of Hulk Hogan's WWF career. I wonder who was in charge of overseeing this video, because I can't think of anyone going "you know what our fans want? Hogan vs Stan Hansen!" It ended up being the best match on the tape, but I assure you, as a kid, I'm hitting fast-forward on that match and not thinking twice. The exclusive footage taped for the video makes up about 9 minutes of bell-to-bell time, and we pad over 30-minutes of the 105 minutes with matches from WrestleMania 2 and VII. Even if you're a die-hard Hogan fan, this tape is not worth the time. Strong recommendation to avoid.
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