Another round table discussion with J.R, Mike Graham, Dusty Rhodes, Pat Patterson and Michael P.S. Hayes and as you may have gathered the topic of discussion this time is Hulk Hogan and Bob Backlund.
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We start with a pure wrestler who held the world title for over five years. They roll a nice video package putting Backlund over as the best pure wrestler of the age, they note that Bob Backlund was never pinned or submitted during his title reign. They say Bob was passing the torch from one era to another, from purity and rock and wrestling.
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J.R. feels its unfair how people make fun of Bob's lack of charisma, Pat puts him over as a great wrestler and talks up being the only wrestler to wrestle four straight nights at the garden. We then go footage of Bob Backlund doing the step test. Graham talks about his dad falling in love with Bobby as soon as he met him. They talk about Bob Backlund being a work out freak and a physical monster. Tells a story about Bob Backlund knocking Buzz Sawyerr out cold in a training session.
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Dusty talks about wrestling Bobby, he was amazed a Bob's ability to adjust to different styles and what Dusty was doing. Pat Paterson says that no body could get Bob drunk he could drink anyone under the table. Skaaland his manager always used to try but never could. Apparently Bob was a really personal guy backstage. Bob loved the fans and he was a family man and he's highly interlectual.
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Why did Bob dissapear? Pat says he didn't think he could follow Hogan, Pat said he didn't travel like the stars today, they said Bob couldn't translate to the huge gimmick stage, he had no gimmick he was Bob Backlund in the ring and out. They then show the clips of Bob Backlund running for president, its pretty funny stuff. He wants everyone to save enough money so they can buy a dictionary, to augment their vocabulary. A computer society is a defunk society mentally, The Japanese people have a 100% literacy, there will be no Summer vacations.
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Bob Backlund apparently chose not to be in the Hall of Fame because he feels he has last run left in him. Backlund says he's in good shape and he feels he has a run left in him, not a match but a whole year run left in him. J.R. rips on Pat and then asks if he'd have one last match with Bob, but Pat say no he's done.
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The discussion now turns to Hulk Hogan and the video package is exactly what you'd expect it to be, the voice over says "questionably the greatest superstar in history", they then go to Hogan's hall of fame speech where Hogan talks about being just like superstar Billy Graham.
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J.R. said that thing that impressed J.R. best about Hulk Hogan's hall of fame speech is that he put over that he was a wrestling fan. Hayes says these days kids just get in it for the money. Pat said he did it because he love it not for the money. J.R. says Hogan loves to manipulate the crowd. Mike Graham went to school with Hogan and he went to school, and he and his mates you to beat the crap out of everyone at school and he tells an amazing story about Matosuta training Hogan. Hayes puts over Hogan's love and passion hard.
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They talk about Hogan transcends the entire business, Flair and Harley are the best, Pat says Hogan is his hero and Hayes and Dusty start singing. Hayes has a go about Verne Gagne for losing Hulk Hogan on a merchandising deal.
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They show some footage of Greg Gagne and they talk about how Hogan learnt to manipulate a crowd and how they convinced Hogan to do the shirt ripping bit. We then go to the end of the Hogan vs. Bockwinkel title match and Hogan's first win being reversed for throwing Nick Bockwinkel over the top rope.
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Dusty talks about the feeling of Hogan electrifying a crowd and it's really fascinating how he explains it and Dusty compares the feeling to the Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker match from No Way Out. They then roll footage of the Hogan vs. Rock match and talk about the way the fans chose Hogan. They then go to the next night on Raw where the ovation for Hogan lasted through the commercial break. Pat Paterson cried when Hogan lost to Warrior, Mike Graham cried for a different reason. Mike Graham complains about how Warrior wasn't worthy, Mike felt it sucks when Hogan lost his wrestlemania record to a bum.
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Pat Paterson didn't realize a babyface could be as big as Dusty Rhodes, and he'd never seen a character like Dusty Rhodes. They wonder if Dusty Rhodes could have done what Hogan did had he been the chosen one. Mike Graham thinks Dusty drew more than Hogan. No ones buying it. J.R. said he thanked Hogan for making sure he could provide for his family. They talk about how the Rocky Movie made Hogan a mega star.
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They say that Hogan will always have a place in the wrestling industry and he can never retire. They then go on to talk about Hogan being a manipulator. J.R. asks Hogan if the "WWE made Hulk Hogan or whether Hulk Hogan made WWE", wrestlemania was a crap shoot, WWE would have gone out of business if wrestlemania had failed.
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Roundtable Thoughts: Wow they put Hogan over so strong, it was very honest and very interesting, perhaps not as much fun as the previous two DVDs but it was fascinating none the less. You can really see how important Hulk Hogan is to everyone in the wrestling business and how vital his contribution was when you hear the reverence with which these legends talk. Not as fun and intriguing as some of the others but well worth a watch. (7/10)
There are also a fair few matches but I'll review them in due course.
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