"Audience didn't pay to see Hogan wrestle"- WWE veteran on criticism of Hulk Hogan's wrestling skills (Exclusive)
Al Snow shared his honest thoughts on Hulk Hogan's wrestling skills while picking out the winners for the first-ever Sportskeeda Wrestling Awards.
Hulk Hogan is one of the greatest superstars ever to grace a WWE ring. The Immortal One has been criticized over the years regarding his pro-wrestling skills.
Al Snow opened up about Hogan's career while speaking with Sportskeeda's Riju Dasgupta. Check out some excerpts from his comments below:
"What people don't realize and don't understand, in Hulk Hogan's heyday, an audience didn't pay to see Hogan wrestle, an audience paid to see Hogan be Hogan. That's like, Steve Austin is a very adept wrestler, he was Stunning Steve Austin in WCW. If you go back and watch, he was an incredible mat technician, but if you watch him as Stone Cold Steve Austin, he wrestles like a beer-drinking, kicking redneck would wrestle, which is kicking, stomping, punching, being aggressive... and you could believe in him because of the fact that he did wrestle the way you would expect that kind of a guy to wrestle. Same goes for Hulk Hogan," said Snow. [9:27-10:15]
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Hulk Hogan was the biggest attraction in pro-wrestling in the 80s
Hogan was a megastar in professional wrestling in the 80s. He had a distinct wrestling style with many over-the-top moves, which would always get massive pops from fans.
Hogan was a main event attraction in WWE at the time and didn't need to adopt a technical style like some of his peers did.
hulk hogan actually doing something cool for once in this match against ken patera https://t.co/TzEAHZcXy5
Hulk reinvented himself in the mid-90s by turning heel in WCW, witnessing another successful run. While he didn't change his flashy wrestling style after turning heel, Hogan added several heelish elements to his character.
When it came to in-ring skills, Hogan certainly wasn't on the level of someone like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, or Bret Hart. However, his larger-than-life character was more than enough to get people invested in him.
Do you agree with Al Snow's analysis of Hogan's wrestling skills? Share your views below!
Al Snow is part of the roster over at the Russo's Brand. Check out their website to learn more!
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