WWE WrestleMania XXX: What to expect from Hulk Hogan's return?
Hulkamania is back brother
For everyone who were stuck in any other planet without internet last day and for those who didn’t know it yet, just for the record
“The red and yellow is back, brother. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has returned to WWE and will host WrestleMania 30 on Sunday, April 6, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Hogan will make his long-awaited return to WWE on Monday’s Raw”
For a minority, this might be only a half bald old man returning to the biggest company in professional wrestling business while for the rest this is the moment they’ve been waiting for the last seven years.
Arguably the biggest star in professional wrestling history, Hogan always belonged in the WWE even during his spells at WCW and TNA most recently.
With Hogan nearing the twilight of his career and WWE on the doors of a big transition, there wouldn’t have been any better time for Hulkamania to run wild again. At his sixties Hogan is not going to get inside the ring and give epic matches against Daniel Bryan (Even though a Bryan- Hogan match tastes so good) but his presence itself will be a great boost to the company.
Best time for the return
The fans will get to see his signature shirt tearing antics and catchphrases yet again while the prospect of him interacting with the lights of Daniel Bryan, Shield, Wyatt Family and the newer breed takes the whole thing into another level.
Hogan will start off his latest spell on the historic Raw after Elimination Chamber where he is sure to steal the show to a certain extent. WWE would be wise enough not to make Hogan another just a guy on TV like TNA did, so his appearances will be limited on TV and would be saved for big occasions and high impact angles.
However after all this, hosting the thirtieth anniversary edition of WrestleMania will be the epitome of his return. His name itself is going to add an extra punch to the pay-per-view making it more colorful and worth looking forward too. We even know the fact that Hogan will surely go physical if some injustice comes across him.
Wait, what if Hogan returns as a heel?
The granddaddy of all heel turns
That will be another thing to keep an eye on as Hogan’s first heel turn still finds a special place in the wrestling history. Being unveiled as the third member of NWo on WCW was one of the best booking decisions that the deceased company ever made. The NWo then went on to become a cult figure which proves that Hogan is equally effective as a heel.
With everyone expecting Hogan to return as a babyface personality pulling the plug to the other side will surely make bigger headlines causing chaos all over the Internet Wrestling community.
The top baby faces in the company will have a new more big enemy as well to lock horns rather than been entangled with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon every week in and week out.
Prospects of seeing them together in one screen
Heel or face, the thing that will cap off his return to WWE will be the way that he will be used after WrestleMania.
The guy could fit into the role of a savior of SmackDown, which has been pushed backed heavily during the past few years. With the WWE network at their disposal, the company could easily make Hogan a hot authority figure at SmackDown being opposed by either a top face or a top heel depending on Hogan’s alignment.
Another thing that the creative could do is to make Hogan a face Authority figure in Raw. He would be a credible name to keep against Triple H and could help out Wrestlers like Daniel Bryan and John Cena from the clutches of the Authority. This would mark a great war of power between big names making it a sure ticket seller.
But the most exciting way to use Hogan would be to make him part of a new WCW invasion storyline as mentioned in the Road to WrestleMania XXX: Ideal path for Sting. The original invasion storyline didn’t have big names of the WCW like Hogan, Sting and Goldberg. But with Sting nearing an agreement with the company, this might be the best time to pull off Invasion 2.0.
Invasion 2.0
Sting and Hogan could lead the younger breed of wrestlers who were in WCW to invade WWE marking out an all-out war by sweeping the WWE fans with a WCW nostalgic wave.
The Network’s emphasis on the past will also aid the storyline which gives it all the platform to bring the crowd in.
Well that’s only a handful of things that you can do with Hogan, the fact is the creative have endless option with such a big name like him. And till the Hulkster makes his eventual return you never know what all could happen, you just never know brother.