Hulk Hogan

Hollywood Hulk Hogan

Mr. America

Hulk Machine

Hogan wrestled his first match in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on November 17, 1979, defeating Harry Valdez on *Championship Wrestling*. He made his first appearance at Madison Square Garden, defeating Ted DiBiase after a bearhug. At this time, Hogan wrestled Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship, and he started his first big feud with André the Giant, which culminated in a match with André at Shea Stadium in August 1980. During his initial run as a villain in the WWF, Hogan was paired with "Classy" Freddie Blassie, a wrestler-turned-manager. Soon thereafter, however, Hogan would leave the WWF.

Hogan made his debut in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), owned by Verne Gagne, in 1981. Hogan started his AWA run as a villain, taking on "Luscious" Johnny Valiant as his manager. This did not last for long as the AWA fans fell in love with Hogan's presence and Hogan became the top fan favorite of the AWA, battling the Heenan Family and Nick Bockwinkel.

Hogan's turn as a fan favorite came at the end of July 1981, when during a television taping that aired in August, Jerry Blackwell, after suffering a pinfall loss to Brad Rheingans, began beating down Rheingans and easily fighting off anyone who tried to run in for the save; however, Hogan ran in, got the upper hand and ran Blackwell from the ring. Hogan was eventually victorious in his feud with Blackwell and by the end of 1981, gained his first title matches against Bockwinkel.

After purchasing the WWF from his father in 1982, Vincent K. McMahon had plans to expand the territory into a nationwide promotion, and he handpicked Hogan to be the company's showpiece attraction due to his charisma and name recognition. Hogan made his return at a television taping in St. Louis, Missouri on December 27, 1983 defeating Bill Dixon.

On the January 7, 1984 episode of *Championship Wrestling*, Hogan confirmed his fan favorite status for the WWF fans by saving Bob Backlund from a three-way assault by The Wild Samoans. Hogan's turn was explained simply by Backlund: "He's changed his ways. He's a great man. He's told me he's not gonna have Blassie around". The storyline shortcut was necessary because less than three weeks later on January 23, Hogan won his first WWF World Heavyweight Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik (who had Blassie in his corner) in Madison Square Garden. The storyline accompanying the victory was that Hogan was a "last minute" replacement for the Sheik's original opponent Bob Backlund, and became the champion by way of being the first man to escape the camel clutch (the Iron Sheik's finishing move). The backstage story was that then-champion Bob Backlund had refused to let Hogan win the title from him, demanding that any wrestler to whom he lost the title have a legitimate wrestling background. As a consequence, The Iron Sheik won the title from Backlund first and then dropped it to Hogan.

Immediately after the title win, commentator Gorilla Monsoon proclaimed: "Hulkamania is here!". Hogan frequently referred to his fans as "Hulkamaniacs" in his interviews and introduced his three "demandments": training, saying prayers, and eating vitamins. Hogan's ring gear developed a characteristic yellow-and-red color scheme; his ring entrances involved him ritualistically ripping his shirt off his body, flexing, and listening for audience cheers in an exaggerated manner.

Over the next year, Hogan became the face of professional wrestling as McMahon pushed the WWF into a pop culture enterprise with The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection on MTV, drawing record houses, pay-per-view buyrates, and television ratings in the process. The centerpiece attraction for the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, Hogan teamed with Mr. T to defeat his archrival "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff when "Cowboy" Bob Orton, who had been in the corner of Piper and Orndorff, accidentally caused his team's defeat by knocking out Orndorff after he jumped from the top turnbuckle and hit him in the back of the head with his arm cast in a shot meant for Hogan. On *Saturday Night's Main Event I*, Hogan successfully defended the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Orton in a match that Hogan won by disqualification.

On *Saturday Night's Main Event II*, he successfully defended the title against Nikolai Volkoff in a flag match. He met long-time rival Roddy Piper in a WWF title match at the Wrestling Classic pay-per-view event. Hogan retained the title by disqualification after Bob Orton interfered and hit Hogan with his cast. Hogan had many challengers in the way as the new year began. Throughout 1986, Hogan made successful title defenses against challengers such as Terry Funk, Don Muraco, King Kong Bundy (in a steel cage match at WrestleMania 2), Paul Orndorff, and Hercules Hernandez.

In the fall of 1986, Hogan occasionally wrestled in tag team matches with The Machines as **Hulk Machine** under a mask. At WrestleMania III in 1987, Hogan was booked to defend the title against André the Giant, who had been the sport's premier star and was pushed as undefeated for the previous fifteen years. A new storyline was introduced in early 1987; Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three consecutive years. André the Giant, who was Hogan's good friend, came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterward, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in the WWF for 15 years". Hogan came out to congratulate André, who walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of *Piper's Pit*, Hogan was confronted by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, who announced that André was his new protégé, and Andre challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, where Hogan successfully defended the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant. During the match, Hogan hit a body slam on the 520-pound André (which was dubbed "the bodyslam heard around the world") and won the match after a leg drop.

Hogan remained WWF World Heavyweight Champion for four years (1,474 days). In front of 33 million viewers, however, Hogan finally lost the title to André on *The Main Event I* after a convoluted scam involving "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Earl Hebner (who assumed the place of his twin brother Dave Hebner, the match's appointed referee). After André delivered a belly to belly suplex on Hogan, Hebner counted the pin while Hogan's left shoulder was clearly off the mat. After the match, André handed the title over to DiBiase to complete their business deal. As a result, the WWF World Heavyweight Championship was vacated for the first time in its 25-year history because then WWF President Jack Tunney decreed the championship could not be sold from one wrestler to another. At WrestleMania IV, Hogan participated in a tournament for the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship to regain it; he and André were given a bye into quarter-finals, but their match resulted in a double disqualification. Later that night in the main event, Hogan came to ringside to stop André interfering which helped "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeat Ted DiBiase to win the title.

Together, Hogan, Savage, and manager Miss Elizabeth formed a partnership known as The Mega Powers. After Savage became WWF World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania IV, they feuded with The Mega Bucks (André the Giant and Ted DiBiase) and defeated them at the main event of the first SummerSlam. They then went on to feud with Slick's Twin Towers: Akeem and Big Boss Man.

In mid-1988, Hogan wrestled at house shows in singles competition with his "War Bonnet", a red and yellow gladiator helmet with a fist-shaped crest. This was notably used to give Bad News Brown his first WWF loss at a Madison Square Garden house show before it was discarded altogether.

The Mega Powers began to implode due to Savage's burgeoning jealousy of Hogan and his paranoid suspicions that Hogan and Elizabeth were more than friends. At the Royal Rumble in 1989, Hogan eliminated Savage from the Royal Rumble match while eliminating Bad News Brown, which caused tension, only to be eliminated by The Twin Towers himself. In early 1989, the duo broke up while wrestling The Twin Towers on *The Main Event II*, when Savage accidentally collided with Miss Elizabeth during the match, and Hogan took her backstage to receive medical attention, temporarily abandoning Savage, who slapped Hogan and left the ring, where Hogan eventually won the match by himself. After the match, Savage attacked Hogan backstage, which started a feud between the two. Their feud culminated in Hogan beating Savage for his second WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania V.

Hogan's second run in 1989 lasted a year, during which he defended the title in two matches against Savage in April that he lost both times by count-out, before defeating The Big Boss Man in a steel cage match on *Saturday Night's Main Event XXI*, which was aired on May 27. In May, Hogan retained the title by losing once again by count-out against Savage. This was also the last time the WWF World Heavyweight Championship was referred to as such during a televised title defense, as Hogan's next successful title defense against The Honky Tonk Man on *Saturday Night's Main Event XXII* saw the title being renamed and referred simply as the WWF Championship. Also during Hogan's second reign as champion, he starred in the movie No Holds Barred, which was the inspiration of a feud with Hogan's co-star Zeus, who appeared at wrestling events as an "unstoppable monster" who was "jealous" over Hogan's higher billing and wanted revenge. However, Hogan was easily able to defeat Zeus in a series of matches across the country during late 1989, beginning with a tag team match at SummerSlam, in which Hogan and Brutus Beefcake topped Zeus and Savage. Hogan and Zeus would later meet at the Survivor Series, where the "Hulkamaniacs" faced the "Million Dollar Team"; in the early part of the match, Hogan put Zeus over by hitting him with everything to no effect before Zeus then dominated Hogan until Zeus was disqualified by referee Dave Hebner. Hogan and Beefcake then defeated Zeus and Savage in a rematch at the No Holds Barred pay-per-view to end the feud. Hogan also had defeated Savage to retain the WWF Championship in their official WrestleMania rematch on October 10, at United Kingdom-only pay-per-view First WWF UK Event at London Arena. During his second reign as the WWF Champion, Hogan won the 1990 Royal Rumble match, before dropping the title to then Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior in a title versus title match at WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990.

Hogan soon became embroiled in a heated feud with the 468-pound Earthquake, who had crushed Hogan's ribs in a sneak attack on *The Brother Love Show* in May 1990. On television, announcers explained that Hogan's injuries and his WrestleMania VI loss to Warrior both took such a huge toll on his fighting spirit that he wanted to retire. Hogan returned by SummerSlam, and he for several months dominated Earthquake in a series of matches across the country. His defeat of this overwhelmingly large foe caused Hogan to add a fourth demandment – believing in yourself, and he also became known as "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan. Hogan became the first wrestler to win two Royal Rumble matches in a row, as he won the 1991 Royal Rumble match. At WrestleMania VII, Hogan stood up for the United States against Sgt. Slaughter, defeating him for his third WWF Championship, and then defeating him again in the rematch at United Kingdom-only pay-per-view UK Rampage at London Arena. In the fall of 1991, Hogan was challenged by Ric Flair, who recently arrived in the WWF. The feud remained unresolved, as Hogan lost the WWF Championship to The Undertaker at Survivor Series, but won it back at This Tuesday in Texas six days later. Flair had interfered in both matches and due to the resulting controversy, the title was again declared vacant. The WWF Championship was decided at the 1992 Royal Rumble in the Royal Rumble match, but Hogan failed to regain the championship as he was eliminated by friend Sid Justice and in turn caused Sid to be eliminated, leaving Flair the winner and new champion. Hogan and Sid patched things up and teamed together on *Saturday Night's Main Event XXX* against Flair and Undertaker, but during the match Sid abandoned Hogan, starting their feud. At WrestleMania VIII, Hogan defeated Sid via disqualification due to interference by Sid's manager Harvey Wippleman. Hogan was then attacked by Papa Shango and was saved by the returning Ultimate Warrior.

Hogan returned to the WWF in February 1993, helping out his friend Brutus Beefcake in his feud with Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase), and officially renaming themselves The Mega-Maniacs, taking on Money Inc.'s former manager "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart as their manager in what was the first time WWF audiences had seen Hart as a fan favorite. At WrestleMania IX, Hogan and Beefcake took on Money Inc. for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Hogan went into the match sporting a cut above a black eye. The WWF used Hogan's injury in a storyline that had DiBiase allegedly paying a group of thugs in a failed attempt to take Hogan out before WrestleMania. Later that night, Hogan won his fifth WWF Championship by pinning Yokozuna only moments after Yokozuna had defeated Bret Hart.

At the first annual King of the Ring pay-per-view on June 13, Hogan defended the championship against the former champion Yokozuna in his first title defense since defeating him at WrestleMania IX. Yokozuna kicked out of Hogan's signature leg drop and scored the pinfall win after Hogan was blinded by a fireball shot by a "Japanese photographer" (actually a disguised Harvey Wippleman). The victorious Yokozuna proceeded to give Hogan a Banzai Drop. This was Hogan's last WWF pay-per-view appearance until 2002, as both he and Jimmy Hart were preparing to leave the promotion. Hogan continued his feud on the international house show circuit with Yokozuna until August 1993. After that, Hogan sat out the rest of his contract which expired later that year.

In June 1994, Hogan signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He began appearing on television the next month, when he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his debut match, defeating Ric Flair in a "dream match" at Bash at the Beach. Hogan continued his feud with Flair (who defeated him by count-out on the *Clash of the Champions XXVIII*, thus Hogan retained the title), which culminated in a steel cage match (with Flair's career on the line and Mr. T as the special guest referee) that Hogan won. After Hogan headlined WCW's premier annual event Starrcade (Starrcade: Triple Threat) in December 1994 by defeating The Butcher for the title, his next feud was against Vader, who challenged him for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at SuperBrawl V, where Hogan won by disqualification after the returning Flair's interference. Hogan then defeated Vader (who was managed part-time by Flair) in a non-title leather strap match at Uncensored. Because of the controversial ending caused once again by Flair at Uncensored, Hogan's feud with Vader culminated in a steel cage match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Bash at the Beach, where Hogan won by escaping the cage. After successfully retaining the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Big Bubba Rogers and Lex Luger in two separate matches on *Nitro* in September 1995. Hogan feuded with The Dungeon of Doom, which led to a WarGames match at Fall Brawl where Hogan's team (Lex Luger, Randy Savage, and Sting) won. Hogan's fifteen-month title reign (which is the longest WCW World Heavyweight Championship reign in the title history at 469 days) ended when he dropped the title to The Giant at Halloween Havoc via disqualification.

Following the controversial loss (which was due to a "contract clause"), the WCW World Heavyweight Championship became vacant and a new champion to be crowned in a 60-man three-ring battle royal at World War 3, where The Giant cost Hogan the title. This led to a steel cage match between Hogan and The Giant at SuperBrawl VI, where Hogan won to end their feud. In early 1996, Hogan reformed The Mega Powers with Randy Savage to feud with "The Alliance to End Hulkamania", which culminated at Uncensored in a Doomsday Cage match that Hogan and Savage won. After coming out victorious from his feuds, Hogan began to only appear occasionally on WCW programming.

At Bash at the Beach in 1996, during a six-man tag team match pitting The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) against WCW loyalists, Hogan interfered on behalf of Nash and Hall, attacking Randy Savage, thereby becoming a villainous character for the first time in nearly fifteen years. After the match, Hogan delivered a promo, accosting the fans and WCW for under-appreciating his talent and drawing power, and announcing the formation of the New World Order (nWo). The new stable gained prominence in the following weeks and months. Hogan grew a beard alongside his famous mustache and dyed it black, traded his red and yellow garb in for black and white clothing, often detailed with lightning bolts, and renamed himself **"Hollywood" Hulk Hogan** (often shortened to Hollywood Hogan). Hogan won his second WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Hog Wild defeating The Giant for the title. He spray painted "nWo" across the title belt, scribbled across the nameplate, and referred to the title as the "nWo title". Hogan then started a feud with Lex Luger after Luger and The Giant defeated Hogan and Dennis Rodman in a tag team match at Bash at the Beach.

On the August 4, 1997 episode of *Nitro*, Hogan lost the title to Luger by submission. Five days later at Road Wild, Hogan defeated Luger to regain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan then lost the title to Sting in a match at Starrcade. In the match, WCW's newly contracted Bret Hart accused referee Nick Patrick of fast-counting a victory for Hogan and had the match restarted – with himself as referee. Sting later won by submission. After a rematch the following night on *Nitro*, where Sting controversially retained the title, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship became vacant. Sting went on to win the vacant title against Hogan at SuperBrawl VIII, and Hogan then developed a rivalry with former friend (and recent nWo recruit) Randy Savage, who had just cost Hogan the title match at SuperBrawl by hitting him with a spray can. The feud culminated in a steel cage match at Uncensored, which ended in a no contest. Savage took the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Sting at Spring Stampede, while Hogan teamed with Kevin Nash to take on Roddy Piper and The Giant in the first-ever bat match.

Hogan betrayed Nash by hitting him with the bat and then challenged Savage the following night on *Nitro* for the world title. In the no disqualification match for Savage's newly won title, Nash entered the ring and hit a powerbomb on Hogan as retribution for the attack the previous night, but Bret Hart interfered moments later and jumped in to attack Savage and preserve the victory for Hogan, who won his fourth WCW World Heavyweight Championship. However, Nash's attack on him signified a split of the nWo into two separate factions – Hogan's became nWo Hollywood and Nash's became nWo Wolfpac – that feuded with each other for the remainder of the year. Hogan defended the title until July of that year, when WCW booked him in a match against newcomer and then WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Goldberg, who had yet to lose a match in the company. Late in the match, Hogan was distracted by Karl Malone, and Goldberg pinned Hogan to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

Hogan spent the rest of 1998 wrestling celebrity matches: his second tag team match with Dennis Rodman pitted them against Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone at Bash at the Beach, and at Road Wild he and Eric Bischoff lost to Page and Jay Leno thanks to interference from Kevin Eubanks. Hogan also had a rematch with The Warrior at Halloween Havoc, where his nephew Horace aided his victory.

After some time off from WCW, Hogan returned on the January 4, 1999, episode of *Nitro* to challenge Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship which Hogan won for the fifth time. As a result, the warring factions of the nWo reunited into one group, which began feuding with Goldberg and The Four Horsemen.

Hogan lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to Ric Flair at Uncensored in a steel cage First Blood match. Later, Hogan was severely injured in a Texas tornado match for the world title featuring him, Diamond Dallas Page, Flair, and Sting at Spring Stampede. On the July 12 episode of *Nitro*, Hogan made his return as a fan favorite for the first time in three years and accepted an open challenge from Savage, who had gained the world title at Bash at the Beach the night before in a tag team match by pinning Kevin Nash. Thanks to interference from Nash, Hogan defeated Savage to win his sixth and final WCW World Heavyweight Championship. However, Nash turned on him the next week, and the two began a feud that lasted until Road Wild.

On August 9, 1999, Hogan started the night dressed in the typical black and white, but after a backstage scene with his son came out dressed in the traditional red and yellow for his main event six-man tag team match. Hogan then defeated Nash in a retirement match at Road Wild to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Injuries and frustrations were mounting up however, and he was absent from television from October 1999 to February 2000. On October 24 at Halloween Havoc, Hogan was to face Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. However, Hogan came to the ring in street clothes, lay down for the pin, and left the ring.

Soon after his return in February 2000, at Bash at the Beach on July 9, Hogan was involved in a controversial work with Vince Russo. Hogan was scheduled to challenge Jeff Jarrett for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. When the bell rang, Jarrett lay down in the middle of the ring while Russo threw the WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt in the ring and yelled at Hogan from ringside to pin Jarrett. A visibly confused Hogan complied with a foot on Jarrett's chest. After winning and being announced as the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Hogan immediately took the WCW title belt. Since Hogan refused to job to Jarrett, a new WCW World Heavyweight Championship was created, setting the stage for a title match between Booker T and Jarrett later that night. It was the last time Hogan was seen in WCW.

At No Way Out in February 2002, Hogan returned to the WWF. Returning as leader of the original nWo with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, the three got into a confrontation with The Rock and cost Stone Cold Steve Austin a chance at becoming the Undisputed WWF Champion against Chris Jericho in the main event. The nWo feuded with both Austin and The Rock, and Hogan accepted The Rock's challenge to a match at WrestleMania X8, where Hogan asked Hall and Nash not to interfere, wanting to defeat The Rock by himself. Despite the fact that Hogan was supposed to be the villain in the match, the crowd cheered for him heavily. The Rock cleanly won the contest, and befriended Hogan at the end of the bout and helped him fight off Hall and Nash, who were upset by Hogan's conciliatory attitude. After the match, Hogan was a definite fan favorite again, siding with The Rock, though he continued wearing black and white tights for a few weeks after WrestleMania X8 until he resumed wearing his signature red and yellow tights. During this period, the "Hulk Rules" logo of the 1980's was redone with the text "Hulk Still Rules", and Hogan also wore the original "Hulk Rules" attire twelve years earlier, when he headlined WrestleMania VI at the same arena, in the SkyDome. For a time, he was still known as "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, notably keeping the Hollywood Hogan style blond mustache with black beard while wearing Hulkamania-like red and yellow tights and using the "Voodoo Child" entrance theme music he used in WCW. On April 4, Hogan feuded with Triple H and defeated him for the Undisputed WWF Championship and sixth and final WWF Championship at Backlash, thus becoming the last ever WWF Champion before the change to WWE.

On May 19 at Judgment Day, Hogan lost the title to The Undertaker. After losing a number one contender match for the WWE Undisputed Championship to Triple H on June 6, Hogan began feuding with Kurt Angle resulting in a match between the two at King of the Ring, which Angle won by submission. On the July 4 episode of *SmackDown!*, Hogan teamed with Edge to defeat Billy and Chuck and capture the WWE Tag Team Championship for the first time. They celebrated by waving the American flag as the overjoyed audience sang along to Hogan's theme song "Real American". They later dropped the titles to The Un-Americans (Christian and Lance Storm), at Vengeance. In August 2002, Hogan was used in an angle with Brock Lesnar, culminating in a main event singles match, which Lesnar won by submission (the match was called after Hogan became unconscious from a bear hug hold). Lesnar became only the second WWE wrestler to defeat Hogan by submission (after Kurt Angle), and the first to defeat Hogan by having the match called. Following the match, Lesnar continued to beat on Hogan, leaving him bloody and unconscious in the ring.

As a result of Lesnar's assault, Hogan went on hiatus and was not able to return until early 2003, shaving off his black beard and dropping "Hollywood" from his name in his return. Hogan battled The Rock (who had turned villainous) once again at No Way Out and defeated Mr. McMahon at WrestleMania XIX in a match billed as "twenty years in the making". After WrestleMania XIX, he had a run as the masked **Mr. America**, who was supposed to be Hogan in disguise, wearing a mask. He used Hogan's "Real American" as entrance theme and all of Hogan's signature gestures, moves, and phrases. He was the subject of a storyline that took place after Hogan was forced by Mr. McMahon to sit out the rest of his contract. A WWE pre-debut push took place with mysterious Mr. America promos airing for weeks during *SmackDown!*. There was also on-screen discussion on *SmackDown!* between then General Manager Stephanie McMahon and other players concerning her hiring Mr. America "sight unseen". On May 1, Mr. America debuted on *SmackDown!* on a *Piper's Pit* segment. McMahon appeared and claimed that Mr. America was Hogan in disguise; Mr. America shot back by saying, "I am not Hulk Hogan, brother!" (lampooning Hogan's use of "brother" in his promos). The feud continued through the month of May, with a singles match between Mr. America and Hogan's old rival Roddy Piper at Judgment Day.

Mr. America's last WWE appearance was on the June 26 episode of *SmackDown!* when Big Show and The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) defeated Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and Mr. America in a six-man tag team match. After the show went off the air, Mr. America unmasked to show the fans that he was indeed Hogan, putting his finger to his lips telling the fans to keep quiet about his secret. The next week, Hogan quit WWE. On the July 3 episode of *SmackDown!*, McMahon showed the footage of Mr. America unmasking as Hogan and "fired" him, although Hogan had already quit in real life.

On April 2, 2005, Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2005 by actor and friend Sylvester Stallone. At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, Hogan came out to rescue Eugene, who was being attacked by Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari. The next night on *Raw*, Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault fan favorite Shawn Michaels. The following week on *Raw*, Michaels approached Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff demanding a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused, but told Michaels if he found a partner he would be granted a tag team match. Michaels then made a plea for Hogan to team with him. On the April 18 episode of *Raw*, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared, saving Michaels and accepting his offer. At Backlash, Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels.

Hogan then appeared on July 4 episode of *Raw*, as the special guest of Carlito on his talk-show segment *Carlito's Cabana*. After being asked questions by Carlito concerning his daughter Brooke, Hogan attacked Carlito. Kurt Angle then also appeared, making comments about Brooke, which further upset Hogan, who was eventually double teamed by Carlito and Angle, but was saved by Shawn Michaels. Later that night, Michaels and Hogan defeated Carlito and Angle in a tag team match; during the post-match celebration, Michaels performed the *Sweet Chin Music* on Hogan and walked off. The following week on *Raw*, Michaels appeared on *Piper's Pit* and challenged Hogan to face him one-on-one for the first time. Hogan appeared on *Raw* one week later and accepted the challenge. The match took place at SummerSlam, which Hogan won. After the match, Michaels extended his hand to him, telling him that he "had to find out for himself", and Hogan and Michaels shook hands as Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd.

Prior to WrestleMania 22 in April 2006, Hogan inducted friend and former announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2006. Hogan returned on *Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII* with his daughter Brooke. During the show, Randy Orton kayfabe flirted with Brooke and later attacked Hogan in the parking lot. He later challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam, which Hogan won.

On February 24, 2014 on *Raw*, Hogan made his first WWE in-ring appearance since December 2007 to hype the WWE Network. On the March 24 episode of *Raw*, Hogan came out to introduce the guest appearances of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Manganiello.

At WrestleMania XXX in April, Hogan served as the host, coming out at the start of the show to hype up the crowd. Hogan was later joined by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, and they finished their promo by drinking beer together in the ring. Later in the show, Hogan shared a moment with Mr. T, Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper, with whom he main-evented the first WrestleMania.

On February 27, 2015, Hogan was honored at Madison Square Garden during a WWE live event dubbed "Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night" with a special commemorative banner hanging from the rafters, honoring his wrestling career and historic matches he had in the arena.

On the March 23 episode of *Raw*, Hogan along with Snoop Dogg confronted Curtis Axel – who at the time had been "borrowing" Hogan's Hulkamania gimmick with Axel referring to himself as "AxelMania". On March 28, the night before WrestleMania 31, Hogan posthumously inducted longtime partner and rival "Macho Man" Randy Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015. The next night at WrestleMania 31, Hogan reunited with Hall and Nash to reform the nWo, appearing in Sting's corner in his match against Triple H, who himself was joined by D-Generation X members Billy Gunn, X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Shawn Michaels.

Hogan made his on-screen return on November 2, 2018, as the host of Crown Jewel. Hogan next appeared on the January 7, 2019 episode of *Raw* to present a tribute to his longtime friend and colleague "Mean" Gene Okerlund, who had died five days prior. Hogan subsequently appeared on a WWE Network special where he spoke further of his relationship with Okerlund.

Hogan inducted his Mega-Maniacs tag team partner and longtime friend Brutus Beefcake into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2019. The following night at WrestleMania 35, he made a surprise appearance at the beginning of the show alongside WrestleMania host Alexa Bliss, welcoming fans to the event and parodying his gaffe from WrestleMania XXX, when he incorrectly referred to the Superdome as the Silverdome. On the July 22, 2019 *Raw*, Hogan appeared as part of the "Raw Reunion" special. Hogan was one of the speakers during the "Toast to Raw" segment along with Steve Austin. On the September 30, 2019 edition of Raw, he and Ric Flair unveiled a 10-man tag team match for Crown Jewel.

On December 9, 2019, it was announced that Hogan would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for a second time as a member of the New World Order, together with fellow former nWo stablemates Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and X-Pac. Hogan appeared via satellite on the February 14, 2020 edition of *SmackDown* to speak about the Hall of Fame, but was interrupted by Bray Wyatt. On January 4, 2021, Hogan made an appearance on *Raw Legends Night*, where he was in a segment with Jimmy Hart, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. It was announced on the March 19 episode of *SmackDown* that he would co-host WrestleMania 37 with Titus O'Neil. Hogan opened both nights of WrestleMania 37 with O'Neil, appeared in multiple segments with Bayley, and was introduced during the Hall of Fame celebration with Nash, Hall and X-Pac.

On January 23, 2023, Hogan appeared live alongside Jimmy Hart to open the *WWE Raw XXX* show, celebrating the thirtieth Anniversary of *Raw*.