Within hours of Hulk Hogan’s sudden death fans were already busy sharing some of their finest memories of the grappling icon.
The incredible force behind Hulkamania died on Thursday at the age of 71.
He leaves behind a legacy as arguably the most famous wrestler of all time; a multi-time former world champion who spearheaded an industry revolution in the 1980s.
Around the time of the first WrestleMania, he was WWE’s biggest star and remained so for the better part of a decade before going moving on to WCW and back again.
In between, he racked up memorable moments and wins aplenty but, very occasionally, he wasn’t the one standing with his hand held high at the end of a match.
Ted DiBiase is chiefly responsible for one of these key moments, known to millions around the world as The Million Dollar Man – a star so conceited and convinced of his own money-bought superiority that he decided he could make his own championship and declare himself its holder.
Hulk Hogan’s rarest defeat not recognised by WWE but was seen by 33 million
The Million Dollar Championship was his very expensive prop, but only really came into its own after DiBiase failed to win the ‘real’ WWE title from Hulk Hogan – at least where the record books are concerned.
Fans of the time, however, recall a very different history, one where DiBiase won the WWE title at Hogan’s expense and even defended it!
Allow us to explain…
Always bragging about the bucks he had in the bank, DiBiase said in late 1987 he intended to buy the WWE Championship from incumbent Hogan, something the Hulkster, being the hero of the day, scoffed at.
DiBiase then did what he always did – chucked some cash around, recruiting Andre The Giant to his cohort. Andre was chief nemesis to Hogan following their epic WrestleMania III clash and eagerly eyed a rematch with the champ in early 1988.
Such was the popularity of their rivalry, their bout on Saturday Night’s Main Event garnered an unthinkable 33 million television viewers in the US as wrestling fans tuned in to see the latest chapter in their story.
Rather than Hogan standing tall once again, though, Andre pinned him to snare the gold and immediately, something seemed untoward and wonderfully villainous – not least as Hulk’s shoulders were clearly up during the decisive three-count. Regardless, his 1,474-day reign as champ was over.
It later emerged that DiBiase had paid off a rogue referee, too, and celebrated wildly when, having been announced as the new WWE Champion (or WWF as it was at the time), Andre swiftly handed the belt to DiBiase, naming him champ. He had, the story goes, been paid to ‘beat’ Hogan and hand over the gold.
Naturally, fans of the day wouldn’t stand for such behaviour, and neither would on-screen authority figure Jack Tunney.
Viewers were treated to a follow-up address from Tunney shortly after the event in which it was stated that, due to such a shambolic ‘win’, neither Andre nor DiBiase were now WWE Champion, and that the title was vacated, conveniently, ready to be battled for at the upcoming WrestleMania IV.
To this day, decades later, WWE refuses to recognise DiBiase in their records as ever being WWE Champion – recognising only that Andre ‘won’ the title before it was vacated.
That would be fine enough but, in 1988, the company’s relentless schedule meant the show always went on and in, in the interim, DiBiase actually appeared at three non-televised events with the championship – even being billed as WWE Champion.- before his ‘reign’ was scrapped.
One of them included a match for his WWE Championship, too, Bam Bam Bigelow was the challenger on February 8th, 1988 in LA, DiBiase winning that match and walking out with his gold.
Hulk Hogan elevated WWE legend’s iconic career
With no social media or camera phones to document the outing, WWE have been able to effectively erase it from existence, leading to DiBiase himself launching a petition to have his contribution recognised.
Though never formally acknowledged as WWE Champion as is his great wish, the now 71-year-old has always acknowledged the role the storyline – which he called ‘awesome’ – played in launching his career incredible heights.
In an interview more than a decade after that fateful night, he said: “I didn’t know what we were doing until that night, and when I heard about it, I [thought]: ‘That’s awesome.’
“It was the defining moment; it really kicked the Million Dollar character into high gear. For us to rob the champion and for me to go out wearing the belt, it was great.”
DiBiase was far from the last performer to have his career elevated by working with the iconic Hogan, whose star-power influenced and shaped so many in the decades since Hulkamania first exploded.
In that sense, the real-life Terry Bollea may now be gone, but Hulkamania, as he so famously insisted, will likely live forever.