Madison Square Garden:Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik

January 23rd, 1984, history was made and wrestling took a step towards "sports entertainment". Hulkamania was born and it created a monster. The "Incredible" Hulk Hogan looked to dethrone the evil Iron Sheik and become WWF Heavyweight Champion.

The Sheik had won the title in late Decemeber from former champ and Howdy Doody lookalike Bob Backlund. Rumor was that Backlund, a wrestler in every meaning of the word, didn't want to drop the title to Hogan, so Vince McMahon used the Iron Sheik as a go between.

There's also the rumor that AWA owner Verne Gagne wanted Sheik to break Hogan's legs, but knowing how much of a cheapskate Gagne was, this was probably bullshit.

Gorilla Monsoon and Pat Patterson were on commentary for this main event and the crowd was all Hogan, one fan even felt the need to display his dislike of the man from Iran.

The Sheiky is freaky,baby

Introductions are out of the way and it's time to wrestle.








The Sheik gets Pearl Harbor-ed by Hogan while he's still taking off his headgear and robe. Hogan, then chokes Sheik with his own robe, which is legal,somehow, and the ref starts a five count on Hogan.

Hogan's on fire and the crowd is eating it up, Sheik is doing a great job selling for him. Crowd gets even more apeshit and Hogan does the Steamboat choke.

Big boot by Hogan only gets him a one count, he follows this up by sending Sheik to the ropes for an elbow smash and running elbow drop for a two count.

Sheiky puts the boots to a prone Hogan, then breaks his back and tries for a pin,only to get thrown off.

More kicks from the Sheik and he "loads" his boot for a big stomp,which Hogan sells like he just got hit with a sledgehammer. The Sheik puts Hogan in a Boston Crab,but Hulk powers out of it.

Sheik grabs Hogan for a suplex and a two count, but we all know what's coming next, the Iron Sheik tries to sodomize Hulk Hogan!

Ribbed for Hulk's pleasure

The Sheik, complete with a massive erection, puts Hogan in the dread camel cluth, which is all a part of Sheiky's plan to humble Hulk Hogan. Hogan wanted no part of this and starts to "Hulk" up, eventually standing up and dropping the Sheik onto one of the top turnbuckles.

Hogan sees the fallen Sheik, runs the ropes, hits the big legdrop, and a 1-2-3 later, winner of the match and new WWF Heavyweight Champion, Hulk Hogan!

Hogan hotdogs in the ring for the crowd and then heads to the locker room for an interview with "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Hogan is covered in sweat and oil and keeps spitting all over poor Mean Gene.

"Hulkamania is running world wide and it just turns me on, Mean Gene." -Hulk Hogan.

Andre the Giant crashes in with a bottle of champagne and congratulates Hogan on winning the championship,I think. I couldn't understand a single word Andre said.

The interview ends with old-ass Ivan Putski and Rocky Johnson coming in to celebrate with Hulk and Andre.

The popularity of the WWF would continue to soar with Hogan leading the way, he'd go on to become a pop culture icon and synonymous with professional wrestling, he'd also become wrestling's biggest political nightmare, but we'll get to that later.

As always,thanks for reading.

- N.R. Perez