Hulk Hogan was one of the few wrestlers who rarely lost clean. He was wrestling's biggest star from the '80s to the mid-to-late '90s, and it made sense why he won as many matches as he did. When Hogan did lose his matches, it was often because of some outside interference or his opponent used some dirty techniques. Hogan's character was overprotected at times, and he was responsible for changing his matches' outcomes many times.
Although his opponents rarely got clean victories over Hulk, it did happen multiple times and people don't even remember it anymore. Some of these losses happened on random shows and fans were very surprised to see Hogan lose.
10 Vs Kurt Angle (King Of The Ring)
Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan faced each other at King of the Ring 2002. It was a singles match, and Angle surprised everyone by defeating Hogan via submission. This was probably Hogan's first tap-out loss in WWE history. To this day, many fans can't believe that Hogan agreed to lose to a young Angle. Although, Hulk did get a win over the Olympic Gold Medalist on SmackDown the next month. These were the only instances where both stars had a one-on-one match.
9 Vs Lex Luger (WCW Nitro)
While Lex Luger was pushed in WWE, he never quite managed to become a bonafide main-event star. Luger returned to WCW in 1995 and became an integral part of their programming. On the 100th episode of WCW Nitro, WCW booked Hollywood Hogan vs Lex Luger for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Despite nWo's interference, Luger made Hogan submit to the Torture Rack. Following his victory, the entire locker room came to celebrate Lex's victory. Although Hogan ended up regaining the title belt a few days later at Road Wild 1997.
8 Vs Tony Atlas (WWE On MSG Network)
Tony Atlas is one of the few wrestlers who has more victories over Hogan than losses. They first faced each other in January 1981, and Hogan won. The next month, they had a rematch in Madison Square Garden where Atlas got a pinfall victory. Though Hogan's foot was on the rope and the official missed it. They squared off again in April, and this time, Atlas won via rollup.
7 Vs Antonio Inoki (NJPW 1st MSG Tag League)
During the early stages of his career, Hogan wasn't as protected as he later became. He joined NJPW in 1980 and faced Japan's biggest star at that time, Antonio Inoki, on many occasions. Their first encounter happened at the NJPW 1st Madison Square Garden Tag League event where Inoki teamed up with Bob Backlund to take on Hogan and Stan Hansen. Antonio pinned Hogan clean to win the bout.
They faced each other again in December 1981, and this time Hogan lost via submission. This was his first submission loss in pro wrestling.
6 Vs Bob Armstrong (SCW Show)
In 1979, Hulk Hogan became the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Champion. Not long after winning the belt in December '79, Hogan dropped it to Bob Armstrong in Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas Day. At that time, Hogan wasn't a popular star and was wrestling under the moniker of Sterling Golden.
5 Triple H (WWE SmackDown)
At Backlash 2002, Hulk Hogan defeated Triple H for the Undisputed WWE Championship. Hogan soon lost the title to The Undertaker at the 2002 Judgment Day pay-per-view. In June, WWE held a battle royal to determine Undertaker's next challenger, which Hogan and Triple H won simultaneously.
The same night, both wrestlers faced each other to become the number one contender for the Undisputed World Title. Triple H won clean and faced Undertaker at King of the Ring but fell short.
4 Lex Luger (Bash At The Beach)
Another time Lex Luger defeated Hollywood Hogan clean was at Bash at the Beach in 1997. But unlike their Nitro match, this was a tag team affair where Luger teamed up with The Giant, and Hogan teamed up with Dennis Rodman. It was surprising when Luger defeated Hogan using the Torture Rack.
3 Roddy Piper (Halloween Havoc)
At Halloween Havoc 1997, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Hollywood Hogan battled inside the steel cage. Randy Savage did interfere on Hogan's behalf but ended up accidentally hitting him instead. Piper got Hogan in a sleeper hold and won. This was one of the surprising outcomes in a match at that time. This match wasn't for Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
2 Jacques Rougeau (WCW House Show)
Jacques Rougeau and Hulk Hogan once fought in Jacques' hometown of Montreal in April 1997. It was Hogan who suggested Rougeau go over him at that time. There were several rumors surrounding this match.
Many fans believed Hogan received tons of money to lose, but Rougeau has denied those rumors in multiple interviews. Apparently, Bischoff even fired Rougeau over this incident.
1 The Giant (WCW Nitro)
On the final Nitro before Souled Out 1998, Hulk Hogan decided to face The Giant with an injured neck. Eric Bischoff almost canceled the match but The Giant grabbed Hogan by the neck and suplexed him. The match started, and both sides were distracted from outside interferences. Nash distracted The Giant, and Savage distracted Hogan which cost him the match. Although the finish is still considered clean because The Giant wasn't receiving help from a third party.