Hulk Hogan had more than his share of famous rivals. Fans of the 1980s think of him as synonymous with opponents like Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, and Randy Savage, while the 1990s saw him clash in two distinct storylines with The Ultimate Warrior, in addition to famous WCW feuds with Ric Flair and Sting. One rivalry that tends to get lost to the sands of time is his issue with Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff.
That’s a consequence of timing, the PPV calendar, and health issues that prevented this storyline from realizing its full potential as a historically great, massively drawing rivalry worthy of high praise.
The Storyline Between Hulk Hogan And Paul Orndorff
The main point fans tend to remember about Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff’s storyline interactions with one another is that the composed half of the original WrestleMania main event. Mr. Wonderful was a natural tag team partner to pair with the top heel of the day, Roddy Piper, opposite Hogan as the top babyface, and his celebrity teammate Mr. T. Fans tend to forget about Hogan and Orndorff that they were opponents for one another before and after WrestleMania, though.
Hogan and Orndorff weren’t done here, though. After Orndorff turned babyface, he became an ally and frequent tag partner himself for The Hulkster. However, the narrative that he was ‘Hogan lite’—a lesser version of the same style of powerhouse superhero, who couldn’t get his hands on the world title—wore on his character until he turned heel again, piledriving Hogan after they won another tag match together.
The Hulkster and Mr. Wonderful headlined a Saturday Night’s Main Event special in a steel cage. They also drew a huge crowd to The Big Event—a unique event for filling Exhibition Stadium in Toronto with 70,000-plus fans, but not being broadcast live, but rather sold to a larger audience on home video. Nonetheless, the fact that they didn’t have a one-on-one PPV match unfairly lessened the impact of this feud, giving it less of a shelf life for generations of fans to follow.
Paul Orndorff’s Arm Injury
Paul Orndorff was legitimately one of WWE’s top stars in the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, it was in the heat of his marquee issue with Hulk Hogan that he suffered a catastrophic injury. As documented by Oliver Lee Bateman from The Ringer, on the occasion of Mr. Wonderful passing in 2021, Orndorff suffered a spinal injury, with accounts differing whether it happened in the ring or in relation to a weightlifting injury. Regardless of the root cause, the results were the same that he had diminished use of his right arm, which appeared visibly smaller over time—particularly noticeable given how impressive his physique had been and, under the circumstances, continued to be from that point.
Orndorff pressed on, in an era when WWE doctors were less strict, working through his injury because he didn’t want to sacrifice the payday and fame associated with an extended run opposite the biggest wrestling star in history, Hogan. Rumors persist to this day that Orndorff was even considered the backup opponent for Hogan at WrestleMania 3 if Andre the Giant’s own failing health kept him out of the main event match. Unfortunately, on account of maintaining a busy schedule, Mr. Wonderful did not have a chance to fully recover.
The Longer Range Impact Of Paul Orndorff Getting Hurt
Paul Orndorff was in his mid-30s when he suffered his arm injury. Particularly by modern standards, that’s not all that old for a top-tier wrestler. Even in those times, it stands to reason he might have remained in or around the main event picture for another five-to-ten years.
However, once Orndorff was done challenging Hogan, he found himself in a greatly diminished mid-card role, carrying on as a heel, then turning babyface again—interestingly enough even teaming up with The Hulkster one more time at Survivor Series 1987. He briefly retired from the business after that, before resuming his career on other stages, including WCW, where he worked the TV title scene and formed the Pretty Wonderful tag team with Paul Roma. He never meaningfully broached main event status in this run.
Orndorff also worked in a backstage role for WCW that included working with management to direct talent. That set him up for an infamous late-career chapter in which he beat up Big Van Vader in a backstage altercation that effectively ended the big man’s brief babyface run with the company. With the boom period that happened for wrestling in the years to follow—particularly with WCW exploding in popularity behind the New World Order and a cast of mostly veteran talents--it’s easy to imagine an alternate universe in which a healthy Orndorff might have factored back into major storylines. Instead, Orndorff made sporadic appearances on air, but dedicated most of his energy to training younger talents in what might have otherwise been the tail end of his prime.
Paul Orndorff was a special talent who has grown underrated in terms of both skill and the level of stardom he attained in his heyday. It’s unfortunate that the most iconic work of his career coincided with him getting hurt, meaning his peak feud against Hulk Hogan was also the swan song for his time in the wrestling limelight. Just the same, he is a highly deserving member of the WWE Hall of Fame whose journey through wrestling was made all the more remarkable for toughing it out through extraordinary physical challenges.