In the late 70s, Terry Funk brought a young wrestler, Terry “The Hulk” Boulder to meet Vincent J. McMahon (this is all the Funker’s fault). The senior McMahon renamed him Hulk Hogan. His initial run was a short heel run with Classy Freddie Blassie as his manager. A stint in New Japan, the AWA, and a part in Rocky III later and he would return to the WWE as a babyface, saving Bob Backlund.
Hulkamania was born on January 23, 1984. The wrestling world hasn’t been the same the since. Every so often however, heroes need to fall in order to root for them to get back up. He hasn’t lost much on TV, but whenever he did, the loss generally meant something.
10 King Kong Bundy - Saturday Night’s Main Event 11.11.1987
Taped several weeks before the inaugural Survivor Series, this match didn’t air until two nights later. The epic rematch from WrestleMania 2 saw Hulk Hogan defending the WWE Title against the walking condominium, King Kong Bundy. As if Bundy and manager Bobby Heenan weren’t enough to contend with, Andre The Giant was also in Bundy’s corner. With the deck stacked against Hogan, he would take the action to the outside and try to assault Bundy. When Bundy made it back into the ring before the 10 count, Heenan grabbed the Hulkster’s leg to ensure that he would get counted out.
9 Andre’s Team - Survivor Series 1987
The first-ever main event of The Survivor Series pitted Hulk Hogan and his team against Andre and his. It was the first time since WrestleMania III that both men would be in the ring at the same time. Andre and his team of King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, Butch Reed, and the One Man Gang were able to overpower their opponents.
Hogan would get eliminated by count-out, leaving team member Bam Bam Bigelow to fend for himself. Despite defeating Hogan, the champ came back out to nail Andre with the title belt and pose in the middle of the ring.
8 Andre The Giant - The Main Event 02.05.1988
After nearly defeating Hogan at WrestleMania III, Andre, along with Jesse Ventura, Heenan, and the Million Dollar Man believed that the Giant was the uncrowned champion. On the first-ever episode of The Main Event, the two titans collided again in what might be one of the most well-known matches and angles in WWE history. Thanks to a nefarious referee, Andre was able to defeat Hulk Hogan. But in forfeiting the title immediately to Ted DiBiase, the WWE Title would be declared vacant leading up to the tournament at WrestleMania IV.
7 Double DQ - WrestleMania IV
With both Hogan and Andre having a legitimate claim to the WWE Title, they both received a bye into the Quarter Finals of the tournament. The big rematch from WrestleMania III and The Main Event broke down into a melee when both men nailed the other with a chair. Hulk wouldn’t regain the WWE Title here, but the Double DQ also meant that Andre wouldn’t either, paving the way for a completely new champion, which wasn’t seen since Hogan first won the gold four years earlier.
6 The Genius - Saturday Night’s Main Event 10.31.89
Of all the foes on this list to best Hulk Hogan on national TV, The Genius would be the least likely Superstar casual fans would expect. But somehow the WWE’s smartest man found a way to outsmart Hulkamania. The Genius used all sorts of stalling tactics to annoy Hogan and incite the crowd - from stretching in the corners to prancing around the ring. Once Hogan grabbed him, it seemed like it would be a short match, no Hulk-Ups needed. But Mr. Perfect would come down, interfere and thwack Hogan across the back with the WWE Championship, which helped to ensure a count-out victory for The World’s Smartest Man.
5 The Ultimate Warrior - WrestleMania VI
In WWE lore, The Ultimate Challenge was to be a tremendous changing of the guard. The Intercontinental Champion, The Ultimate Warrior, defended his gold against Hulk Hogan who'd be defending his WWE Championship. The match was worked out in advance by Hogan, Warrior, and Pat Patterson; who is credited with why this match is so much better than any Warrior match before it.
The back-and-forth match saw Hogan eventually Hulk Up for the big comeback. But in this match, Warrior rolled away from the big leg drop and was able to finish off Hogan to claim both titles.
4 The Undertaker - Survivor Series 1991
Debuting one year prior, The Undertaker quickly established himself as the most dominant force in WWE. A collision course with Hulk Hogan was imminent; The Gravest Challenge. As many Hogan matches go, there was a bunch of chicanery involved. Paul Bearer and Ric Flair interfered. It all added with The Phenom winning his first WWE Title, which at that point made him the youngest WWE Champion in history.
3 Money Inc. - WrestleMania XI
Several months after Hogan failed to win the Royal Rumble for the WWE Title, he decided to call it quits at WrestleMania VIII. But one year later, The Hulkster returned to help his real-life bestie, Brutus The Barber Beefcake against Money Inc. At The Show Of Shows, they squared off for the WWF Tag Team Titles.
DiBiase and IRS tried to take a count-out loss to protect their titles, but Earl Hebner threatened to strip them of their titles if they didn’t get back to the ring. When they came back to the ring, the ensuing melee caused Hebner to be taken out. Jimmy Hart spun his jacket around to reveal referee stripes. Obviously, his pinfall didn’t count and The Mega Maniacs were disqualified.
2 Yokozuna - King Of The Ring 1993
In what proved to be Hogan’s last WWE match for nearly a decade, he defended the WWE Title that he won on a fluke against the mighty Yokozuna at the inaugural King Of The Ring pay-per-view. Despite leaving the company, Hulk still wouldn’t put the Samoan Sumo over cleanly. A seemingly overzealous cameraman (Harvey Wippleman in disguise) got on the apron and unleashed a fireball. Yoko then was able to hit his own leg drop to regain the WWE Championship.
1 The Rock - WrestleMania X8
When Hulk returned to the WWE in 2002, he came with the nWo. But despite coming in to destroy the WWE, the fans were happy to see their old hero back in the family. The stage was set for WrestleMania X8, icon vs. icon; Hulk Vs. Rock. Despite the Canadian crowd rooting for Hollywood, Hogan was unable to contain the electricity of The Great One and suffered his 10th loss ever on WWE TV.