Quick Links
In 2005, Hulk Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This was his third return to WWE, and despite a bad fall out with Vince McMahon in 2003, the Hulkster was welcomed back to the company and his induction was hyped up throughout the road to WrestleMania. During this time period, WWE needed an extra boost in viewership and buys, and Hogan, despite being a decade removed from his prime, still had box-office appeal.
After his Hall of Fame induction, Hogan had a notable feud with Shawn Michaels that culminated in a hilarious match at SummerSlam 2005. Hogan won the match, and according to some, faked his knee injury to back out of the second match that he was booked to lose. He then he took a small hiatus.
An Attack By Randy Orton Set Up Hulk Hogan's Last WWE Feud
Next year, Hogan showed up during WrestleMania season to induct Mean Gene Okerlund into the Hall of Fame, and he stuck around for another feud, which ended up being the last of his WWE career. His last opponent in WWE was Randy “The Legend Killer” Orton. It all began when Randy Orton liked Brooke Hogan’s music video.
Following this, Orton said that if Hogan had a problem, he would find out why Orton was known as the legend killer. Yes, this is actually how the feud began. On Saturday Night's Main Event, Orton was flirting with Brooke Hogan in the parking lot and Hogan showed up. Not wanting a fight, Orton apologized and backed off, only to come running and drive Hogan’s head into the car with one of the most brilliant RKOs you’ll ever see. Thankfully, after this spot, it stopped being about Brooke Hogan and became more about Orton and his legend killer gimmick.
Randy Orton Had To Sell A Lot Of His Program With Hulk Hogan Alone
The next week on RAW, Orton claimed that his new favorite track was laying out Hogan with an RKO. After three weeks of Orton doing the marketing all on his own, Hogan showed up for the July 24 2006 edition of RAW and said that Orton had no respect and that the Legend Killer was in a whole lot of trouble. This prompted Orton to come out. He mocked Hogan for his old age but did not get in the ring with him, the usual cowardly heel tactic.
Instead, for some reason, he attempted an attack on Jerry Lawler, who tossed him into the ring. Hogan landed three punches and a botched big boot to send Orton running. Over the next few weeks, Orton continued mocking Hogan, promising us all he would kill the legend of Hulk Hogan and even introduced a parody of Hogan’s television show “Hogan Knows Best” to further mock the Hulkster.
For the most part, it was Randy Orton who built up the program while Hogan appeared three times during the whole storyline. But finally, on the last RAW before SummerSlam, Hogan made his glorious return and the final segment between him and Orton was one of the strangest yet.
Orton was the first guy out, and during his promo he said that Hogan actually inspired him to become the Legend Killer, as he could not stomach Hogan and his same old act time and time again. Then the music hit and an imposter Hogan came out to become the recipient of more old age jokes.
Hulk Hogan Won The Match Over The Younger Randy Orton
Real American blared a second time and the real Hulk Hogan showed up. Despite being twice Orton’s age, Hogan out brawled the younger wrestler, and even destroyed his imposter. After sending Orton out of the ring, Hogan grabbed a microphone and said that Orton had made a mistake insulting his family and at SummerSlam, the millions of HulkaManiacs would run wild on him.
As for the actual match, it was nothing too special. Hogan was so far past his prime that the two could only work a very basic match. Orton was the aggressor for most of the match, but Hogan got his second win due to the cheers from the crowd and ran wild on Orton. After dropping him with a big boot, Hogan posed for the crowd for half a minute before he dropped the leg and pinned Orton for the victory.
A basic match with a puzzling result, but given the circumstances, the finish made sense. Hogan had drawn big numbers with HBK on the previous edition of SummerSlam and as one of the few draws left in the company; he had quite the leverage in negotiations. Meanwhile, Orton was still being punished for his backstage attitude and maybe the loss was another lesson for him. That one match concluded the rivalry and Hogan was gone again from WWE after this.