During his time in WWE Hulk Hogan enjoyed a number of high profile rivalries as the promotion’s top star. During his peak years, he’s taken part in major rivalries against opponents like Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre The Giant, and The Ultimate Warrior, but one of his later ones had him clashing with Sid Justice, otherwise known as Sid Vicious.
This rivalry was a friends-turned-foes narrative that culminated with a main event showdown at WrestleMania 8, but fans might not know much about their feud. Let’s take a look at their whole relationship, including the later (brief) rekindling of their rivalry.
10 Sid Guest Refereed Hogan’s SummerSlam 1991 Main Event
Arriving in WWE from WCW in the summer of 1991 as a babyface, Sid Justice eventually found himself aligned with Hulk Hogan to the point where they main evented SummerSlam together that year. However, Sid wasn’t a competitor, but rather a special guest referee for a handicap match that saw Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior take on Sgt. Slaughter, Gen. Adnan, and Col Mustafa. Hogan and Warrior came out on top over the bad guys, and the Hulkster and Sid Justice celebrated in the ring while Warrior went backstage to abruptly quit WWE.
9 Sid Eliminated Hogan At The 1992 Royal Rumble
An injury sidelined Sid Justice for a few months, but he made his WWE return at the 1992 Royal Rumble, where he entered at #29 and managed to become one of the final four competitors. With the vacant WWE Championship on the line, Justice eliminated Randy Savage followed by Hulk Hogan, who tried to eliminate Sid in retaliation. In the fracas, Ric Flair was able to take advantage and eliminated Justice to become the 1992 Royal Rumble winner and the new WWE Champion.
8 Fans Cheered When Hogan Was Eliminated
With Hulk Hogan’s eliminating Sid Justice from the Royal Rumble, the seeds were sown for a feud that would take the apparent friends to WrestleMania. But moments before that, something curious happened when Sid eliminated the Hulkster — the live crowd at Albany’s Knickerbocker Arena actually cheered.
The reaction seemed to suggest that in 1992 fans were already sick of Hulk Hogan — or at least really into Sid Justice — but WWE made sure to obscure that fact. With some editing tricks, replays of the moment made it seem like fans were actually booing Sid for the act.
7 Hogan And Sid Had Tension At A Press Conference
Following the Royal Rumble, WWE held a press conference — which aired on an episode of Superstars — in which WWE President Jack Tunney announced who’d be the new champion Ric Flair’s WrestleMania 8 opponent. Given that he was the last eliminated from the Rumble, Sid Justice expected to be named the challenger, but Tunney announced that Hulk Hogan would face Flair. Sid Justice was visibly incensed at the news and criticized Tunney’s decision, but soon patched things up with the Hulkster.
6 Sid Officially Turned On Hogan In A Tag Team Match
With their friendship seemingly intact, Sid Justice and Hulk Hogan soldiered on, appearing on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event in early Feburary 1992 to take on Ric Flair and The Undertaker in a tag team match. It’s here that the betrayal officially went down — when Hogan went in for a tag, Justice denied his partner and walked off, forcing Hogan to fend for himself until the match ended by disqualification. Despite the betrayal, Hogan was still scheduled to take on Flair at ‘Mania.
5 Sid Trashed The Barber Shop To Upset Hogan
Following his heel turn, Sid Justice decided to target Hulk Hogan’s most devoted hanger-on, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. Weeks after the Saturday Night’s Main Event betrayal, Sid was interviewed by Beefcake on his talk show segment, The Barber Shop, which is when Justice decided to strike. Knowing Hogan wasn’t present for the show, Sid Justice took a chair and wrecked Beefcake’s set. Later on the show it was announced that ‘Mania plans would change, with Hogan fighting Justice instead of challenging Flair.
4 Their WrestleMania Match Ended In A DQ
At WrestleMania 8, the Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice grudge match main evented the show, while Ric Flair’s title defense (against Randy Savage) was moved to somewhere in the middle. While Hogan main eventing ‘Mania was an obvious choice, his bout with Justice turned out to be a massive disappointment.
Due to a mistiming, an interfering Papa Shango missed his cue, resulting in an improvisation that required Sid’s manager Harvey Whippleman to interfere and draw the disqualification as planned.
3 Sid Kicked Out Of Hogan's Finisher
The weird mistiming of the WrestleMania 8 main event led not only to massive fan disappointment, but also a shocking anomaly. Reportedly, Papa Shango was supposed to break up a pin after Hogan delivered his signature Running Leg Drop to Sid Justice. However, because the timing was off, Sid had no choice but to improvise and kick out of the finisher — which was pretty much unheard of in that era. Over the course of Hogan’s career, only a handful of wrestlers have ever kicked out of the Running Leg Drop — including Sid Justice, albeit due to the botched ending.
2 Sid Quit WWE After The Feud
One other crucial detail in the WrestleMania 8 main event was the surprise return of the Ultimate Warrior, who — as mentioned — had abruptly quit the company moments after the SummerSlam 1991 main event. Hogan took time off from WWE after the match, so Sid was set up to feud with the returning Warrior, who made a post-match save for Hogan much to Justice’s chagrin. However, Sid himself quit the company after a matter of weeks, choosing to try his hand at playing softball instead.
1 Sid Turned On Hogan Again In WCW
After another stint with WWE in 1995, Sid Justice — back to his old ring name Sid Vicious — returned to WCW in the summer of 1999. Initially working heel, Sid soon turned face and reconnected with Hulk Hogan. Friends again, Sid and Hogan teamed up on the 3/20/2000 episode of Nitro to take on Scott Steinr and Jeff Jarrett, but Sid once again turned on his partner, this time out of jealousy over fans cheering the Hulkster. A feud was supposed to ensue but never materialized thanks to Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff “rebooting” the company weeks later.