In the latest episode of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, Hulk Hogan discussed his decision to leave WWF in 1993 and later join WCW. He described how the decision came about after his experience at WrestleMania 6, where he was asked to lose the championship to the Ultimate Warrior.
Hogan explained that he agreed to put the Ultimate Warrior over but was uncertain about the direction the company was taking with the storyline. He proposed a heel turn as a potential narrative pivot, envisioning himself as “Triple H” Hollywood Hulk Hogan. However, Vince McMahon dismissed the idea, believing Hogan had been a babyface for too long and that his run with the red-and-yellow persona had come to an end.
“Not to knock anybody, but sometimes when you see a new shiny object, stronger, better, faster, you kind of are attracted to that shiny object,” Hulk Hogan said, “At WrestleMania 6, the Ultimate Warrior showed up, right. When Vince asked me to put the Ultimate Warrior over, I said, ‘No problem, brother. But why are we doing this, and where we are going?’ He goes, ‘Oh, well, I just need to get the belt on him, he’s got some momentum. If he gets the red-and-yellow rub, he can really take off.’ I go, okay, I get it. But where are we going?
“Vince goes, ‘Well, I’m really not sure.’ I said, ‘How about this? I hand him the belt. Let me get halfway down the aisle, do the slow turn, and come back and crucify him and tell everybody I’m Triple H. Hollywood Hulk Hogan, brother.’ ‘Oh, you can’t be a heel.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I can. I was a heel with your dad.’ ‘Oh, no, you’ve been a babyface too long.’ I was just dying to turn heel, and he didn’t want me to. Then after WrestleMania 9 or 10, Vince and I had a talk, and he just thought my run was over. He said, ‘The red-and-yellow thing, man, we just beat it to death.’ I said, ‘Well, I could turn heel.’ He goes, ‘Nah, I just your run’s kinda over.’ I went, I don’t agree.”
After parting ways with WWF, Hogan initially promised McMahon he wouldn’t compete against him. However, while working on films in Los Angeles, he was approached by Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff about joining WCW. Ultimately, Hogan decided to return to wrestling and joined WCW, despite his earlier promise to McMahon.
“Then when we said goodbye, I told Vince, ‘I’ll never run against you.’ I was out in LA making another one of those cheap low-budget movies,” Hulk Hogan said. ‘Those 14-hour days were killing me. Right next to me was [Ric] Flair and Bischoff. They kept approaching me about wrestling. I made the decision during that time to go back to work. I come out of hiding, and I just kind of went against my word and ran against him.”
In WCW, Hogan adopted the “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan persona and became a top heel in the company. His decision proved significant, shaping a new chapter in his wrestling career and marking a notable turn in professional wrestling history.
