Robbie’s Top 20 WrestleMania Moments – 18. Hogan V. Vince: 20 Years In The Making

Robbie Fox3/16/2017 6:00 PM

Sup yo? If you’re unaware, I’m doing a blog per day leading up to WrestleMania where I talk about my personal favorite 20 Mania moments of all time. Keep in mind I’m 18, so a lot of my picks will be on the more recent side.

18. Hogan V. Vince: 20 Years In The Making

March 30, 2003 was a day that truly changed my life. I was 4 years old and had been watching my older brother’s VHS tapes of “Golden Era” WWF for at least a year when he decided it was time to let me stay up late and watch “The Show Of Shows” live with him. I was ecstatic. I brought all of my wrestling action figures into the living room, put on one hell of a pre-show, and buckled in for what would be one of the all time great WrestleManias.

My stomach dropped and I got a lump in my throat at the 2 hour and 15 minute mark in the show, when one of my heroes, Hulk Hogan, was putting his career on the line in a street fight against his evil boss Mr. McMahon in the match deemed “20 Years In The Making”. The angle going in blurred the line between kayfabe and reality, where Vince claimed he created Hulkamania and the only thanks he got was Hogan ditching him for WCW and testifying against him in the steroid scandal of 1994. The build up was so well written, so riveting, and so real that this match was my first true look at a big fight feel live.

Now 50 year old Hulk Hogan vs 58 year old Vince McMahon was obviously not the most technically sound pro graps match ever, but it was one hell of a fucking fight. McMahon’s in-ring psychology astonishes me, because he needs 41 writers on staff to write mediocre episodes of RAW, but he kills it emotionally every time he steps inside the 20×20. His facials, his dirty heel work, his selling, all of it is just perfect.

I can unironically say Vince one of the most underrated performers in WrestleMania history (barring the WM26 match against Bret Hart).

Hogan is on his A game and believably sells to McMahon throughout, really getting all of the heat until it’s time for him to Hulk-Up. By that point he’s been through a war against McMahon and Safeco Field is absolutely losing it. I think they legit wanted him to murder Vince in cold blood, and watching it back, I think I did too. Tazz delivers the line “Hit that legdrop and save your career!”, and the Hulkster follows it up with THREE legdrops for good measure. This match isn’t a conventional “WrestleMania Moment” at all, but it had a big part in my fandom, so it unquestionably lands a spot on my list.

P.S. There’s a hilarious moment in the match where Hulk DRILLS a Spanish Announcer with a chair when Vince moves.