HulkHogan's 1996 heel turn broke the hearts of many fans at the time and revitalized the Hulkster's career. It was also the catalyst for WCW's skyrocketing popularity and for the company becoming the official competition for WWE. Recently, JohnCena's heel turn at the EliminationChamber PLE has been compared to Hogan's heel turn, but now the WWE Hall of Famer himself has weighed in on the comparison.
"I think when, you know, Eric [Bischoff] and I pulled that off at the Daytona Bash at the Beach, I think it was really real, really organic," Hogan explained during an appearance on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "Because, when Scott Hall came in and then Kevin Nash came in, it actually looked like they were still working with the WWE or WWF so all of a sudden, when I came down as the third man, nobody knew more about that organization than me."
Hogan further described the silence in the audience after his turn as "white heat," and added that he was concerned the audience would start rioting, especially after "Mene" Gene Okerlund was hit in the nose by a half-a-can of beer tossed by a fan in the crowd. "That was so intense that you could feel in that building how much hatred they had for me for turning and destroying all the kids," he noted, explaining that his turn was evil and had a whole different level of storytelling compared to Cena's. "The turn with Cena was good, but I think they were just two different things at two different times."
Eric Bischoff also agreed with Hulk Hogan that the two heel turns are essentially very different moments in pro wrestling history, specifically because the storyline presented the Hulkster as the hidden third man. "The reason it worked was because that turn was part of a storyline. Scott Hall came down. 'My big buddy's gonna come next week.' Kevin Nash shows up. Then, for weeks, the whole story was 'who is their third man?'" he explained, noting that in the case of John Cena, the turn was more spontaneous and not part of a specific arc but instead an angle.
Bischoff further added that the story surrounding Hogan's turn already created a lot of anticipation before he was even revealed. "When Hulk Hogan came down, in his red and yellow, and Randy Savage is just was laying down on the mat everybody assumed Hulk was there to make the save until he wasn't," he said, adding that Hogan's turn was a dramatic turn of events. "If Hulk Hogan would've turned spontaneously, it still would have had a major implication, but because it was part of a story, it has become legendary and everything else is compared to it."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Ariel Helwani Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
