It is not uncommon for WWE to bring back veterans and have them wrestle. What is uncommon is seeing older talent wrestle when they clearly do not have it anymore. WWE tries to keep these people out of the ring as much as possible. While they may make an appearance in the ring and even take a spot or two, WWE does not like having them in there for anything other than comedy reasons.
This is why news coming out today regarding Hulk Hogan is somewhat interesting. The 60 year old former WWE Champion has been one of the top names in wrestling for nearly three decades. He hasn’t wrestled much in this last decade, but he didn’t have to. His name alone attracted fans and people loved to see him regardless of his age. However, Hogan being older has lost it as he has aged.
Sure, Hogan is still in good shape. However, wrestling shape is totally different. We’ve seen guys like Ric Flair who were known as good technical wrestlers be reduced to crap at his age. Hogan was never known as an amazing wrestler. He was always known as the performer. The superhero-like figure that we all grew up aspiring to be like. The tan, muscular figure with the ability to talk so that everyone listens. We all wanted that, and WWE marketed the hell out of that.
Today, the equivalent to him is John Cena. So the appeal of a Hogan in his prime versus Cena in his prime today could sell well. That is why The Rock versus Hulk Hogan was so well loved and why The Rock vs John Cena was a big deal as well. It is said that Hogan is training for a comeback and wants to have one final match . The thing is, he wants it to be against John Cena.
Cena might be a better wrestler than Hogan but he by no means can make a good match with him.
Cena is not a bad wrestler. He gets a lot of flack from WWE fans for only having 5 moves all the time. While he may not be the best wrestler in WWE, he is not horrible in the ring. Still though, Cena might be good….but against a 60 year old man who has never been known for his ring skill? That is tougher to sell to fans.
Hogan is set to appear on RAW soon and has been very complimentary to Cena lately. He has called him the greatest WWE Champion of all time and commended him on his charity work. If there is anything people can like Cena for, it’s his charity work. What he does for kids numerous times a year is something no other WWE Superstar in history has done. He has granted hundreds of wishes for several people over the years and he is not stopping there. WWE uses him for several campaigns with kids and charities they are involved with. Truly, Cena might be the best ambassador WWE has ever had.
Hogan was a good champion and one of the first big names in WWE, but Cena has taken the ball he was given and run with it. He is slowly creeping up to Hogan popularity. It will take time to get as big as him, but Cena might be the closest of any current star.
Hogan might be saying all of these things about Cena to help a potential story, or he may mean them. Who knows?
What we do know is that John Cena is set to lose his WWE World Heavyweight Title soon to Brock Lesnar, and from there he does not have a rivalry set. Chances are, if WWE were to give us Hogan/Cena….they would not do it at WrestleMania. While most would imagine that they would, they would want to use Cena in a bigger capacity. A match with an older Hogan that will not be pleasant to sit through may not be WrestleMania main event worthy.
Hogan still has to pass WWE physicals to be able to get in the ring. The two have crossed paths before and both were in the WWE when Hogan was an active wrestler years ago. The match simply never happened. Hogan might want this match, but the chances are slim that he gets it. He certainly would never get it at WrestleMania, knowing his low skill in the ring and age. No amount of weights and shape can change this for the Hulkster. Unlike Sting, Hogan has lost it and simply put, will not have it in the ring again. On the mic, he’s gold. That is where he should stay.
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