Oh Brother! How Badly Vince McMahon Was Hurt When Hulk Hogan Left And How Personally He Took It

I can’t really blame him. One of the biggest matches at WrestleMania 19 saw Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon in a battle based in history. The big argument between the two was who was responsible for the creation of and success of WrestleMania. That question was never quite answered, but it was clear that the concept was certainly a success and something that both of them deserved credit for in the end. That’s what made Hogan leaving in 1994 all the worse, and McMahon did not take things well.

Hogan’s departure from the company changed a lot of things in wrestling, mainly setting up WCW as a much stronger competitor against the WWE, primarily through the New World Order. While Hogan did return to the company in 2002 and has returned a few times since, the initial relationship was never the same. It was bad on both sides, but McMahon seemed to take it worse than Hogan. So how bad was it?

On the most recent episode of Something To Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard discussed Hogan’s departure from the company and the impact that it had on McMahon. When Hogan, left, McMahon was hurt professionally but also personally, as he and Hogan had been close friends during the Hulkamania years. While Hogan has said that the split was just business, McMahon took it far more personally, with Prichard describing it as a bad divorce.

I would say McMahon had a lot to do with this. Check out a look back at the most powerful force in the wrestling universe:

Opinion: I can’t say I blame McMahon for being that upset. Yes it was just business, but Hogan’s time in the WWE was unlike anything that had ever been seen. Other than Steve Austin, no one has reached that level and no one ever will again. Hogan was a cultural phenomenon and McMahon had a big part in that. To just walk away, for whatever reason, must have hurt McMahon quite a bit, no matter how messy the whole thing really was.

Should Hogan have left when he did? When will we see him again? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. His latest book is KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews.

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