Match of the Day

Billy Kidman vs Hulk Hogan
WCW Slamboree 2000
May 7th, 2000

After being let go by WCW for three months, Vince Russo was given another shot at running things. Russo started his second run by completely shaking up everything that fans knew about the company by rebooting the organization. All the championships were stripped and most of the major storylines and feuds were thrown to the side so that Russo and a returning Eric Bischoff could launch the New Blood (younger talent) vs the Millionaire’s Club (seasoned veterans) storyline.

It was during this time where legit complaints against older stars like Ric Flair and Kevin Nash were played out live on air by the young up-and-comers in the New Blood. In this feud, Billy Kidman singled out out the Hulk Hogan from keeping him from becoming a major star which led to a series of matches between the two. In an attempt to blur the lines between the script and reality, the Hulkster started wrestling as “Terry Bollea” (his real name) and started wearing a black denim vest with the acronym F.U.N.B. painted on the back.

Unnatural is the only way to describe this era of the Hulkster. Billy Kidman beat him three weeks in a row on WCW Monday Nitro, Hogan started to use the steel chairs more frequently, the man even power bombs Eric Bishoff during this match; the Hardcore Hogan Era was fucking weird.