By Julian Cannon
I have always enjoyed watching HBK ‘oversell’ in matches. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy watching him flip head over heels when he’s thrown into the turnbuckle? So I made a comment on the photo that the Michaels’ oversell always makes my soul smile. That was it, now I have some guy who has some wrestling title out of a cracker jack box, get on my case. He started talking about how Michaels was a goof, Shawn made Hogan, Summerslam, himself AND the business look bad… What the hell is this guy talking about?! I know it’s been a few years since I’ve watched it so, I checked it out again.
Did Shawn blatantly oversell everything to make Hogan look bad? Isn’t it a better question to ask: If Hogan was so great, why didn’t he make the match look better? Over the past 30 years we have watched Hogan No sell after No sell.
And after watching SS 2005 again, I could almost see this guys point. Michaels did a slight over exaggeration of his selling of Hogan’s punches, Irish whips, clotheslines… But did he make the business look like a joke? Did he make Hogan look bad? NO! Well, the match itself was bad but, it surely wasn’t all Shawn’s fault. Let us all not forget that it’s been 20+ years and Hulk Hogan still can’t sell. He still can’t wrestle. He still can’t do much of anything.
I don’t want to take away from what Hogan gave to the business. I mean, he helped revolutionize the world. But I will say this: “Hogan can perform, Hogan can make money. Hogan can BARELY wrestle!” I’m avidly against this guy and have been for a good 15 years. But, back to his match with HBK at SummerSlam ’05….
If you watch the video I linked above, or if you somehow manage to vividly remember the match, it was slow. Hogan couldn’t do it anymore. Hogan couldn’t do much of it 8 years prior but, especially not in this match. Shawn tried to make Hogan look like the powerful force he was decades ago. Were his oversells obvious? sometimes… But, maybe he was told to oversell and make Hogan look like a force NO ONE could really handle….
So, Shawn, towards the end of the above video, busts Hogan wide open. He even slammed Hogan’s head into a ring post…TWICE! Did Hogan make it look good? Did Hogan fall over, or drop to a knee? Did he sell it? NOPE! Instead he walks around outside the ring with actions that make it look like Shawn poked him in the eyes. But, Hogan is busted open…. Shawn locks in the sleeper and now there is blood everywhere. Down Hogan’s face, all over Shawn’s arm…. But, predictable Hogan emerges from the crimson stains.
The ref checks Hogan. Lifts his arm, drops….lifts his arm…drops…. The third time you can see Hogan clearly starts to raise his arm and hold it out of sync with the referee. Obviously Hogan will now make his comeback. It gets worse. Predictable Hogan then gets nailed and pinned. But, after being bloodied and almost losing to “passing out” he lays in that familiar Big Show/Mark Henry position. Arms under HBK, hands on HBK’s chest just waiting for the 2 count before he throws Michaels off of him.
And that’s it, Hogan “Hulks Up” and beats HBK…..
Now, this guy tells me that Shawn made Hogan look foolish because of his ego. Shawn was mad he had to lose to Hogan. Can you freaking blame the guy?! Hulk Hogan was a huge name in WWF. But, he bailed and he bailed HARD on WWF because WCW would give him more money! Meanwhile Shawn was up and coming. He was loyal to WWF and worked his ASS OFF! All of a sudden, Hogan needs money and he crawls back to Vince for a few huge payoffs…Like his WM match with The Rock. His SSlam match against HBK… And the guy who has suffered career ending injuries but STILL came back to WWF/E has to put this guy over?
If I was Shawn, I would have tried to make him look even more stupid than he did.
Was this the worst match ever? No, was it slow, kinda boring and OVERLY predictable? Yes.
By the way, the worst WWE match in the history of the WWE was Rock/Cena at WM 28…. Especially when I got to watch The Rock call the next move to Cena on two different occasions. Way to go guys!
