Hulk Hogan’s storied wrestling career included iconic made-in-Canada matches

From 2013: Watch as former Toronto mayor Rob Ford takes on wrestling legend Hulk Hogan in an arm-wrestling match in Toronto.

TORONTO — At the fan festival leading up to WrestleMania X8, World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon wanted to get a sense of who the audience would be pulling for in the anticipated match between Hulk Hogan and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson.

Hogan was still in his villainous “Hollywood” persona while The Rock was the promotion’s bankable baby face star heading into their March 17, 2002, showdown at Toronto’s SkyDome.

Canadian wrestling crowds, however, were famous for resisting the force-fed storylines trotted out by the promotions, and those in attendance gave a full-throated endorsement of Hogan.

The ensuing fight, which has become something of a WWE legend, was one of many big moments in Hogan’s wrestling career that came north of the border.

Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea, died Thursday at 71.

Hogan’s matches in Canada included a headline title fight against the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI in Toronto — an uncommon Hogan loss and even rarer title fight between two baby faces — championship bouts against Paul (Mr. Wonderful) Orndorff and Ric Flair, and even an arm wrestling match with then-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (who died in 2016) at Fan Expo in 2013.

But Hogan’s most memorable match in Canada came at WrestleMania X8 — and it wasn’t even the main event. When he finally faced The Rock in the “Icon versus Icon” showdown, the crowd’s support for Hogan was unequivocal. In a remarkable display of adaptive storytelling, the two wrestlers switched attitudes mid-match.

Hogan broke out some of the signature moves that wrestling fans remembered from his rise from wrestling star to pop culture icon in the 1980s. He exhorted the throng of over 62,000 to cheer him on, cupping his hand to his ear and leaning toward the crowd and “Hulking Up,” which involved glaring wide-eyed at his opponent while seemingly impervious to pain, often accompanied by a finger wag before he unloaded some offence.

The Rock cleanly won the match, but the Canadian response set up a storyline that would see Hogan break off from his heel New World Order faction and return to his do-gooder persona of the ’80s.

That version of Hogan was arguably best known to Canadian fans leading into WrestleMania X8, and perhaps why the crowd at SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) was firmly in his corner. Another key fight at the same venue came 12 years earlier, when Hogan faced the Ultimate Warrior — a rising star whose popularity at the time rivalled Hogan’s — for the WWF title.

The fight, which was well-received by the fans in attendance — and included future wrestling stars Adam (Edge) Copeland and Jay (Christian) Reso — was meant to be a passing of the torch as Warrior beat Hogan cleanly by pinfall — the first time that happened since 1981. However, Warrior’s title run proved to be short-lived, and by WrestleMania VII Hogan was once again champion after defeating Sgt. Slaughter in the main event.

Hogan also had a couple of successful title defences in Toronto, notably a decision over Orndorff on Aug. 28, 1986, at Exhibition Stadium before a crowd of over 60,000. In a confusing ending that was typical of the ongoing feud between the wrestlers, Orndorff was disqualified despite appearing to win the match after his manager Bobby (“The Brain”) Heenan laid out Hogan with a chair.

In another matchup between legends, Hogan defeated Flair on a May 13, 2002, episode of Monday Night Raw in Toronto to retain the WWE Undisputed Championship. In another messy ending, nWo member X-Pac interfered with a Hogan pin attempt of Flair in the no-disqualification match. Flair’s attempt to win the match via submission was then interrupted by (Stone Cold) Steve Austin, who laid out the 53-year-old Flair, allowing Hogan to perform his signature leg drop and cover for the pin.

In a less heralded matchup, Hogan took the fall in an arm wrestling battle with Ford at the 2013 Fan Expo pop culture showcase in Toronto.

“I own this town, man!” Ford yelled after the dubious win as Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger” played in the background.

Hogan’s main-event appearance at the first-ever WrestleMania in 1985 also had a Canadian connection, as he teamed with “The A-Team” star Mr. T to defeat Roddy Piper — born Roderick Toombs in Saskatoon — and Orndorff.

Curtis Withers, The Canadian Press