Bonus Drive Thru: Jim Cornette on Hulk Hogan Leaving The WWF & Turning Heel 

i was 16 when this happened, and i can tell you that everyone in high school was talking about this. no one ever talked wrestling in school at all, but after this, nwo shirts showed up everywhere. im not hogans biggest fan, but this event was huge back then

Most people who were fans of Wrestling in 93 were sick of Hogan by that point. His NWO heel turn tho was fantastic.

Hogan turning Heel made the news back in the day *"Local and National News"* The greatest heel turn of all time!!

Never was a Hogan fan but that heel turn had me watching. I remember that sh!t made national news. It was on every news channel.

This was the top 3 most shocking moments in wrestling history. We’re talking about a guy that in the 80’s was a hero to 10’s of millions of kids. A guy who was a pop culture MEGA icon in the movies and media. When he turned I was 12 years old watching BATB with a group of friends and when he turned we were speechless. My friends little brother was 8 years old and he cried like a baby. That’s how big this was.

"People got blown up with dynamite and kick out on a 2 count." Ha Ha Ha.

Hogan turning Heel was MEGA!! COLOSSAL.

The build up to the Yokozuna match was always funny to me. “Hogan has decided to trim down to 275 in his match with Yokozuna. He figures if he’s lighter, he’ll be able to use his speed against Yokozuna.” Great story. Believed it as a kid, but now we know what the real deal was.

I remember the garbage in the ring 😄

I'm from Los Angeles. Hogan turning heel was such a big deal that it made the news. Sorry Corny, but it was a big deal.

Heel Hogan is the best Hogan.

When Hogan says, the fans can stick it. And Scott Hall's hand gestures was hilarious on that night when Hogan turn 😂😂

Whole thing was genius Hall(Razor) and Nash(Diesel) come into WCW exited WWF. Invades the shows. Say they are taking over. Fans think WWF is invading WCW. They hype the shit out of it. Everyones talking whos the third person is and the least expecting person joins them.

Jim's bias shows when he discusses stuff like this. That heel turn was groundbreaking. Still the most memorable moment of wrestling in the 90s

Hogan had to go heel because everybody was tired of his ass by 96

I was at Bash at the Beach when Hogan turned heel.

at the time Hogan turned heel and joined NWO to fans at the time was a big shock and most didn't know he was a heel in the late 70's in WWE. with Freddy Blassie as his manager. I knew he had been a heel before.

Was a huge risk that provided a monumental payoff. Totally refreshed him.

Hulk Hogan was a heel early in his career. He was a heel when he did Rocky III . . . which helped him become a well-recognized figure and where he looked like a face at the end of his scene.

Hulk Hogan and The Rock are the only 2 wrestlers bigger or just as big as WWF/E but hogan was a active wrestler and Hogan was instrumental in 2 eras no wrestler can make that claim as a world wide attraction

Babies born the same year as The NWO are now legal to drink in every state . 21 years ago (1996 ) was the begining of the last interesting period in wrestling .

The Iron Sheik match The Andre the Giant match The Ultimate Warrior match The heel turn Some of the biggest moments ever

All respect to Cornette, in the "wrestling world", it was a huge fucking deal.

Yes it was a big deal when he turned. Did you see the ring it was filled with trash

Getting over means attracting more casual fans or new fans to the product. The Smarks stay regardless. Hogan’s heel turn pulled MASSIVE amounts of 80’s casual fans back to the product in addition to new fans. Also, the economy was good in the late 90’s just like it was in the mid-80’s. The economy being up or down has a lot of impact on businesses being “up or down”.

I wasnt shocked, I was excited. I was not a Hogan fan as a kid. Razor was one of my favorites in WWF. When I attended a WCW event in my hometown of Macon Ga. as a kid and saw Razor, I was going crazy! Then as everything unfolded to the leg drop I was becoming a fan on NWO

Whole bunch of commenters missing the key point of the question. From the standpoint of the business and backstage, not your high school hallways and water cooler conversations. He asked "What Was the BACKSTAGE like?"

I can listen to Cornette all day!!

Hogan turning heel was news in the mainstream.

Damn...What's up with Jim? This was a huge deal. It was all over the place and everyone was talking about it. It was, and still is, the biggest heal turn in wrestling history.

Say what you will about Hogan or WCW, that was MONUMENTAL.

Hogan helped WCW to beat out WWF in many pay per views even before he went heel but Cornette thinks he wasn't drawing? Gimme a break.

Hulk's heel turn HANDS DOWN was epic! The greatest heel turn of all time! I understand why Corny was downplaying it though. Because he was with WWF at the time. And the Monday Night Wars were intense. But it's THE THING that put WCW on the path to beat WWF in the ratings for a long ass time. And WCW's roster in terms of depth SMOKED WWF's at the time. Plus let's face it, Hogan, Hall, and Nash was a LEGIT dream team faction! Hall and Nash were so cool and had major swag. So letting that rub off on Hulk was HUGE! And Hogan giving them the notoriety in terms of being MAJOR ENOUGH for Hulk to join them was huge too! Hulk had sway in his own way. But the Hollywood shit no doubt gave him new life!

“Every minute move.” Yeah this was one of the biggest angles ever lol

Somebody goin to get blew up with a stick of dynamite just for a 2 count😂

Wrestling followers love stating that fans were tired of Hogan by 93 which is interesting. First is that the entire business was down and there was no other wrestler in WWF or WCW they helped rebound the business, I am sure many were tired of Hogan in general but it seems people are also just sick of everything in the wrestling world at that time as well yet Hogan has to shoulder it all. Secondly is that despite his significant dip in popularity he was still helping WCW have a fighting chance against WWF even before his heel change. Lastly it was Hogan's heel change that reignited wrestling..without debate!!! Hall and Nash legitimized his switch but trust that it was all Hogan that rebounded the business and had WWF adopt and build its attitude era. Hogan single handedly rebounded wrestling again and ushered in the new era that WWF copied and eventually took to new heights and to assure his eternal status all one has to do is watch his eventual return and match with The Rock

I was not a " Hulkamaniac " growing up. I always liked the bad guys. When Hulk Hogan turned heel, that's when I started to like him. His heel turn sparked the national interest in wrestling again. I remember seeing that on Sportscenter. Kids in the crowd crying, and even friends of mine who had a casual interest in wrestling talked about it. From there came the Monday night wars, and my cable bill going through the roof because of the attitude era.

I was 11. Begged my parents to watch the beginning of Nitro in early 1997 lol. NWO is so Iconic.

This was the biggest heel turn. At least the top 3 in many years. I recall this.

Nitro was in Savannah ga on St Patrick’s day in 97. Nwo got covered in beer thrown from the audience, it was a great show! Sting came down from the rafters obviously

Jim is right the Hulkster had grown stale by this time and his move to WCW and heel turn was just the thing he needed,this is the problem with world wide TV coverage compared to working territories with them you can go to a new city or town do the same match and nobody had seen it. While i liked the Hulkster his matches were basically the same for years he would get the heel to beat the shit out him then he would hulk up point the finger no sell a few punches big boot then leg drop finish 1 2 3 which works fine until its been on TV to many times you knew what was going to happen. Its a bit like a comedian on TV once they have done the routine its fucked for using with a live audience as everybody has heard it already

these questions to Jim are as long as war and peace. Good Lord get to the point listeners!

Hogan had to go heal because he was stale by 1991.

N.W.O. still has an impact, look at wrestling shows like WWE, AEW, Impact, fans wear N.W.O. shirts still over 20 years later!

"he raised all his eyebrows" as in he had more than two?

The video thumbnail looks like Hogan is grabbing Scott Hall's junk.

if only Russo ended up in ECW... pole matches galore and David Arquette, the King of Hardcore!!

Hogan's heel turn was Huge! I usually agree with Corny, but it's obvious that he's extremely biased, and he's not being objective.

As a huge hulkamaniac, by 96 I was 14 and I had become a rebel. I was sick and tired of the red and yellow good guy. And the night this happened I marked out so hard. I cheered so loudly I was so excited. And it only got better. Once they unleash those nWo shirts boy me and about ten other guys in high school wore those every Friday. We actually felt like we were apart of the nWo. looking back this was stupid but we actually went to school looking to fight and kick ass. Anybody who messed with us got a beat down. A lot of suspension but no regrets.

Hogan didn't leave WWF because he wasn't drawing. He left because he had a baby and a toddler at home and wanted to slow down and look at outside ventures due to nagging injuries and being the Man for 8-9 years who carried the WWF on his shoulders

Thunder in paradise and viper. Vehicles that changed were big in the 90s.

Blown up with a stick of dynamite but it’s only for a 2 count 😂😂

Greatest turn in my wrestling lifetime (late 80s to early 2000s). NWO is only reason WCW could compete with WWF.

i finally got around to watching an episode of smokey mountain the other day. It was as,if not MORE hot shot than ecw. Garbage cans in 3 matches in a row, weapons in EVERY MATCH. not AT ALL what i expected

Blown up with a stick of dynamite and still be a 2 count 😭😭😭

To this day I think it was the all time greatest heel turn. Hogan knocked the heel role out of the park with that fucking epic promo he cut at the bash at the beach .

Cornette always seems to downplay Hogan's impact.

Hogan in his very worst years outdrew Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.. I mean this is the only man to draw over 30,000,000 PPV buys, so everytime Jim says "Hogan wasn't drawing", I cringe because it is very obvious that he doesn't know a lot about drawing power outside of the companies he ran... I see about 10 HBK's and Bret Hart's in today's WWE, but there hasn't been a Hulk Hogan since Stone Cold Steve Austin.

It seemed to me that Hogan enjoyed being a heel in WCW more than a face.I understand why he was reluctant at first but once he turned he was on fire.

"Guy gets blown up with a stick of dynamite but it's only for a 2 count" ROTFL!!!!!!!!!

I love the logo. Great show

Hogan's heel turn was cool, and the NWO was fun, but they let it run way too long, and in the end they were instrumental in killing WCW, much to my dismay.

Cornette never gives Hogan his due

Going back to Lance Storms line about ECW and breaking the rules, anyone know the context of that? Thanks in advance!

The important moral here is sometimes people need a change of scenery to improve. And that can go for both parties.

Got into pro wrestling at the age of 4 and now I'm 41, never was a hulkamanic but his heel turn was great. Still love it to this day. The nWo booking, Hogan heel turn. Will never be topped ever.

Hogan turning heel in 96 was the best thing to happen since Andre the Giant turned in 87. And it was about time too because everyone was sick of Hogan by 95/96 and he needed a change

At one point in time maybe 2 now, Sir, Hogan was over Hulkamania was a phenomenon. The man was over big time.

Sorry JEC, you can’t underplay the hogan heel turn

I was a little kid when this happened. Huge Hulk fan. I fucking BAWLED when this happened. Cried my eyes out.

Hogan, Rock, Taker and Savage are awesome as heels and faces, Austin and Sting can only do babyface and Flair and HHH can only do heel

A lot of people are missing the point. Fans saw it as a big deal because we were watching as fans following a story. Backstage would have been looking at it from a business standpoint. Two entirely different perspectives.

Ha! I lived in Morristown and Knoxville.

Weren't The Moondogs basically wrestling the ECW style before that though? With Cornette as their manager. They would rush to the ring with chairs, vacuum cleaners and so on. Is that not hypocritical then to say he didn't want to associate with the style of ECW when he previously already did, at least individually if not a whole promotion wrestling just that style. There was definitely a lot of hardcore stuff though back when Cornette was doing his thing. Why is that acceptable but not ECW? Genuinely asking. Was it the out-of-ring antics? The promos and so on that he feels differentiated it?

Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair was pretty big time when Hogan first came to WCW. That was the match fans had wanted to see for 10 years and through most of that 10 years we thought would never happen. When Flair went to WWF we got teased with it but never really got to see it the way we wanted too. When Flair went back to WCW we thought once again we'd never see it. The WCW had a pretty shitty track record when it came to properly promoting debuts of new talent or big matches etc. but when Hogan came to WCW and almost immediately had a match with Ric Flair they actually did a pretty good job of promoting that one and finally we were going to get to really see the 80s dream match. If you were a Hogan baby face mark you wanted to see Hogan annihilate Flair or if you were a Ric Flair who probably thought Hogan sucked you wanted to see Flair wrestle circles around Hogan and prove that Hogan sucked once and for all. To me I think that match doesn't get the recognition in hind sight that it deserves. My guess is WWF and Vince like to bury that match to some extent because that is the one match Vince dropped the ball on and the competition capitalizes on. I think in terms of wrestling history that match was a very important match. It was like we could finally lay the 80s pro wrestling to rest and move on to the 90s pro wrestling when the smoke had finally settled on that one. And it was a great match! Two guys that knew how to deliver when the spot light shined the brightest delivered. They both had tremendous egos and neither was going to let it be said that the other guy carried the match. They had something to prove to eachother and to themselves in that one. But yeah after that one it did kind of get like "Okay what do we do now with Hogan for everyone including Terry Bolea.

The third cat originally was sting, but Hogan played politics and snuck into the greatest angle ever. Once a snake, always a snake.

The thumbnail/screenshot for this video looks like Hogan is pointing at Halls crotch and boasting his approval and admiration of said crotch. Almost fear of it.

If Vince Russo was such a huge ECW mark, I'm surprised he never tried to go there and write for them. Maybe Paul E. wouldn't let him?

Hogan was always a heel. His "friends" were below and beneath him, he took everything he could from the business that made him and gave very little back to it. Look at the business now!

Hogan turning heel seems a natural idea to me, in the 80's it was all about the Rocky idea of the American hero, but in the 90's with films like Pulp Fiction the bad guy became cool and the Rocky ideal was seen as cheesy, so it made sense to turn him heel

I remember watching this live as a 7 year old. I was soooooo bummed out. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I remember a buddy of mine back then crying. It was monumental. And it’s what turned me into the biggest Sting mark haha I already loved the dude but the Crow was fucking awesome.

Beulah vs. Fonzie was a fucking amazing match.

Hogans heel turn got me back into wrestling after a 8 year break.

Hogan turning heel was HUGE, i still remember that Bash at the Beach 96... corny sometimes is so blind with his views.

I was pretty excited about it lol 😆

In all the accounts I've heard, It was Hogan that wanted to do the initial heel turn.

Of course, it didn’t happen in 1983, or in front of 43 people, nor did it involve the Midnight Express, so of course it’s not of any import to Cornette.

A new coat of paint on a turd will still make it smell like shit.

Only person bigger than hogan in my childhood was the great bob backlund

Remember the Yoko feud brings me back

Hagan and Michaels are the two biggest stats all time in wrestling

It's odd to me Vince not watching his own Product! To pick it apart to try to make it better!

Hogan needed to turn heel so he could hog up the main event like always. But it worked out I guess. NWO and now get to see Hogan hogging up the main events more as a heel.

Hogan and Bret were the last two big stars to resurrect their careers being able to jump a big ship to another big ship; except for the big merge after Vince bought everything. Now the only other options wrestler have is to make movies or join UFC if they're young enough.

Vince didn't need to dwell he was grooming luger triple h austin & rock & he had a pretty good talent scout in jim ross who did more than announce although i liked wcw more than wwf then

Size of Hogan's mouth in that photo 😮

There is no argument about how big this turn was. International news outlets were discussing the ramifications of Hogan "showing his true colors". There were college kids shown crying and burning their Hogan memorabilia in places even. I agree with Jim on many things, but the simple truth was Hogan turning heel and the entire nWo story line from mid 1996 to late 1998 was what many people wanted. Everyone crows about the "Attitude Era".. but it was Mick Foley beating the Rock on Raw that one night that really turned the tide in WWF/E's favor. Now.. Vince is in a *_WORSE_* position right now than he was then.. and still pretending it couldn't happen for real....

Funny how Jim says he didn’t draw worth a shit in WCW but he still drew better than anyone ever with the company in history

Hulk "Thunderlips" Hogan became famous worldwide as a heel thanks to Rocky 3.

“You needed a fresh coat of paint, and different matches, against different people, in a different area, And that’s pretty much the only way you can get anybody over again once they’ve gone downhill.” That is one of the big reasons why professional wrestling worked under the territory system. A wrestler that got stale in Memphis could go to Dallas a wrestler that needed a new gimmick could go to Louisiana, etc. But, once cable TV allowed wrestling promotions to go to a national audience, then there was nowhere besides maybe Japan for a wrestler to go once his gimmick got stale.