Search - WWE - Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology on DVD

WHAT YOU GONNA DO BROTHER!

D.P. | California | 11/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Now I'm not the biggest Hulk Hogan fan when it comes to his matches or his "politics" in the wrestling world but I can't deny that it's a great set for one of the biggest (if not THE BIGGEST) icon in sports entertainment/professional wrestling today...HULK HOGAN. Mean Gene & Jimmy Hart (who wore the old Hogan WCW jacket he had) host this DVD set while you'll hear new & old comments from Hogan regarding some of his matches along with thoughts & comments from such WWE superstars & legends like Ric Flair, Edge, Greg Gagne, Paul Orndorff, Iron Sheik, Sgt. Slaughter, Eric Bischoff, and Shawn Michaels. This DVD will showcase some reasons why the old school fans of professional wrestling love him & some of the new school "smart" fans hate him.

In my opinion, this DVD set does have some faults. WWE has edited some of Hogan's promos & commentary to say "WWE" whenever he was saying "WWF" instead of just censoring it which is stupid because everyone knows what he really said so it's silly for WWE to try to re-write small history like that. Also this DVD should feature all of his most important matches & not some randon ones like they did with Hulk Still Rules. I know people are complaining about the fact that some matches on here were on other DVDs but when your doing an Ultimate Anthology on anybody or anything (althletes or sports teams, musicians, actors or actresses) then you include their most famous moments or in this case...matches. Most of these matches should have been left off the other DVD releases like the "History Of WWE Championship" but shouldn't be excluded from his anthology. If you want Hogan's rare matches from such things like television or Saturday Night's Main Events then Hulk Still Rules might please you more than this. By the way, I did get the 4 disc set from Wal-Mart with the bonus matches (your crazy if you think I want "Hogan Knows Best" episodes) so those will get reviewed as well. And I'll let you know what matches were also on other DVD's for those interested.

Disc One:
vs. Andre The Giant - This was from Hogan's first run in the WWF under Vince McMahon Sr. The match itself is pretty short as the real highlight was Hogan doing what not alot of men were able to do & make Andre bleed. I would have preferred they put their more famous match from Shea Stadium since this is an ultimate anthology but either way, you get the message.
The Shea Stadium match is on Hulk Still Rules.

vs. AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkle - The beginnings of Hulkamania started here as the crowd was wild for Hogan & wanted him to take the title from Bockwinke & everyone thought he finally did but it slipped through his fingers again.

vs. WWF Champion Iron Sheik - Honestly, I can try to summerize this match but who hasn't already seen this match already & what can't be said about it that hasn't been said about it for over 20 years.
(Hulk Still Rules, Greatest Wrestling Stars Of The 80's, History Of The WWE Championship)

vs. Big John Studd - This was a rare match from MSG & people ofter forget about how good of a worker a big man like Big John Studd was but this match was nothing to really to write home about. The match just seems out of place to me & would have been good for the bonus disc.

vs. Roddy Piper (The War To Settle The Score) - This was the match to set up the WrestleMania main event as it was just a non-stop brawl with people getting into it left & right. I honestly love this match because I'm such a fan of Roddy Piper & the heat he could draw from a crowd. It wasn't Hogan doing his usual stuff so it was interesting to see.
(Greatest Wrestling Stars Of The 80's, The Roddy Piper Story)

w/Mr T. vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (WrestleMania I) - The night & match that put sports entertainment on the map. Everyone does a great job making Mr. T look better than he actually was and just knew how to mix brawling & wrestling to make a good match to watch.
(WrestleMania Anthology, The Roddy Piper Story)

Steel Cage Match: vs. King Kong Bundy (WrestleMania 2) - For those trivia buffs, this was the only REGULAR steel cage match to happen at WrestleMania. King Kong Bundy was a monster at this time. Hogan was selling his ribs to a tee as Bundy dominated him until Hogan was able to make his comeback.
(WrestleMania Anthology & History Of WWE Championship)

vs. Paul Orndorff (The Big Event) - Mr. Wonderful was on the best best workers at that time because his stuff looked so stiff that you thought the guy was really going to get hurt. Hogan did bring his A game to this one was Orndorff always did & put on a great back & forth match. The only negative I can say is that I would have liked to see their cage match as well on here & could have been put in place of the Studd match but you can't win them all.
For those wondering, their cage match is shown in full of the History Of WWE Championship DVD. Don't get the Bloodbath Steel Cage DVD because it only shows highlights on that one.
(Hulk Still Rules)

vs. Andre The Giant (WrestleMania III) - The biggest match in the history of professional wrestling as it headlined the 93,000+ indoor attendance record. Just like the Sheik match, there's nothing I can say about this match that hasn't been said for years & who hasn't seen this already.
(Hulk Still Rules, WrestleMania Anthology, History Of The WWE Championship)




Disc Two:
vs. WWF Champion Randy Savage (WrestleMania V) - The Mega Powers Explode. Randy Savage was a real workhorse back then and Hogan knew what to do to get the crowd to react to everything he does. Awesome match with inring storytelling that you rarely see in Hogan's matches these days.
(WrestleMania Anthology & History Of The WWE Championship)

vs. Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior (WrestleMania VI) - This was at the time the most unique WWF Title match in the companies history. The two most popular wrestlers in the company fought each other in the main event with both the Intercontinental & WWF Title on the line. This was one of the best Ultimate Warrior matches in his lifetime as they just told a great story & this is truely a classic even down the commentary where they didn't have a "good guy vs. bad guy" guideline to follow & the fans being split right down the middle.
(Self Destruction Of Ultimate Warrior, WrestleMania Anthology, History Of The WWE Championship)

vs. WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter (WrestleMania VII) - This was the conclusion of a storyline that WWF had did to make some money off the war in Iraq by having the american hero (Hogan) case & defeat the american turncoat (Slaughter). The match itself was good but again, nothing really special to write about except Hogan winning the title for a record (at that time) 3 times. By the way, their an audio glitch at the end of the match but it's nothing really big.
(WrestleMania Anthology)

vs. WWF Champion Undertaker (Tuesday In Texas) - This was the rematch from their Survivor Series match (on Undertaker's DVD) which was Hogan going back & forth with Taker until the outside interfearence from Paul Bearer, Ric Flair & Jack Tunney. This was a fun match for me to watch.
(Hulk Still Rules)

vs. WCW Champion Ric Flair (Bash At The Beach '94) - Hogan's debut match in WCW and one of Hogan's best wrestling matches in his WCW reign. He all know Ric Flair is one of the best wrestlers in the history of the sport & Hogan knows what to do to get the crowd hooked into a match. This was a match that did live up to all the hype it had surrounding it.
(Hulk Still Rules)

The formation of the nWo (Bash At The Beach '96) - This was from the "Hostile Takeover" match involving Hall & Nash vs. Luger, Savage, and Sting. They only show everything from when Hogan started walking from the entrance. I know some people said that the whole match should have been shown but if Hogan wasn't in the match for the first 20 mins. or even mentioned during it until the end, it shouldn't be on his anthology. This whole speech basically kicked off the biggest period in WCW and professional wrestling in the '90s...by creating the nWo.
(Hulk Still Rules & Monday Night War. The complete match can be seen on nWo: Back In Black)

vs. WCW Champion Giant (Hog Wild) - Honestly, this match was about nothing more than continuing the nWo storyline by winning the WCW Title...however, the most memorable moment of the match was when they spraypainted the title with the nWo letters & that's not shown here. This match was one of the flops of the DVD as they could have used this space to include another good match from his WCW career (not all of them were good...remember nWo Souled Out or the Havoc match against Warrior?). Matches such as his cage match with Flair from Havoc '94, his Havoc '95 match with Giant, either the SuperBrawl or Bash cage match against Vader, or one of his tag matches with Dennis Rodman against either Luger & Giant or DDP & Karl Malone.

vs. Sting (Starrcade '97) - This was the biggest match in WCW history as they had it built up for over a year (which you rarely see these days). Hogan & Sting brought their best to the table & delieved a good back & forth match. However, the way the finished happened just absolutely horrible & it did take away from the match itself. Great match with a crappy finish.




Disc Three:
vs. Curt Hennig (XWF) - The story behind this match was pretty funny to hear. The match itself was really nothing special as this was one of those Hogan matches where he just does enough to get the crowd to react. Hennig made Hogan look better than he really was in this encounter.

vs. The Rock (WrestleMania X8) - In my opinion, this was the last classic Hulk Hogan match I've seen. Hogan brought his A game as did The Rock & the crowd was so heavily into each & every move they made...it made the match seem even better. Words can do this match justice.
(WrestleMania Anthology)

vs. Undisputed Champion Triple H - This began Hogan's last WWE title run as Triple H played the Curt Hennig role here & made Hogan look like a million bucks in the ring. The finish started to get a little too screwy but overall, the match was good. I would have prefered to see his match with Kurt Angle later in the year but I can understand why they put this one on here.

w/Edge vs. Tag Team Champions Billy & Chuck - The big story here was Edge winning the tag team titles with his childhood hero Hulk Hogan. Edge & Hogan were just clicking this match with Billy & Chuck and showed in what was a great match for SmackDown TV.

Street Fight: vs. Mr. McMahon - This match wasn't really great but it was good to just sit back & watch. Hogan was really broken down at this point & McMahon isn't that good of a wrestler but knows how to take a beating & sell it good. I didn't really care for it past the whole "20 years in the making" standpoint.
(WrestleMania Anthology & McMahon)

Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony - Basically the entire speech from his Hall Of Fame induction. You'll hear his stories about growing up in the business & who he has to thank for his career.
(WrestleMania 21)

vs. Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam '05) - Overall, this was mostly just HBK bumping, selling, and being a "spot monkey" for Hogan and getting the occassional spots in before Hogan makes his eventual comeback & finish.




Bonus Disc:
vs. Tito Santana - This was from Hogan's first run in the WWF and it was a nice short match against an early Tito Santana. Nothing special but nice to watch.

vs. Sonny Rogers & Chuck Greenly - This was one of Hogan's AWA bouts but it was nothing special as Hogan took on two jobbers in a short handicap match just to show put over how much of a monster Hogan was.

vs. Terry Funk (Saturday Night's Main Event) - I didn't know this match ever happened but I'm glad sure it was put on here. Terry Funk & his manager Jimmy Hart knew just how to get people entertained & laughing while enjoying the wrestling at the same time. Funk & Hogan was just an entertaining match to watch & I wish they did more with each other after watching this.

vs. Harley Race (Saturday Night's Main Event) - Another match between two legends that I forgot happened. Just another nice match that went back & forth at times.

1990 Royal Rumble - This only shows everything after Hogan enters the Rumble match. Typical Royal Rumble stuff that you see but the big story here was the first confrontation between Hogan & Ultimate Warrior which started the build towards their WrestleMania VI match.
(Hulk Still Rules)

vs. Earthquake (SummerSlam '90) - This was their match from the "Get Well Hulk" storyline which Earthquake put Hogan out of action for several months. Basically for the '90s this was a good match but for today, it was just really slow & dull at times. I would have prefered another match here that I either listed earlier or maybe even another Saturday Night's Main Event, SummerSlam, or even Survivor Series elimination tag match instead of this one.

RAW Homecoming Interview - This one interview will showcase why the "smart" wrestling fans today do not like Hulk Hogan & ended the DVD set on a bad note for me. In this interview, Hogan touches on two things. One is that he says if Shawn Michaels wants a rematch from SummerSlam, he's game. However, anyone who knows the real story knows that HBK wanted a two match fued in which he gets a win & Hogan gets a win but Hogan used his politics & creative control to get one match with HBK with him winning in the end. Hogan's other point was to plant the idea of a match with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Now the smart fans know that Hogan has gone on record saying that if he won't lose to Austin if they have a match & Austin refuses to work the match because of Hogan's politics...but Hogan still comments that he wants to do the match & bring the idea up throughout interviews knowing Austin has refused to do the match. I would have left this out & put on one of his return tag matches from RAW such as the 6 man with Cena & HBK vs. Jericho & Tomko & Christian, Backlash tag match with HBK vs. Hassan & Davari, or if they're just looking for a moment...put his WrestleMania 21 return when he confronted Hassan & Davari.


Overall, this anthology isn't perfect as some stuff could have been left off & put on but overall, it's great for anyone who's a true fan of Hulk Hogan throughout his entire career & heavily makes up for alot of things that were left out of Hulk Still Rules. I recommend."

Ultimat Anthology=Decent at best

Steven Giordano | 10/23/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"There are so many flaws I don't know where to start. First I'd like to say that I own every WWE DVD that has been put out in the last 5 years so I'm being honest on every critiscism. First off why do we need the same matches on each dvd set that comes out. I'd rather see a match that was from a house show that might have been unique and never seen rather than the same old s*it. Hogan vs. Warrior WM 6, Match that I love, however do I need it on Warrior's DVD the WM 6 DVD, Hulk Still Rules, Ultimate Anthology and History of the WWE Championship. It's ridiculous. Then not to mention the Voodoo Child song not played. If you can't put these songs on DVD's then don't bother playing them when the events are on TV and PPV. Also we are so sick of the blurring of the logo already, you guys make enough money suck it up and pay the WWF and move on. The real kicker of this set is how WWE shopzone handled the sale of it. They advertised the 4th disc of the bonus matches so I ordered it from them just for that reason. I get it and they give me some bogus Hogan knows best recap. I then looked at the description on the day I received the set and how convenient they changed the description. Then there is the audio problem that occurs at the end of the Hogan vs. Slaughter WM 7 match, as he gets the 123 the audio goes blank. As far as content goes there are a few matches that are good to see on there from AWA a couple from WCW and the XWF match. But overall they slant the whole story about Hogan. They are not honest about his career when it came to WCW. Why couldn't they show the bash at the beach 2000 and comment on the screw job he dealt with. No all we get is he left WCW in 2000. I can't stand when WWE pretends that people haven't been watching wrestling for years and that we forget how history occured. They just think they can slap some matches on a few discs and show you want they want you to see and that somehow we will forget what really happened. I love how they show the terrible Starrcade 97 match with Sting which was built up for 15 months and sucked and had a finish that made no sense. Stop showing us 90 percent WWE matches and start showing more WCW matches. For some reason WWE has to dominate when it comes to what is shown on these DVD's they for some reason barely want to show us WCW when in a lot of instinces some WCW matches were better. Overall the set is decent at best and if you buy it get it at Walmart where they don't fals advertise."