The Story of… The Rise of The Giant (WCW 1995)

We really can’t talk about the subject of the day without first talking about WCW’s acquisition of Hulk Hogan, whose best days with the WWF were behind him, and with an offer you couldn’t turn down, signed a short-term deal that guaranteed ridiculous cuts of PPV revenue, merchandise, and appearance bonuses, with the deal extended once the numbers delivered proved worth it. Longtime fans of WCW were probably unhappy with Hogan’s arrival, which brought with him a lot of former WWF Superstars, giving WCW an “old timer’s day” feel to their roster with the WWF pushing the “New Generation” tagline down the throats of their television audience.

With more creative input and trying to capitalize on formulas that worked in the WWF, it wasn’t a surprise to see Hogan’s attempts at recreating the formation of the Mega Powers, fighting unbeatable odds with monster heels, bringing Mr. T out of mothballs about 8 years after T’s popularity peaked, and of course, headlining a PPV with his friend to the end, Brother Bruti, The Clipmaster, THE BUTCHER (Ed Leslie, best known to WWF fans as Brutus Beefcake). While we scratched monster heel off the list with a multi-PPV feud with the man THEY call Vader, we didn’t get our Andre the Giant until Hogan and the WCW brass were introduced to a 22-year old Paul Wight, a large man with an even larger personality who had only started in the business towards the end of 1994 and had minimal training, but the dollar eyes flashed in the eyes of those in charge and Wight was scooped up and immediately pushed as a major force. This is the Story of the Giant’s Rise in WCW.

(Note: Anything mentioned is the presentation of this compilation, with Hogan vs. The Giant from Halloween Havoc ‘95 recapped in full for my own amusement).

Before being officially introduced to the TV audience, Paul Wight first appeared on WCW programming in brief moments as a spectator. Well, I guess the first time was more of a “jump the rail” example of spectating, as he first shows up during the Slamboree Main Event of Hogan and Savage vs Flair and Vader, watching from the top of the entrance aisle, with Jimmy Hart aware of his presence (“man, this guy is unbelievable!”). We fast forward to the following PPV, the Great American Bash, with the big man lurking in the front row, watching on as the Renegade and Jimmy Hart celebrate Renegade’s victory over Arn Anderson for the WCW Television Championship… and did this monster reach over the guardrail, attempting to grab hold of little Jimmy?!

We move from ringside to the infamous DUNGEON OF DOOM (the location, in this case, and boy is THAT a story for another day). The bait has been set and Hulk Hogan has teleported to the lair. “There’s no Hulkamaniacs here!” Hogan reaches into the fountain, pulls back in exclamation “It’s NOT hot!”. Hogan says The Taskmaster and the Father are behind the demise of Hulkamania! “Hogan, this is where darkness dwells and lives! Nobody has ever been able to defeat the immortal Hulk Hogan, EXCEPT YOURSELF. You see Hogan, you’re the one that created me, and because of that, it’s this simple: your demise is ETCHED IN STONE.” Suddenly, the stone wall blows out, and from the smoke is THE GIANT! “My power is a million times greater than the power of Hulkamania! I am the greatest Giant to walk the face of the earth, and I am the one true immortal!”

Jimmy Hart addresses the situation on the August 5th episode of Saturday Night, talking about the mistakes Kevin Sullivan has made, catching us up to speed in case we haven’t been watching every week. At the Clash of the Champions XXXI, Hulk Hogan makes a return trip to the Dungeon of Doom, this time casually entering through the front door instead of the magic of teleportation. He’s taken care of Kamala in the ring and the strength is swelling inside him. HE WANTS THE GIANT. “I’ve fought Giants before, and I can’t wait to fight your most powerful Warrior!” The Giant appears, snatching the cross from around his neck, and chokes him down, with the rest of the Dungeon of Doom joining in on the fun until VADER makes the unexpected save. “You can run but you can’t hide from the one true immortal!” Hogan returns to the arena with Randy Savage, Sting, and Jimmy Hart and DECLARES WAR, with the unexpected alliance with Vader to round out the group (Spoilers: Card Subject to Change)

The Dungeon of Doom would continue to be a thorn in Hogan’s side, including attacks at the premiere episode of WCW Monday Nitro, as well as the following week, spoiling a Championship Match between Hogan and the recently returning Lex Luger. Ahead of the Fall Brawl PPV, the Giant does one of the most dastardly deeds imaginable, running over Hogan’s motorcycle with a monster truck and showing off his best maniacal laugh. Later that night, Hulkamania prevails inside Wargames and Hogan has Sullivan to himself for 5-minutes, but the Giant shows up and twists the neck of Hogan, leaving him in critical condition, forced to appear in subsequent weeks in a neck brace. The Giant and Taskmaster are not just satisfied with Hogan’s misfortunes, and now set their attention on the Macho Man (which seems like a very, very minor aspect of this story).

Hogan is building himself a Hulkamania Monster Truck and issues the challenge; machine against machine, and then he’s going to put the WCW Title on the line and put the Giant in his place and prove Hulkamania is the most powerful force in professional wrestling. He proclaims that even at less than 100%, he isn’t afraid of meeting the Giant eye-to-eye, which leads to a sob story about a little Hulkamaniac who is getting ready for a double lung transplant and promises to honor his wishes of taking down that big stinky giant! Unfortunately, the last laugh is at Hogan’s expense, as an old woman in the front row blinds him and OH MY GOD IT’S KEVIN SULLIVAN! Hulk is left lying and in the ultimate act of disrespect, they SHAVE THE MUSTACHE (insert the image of the unfinished job). Lost in the shuffle is a weird moment where the Zodiac has a small pair of clippers and we tease cutting Hogan’s hair, but they don’t follow through with the act… were they actually teasing Zodiac as a sleeper agent the entire time?!

All the momentum appears to be in the Giant’s favor, and Hulkamania is in more danger than ever before! The red and yellow is gone, and Hogan is wearing all black. EVEN HIS NECK BRACE IS BLACK! Hogan’s promo on the Giant suddenly turns into a promo against the “New York promoter”, which is such a sharp turn and then something about beating up Gorgeous George in heaven. Jimmy is worried. So am I, what the hell is he talking about? On the go-home episode of Nitro, the Dungeon of Doom has a large block of ice at the top of the entrance set, their insurance policy… THE YETAY! YETI? No, YETAY, I guess. The show closes with a fight between Hogan and Pals and the Dungeon of Doom, with the ice block EXPLODING and… is that a fucking Mummy?!? (OK, so the original plan was for Jorge Gonzales, formerly El Gigante and The Giant Gonzales, to appear and basically be the furrysuit man of the WWF with a new name, but his health had deteriorated and wasn’t able to perform, so rookie Ron Reis got the nod and was wrapped in bandages because he’s REALLY TALL too)

The big day has arrived, Halloween Havoc, from the Joe Louis Arena on October 29th, 1995, but before we get our Championship Match, there’s the matter of the Monster Truck Sumo Match on the roof of Cobo Hall. Hogan’s truck wins the battle, and then we get a brief brawl between the two, which leads to the Giant GETTING KNOCKED OFF THE FUCKING ROOF. What does this mean for our Main Event?!

WCW World Championship Match:
Hulk Hogan (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Giant?
Well, with the implied death of the Giant, it only seems academic that Hogan comes to the ring and accepts the victory via forfeit… but what the— THE GIANT IS HERE, AND HE’S PERFECTLY FINE! He doesn’t even look too angry for a guy who was shoved off the roof of a building. I guess it’s that patented Dungeon of Doom magic. Hogan looks on in shock, but at least we’re getting our advertised Main Event after all.

The bell rings and Hogan removes the bandana, showing off the Taskmaster’s paint job. IT’S THE DARK SIDE OF HULK HOGAN COMING OUT, BROTHER. The Giant takes Hogan’s best shots and is staggered for a moment or so before he blocks a slam attempt and clubs the Hulkster repeatedly with axe-handles. THERE WILL BE NO TRICK OR TREATING FOR HULK HOGAN. The Giant controls with chokes and a test-of-strength, but a badly missed leg drop opens the door for an offensive flurry from the Champion, with the Giant looking vulnerable for the first time as he’s knocked over the top rope with a clothesline.

The Giant withstands some of Hogan’s best blows, cutting him off with a side slam and slowing down the action with a bearhug. Hogan with the escape, only to get caught with the Big Stinky Wart-Infested Chokeslam! 1… 2… and HULK UP TIME! BIG BOOT, BODY SLAM, LEG DROP… and suddenly the referee is down! Jimmy Hart took out the referee! Jimmy smacks Hogan across the back with the big gold belt and now the Giant is back on his feet! Here comes Randy Savage and Lex Luger, BUT OH MY GOD, LUGER IS ALIGNED WITH THE DUNGEON OF DOOM! AND IT’S THE YETAY!~! THE MUMMY AND THE GIANT WITH A DOUBLE BEARHUG ON THE HULKSTER! There’s no save for our heroes, as The Giant is declared the winner at the 17:00 mark, and that the title doesn’t change hands via DQ. This went from your typical Hogan/Big Man formula to one of the most absurdly overbooked finishes you could imagine, at least from the pre-Russo days of WCW. It was a spectacle, I’ll give it that much credit, and hey, they got the Giant out of there without losing and Hogan keeps his belt.

NOT SO FAST… You see, it was revealed the next night on WCW Monday Nitro that Jimmy Hart slipped a clause in the contract for Halloween Havoc where the title could change hands due to disqualification, which means THE GIANT IS THE NEW WCW CHAMPION, ending the reign of Hulk Hogan that began way back at Bash at the Beach ‘94. NOT SO FAST AGAIN! You see, due to the circumstances of how Hogan lost and Jimmy Hart’s admission that it was done in a deliberate attempt to get the belt off Hogan, The Giant IS HEREBY STRIPPED OF THE WCW CHAMPIONSHIP, and a Champion will be crowned at World War 3 in the inaugural 3-ring, 60-Man over-the-top-rope Battle Royal! (Spoilers: Hulk Hogan is “eliminated” under dubious circumstances and Randy Savage wins, with Hogan acting like a complete crybaby the entire time, which is both justified and irritating because of how he goes about it).

For as much both the WWF and WCW are remembered negatively for 1995 (and even here, you can see some absolutely dumb shit like the YETAY as well as some of the other Dungeon of Doom silliness, not to mention the HE FELL OFF A ROOF AND SURVIVED UNSCATHED spot), The Giant’s rise to the top was one of the more memorable angles and going all in with creating a new Superstar finally paid off. The Giant’s momentum carried into 1996, where he would win the WCW Championship for realsies and hold it for a decent reign through the Spring and early Summer before being derailed by Hogan and the New World Order, but that’s a story for another day.

If you missed out, you can check my previous “Story of…” columns featuring the in-ring debut of the Fiend at SummerSlam 2019, and John Cena vs. The Nexus at SummerSlam 2010. Thanks for reading and comment below!