Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 19: Arn Anderson vs. Hulk Hogan (Nitro 2/12/96)

The second banana in the Four Horseman gets a shot at the superstar. We’ll see if Arn picks a body part and goes to work. You know he’ll sell his ass off for anyone. Let’s see just how selfish Hulk Hogan is feeling tonight (or selfless, you never know).

I ended up really enjoying this match. Anderson holds it together tightly, maybe even more so than the prior Flair match with Hogan. The crowd reacts to a lot of stuff, especially from the heel Arn. When Flair comes out with Miss Elizabeth halfway through it causes a stir and interjects more emotion into the match, where often it would suck the life out of it (later Nitros). As a side note, Woman looks really hot in her blue dress. It’s a different look from her. Always wish she had dropped the bangs, but this isn’t a fashion blog. I digress.

Hogan was still selling the eye, but had taken off the patch while dominating the contest. He uses a lot more wrestling in this contest and I get a sense is a bit more inspired than usually. We’ll say someone lit a fire under his ass. Hogan almost screws up putting on the figure four, probably because it’s a wrestling hold, and Flair comes in for silliness.

Mongo on Liz, Flair, and Woman at ringside: “We got enough heels at ringside to start a shoe company”. Mongo’s goofiness has become charming with age.

Hogan rolls up Flair for a pin while having Arn in the figure four. Some might call it clever, but I don’t have the affection for the lumbering Hogan to see it that way. No DQ called by Nick Patrick after first ignoing Flair bounding across the ring. Woman very obviously throws the powder in Hogan’s face while the ref plays dumb, but the mighty Hogan can’t be beat so easily. Arn gets handed a shoe to hit Hogan with. He does get the pin, but Hogan’s up a few seconds later to destroy the heel’s heat by clearing the ring. Ugh! Macho Man Randy Savage goes crazy with a chair, helping Hogan, which gets the crowd going.

This match was a lot better on first viewing. It loses a lot of its value the second time around. Arn really did work hard, and while I hated the booking, Hogan wasn’t selfish until the end (which is when a manipulator always is selfish). 3 and 6/10.