Hulk Hogan is irrefutably one of the biggest stars in the wrestling world. His clout and unmatched bravado made him a once-in-a-lifetime star. His most iconic heel turn caused a stir in WCW after he joined forces with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall and formed the NWO. From that moment on, WCW battled neck and neck with WWF in terms of weekly ratings. However, WCW’s downfall began after the Bash at the Beach PPV in 2000 which saw Hulk Hogan leave the company and never return. Hogan even filed a lawsuit against Vince Russo in the process on the grounds of defamation.
Russo left WWF in 1999 to join the rival company WCW. As talented as Vince Russo was as the Head Writer in WWF in 1997, his creativity in WCW produced some unfavorable results. The Bash at the Beach is notoriously remembered as the night when Vince Russo cut a promo heavily criticizing Hogan that forced the latter’s hand into suing WCW.
Hulk Hogan sues WCW and Vince Russo for defamation of his character
Hulk Hogan was scheduled to go head-to-head with the then-WCW Champion Jeff Jarret. According to the original plan, Hogan would defeat Jarret and leave WCW, and be written off TV until his return.
After his return, Jarret, who would also be champion would collide with Hogan once again in a battle of the Champions match. Hogan and Russo had mutually agreed to this part of the segment, however, the Hulkster was against the idea of being written off WCW TV.
Interestingly, Jeff Jarret was unaware of how things were supposed to play out and was instructed by Russo to lay down for Hogan during the beginning of their match. Following the incident, Russo made his way into the ring and cut an unplanned promo running down the WCW’s biggest star and telling the fans that they had seen the last of Hulk Hogan in the company.
He then organized a match between Jeff Jarret and Booker T for the WCW Championship.
During Russo’s heated promo, Hogan alongside Eric Bischoff was in a limo heading to the airport unbeknownst to the unplanned promo that Russo cut.
After learning about the promo, Hogan was furious as Russo used words such as “politician” and a “piece of sh*t” to address Hogan. This led to Hogan never coming back to WCW and suing the company for defamation and denying him his creative control clause.
The jury ruled in favor of WCW and Vince Russo
Hulk Hogan taking offense to Russo’s promo dragged the company into the court of law as the former felt attacked by Russo’s words. Hogan reportedly sued the company for a huge amount of money.
However, the case was dismissed as the jury pointed out that the scathing promo was directed at Hulk Hogan’s on-screen character and not Terry Bollea (his real name). This is remembered as the most preposterous lawsuit in wrestling.
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