Hulkamania tour results 11-21 Melbourne

Hulkamania tour results 11-21 Melbourne
By Daniel Pappalardo



All in all tonight's Hulkamania tour debut in Melbourne was a fun show. Rod Laver arena was anywhere between 45 - 55% full with the top rear section completely taped off and a large portion of empty seats scattered throughout the occupying half. As you entered the arena it hit you immediately that this wasn't the same crowd that attends the annual WWE tour (the last being in July with the RAW brand) and that Hulk Hogan attracted a much older male demographic which has been sorely missing from the WWE tours since as far back as 2005. It was a refreshing change from the scene of single fathers bringing their children to watch the big show in town, with the younger fans fuelling the very tired 'You are a wanker' chants in every single match. No, tonight's crowd was a sea of yellow and red t-shirts that came to see one match, and one match only, but became very vocal any time a familiar face showed up.

The production levels were slightly better than the WWE with a large screen sitting above the entrance way that broadcast the entire event and pyro. During intermission they announced that the show was going straight to DVD with the event being broadcast on the local free-to-air sport affiliate ONE HD in December. The arena basically looked like that one last Pride show from Vegas.

- Nick Dinsmore & the Pimp (God) Father def. Rock of Love.
Very short. Rock of Love beat on Dinsmore after he attempted Pimp Father's shoulder block into the corner. Pimp Father hoisted one of them up for the Death Valley Driver and pin. Afterwards they danced with the Pimp Father's hoes. At one point in the match Rock of Love took off their shirts and the crowd erupted telling them to put them back on.

- Spartan 3000 Matt Cross def. Shannon Moore.
Shannon did a plancha to the outside and completely missed his mark. Matt Cross won with the Shooting Star Press.

- The Nasty Boyz & Jimmy Hart's pre taped promo aired on the screen.
- The Nasty Boys def. Vampire Warrior & Black Pearl in an Aussie Rules street fight
They hit each other with trash can lids for close to 10 minutes. Vampire Warrior bumped through a sheet of wood in the corner and Black Pearl was eventually pinned.

- Brutus Beefcake def. Heidenreich
Jimmy Hart was managing Beefcake right after the prior match with a change of jacket. Beefcake promised somebody was getting a haircut. Heidenreich was hailed as Germany's best, but got chocked out in another short match when Beefcake reversed him off the ropes and took his back standing, put the hooks in and applied the Sleeper. The referee checked on him and he was out, you could have fooled me with the comedic twitching. Afterwards Beefcake and Hart attacked the ref and cut part of his long hair.

- Bikini contest
Lacey Von Erich did a backflip off the middle rope and didn't kill herself, so I guess that was enough for her to be announced the winner.

- A fantastic Ric Flair promo aired on the screen. SIMPLY AWESOME. I was sitting right above the production crew and they were basically dozing off all night, but when this aired their heads were glued to the screen. Big ovation.

- Ken Anderson (Kennedy) def. Sean Morley (Val Venis)
Venis did some heel work on the mic. Anderson was over big time and the crowd ate him up on the mic. He began doing his Kennedy shtick and announced because Kennedy was dead he was now Mr Anderson. Very slow paced and more akin to a match on the WWE tours. They worked headlocks for a very long time and some boring chants began popping up. Kennedy wins with the Mic Check.

- Too Cool (Brian Christopher & Kishi) def. Orlando Jordan & Edward Smith Fatu (Umaga)
Rikishi made Umaga look tiny in comparison. "Jerry's son" chants start. Brian's pants end up falling down twice and Umaga takes a wretched looking bump through the ropes and over the guardrail. No pop for the Rikishi/Umaga stare down which saddened me greatly. After the pinfall Too Cool do their dance routine with the referee and pose as the lights dim and the pyro shoots from every ring post. Standing ovation for this with Too Cool sporting huge grins.

- MAIN EVENT
Hulk Hogan def. Ric Flair with the brass knuckles after Lacey Von Erich distracted the referee
Flair made his way to the ring to an okay rendition of his music. He looked incredible sad as he leaned on the ropes and watched the Hogan pre tape air on the screen. Crowd absolutely adored this promo. "On the 7th day God created all of the Australian Hulkamaniacs." Alright Hulk.
Hogan came out to his old WCW music and they locked up. At this point the entire lockeroom had emptied behind the entranceway and was watching intently. I could only identify Eric Bischoff and Lacey Von Erich who was just clapping and bouncing. Flair bumped off two shoves and they did some shoulder blocks off the ropes. Hogan went outside and tore off his knee brace and handed it to a member of the crowd. They began exchanging back in the middle of the ring before Hogan whipped him into the corner and began scaling the ropes. I covered my eyes as his foot appeared to slip, but he stayed up there. Flair threw some chops and worked over the leg before locking in the Figure Four. At this point Lacey Von Erich ran down to ringside and the whole spectacle was cheapened. Hogan worked him over with his belt on the outside to no DQ, before Flair resumed control again. Hogan hulked up to the biggest pop of the night and hit the big boot. Lacey got on the apron and began distracting the referee which allowed Hogan to pick up Flair's brass knuckles and clock him for the pin. Both guys bled with Flair looking as if he'd struck an artery. Hogan posed down as Flair made his way to the back taking a completely different way as to avoid the lockeroom. Hogan made his way back as Eric hugged him and patted him on the back.