The Hulkamania Tour of Australia Starts Off With a Bang As Hogan Gets Busted Wide Open

Image Credit: Immortal Hulk Hogan

It’s an exciting time for pro wrestling in Australia right now and things are only going to get better going into 2010. Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan are in the country, and then we’ve also got the first ever TNA Australian tour and WWE’s annual trip to look forward to next year.

If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard yet, over the next week and a half: Hulk Hogan, Rick Flair, Ken Anderson, and many more wrestlers will be putting on a total of four events around Australia as a part of the first and only Hulkamania tour. It’s Hulk Hogan’s first time wrestling on Australian shores and the legions of Hulkamaniacs are pumped!

There has been some backlash due to the age of most wrestlers on the Hulkamania tour, which is justified seeing as the average age of the superstars with known birthdays is 41 years old, but that could also translate into seeing matches that are more well thought out due to the amount of experience that will be in the ring at any one time.

Image Credit: Wrestlingdotcom

After arriving in Sydney on Tuesday, things are already heating up for the tour when Hogan was busted open during a recent press conference. After a heated exchange with the two men getting up close and personal and taking potshots at each other’s love life, Hogan called for the end of the conference which was when Flair lashed out at him and knocked him to the floor.

Flair proceeded to go into a fit of rage when he pulled out his belt and started whipping people with it, and he even upturned a table that collided with one reporter’s camera and broke his flash.

Another reporter was found laughing at the incident which caused Flair to turn on him. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any video for it, but I’m sure it would have been quite a sight to be seen!

The video of the incident can be seen here courtesy of Fox Sports, and more photos of the conference can be seen here.

Here’s the card for the Melbourne event, the first stop on the tour, and my thoughts on each match:

Nick Dinsmore (aka WWE’s Eugene) & “Pimp Fatha” Charles Wright (aka WWE’s Godfather) vs. Rock of Love (Billy Blade & Kaden Anthony) in a Tag Team match

Dinsmore & Wright have to win this match in my opinion. Rock of Love are a fairly unknown tag team that have bided their time on the independent scene and are likely to be very eager to prove themselves with the huge opportunity that they have in front of them. While a win would be a huge boost for the team, I just don’t see it happening or at least not at this event.

Predicted winner – Nick Dinsmore & Charles Wright.

“Spartan 3000″ Matt Cross (aka M-Dogg 20) vs. Shannon Moore

I expect Moore to walk away the winner of this bout because Cross was only really brought in at the last second, although I think this could be the hidden gem of the night with both men being the youngest wrestlers on the tour at 28 and 30 years old respectively. This match could even go a long way to helping Dixie Carter, and probably Hulk Hogan as well, decide whether Moore would be a good fit in TNA’s X division some time down the track.

Predicted winner – Shannon Moore.

Vampire Warrior (aka WWE’s Gangrel) & Black Pearl “The Count of California” vs. The Nasty Boys w/ Jimmy Hart in a Tag Team match

The first wrestlers that were announced for this tour besides Flair and Hogan were Hogan’s old buddies The Nasty Boys. With that in mind, I think they’ll be put over in a solid match, but I’m more interested to find out more about Black Pearl. This guy has virtually come out of nowhere and he seems to have all the right contacts to have a successful career.

Predicted winner – The Nasty Boys.

Brutus Beefcake w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Heidenreich

As with the match above, another one of Hogan’s buddies Brutus Beefcake will probably get the nod ahead of Heidenreich in a slow paced match with some feats of the power style on display.

Predicted winner – Brutus Beefcake.

Lacey von Erich vs. Koa Marie Turner vs. Kiara Dillon vs. Stephanie Pietz in a Bikini Challenge

Judging by the comments that have been flowing in about von Erich’s wrestling ability as a part of TNA’s The Beautiful People stable, thank God she’s only doing a bikini contest. With the rest of the participants being fairly unknown, I can’t see von Erich losing this one.

Predicted winner – Lacey von Erich.

Sean Morley (aka WWE’s Val Venis) vs. Ken Anderson (aka WWE’s Mr. Kennedy)

Anderson has a lot more to gain from winning this match than Venis, but in pro wrestling that doesn’t mean a whole lot. I still believe that Kennedy will get the win, however, in one of the top matches of the night.

Predicted winner – Ken Anderson.

Edward Smith Fatu (aka WWE’s Umaga) & Orlando Jordan vs. Brian Christopher (aka WWE’s Grandmaster Sexay) & Solofa Fatu, Jr. (aka WWE’s Rikishi) in a Tag Team match

I’m hoping that at one of the other events at a later date we get to see the Fatu boys team together, but for this match I think we’ll see Christopher & Fatu, Jr. get over the top of their opponents in a match that will leave both teams looking strong.

Predicted winner – Brian Christopher & Solofa Fatu, Jr. I don’t see one of the biggest figures from the New Wrestling Evolution promotion in Europe, where most of these wrestlers are from, losing in a relatively meaningless match.

Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair in the main event of the evening

The major draw card for the event will likely have high expectations but I don’t think we should expect a whole lot from it. Hogan’s well documented history of injuries and surgeries will limit almost his entire moveset and at the age of 60, Ric Flair will be largely depending on knife edge chops and the Figure Four Leg Lock to get him through the bout.

It has been reported that due to Hogan’s troublesome hip injury that required surgery a short while ago he will not be able to perform his signature leg drop. This is a huge blow to both the fans in attendance and Hogan’s chances in the match. Hogan is first and foremost an entertainer, so I’d like to think that he’ll pull out all of the stops especially during his first time wrestling in Australia.

Whether that means he’ll tempt fate and go against the doctor’s orders remains to be seen but either way, he will create a life long memory for the fans just by performing in their presence.

The big question is what Flair does after this tour has completed. He would have to have something big up his sleeve to risk letting his legacy go by the way side. His Wrestlemania sendoff was the perfect end to a legendary career but I guess a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

Predicted winner – This one’s a toss of the coin. With four events during the tour I think that these two will have two wins a piece when all is said and done, but I’m tipping a Ric Flair win in Melbourne.

For those of you that still haven’t purchased tickets to one of the four events around the country, you really need to get on board because this truly is something not to be missed. You better get in quick though because the last show is taking place in Sydney on November 28. That’s less than two (2) weeks away! The full schedule for the tour is as follows:

• Saturday November 21 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
• Tuesday November 24 – Burswood Entertainment Complex, Perth
• Thurday November 26 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
• Saturday November 28 – Acer Arena, Sydney

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketek with prices starting at just $49 for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Make sure to check back frequently for results of the tour, updates, and more as soon as they come to hand, only at The Wrestling Daily.

Get more great updates on content just like this by following The Wrestling Daily on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.