The Hulkamania Tour of Australia: Results and More From The First Show In Melbourne

Image Credit: wrestling.net.au

The first event on the Hulkamania tour is done and dusted, and the feedback is filled with a mixture of opinions. While most enjoyed the show overall, others were disappointed with the turnout.

Some were angry before the event even started. After paying up to $360 per ticket earlier in the year, it was revealed earlier in the week that most people were eligible for a free upgrade to a better seat, and for those yet to buy tickets, some were over 50 percent off the original price.

While the official attendance number isn’t out as of the time this article was published, at the start of the show the arena was only roughly 1/3 full, and that was with some of the upper decks curtained off and after the ticket upgrades!

The show got off to a bad start as it was 25 minutes late, but to kick things off the crowd was treated to a poem read by Nick Dinsmore, aka former WWE superstar Eugene. Now that’s how you hype up a crowd…

Results

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

This match was basically just a comedic squash match to get the crowd into the mood for the rest of the night. Rock of Love were said to have stepped right out of 1986.

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

In probably the only continual storyline outside of the main event of the tour, Cross and Moore are set to have a series of 3 matches over the first three shows with the winner earning themselves a tidy $25,000 bonus. With Cross up 1-0 at the moment, expect to see a Moore win in Perth on Tuesday.

The match was won with a Shooting Star Press from Matt Cross.

The Nasty Boys d. Vampire Warrior (aka WWE’s Gangrel) & Black Pearl “The Count of California” in a Street Fight Tag Team match

This was announced as a Street Fight at the last second, much to the live crowd’s pleasure. The Nasty Boys got the win, as was expected by the majority of people around the world, but it was good for the people in attendance to be exposed to an unknown wrestler in Black Pearl. The only thing holding him back now is the frills.

Brutus Beefcake d. Heidenreich

This match was said to be a flashback to the old Supertape compilations that WWF used to put on. The match ended, however, when Beefcake put Heidenreich to sleep, and probably most of the crowd. Both men came to the ring with similar haircuts and Heidenreich’s attire was something that you would expect to see in John Cena’s locker.

Lacey Von Erich d. Koa Marie Turner, Kiara Dillon, and Stephanie Pietz in a Bikini Challenge

This contest was never going to be about anyone other than Von Erich and my expectations weren’t let down. It got off to a bad start when one of the other participants made their entrance out of order which Von Erich was visibly unhappy about, but once it was over and Von Erich was announced the winner, she proceeded to perform a back flip from the top rope, and surprisingly landed it, and then had a go at doing the worm.

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

This one received a very hot and cold reception from the fans. Anderson got probably the biggest pop from the crowd up until this point of the show, but the excitement died down after there were several uses of the headlock throughout the match. Anderson got the win with a Mic Check.

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

First thing’s first. We here at The Wrestling Daily like to answer the hard-hitting questions. With that in mind, I know that most of want to know what Orlando Jordan’s hair looks like now. The answer? It resembles the hair of Awesome Kong. Yeesh!

The match came to an end after a classic Stink Face from Fatu Jr. Surprise, surprise, there was dancing involved in the post-match celebrations which even the ref got in on.

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

The main event of the night had to be a winner to make the fans feel that they got value for their tickets, however much they paid for them, and for the most part it did.

Building on the encounter between these two from a Sydney press conference earlier in the week, the two modern day greats of the business made up for their wrestling technique by have litres of blood pour out of themselves.

In a surprisingly long 17 minute bout, both men were busted open and severely worked over. I honestly didn’t expect them to make it past the 10 minute point, so more credit to them. I’ll be interested to see if their matches get progressively shorter throughout the tour.

The downfall of this match was Hogan’s inability to perform his signature leg drop. I guess the reports from a few months back about him not being able to hit the move due to hip surgery were indeed correct. Hogan also wore a brace for his knee during the match which at one point was broken off and Flair then chose that moment to lock in his famous Figure Four Leg Lock.

Hogan eventually got the win after using some brass knuckles.

Now that Hogan and Flair are active wrestlers, does that mean that they’re eligible for the TWD 50? Does it matter?

Other Notes

- Most of the entrance music throughout the night was just generic guitar riffs with one of the exceptions being Hogan who came out to his old WCW theme.

- Orlando Jordan’s music had some interesting lyrics including “and their men wanna get with me.” I know that he’s bisexual and I applaud him for being up front about it, but is Australia really the place that he wants to shout it from the proverbial rooftops?

- There was silver duct tape used to hold up a Hulkamania sign in the background of interviews etc.

- There was an intermission after the Beefcake/Heidenreich match and after the show was back on the participants of the bikini challenge were shown getting ready to a very little reaction from the male dominated crowd.

- Random chants during the show included “Super Dragon!” and “Booker T! Burger King!”

- One particular fan in attendance seemed to grab the attention of everyone else during the event when they were constantly arguing with people and just generally acting like a jerk. After the security had intervened and told him to stay seated or risk being thrown out, Hulk Hogan made his entrance and the fan immediately jumped to its feet, getting kicked out in the process. I would be majorly pissed off if that was me!

- It was announced that a DVD was going to be made of the Hulkamania tour, but I don’t see it selling well at all, unless they discount the price by over 50 percent at the last second…

It was only just recently announced by Eric Bishoff that the final show of the tour in Sydney will be broadcast on the Australian television free-to-air sports channel One HD. This is a huge coup for the tour because this will be the first wrestling event on free TV in Australia since the early 90’s when WWE, then known as WWF, showed PPV’s on a two week delay.

The next stop on the tour will be in Perth on Tuesday and I’ll be here to cover all of the matches and anything else that happens between now and the event.

For the best coverage of the Hulkamania tour throughout the next 7 days stay tuned to TWD!

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