Bruno Sammartino Says Hulk Hogan Wasn't A Great Draw, Reveals Why He Returned To WWF In The 80s
Recently on WWE Network's Legends With JBL, WWE Hall Of Famer Bruno Sammartino discussed his WWE comeback in 1984. Also, Sammartino share his thoughts on Hulk Hogan.
On his WWE comeback in 1984, Sammartino indicated that Vince McMahon, Jr. asked him to return to the squared circle for one more match to boost ticket sales in Boston, Massachusetts. Sammartino ended up staying with the company for several matches. The longest reigning WWE world champion of all time claimed that they did incredible business during that twilight period of his storied professional wrestling career.
"I came back as a color commentator with Vince. He and I were doing the color commentating. We did that and then Vince asked me to put on the tights and I really didn't want to do that because I felt I had been out of it now for three [or] four years. And I was older. I was in my 50s. And I said, 'Vince, I could never do people justice at this stage in my life and the way I'm still banged up.' And he said, 'Bruno', he said, 'just try it.' So anyway, we went to Boston, me and Randy Savage, and my luck, I was hoping a window could've sold out. So from that, [McMahon] wanted me to go to Philadelphia [Pennsylvania] and I did. I went to Madison Square Garden, we went to Baltimore [Maryland], to Washington [D.C.], to Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania]. I said, 'Vince, what am I making a comeback?' At this age, I'm 52, 53 years old, so I said, 'no, I can't do that anymore.'"
Sammartino admitted that he was never impressed with Hogan's in-ring work. Moreover, 'The Living Legend' said that Hogan did not have the ability to draw in the same markets every month because he could not vary his in-ring work.
"Hulk Hogan, look, I'm not going to lie. You're asking me, you're being very sincere. I was never a fan of Hogan because I was never impressed with his quality of performance in the ring. He was not a guy that if you had to keep up like in our era, where you had to depend on the arena, for your payday every month, every month, to where you were dependent on going to the same arena month after month, year after year. A lot of people thought he was a great draw, but in reality, he really wasn't. That's why Vince McMahon, Jr. asked me if I'd work Boston. He was the world champion, Hogan, and Boston was way down. Philadelphia was way down. An old guy like me came in, we went in there, and we sold the place out. He was not the kind of guy that knew how to work a match that he could come back next month and the month after that and a month after that. He just didn't have it, so he was okay if you brought him in for a shot here and there. But if you're going to feed him to the public every month in the same place, he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it."
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