A leg up no longer

We all know that Hulk Hogan has been dealing with health issues for some time now. It's a sad fact that we've had to accept, and while other wrestlers of his generation are still able to perform at an admirable capacity in the ring, the Hulkster isn't necessarily one of them.

Then came some sad news. We were sifting several local newspapers from around the country, as we are wont to do in the LOL Cave, and came across this interview in the Southtown Star of Illinois. In it, Hogan reveals that he recently had some back surgery, and his already limited movement has been limited even further. He was queried on getting back in the ring, and offered this response:

I could go out there and pretty much do almost everything I could do before. I couldn't do the leg drop anymore because of my lower back. I could go out and have fun.

Yes, lady and gentleman, the Hulk Hogan leg drop is no more.

We've decided to hold a memorial ceremony for this maneuver, no less an icon of our childhood than the late Michael Jackson. We've roped off a section of the local Staples, and a picture of Hogan performing the leg drop will be laid to rest in a box wrapped in gold paper. The move will be retired from all wrestlers move sets, and removed from Hogan's character on the Legends of Wrestlemania videogame. We know somewhere, in wrestling move heaven, the leg drop is having one heck of match with the double axe handle and the Cobra clutch.

Please enjoy this video tribute, put together by someone other than us.



Alright, alright...seriously now. That was all fun and games, but let's ask what should be asked to Hogan: if you can't perform the leg drop, what's the freaking point of coming back to wrestling?

That may sound like it's coming from some nostalgic stickler (leave the memories alone, Hogan), but just from a performance standpoint, what have you got left? Hogan says he can still do all the things he used to do. Well, no, you can't. In fact, by our calculations, you can do only two-thirds of what you used to do, assuming you can still do a big boot and an exaggerated punch to the forehead.

There's not much else.

But Hogan goes on to give a few possible opponents for his return to the ring, including the Rattlesnake, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Hogan suggests that Austin's claim to fame is "I never wrestled Hulk Hogan" (if that's the case, we're both as famous as Stone Cold) and says it just makes sense for the two of them to lock up.

It would be a tremendous match for the fans. If he can get on the same page with me and put ego out of the way, who cares who wins? It would be a match people would love to see.

Is he serious?? Who cares who wins? Hmm, we think we know who cares who wins:


Exactly. After all this time, does he really expect any of us to believe that he wouldn't care who won that match? That it's all about the fans? That he can put his ego aside for what would surely be a Wrestlemania match?

It seems that when it comes to the loyal wrestling devotees such as ourselves, Hogan's doing a lot less of this:


And a lot more of this: