49) DR. D DAVID SCHULTZ
50) KAMALA
In the months leading up to WrestleMania III, Hogan and Kamala had an intense rivalry all over the house show circuit, including a series of No Disqualification and Steel Cage matches. Hulk even wore face paint in the lead up to some of their bouts.
These two began their rivalry in the AWA and carried it over to the WWF, including some of Hogan's very title defenses. Dr. D challenged The Hulkster in some very bloody matches before being fired for his infamous 20/20 incident.
Like Schultz, Muraco was an early challenger to Hogan's first WWF World Title on the house show circuit. In one famous match that aired on Saturday Night's Main Event, Muraco was facing Hogan when King Kong Bundy and Bobby Heenan interfered, leading to an attack on The Hulkster's ribs.
In the early 1980's, Hogan and Inoki were both teammates and rivals, depending on the tour. In 1983, Hulk defeated Antonio in the finals of a ten-man round robin tournament to become the first International Wrestling Grand Prix Champion.
47) MAGNIFICENT MURACO
48) ANTONIO INOKI
Happy Birthday, Hulk Hogan! Here's a list of the Top 50 people who, at one time or another, hated you.
To be clear, these are all storyline rivalries and don't necessarily mean that there was any real heat outside of the ring. So people with "real-life" beefs with The Hulkster like Bret Hart, Verne Gagne, Linda's divorce lawyer, etc. aren't included, even though some of the names listed below also have had behind-the-scenes feuds.
Mr. Brell from No Holds Barred doesn't count, either.
These rivalries aren't all with wrestlers in the traditional sense, either, but rather any personality The Immortal One had some sort of inside-of-wrestling rivalry with over the years.
Ready? Here we go!
The Game had just recently captured the Undisputed World Title in 2002 when Triple H was programmed against Hulk Hogan in a face vs face match-up. To many people's surprise, Hulk won the championship at Backlash. A few months later, HHH won the rematch on SmackDown with a clean win.
Hogan and the Olympic gold medalist clashed a handful of times in the mid-2000's, with Angle making The Hulkster tap out for the first time in his career. They also had a face off in TNA when Hogan was leader of the Immortal faction and attempting to recruit Angle as a member.
Valentine was another early challenger to Hogan's first WWF World Title, meeting him in Madison Square Garden six months into his reign. Fun fact: Hogan was wrestling Valentine at the L.A. Sports Arena in a match that doubled as a scene in The A-Team.
45) KURT ANGLE
46) TRIPLE H
43) GREG VALENTINE
44) NIKOLAI VOLKOFF
The year was 2000 and Hulkster, leading The Millionaires Club, was about to take on The New Blood's Jarrett for the WCW World Title. The match never happened due to a certain screwjob finish but it created an interesting in-ring story. Years later, Jarrett attacked Hogan at a press conference in Japan.
No, we're still not talking about a behind-the-scenes rivalry. Hogan and Ventura clashed many times in the AWA and briefly continued their feud in the WWF before The Body retired to the announcing booth, where he constantly berated Hogan on the microphone.
In 2005, Michaels turned on Hogan following a tag team match. After several months of getting the fans to turn against him, The Heartbreak Kid took on Hogan in the main event of SummerSlam. After they battled and Hogan won, Michaels returned back to his babyface ways as usual.
Talk about hatred - this entire WCW faction was built with the goal of destroying Hulk Hogan! Although a little cartoonish, the group, whose members included The Zodiac, Shark, The Taskmaster and others, gave Hogan some challenges near the beginning of his WCW run.
He may have claimed to "looooooooooooove" each and everyone of "yew", but Brother Love never seemed to warm up to The Hulkster. The faux evangelist assisted Earthquake and Big Bossman in separate attacks on Hulk, which in turn led to Brother Love being beaten up by The Hulkster on Saturday Night's Main Event.
A decade before Brock Lesnar ended The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak, he left The Hulkster lying in a pool of his own blood during their 2002 match-up, a clash that gave the winner the right to face The Rock at SummerSlam for the WWE Undisputed World Title. The Beast Incarnate won handily.
Whether it was as part of a tag team match or one-on-one action, Hogan and Studd met several times in the early 1980's. In fact, Hogan was one of only a few people (including Andre The Giant and King Tonga) that successfully answered Studd's $15,000 Bodyslam Challenge.
The Man They Call Vader and The Man They Call Hulkster engaged in quite a feud in 1995, including four different pay-per-view bouts (including a singles, tag team, strap and cage match) which saw Hogan decisively win despite being at a significant weight disadvantage.
41) JESSE VENTURA
42) JEFF JARRETT
39) DUNGEON OF DOOM
40) SHAWN MICHAELS
37) BROCK LESNAR
38) BROTHER LOVE
35) VADER
36) BIG JOHN STUDD
Sure, Hulk and Dixie were BFF's when Hogan first signed his TNA contract. But by the time he and Eric Bischoff had created Immortal, one of their first acts was to remove Dixie from power. And last year, Hogan refused to become Carter's business partner and quit TNA, both in reality and in storyline.
Boss Man once handcuffed Hulk to a guardrail and attacked with a nightstick, showing him the true meaning of police brutality. The two battled many times, including a steel cage match on Saturday Night's Main Event and when Hogan and Randy Savage took on Boss Man and Akeem.
In 1999, a heel DDP put newly-turned face Hogan on the shelf with an injury, but only a year earlier, the roles were reversed as DDP teamed with both Karl Malone and Jay Leno to take on Hogan's partners Dennis Rodman and Eric Bischoff (in separate matches).
In many ways, Hulkamania was born some thirty years ago when Hogan defeat The Sheik to win his first WWF World Championship. The social media icon never forgave Hulk and the two engaged in several bloody rematches around the house show circuit that year.
One of Hogan's toughest challengers on the house show circuit following WrestleMania 2 was Funk, who took The Hulkster to the limit and even defeated him by countout many times. As well, Hogan once teamed with Junkyard Dog and against Terry and Dory Funk on Saturday Night's Main Event.
Sid Justice came to the WWF in 1991 as the second coming of Hulk Hogan, but just six months later, he'd turned on Hogan and challenged him at WrestleMania 8. A somewhat-similar story (friends then enemies) happened in WCW, although they by then it had already happened once on television.
Although the real-life bad blood between these two is far, far more fun to talk about, a somewhat-similar storyline was taking place in WCW rings when Hogan's Millionaires Club took on the New Blood, a group created by Russo and Bischoff. And Russo, of course, "fired" Hogan at Bash at the Beach.
In late 1989 and early 1990, Mr. Perfect chased Hogan all over the house show circuit. To add fuel to the fire, Perfect aided his manager The Genius in gaining a countout victory over The Hulkster on Saturday Night's Main Event. Hogan and Perfect also battled again in the short-lived XWF.
33) BIG BOSS MAN
34) DIXIE CARTER
31) THE IRON SHEIK
32) DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE
29) SID
30) TERRY FUNK
27) MR. PERFECT
28) VINCE RUSSO
Outshining his father (who didn't even crack the Top 50 despite having a rivalry with Hogan), The Legend Killer hit on Hulk's daughter Brooke, delivered an RKO to Hulk on Saturday Night's Main Event and mocked the Hogan Knows Best reality show, all in the name of a match against SummerSlam in 2006.
Hogan and Nash were two-thirds of the original nWo, but within a year of formation, the two were at each other's throats. Things didn't come to a head until Road Wild '99, where the two faced each on pay-per-view. A few years later, they had reconciled in WWE as the nWo... before feuding again.
What began as a shoot comment by Hogan about Kidman not being able to sell out a flea market turned into an in-the-ring war, with Kidman aligning himself with Hogan's former nWo buddies Eric Bischoff, Torrie Wilson and Horace Hogan. Although Hogan was dominant, Kidman got some wins as well.
Hogan started the rivalry at WrestleMania 9 by challenging Yokozuna and defeating him for the WWF Title in mere seconds. By King of the Ring that year, the 600 pound-plus Yoko not only regained the championship but had Hogan blinded by a faux camerman in the process.
One of my favorite childhood rivalries, Bundy sneak-attacked Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event in 1986 and injured his ribs. The resulting match - a steel cage match in the main event of WrestleMania 2 - was a grudge match for the ages, which Hogan won handily.
Luger arrived in WCW for the first Monday Nitro as a heel to challenge Hogan for his World Title. He wasn't successful, although he managed to do just that a few years later, when Hogan was a member of the nWo.
Et tu, Brutus? Hogan and Beefcake grew up in the business together and worked various territories including the WWF, even pretending to be brothers at one point. But in WCW, Hogan was constantly being attacked by a masked man, who turned out to be none other than Brother Bruti.
Hogan barely trusted Bully Ray when the threat of Aces & Eights was threatening to turn TNA apart. But once he began dating (and married) Hogan's daughter Brooke, the overprotective Hulk went ballistic. Of course, Bully Ray ended up being the leader of Aces & Eighths at the end of the day....
25) KEVIN NASH
26) RANDY ORTON
23) YOKOZUNA
24) BILLY KIDMAN
21) LEX LUGER
22) KING KONG BUNDY
19) BULLY RAY
20) BRUTUS BEEFCAKE
It was Icon vs Icon when the two megastars met at WrestleMania X-8. Rock won after a hard-fought match, although the crowd was solidly behind The Hulkster. A year later, Rock would officially be a heel when the two went head to head again at No Way Out.
The Dead Man is the only person to defeat Hulk Hogan for the WWF/E World Title twice, and in two different decades (1990 and 2002) to boot! Interestingly, both rivalries took place when Undertaker was a heel and Hogan a face, and the only other major single match between the two was when Hogan regained the belt.
Shortly after The Hulkster lost his WWF Title in early 1990, Earthquake began hounding him, including a vicious attack on The Brother Love Show that left Hulk with bruised ribs. The two men feuded into early 1991, including matches at SummerSlam and Survivor Series.
In one of the only storylines based on the outcome of a movie, Zeus appeared in WWF rings shortly after his film No Holds Barred came out, and he wanted a piece of his movie opponent, Hulk Hogan. The two clashed at SummerSlam in a tag match, and again at a special one-off pay-per-view later that year.
In the first part of Hogan's WCW run, The Task Master was all over him, first through his Faces of Fear stable and later with the expanded Dungeon of Doom. Perhaps it was because Hogan once took Sullivan's younger brother under his wing, but the two continued feuding even after Hogan formed the nWo.
Initially being billed as the Son of Andre, The Giant won the WCW World Title from Hogan in his very first match. From there, they battled during an infamous monster truck rally on the roof of Cobo Hall and became on-again, off-again rivals during the first year of the nWo.
Real-life tension between Hogan and McMahon, which included being opposite sides in a steroid trial and Hogan leaving for the opposition, carried over into an in-ring feud in 2003. At WrestleMania 19, the two battled in a streetfight that appeared to be far more "personal" than most rivalries involving The Hulkster.
On paper, it was perhaps the perfect rivalry: Slaughter, the American turncoat supporting Saddam Hussein at the time of the first Gulf War, facing off against Hulk Hogan, America's champion and wrestling's biggest hero. Their feud began before WrestleMania 7 and lasted until SummerSlam that year.
17) THE UNDERTAKER
18) THE ROCK
15) ZEUS
16) EARTHQUAKE
13) THE GIANT
14) KEVIN SULLIVAN
11) SGT. SLAUGHTER
12) VINCE MCMAHON
In 1982, before Hulkamania was a whole "thing", Hogan challenged Bockwinkel in a series of matches for the AWA World Title. While he came close many times (and was unofficially champion for 24 hours due to a screwjob finish). It remains one of Hogan's few failed accomplishments.
It was The Ultimate Challenge on April 1, 1990, when The Ultimate Warrior did the seemingly impossible and cleanly pinned Hulk Hogan. While the two wouldn't clash again for nearly a decade, Hogan always remembered the one who defeated him in the middle of the ring.
The Million Dollar Man decided he didn't need to compete for Hulk Hogan's WWF World Title (although they did so on the house show circuit) - he'd buy it outright. Hogan spurned DiBiase's advances, but he wasn't laughing when DiBiase hatched a scheme that involved Andre The Giant and an evil twin referee.
For most of 1997, Sting stood silent in the rafters, waiting for his opportunity to defeat Hollywood Hogan and his new World order. At Starrcade, the Stinger did just that, and was able to keep Hogan at bay. The two clashed again during a series of conflicts in TNA.
Mr. Wonderful opposed Hogan at the very first WrestleMania, although they later decide to bury the hatchet and become a tag team. The team ended in the 1986 when Orndorff betrayed Hogan, leading to a red-hot house show rivalry that concluded with a steel cage match on Saturday Night's Main Event.
How many rivalries can say they touched down in both the WWF and WCW? Not many. Yet the battle for who the biggest wrestling icon is spanned many pay-per-views and house shows, in singles action and in tag team matches. The two even opposed each other in TNA and on the independent circuit in Australia.
Many of the rivalries we've mentioned so far, including Bundy, Bockwinkel, Studd and Orndorff, have one common denominator - each man was managed by Bobby The Brain Heenan. Heenan said many times throughout his career that Hogan couldn't be trusted, even were both were heels in WCW.
And one more Bobby Heenan-inspired feud: In 1987, Heenan convinced Andre to turn heel for the first time in his storied career and challenge Hogan for the WWF World Title at WrestleMania III. The ensuing rivalry lasted right through to the next WrestleMania and included Andre (temporarily) winning the championship.
9) THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR
10) NICK BOCKWINKEL
7) STING
8) TED DIBIASE
5) RIC FLAIR
6) PAUL ORNDORFF
3) ANDRE THE GIANT
4) BOBBY HEENAN
The rivalry began when Savage joined the WWF in 1985 and raged on for decades. Fueled largely by the allegation that Hogan was "lusting after" his manager Elizabeth, Savage turned on Hogan in 1989 leading to their epic showdown at WrestleMania 5. And they kept battling on and off, right through their stint in WCW.
Their first major showdown in 1985 - ironically, called The War To Settle The Score - settled nothing. From WrestleMania in 1985 to SuperBrawl VII in 1997 and from WrestleMania 19 in 2003 to a vignette at this past year's Mania, Hogan and Piper have largely remained at each other's throats in a rivalry that may never end.
1) ROWDY RODDY PIPER
2) MACHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE
At the time of Hogan's first WWF World Title reign, Volkoff was the antithesis of Hulk's Real American persona, an evil, Russian heel with considerable size. The two clashed on a number of occasions, including in a flag match on Saturday Night's Main Event.
Any names missing or misplaced? Leave your feedback in the Comments section below...