At WCW Bash at the Beach 2000, Hulk Hogan made his final WCW appearance when he "won" the WCW World Heavyweight Title from Jeff Jarrett.
Jarrett laid down in the center of the ring and allowed Hogan to win. Shortly after Jarrett's victory, Vince Russo came out and said Hogan used his creative control and refused to lose, so he was fired and Jarrett would face Booker T for the title.
In a previously unreleased interview from the Bubba The Love Sponge Show, Hogan called in to discuss the incident less than 24 hours after it happened.
"I got the belt at the house. I don't know what happened. When Russo went back to the ring and started cussing me, I started headed to the ring and (Doug) Dellinger said, 'Terry, leave the building. You don't need the lawsuit.' The bottom line was, I got there, Russo goes, 'We want you to beat up Jarrett. (Scott) Steiner is going to come down. Beat up Steiner. We want to get your hand raised, head high, chest high, you win the match by disqualification.' 'Okay, cool. What are we doing at Nitro?' 'I haven't thought about it.' 'No problem. What about next week or the next pay-per-view?' 'Terry, I have to be totally honest with you...' When he started saying that, I went, 'Oh shit.' I looked at Bischoff and [Russo] goes, 'I really don't know what to do with your character. The FU New Blood was cool, but you're not doing that character. Let me be honest with you. I don't know what to do with you.' I said, 'How about, I do the job for Jarrett. I'm not really happy here, let's give Brad Siegel a call and let me get out of my contract. I have other things I can do.' 'Let's try that.' We call Brad Siegel, he goes, 'Terry, I can't let you out of your contract. I don't want you going to Fox or things like that.' I said, 'Russo, I don't mind doing whatever you're going to do, but I have to know.' 'Give me a week or two to think.' 'I don't get paid every week like you do. I only get paid when I work. The last time I trusted you, I laid down for Sting at Halloween Havoc and I didn't get paid for a few months. That's not my deal. I like to make every year better than last year.
'"I trusted you with Kidman, he beat me two or three weeks in a row. To beat Superman Kidman, I need a pair of brass knuckles and a special ref. I make Kidman a star, and two weeks later, you're beating Kidman with Juventud Guerrera. Apparently, you don't know what the hell you're doing. Kidman should have beat Sting and went on to Goldberg and then Jarrett and then he wins the belt. You guys got me boxed in. It's time to think about myself. This business is about money, miles, and number one' All of a sudden, I'm in a bad position. I have a creative clause in my contract just in case somebody like Stephanie McMahon's six year old daughter gives me a bad finish, I can cover myself. I'm gonna exercise the creative clause. I'm gonna hit Jarrett with the boot, [Russo] is going to hit the ring. Duck the bat, powerbomb, hit Jarrett with the boot, one, two three.' [Russo says], 'FU, you can't do that. FU, you son of a bitch. You can't do this to me.' 'Take it easy bro. It's not a big deal. I'll do the job for Jarrett, but I want out of my contract. If not, I'll win the match by DQ, but tell me what you're going to do with me. Lie to me. Out work me.' 'I can't lie to you. I can't do need anything with you. What do you want me to think of?' 'If you're as good as you say you are, we have Vince McMahon tearing the house down, and apparently, you weren't running that company there because I can see what a creative genius you've been here. Our whole business is in the tubes. Maybe you can't think of anything. Fuck it, brother.' That's when Bischoff get into it and they start arguing because they have a bunch of problems. 'Call Brad Siegel back, tell him I'm taking the belt off Jarrett.' They call him back, he goes, 'I'm reading Hogan's contract, he had creative control over the body, content, and final finish of his matches. If he wants the belt, give it to him.'"
According to Hogan, Russo didn't have a good reaction to Hogan using creative control.
"Russo is out of his mind. Jarrett comes in the dressing room. Johnny Ace [John Laurinaitis] lays down a hell of a finish. It's so long, I had to quit screwing around, put the beer can down, and really think about it. It's a hell of a finish. Jarrett is going, 'I get it.' We go over the finish, and Jarrett goes 'I have to run out for this match. I'll be right back.' He never comes back. 10 minutes before the match, Johnny Ace comes to, 'Is everything okay?' 'Yeah.' Jarrett never comes back. I crushed a Miller Light can, get ready to go to the ring. I said, 'Something is weird though. Jarrett is a good detail man and I'm surprised he didn't comeback to talk about the finish. That's okay. I know he had the run in. I'll call it in the ring. I'll make it work,'" Hogan recalled.
He continued, "I go out to the ring and I'm predicting trouble. I don't know if some of the boys might run out there. I got my gimmicks on me. I got the half-inch sword. The quarter-inch sword. Two-inch sword. Anywhere from ten stitches to 550 stitches depending on how bad I want to pull it. I'm thinking old school. I'm thinking the shit is on now. I kept two in my mouth, one on my wrist. I'm being cool, but I'm not a fucking idiot.
Russo is out there, he's got the belt and leaning on the apron. No big deal, I figure he's being a [prick] because he's mad as hell at me. Jarrett walks out and is walking around, I think he's work. I come out, the roar is electric, the loudest pop of the night. I do the ear thing just to stick it up Russo's ass and show how over I was."
Hogan thought the pre-match stalling was just Jarrett working and they would be cool after the match.
Getting off on a tangent when Kidman is mentioned again, Hogan said, "We know that's a rib. Kidman can't go through Sting, Goldberg, and Jarrett. I'm just sticking it up Russo's ass. Kidman never should have had the spot with Hogan anyway. If Russo would have been right, then he would have went with Kidman all the way. It was such a fucking joke and all I did was get respect and sympathy from the fans because, 'Here's Hogan and all he's been through. He won't work with the young guys and every week he's getting beat by Kidman. We got respect for that son of bitch.' That's all that did."
Circling back to the match with Jarrett, Hogan said, "Two to three times, Jarrett doesn't get in the ring. I think he's working the crowd and we're going to tear the place down. I got them right in the palm of my hand. When you have them like that, you can fart in the ring and the place will go crazy. Not like pulling teeth with Billy Kidman where you have to work your ass off and there's no reaction.
This son of a bitch gets in the ring and lays down. Russo looks at me, climbs on the apron, 'Fuck you, Hogan.' He throws the belt at me. I look down at Jarrett, 'Is this a rib? Why are you doing this?' Jeff goes, 'You always told me to do what I have to do.' He's laying in the middle of the ring and I'm talking to him. 'Get up and wrestle. Let's stick it up this guy's ass. You're one of the boys.' 'You've always said do what I have to do. I'm doing what I have to do.' 'You're a fucking piece of shit.' I put my foot on him, they counted it, I took the belt, walked to the back and said, 'F him.' I came to the back and said, 'Where's Russo at?' I couldn't find him nowhere. I'm shaking so bad, I'm ready to cry. Here comes Russo, he pops up on the monitor. I scream, 'Get Nick out of here.' I was gonna go kill Russo and I didn't want him to see it."
Nick is referring to Hogan's son.
"Dellinger saw me get my kids out of the building so he knew I was up to something. I'm waiting for that son of a bitch to come back and I'm going to unload on him. Half of Russo's boys are watching his back. I'm not going to drop any names, but I saw I had people on my left side watching me. Dellinger grabbed me, 'Terry, get out of here.' 'No, I got something I have to say.' 'It's not worth the lawsuit. Get out of here.' I had Eric, Dellinger, and three or four people get me out of there," recalled Hogan.
Hogan went on to bury WCW for being in its current position and said that he was thinking of taking the title to Vince McMahon and WWE. He said that Nick should beat up a Vince Russo lookalike on television as well.
Hogan ended up filing a defamation of character lawsuit against Russo, but it was dismissed in 2002.
Eric Bischoff wrote in his book that the spot with Hogan and Jarrett was a work, but Russo turned it into a shoot with his promo. Russo has said it was always a work.
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