One More Match: Five Potential Opponents For Hulk Hogan If He Ever Wrestles Again

It’s only a matter of time before WWE brings back Hulk Hogan. In fact, he could be back in the company in time to appear at WrestleMania 33 next spring. Of course, Hogan was fired from the company last year after transcripts of him going on a racist tirade were released. Upon his firing, WWE removed all mentions of him from their website, and there was some talk of removing him from their Hall of Fame.

However, in recent months, WWE hasn’t avoided mentioning his name during their television shows and on the WWE Network, which has led many to believe that they’re laying the groundwork for his return.

Since Hogan returned to WWE in 2014, Vince McMahon hasn’t been too keen on the idea of “The Hulkster” wrestling. Instead, Hogan was used as an ambassador for the company, and he would occasionally make appearances on Raw. However, despite McMahon not wanting to see him wrestle, Hogan would regularly suggest that he was going to step in the ring again, so it’s pretty clear that, even at 63-years-old, he wants to have one more match. As for who that’ll be against, there are a couple of possible opponents for “The Hulkster” on the current WWE roster.

• Randy Orton

The last time Hogan wrestled in WWE was at SummerSlam in 2006, where he took on Randy Orton. At the time, Orton was still relatively new, as he had only been on the main roster for four years. Naturally, people believed that Hogan would put him over, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Hogan won clean in the middle of the ring with the “Leg Drop of Doom.”

Orton is regarded as one of the best in-ring workers in the business today, as he can carry almost anyone to a good match. If Hogan were to return to the ring, he’d definitely need an opponent that would be capable of carrying him.

If WWE wanted to get Orton his win back over Hogan, then it’d be smart to book Hogan vs. Orton as “The Hulkster’s” comeback match. However, it’s unlikely that Hogan will want to lose if he returns to the ring, so WWE probably wouldn’t put Hogan in the ring with Orton.

• Rusev

Rusev’s character, the anti-American heel, would be the perfect foil for Hulk Hogan if he ever returned to the ring.

In several interviews after he returned to WWE in 2014, Hogan named Rusev as someone that he’d like to get in the ring with. However, while this match would make perfect sense from a character standpoint, it probably wouldn’t be all that good, and for that reason alone, WWE would probably avoid this match-up.

• Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns has been positioned as WWE’s next top man for two years now, so if Hogan were to return to put over a guy who has a long career ahead of him, Reigns would probably be the perfect opponent for him. However, this match probably wouldn’t be a good idea unless they turned Reigns heel because the crowd would probably boo him a lot more than they already do if he went up against a returning Hulk Hogan.

A Reigns vs. Hogan match could be treated a lot like the first Rock vs. Hogan match was, not in terms of star power, of course, because Reigns is nowhere near as big of a star as The Rock was and is, but Reigns could win the match, and Hogan could endorse him afterward. The fans would probably still boo Reigns, but at least WWE would get the visual of one of the biggest stars of all time endorsing who they hope to be their biggest star over the next couple of years.

• Seth Rollins

You could argue that Seth Rollins is the most versatile performer in WWE today. He’s great in the ring, he’s a fantastic heel, and, as we’ve seen recently, he can be a great babyface as well.

In September of last year, Rollins went one on one with Sting, and it turned out to be a pretty good match before Sting got hurt. Of course, Sting is a lot more mobile than Hogan is or ever was, so he was probably a lot easier to work with than Hogan would be at this point. But, if there’s a guy in WWE who could get a good match out of Hogan, it’s Seth Rollins.

• John Cena

This is one of those dream matches that could’ve happened several years ago, but for whatever reason, it didn’t.

John Cena has said that he’s “ready, willing, and able” to wrestle Hogan if “The Hulkster” is ever allowed to have one more match in WWE. It’s also a match that Hogan wants, as he said at 2014’s WWE 2K event that he’d rather get in the ring with Cena than “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, which is another huge dream match.

In terms of star power, this would be the biggest match that WWE could put together for Hogan. Would it be the best match? Probably not. But it probably wouldn’t be horrible either.

[Featured Image by WWE]