Match #28 Sep. 22, 1984 Hulk Hogan vs. Big John Studd, WWF Championship

A longer match than the Hogan/Shiek match here, but I wouldn't say it was any better. A typical big man match here as Hogan tries to chop the Studd down early on and is mostly successful in doing so. The only times Hogan would get in trouble in this match would be when he'd attempt to bodyslam Studd, and everytime, it failed. Studd would try to wear down Hogan with a bearhug before dumping him outside. Studd would lay boots onto the head of Hogan, busting Hogan open. This would give Hogan that adrenaline rush and he would come back into the match all fired up. Hogan would get the advantage again, but tries to slam Studd, and fails. They both end up on the outside and bump heads. Studd is able to get into the ring before the count of ten to get the victory via count out, but Hogan regains the title, even though Studd would take it anyways.

An interesting thing to note in this match, would be Gene Okerlund on commentary saying how he wouldn't be surprised if Bobby Heenan amassed a big stable of superstars. Oh, how right he would be.

My Grade: D+
Just not that great of a match.

Match #27 Jan. 23, 1984, Iron Shiek vs. Hulk Hogan, WWF Championship

We've made it to 1984, and this is the infamous match that starts Hulk Hogan's WWF Title reign. A pretty short match by title match standards we've seen thus far. Hogan basically beats down Shiek until Shiek is able to take back control. Shiek locks in the Camel Clutch, which no one at that time had been able to break out of. Hogan is able to out muscle Shiek and get out of the clutch and hit the big leg drop to get the pinfall and the WWF title.

My Grade: C-
An average match, but an important one in history.