CTVnews.ca is featuring an interview with WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart where he talked about the changing ring style of The Undertaker in 1997 and why he felt Hulk Hogan’s style prompted change.
“Whereas in the beginning, he was kind of like Frankenstein, kind of moving around slow and ponderous in the ring, and was very methodical. But times changed and by the mid-90s, Undertaker had revamped his whole character. I like to think I was carrying the flag for the whole company, where it wasn’t about the wrestlers being cartoon characters. It was about the wrestlers being committed stars that were trying to get to the top. I don’t want to rag too much on Hulk Hogan but he’s pretty one-dimensional. Very big guy. The great, magnificent body that he had — the 22-inch arms and all that kind of stuff. But after a while, after (The Ultimate) Warrior came, it was like, ‘Enough of the body-building, let’s go on with who can actually do a drop-kick and who can actually climb up on top and do stuff.’ I think the wrestling really did change from these sort of dinosaurs to the guys who were really picking it up and doing the moves.”