Former WWE Referee Recalls Hogan Vs. Orton SummerSlam 2006

Hulk Hogan’s recent reinstatement into the WWE Hall Of Fame has sparked a plethora of nostalgia among the wrestling community.

Current Lucha Underground referee, Marty Elias, recalls a time during his WWE career where he called the match between Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton.

Elias stated in his article for The Sports Daily that the agent for the match was Sgt. Slaughter. Slaughter approached Elias and stated that he would call the match between the Legend Killer and Hulkamnia. Elias was speechless when he received the news and later found out that John Laurinaitis was the one who assigned him Hogan vs Orton due to the faith Laurinaitis had in Elias.

Once Orton learned that Elias was officiating, they both waited for Hogan in order to go over the game plan. Spots and choreography aside, the one issue that kept coming up was who was going over. Vince McMahon got involved and announced that Hogan was going over. With that detail out of the way, Elias recalls that Hogan demanded there be a spot where his foot would touch the bottom rope which eventually played into the finish.

Elias approached Hogan as the show started to make sure everything was still okay and then he went to see Orton. While speaking to The Viper, Elias was told, “Have fun, I know what you’re feeling! I remember seeing Hulk Hogan wrestle my dad (Cowboy Bob Orton) when I was young, and to be wrestling him today, is surreal, man!”