Hulk Hogan Kept The WCW World Heavyweight Title For Years After Bash At The Beach 2000
Hulk Hogan kept the big gold belt after infamous WCW Bash at the Beach 2000 walk out
It was one of the most tumultuous instances in WCW history, when Hulk Hogan walked out of Bash at the Beach 2000 after a worked exit turned into a shoot due to Vince Russo going nuclear on the mic.
Hogan pinned Jeff Jarrett with one foot after Double J lay down for him, but Russo didn’t hold back afterwards, taking a live mic and cussing out Hogan, a move which saw Hogan file a lawsuit against Russo.
The Hulkster would never step foot in a WCW ring again, and would eventually return to WWE in 2002, and according to former WWE staffer Brian R. Solomon on Twitter/X, Hogan remained in possession of the title for years after his walk out:
“Watching the Bash at the Beach 2000 episode of Dark Side of the Ring (finally!) brought to mind a funny story from my time with WWE. We had just acquired WCW, and all the contracts and all that stuff. Former WCW talent was appearing on WWE TV, including WCW Champion Booker T. But the belt Booker was wearing wasn't the original big gold WCW belt, it was a replica. At the time, no one knew what had happened to the "real" one.
“I remember sitting in the empty stands before a taping, while the talent was working out in the ring. The subject came up. Everyone was asking if anyone knew its whereabouts. Pat Patterson asked Big Show, who had jumped ship two years prior, if he might know.
“Pat: "Hey Show, do you know what happened to the WCW belt?” Show: "I don't know. Hogan probably has it, that motherf*****.” Big laughs.
“At the time, Hogan was still at home collecting on his fat WCW contract. Fast forward about a year later to 2002. Hogan has now officially rejoined WWE. I'm at the Hulkster's home in Clearwater, Florida, on assignment for a special magazine we were doing on him. We're doing a photo shoot in Hogan's office. I'm sitting at his big mahogany desk, waiting for him to come back from the bathroom. I peer under the desk and sure enough, sitting there on the floor is the original WCW big gold belt. It still had Jeff Jarrett's nameplate on it. Big Show was right. Hogan had it. That motherf*****.”
Debate still rages as to whether this was indeed the original Big Gold Belt, or a replica. Regardless of what belt he won that night, Hogan kept it, brother.
