Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy – Steel Cage Match for the WWF Championship
The main event of WrestleMania 2 was built around a very simple but very effective idea: could anyone finally stop Hulkamania? The challenger chosen for that job was the massive King Kong Bundy, managed by Bobby Heenan. Bundy wasn’t just another challenger. He was presented as a genuine monster who might be too big and too powerful for even Hulk Hogan to overcome.
This match took place inside a steel cage, which in the WWF during the 1980s was used to settle the biggest feuds. The rules were straightforward: the only way to win was to escape the cage. Pinfalls didn’t matter. Submissions didn’t matter. You had to climb over the top and reach the floor.
That rule alone made the match feel different from a normal title defence.
The Story Going Into the Match
The feud started earlier in 1986 when Bundy attacked Hogan during an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. After Hogan had already wrestled a match, Bundy came out and assaulted him, repeatedly crushing Hogan’s ribs with his devastating Avalanche splash in the corner.
The attack was brutal by the standards of the time. Bundy delivered multiple splashes while Hogan was trapped against the turnbuckles, leaving the champion coughing up blood and selling a serious rib injury. This created the central storyline: Hogan would enter WrestleMania injured, while Bundy would try to finish what he started.
That injury angle shaped everything about the match.
The Opening of the Match
As soon as the bell rings, Bundy immediately uses his size advantage. Bundy was over 450 pounds and towered over Hogan, and the match starts with Bundy overpowering him.
Bundy throws heavy forearm shots and drives Hogan backward into the steel cage. Hogan’s back hits the cage wall with a loud metallic sound, which the crowd reacts to immediately.
Bundy keeps the pressure on. Instead of rushing to climb the cage, he focuses on punishing Hogan first. This is important because it shows Bundy wants to destroy Hogan before escaping.
Bundy whips Hogan across the ring and follows it with a big clothesline that knocks Hogan down. From there Bundy continues targeting the ribs, stomping down and leaning his weight into Hogan’s midsection.
Every time Hogan tries to get up, Bundy knocks him back down with clubbing blows.
Bundy’s Domination
For a large part of the match, Bundy completely controls the pace.
One of Bundy’s main strategies is using the cage as a weapon. He grabs Hogan and repeatedly rams his head and upper body into the steel mesh. The crowd reacts loudly every time Hogan hits the cage because it makes the punishment feel more brutal.
Bundy also uses his size to trap Hogan in the corner. He presses his body weight into Hogan and delivers the move that made him famous — the Avalanche.
Bundy charges across the ring and crushes Hogan in the corner with his full body weight. The ring ropes shake from the impact, and Hogan collapses to the mat selling the damage to his ribs.
Bundy then lifts Hogan up again and throws him chest-first into the cage wall. Hogan staggers around the ring clearly struggling.
At this point Bundy attempts his first escape.
The First Escape Attempt
Bundy begins climbing the steel cage slowly. Because of his size, climbing isn’t easy for him, and this adds tension to the moment.
Hogan manages to grab Bundy’s leg and pull him back into the ring. The crowd erupts because it’s the first sign that Hogan still has some fight left.
But Bundy quickly regains control.
He knocks Hogan down again and delivers a massive running splash in the centre of the ring. The splash lands directly on Hogan’s injured ribs, which was the same move that injured him earlier in the storyline.
The audience genuinely believes the match might be over at that point.
Hogan’s Comeback
After the splash, Bundy once again tries to climb out of the cage.
But Hogan grabs him again and pulls him down.
This is where the famous Hulk Hogan comeback begins.
Bundy throws punches at Hogan, but Hogan begins to shake them off. The crowd starts getting louder as Hogan absorbs the hits and refuses to go down.
Then Hogan starts firing back.
He throws a series of right hands that finally knock Bundy backward. The crowd erupts as Hogan begins his signature comeback sequence.
Hogan whips Bundy into the cage wall and follows it with a big boot that drops the giant to the mat. Considering Bundy’s size, seeing him knocked down was a huge moment for the audience.
The Final Moments
With Bundy down, Hogan realizes he has a chance to escape.
Instead of continuing to fight, Hogan heads straight for the cage wall and starts climbing.
Bundy tries to recover and stop him, grabbing at Hogan’s legs and attempting to pull him back into the ring. But Hogan kicks him away and continues climbing higher.
The crowd gets louder with every step Hogan takes.
Finally Hogan reaches the top of the cage, swings his leg over, and climbs down to the outside floor to win the match and retain the WWF Championship.
The arena erupts as Hogan celebrates his victory and the survival of Hulkamania.
Match Analysis
From a modern wrestling perspective, this match is very simple. There aren’t many complicated moves or fast-paced sequences. Instead, the entire match is built around a clear structure: Bundy dominates, Hogan survives, and then Hogan makes a comeback.
But that simplicity actually works in its favour.
Bundy plays his role perfectly as the unstoppable monster. His offence is slow but heavy, and everything he does looks painful. The repeated attacks on Hogan’s ribs keep the story consistent throughout the match.
Hogan, meanwhile, plays the classic underdog champion. Even though he’s the biggest star in wrestling, the injury angle makes the audience believe he could actually lose.
The steel cage also adds an extra layer of drama. Every time someone climbs the cage, the crowd knows the match could end immediately.
Final Thoughts
The match between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy isn’t a technical classic, and it doesn’t have the fast pacing you’d expect from modern wrestling. But it succeeds in doing exactly what it was meant to do: tell a clear story and get the crowd emotionally invested.
Bundy looks like a legitimate threat throughout the match, and Hogan’s comeback gets the huge reaction that the WWF wanted.
It’s a straightforward main event built around star power, storytelling, and crowd reaction — which was exactly what WrestleMania main events were all about in the 1980s.
Match Rating: 6.5/10
Not a technical masterpiece, but a memorable main event that perfectly captures the era of Hulkamania.
