While Ross’ interactions with Hogan in 1993 were limited, he did become aware of the backstage talk surrounding Hogan’s unwillingness to put over certain wrestlers. As Bret Hart wrote in his 2008 autobiography, Hogan was supposed to drop the WWE Championship to him at SummerSlam 1993 before departing for WCW. Instead, Hogan did “the job” to Yokozuna at King of the Ring.

“You can’t say it was because, well, Hogan didn’t want to lose the title to a lesser guy,” Ross said. “There’s no way you can call Bret Hart a weak successor. It was the right thing to do, he [Hart] was the hottest thing we had. But, for whatever reason, Hogan didn’t want to lose the title to Bret, and I have never understood that. It’s just illogical.” Shortly before dropping the belt to Yokozuna, Hogan made a quick stop in NJPW, where he wrestled “The Great Muta” in a non-title match. After the match, Hogan denigrated the WWE Championship by referring to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as a more prestigious title. Ross recalled Hogan angering Vince McMahon with his comments. 

“[McMahon] made [Hogan] rich and famous,” Ross argued. “Everything [in WWE] was built around Hogan. Why aren’t you professional enough to do the right thing for the business?” Ross believes Hogan’s comments about the WWE Championship were “a cheap shot” and “a sign of paranoia,” and that NJPW wouldn’t have done business with Hogan if WWE had not made him “rich and famous.” In conclusion, Ross argues that Hogan was wrong in assuming he didn’t want to be “overexposed” by not working a full-time WWE schedule, a trend he sees in today’s champions such as Roman Reigns and MJF.  According to Ross, McMahon grew tired of Hogan’s antics in 1993, and was almost relieved when his biggest star walked out the door.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Grilling JR” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.