1985 Nikita Koloff was green as hell, and while he handled the monster gimmick very well, it was guys like Flair, Rhodes and Magnum TA, along with 'Uncle' Ivan and Krusher Kruschev that were able to hide his inexperience and make him look as strong as he did.
Hogan was never a guy that could make a green wrestler look good. It just wasn't a skill of his. All the monsters he fought when he was champ were vets who had spent years honing their gimmicks.
By 1987 Kolofff was more than ready to handle a program with Hogan, but by then the political landscape had changed and a program between an American hero and a Russian super monster just didn't have the same appeal... not to mention that Koloff had his face turn by then and didn't have the same menace he originally had.
If Koloff was more seasoned in 1985 though? That would have been an amazing program, because he had the perfect character. You also would have seen a guy like Volkoff quietly released too, since they wouldn't have wanted to have a secondary guy with a similar gimmick, and Volkoff, while over as the Russian heel, was far past his prime at that point (maybe they would have repackaged him and put him under a hood, but that's the best I can see).
Or if they could have gotten Ivan too, he could have done a lot to help cover for Nikita's inexperience in 85. It could have added to the program too with Ivan being a former WWWF champ, although in 1985, McMahon didn't like to acknowledge that wrestling even existed before then, so they would have likely treated Ivan like any other 50 year old rookie.
No, the timing was off unfortunately. If they started him with a Steamboat or Santana and built him properly, then maybe, but considering the gimmick he would have likely started with Cpl. Kirshner, which would have failed horribly.
ncG1vNJzZmien6fCrr%2BNsKmeq6Shsru7zZ5lnKedZMGpvsSam6xnnp64qsDAZqKopJ%2Bbs261zWaroZ1drMSnepFpZ3JoYGQ%3D