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On this date in WWF history: Hulkamania is here!

Hulk Hogan won the World Wrestling Federation championship for the very first time on this date in history, a belt he wouldn't relinquish for the next four years.

By Geno Mrosko

"Hulkamania is here!"

Those famous words were uttered by Gorilla Monsoon on this date in history (Jan. 23, 1984) when, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, in front of nearly 30,000 fans, Hulk Hogan pinned The Iron Sheik to win the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) championship for the first time.

He wouldn't relinquish that belt for four full years. And you thought CM Punk's 400-some day reign was impressive.

Hogan had become popular in the AWA but never quite reached the top the way he wanted. Once Vince McMahon took over the WWF from his father, he decided to take the company national and he was going to use Hogan to do that. That turned out to be the best gamble of his career -- well, that and WrestleMania -- because "The Hulkster" was as over as it gets once he got the strap from Sheik.

Watch it go down:

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