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Hulk Hogan (born Terrance Gene Bollea on August 11, 1953 in Augusta, Georgia), is an American professional wrestler and actor. He remains a distinction as one of the most successful and popular professional wrestlers in history, leading his fans to call themselves "Hulkamaniacs." He currently stars on the VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best and also makes occasional appearances for World Wrestling Entertainment on its RAW brand.

Career

Hogan was born Terrence "Terry" Gene Bollea to Italian-American Pete Bollea, and Ruth Bollea, who is of French, Italian and Panamanian descent. Early in life, Terry Bollea was a standout in minor league baseball and also spent ten years playing bass guitar in several Florida-based rock bands, including Ruckus and Infinity's End. Many of the wrestlers who competed in the Florida territory at that time would visit the bars in which Bollea was performing.

Bollea's impressive physical stature soon caught the attention of former top-drawing wrestler Jack Brisco and his brother Gerald, both of whom convinced Bollea to give wrestling a try. Bollea had been a wrestling fan since childhood and was eager to give it a chance. He trained for nearly two years under the watchful eye of legendary wrestler, Hiro Matsuda, a hard-nosed taskmaster who casually (and to instill respect, purposefully) broke Bollea's leg during their first training session.

Bollea wrestled his first professional match in Tallahassee, Florida on August 19, 1977 as The Super Destroyer, wrestling B. Brian Blair to a draw. Terry also used other ring names early in his career, including Terry "The Hulk" Boulder and Sterling Golden. In those formative years, Bollea would go on to win his first wrestling championships, the National Wrestling Alliance Southeastern Heavyweight Championships recognized in Alabama and Tennessee, respectively. Bollea even had an early shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, with its holder generally recognized as the industry's #1 wrestler, in January 1979, facing NWA kingpin Harley Race.

World Wrestling Federation: The first run

On November 13, 1979, Bollea made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation as a heel and was given the name "The Incredible" Hulk Hogan by Vincent James McMahon, then the majority owner of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (at the time, the parent company of the Federation). In his debut, Hogan wrestled three matches in Allentown, Pennsylvania during one of the Federation's marathon television tapings. Hogan was victorious in all three bouts, squashing Harry Valdez in the first match, Paul Figueroa in the second, and Ben Ortiz in the third. One month later on December 17, Hogan made his Madison Square Garden wrestling debut, defeating Ted DiBiase in 11 minutes, 12 seconds.

The later, official explanation for the "Hulk Hogan" moniker was that many considered Bollea to be physically bigger than Lou Ferrigno, who at the time was starring in the popular TV series The Incredible Hulk. McMahon also wanted him to be a tough, working-man brawler with a possible Irish background at the same time, thus the name "Hogan." A deal was later struck with Marvel Comics to use the "Hulk" name. In February 2005, Bollea himself purchased the rights to the name "Hulk Hogan" shortly after a copyright dispute between Marvel and World Wrestling Entertainment prevented Bollea from being called Hulk Hogan in rebroadcasts of his matches.

Hogan started out in the WWF as an arrogant heel, clad in a golden cape and managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Hogan feuded with then-WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation) World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund, "Mr. U.S.A." Tony Atlas, and André the Giant. His feud with André culminated in a match at Shea Stadium on August 9, 1980 in front of 36,295 fans, popularly called the Showdown at Shea.

In 1981, Sylvester Stallone personally offered him a part in the movie Rocky III. Industry etiquette demanded that he first ask for his boss' (Vincent J. McMahon) permission. McMahon, unlike his son (and future owner of the WWE) Vincent K. McMahon said no, believing that pro wrestlers should be pro wrestlers and never become actors. However, Hogan took the part anyway, expecting the role to dramatically increase his profile and earning potential. McMahon fired Hogan, who would not appear with the company again for several years.

American Wrestling Association

After filming his scene for Rocky III, Hogan made his debut in the Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association, owned and promoted by Verne Gagne. Hogan started his AWA run as a heel, taking on "Luscious" Johnny Valiant as his manager, but AWA audiences loved the muscular Hogan, and soon AWA bookers were compelled to turn Hogan face.

Hogan quickly became the AWA's top draw and feuded with world champion Nick Bockwinkel, but owner Gagne, a former college wrestler who emphasized mat skills over showmanship, was reluctant to give Hogan a run with the belt. On two different occasions, Hogan had been scripted to win the AWA Championship from heel champion Nick Bockwinkel and have it revert back to Bockwinkel by contrived technicalities (known as a Dusty finish). This was a common plot device, used to milk audience anticipation that the face would topple the heel "next time." But this time, the crowd reaction was so furious that only Bollea's pleas (on the PA system, in character as Hogan) kept them from rioting. Hogan, for his part, grew frustrated with the AWA's backstage politics over the world title, and was upset with promoter Verne Gagne's demands for a percentage of his Japanese earnings in exchange for the AWA Championship.

New Japan Pro Wrestling

During this period of Hogan's career, he was not competing strictly under the AWA (or any) banner. A great deal of Hogan's early success was achieved in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Japanese wrestling fans were in awe of the gargantuan blond American, and nicknamed him "Ichiban" (which translates to "Number One"). Hogan first appeared in Japan on May 23, 1980, while he was still with the WWF. He would tour the country from time to time over the next few years, facing a wide variety of opponents ranging from Tatsumi Fujinami to Abdullah the Butcher. When competing in Japan, Hogan used a vastly different repertoire of wrestling moves, relying on more "scientific" (i.e., technical, more amateur style-seeming) looking traditional wrestling holds and maneuvers as opposed to the power-based (feats of strength), brawling style U.S. fans were accustomed to seeing from him. Another difference is that Hogan uses a running forearm lariat (Called the "Axe Bomber") as his finisher in Japan as opposed to the running leg drop mostly associated with Hogan in America.

On June 2, 1983, Hogan became the first International Wrestling Grand Prix tournament winner, defeating Japanese wrestling icon Antonio Inoki by knockout in the finals of a 10-man tournament featuring top talent from throughout the world. Hogan and Inoki also worked as partners in Japan, winning the prestigious MSG Tag League tournament two years in a row, in 1982 and 1983. Also Hogan's popularity in Japan was so great, he even recorded an album there - a forerunner to the World Wrestling Federation's "Rock' n' Wrestlin' Connection" of the mid-'80's.

"Hulkamania"

By 1983, Vince K. McMahon had bought the World Wrestling Federation from his father, with a goal of turning the WWF into a nationwide company, using Hogan's charisma, body, and name power as the top draw. Hogan made a dramatic return to the WWF at a TV taping on January 3, 1984, saving Bob Backlund from a three-on-one assault. Less than three weeks later, on January 23, Hogan won the WWF Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik in New York's Madison Square Garden *. He became the first ever Southern-born WWF Champion in history. In Hogan's autobiography, he says that The Iron Sheik told him that Verne Gagne had offered The Iron Sheik $100,000 to break Hogan's leg in their Madison Square Garden title bout, but Vaziri correctly saw the potential for making millions working with Hogan and refused.

This title victory caused "Hulkamania" to sweep the WWF, as Hogan's popularity soared. He would frequently refer to his "Hulkamaniacs" (fans) in his interviews, and would go on to introduce his three "demandments": training, saying your prayers, and eating your vitamins. Eventually, a fourth demandment would be added following his feud with Earthquake. The vitamins demandment has been parodied to mean steroids in recent years due to Vince McMahon's problems with a steroid trial in the early '90s.

Hogan would remain WWF Champion for four years and 13 days (no wrestler has held the WWF Championship for longer than one year since Hogan's first title reign), overcoming such challengers as André the Giant, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and King Kong Bundy, drawing record houses, PPV buyrates and TV ratings in the process. He co-hosted Saturday Night Live on March 30, 1985 and even had his own CBS Saturday morning cartoon during this lucrative run, titled Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling. On March 31, 1985, the inaugural WrestleMania took place at Madison Square Garden, featuring Hogan in a tag team main event, with Mr. T his partner. Hogan would go on to headline seven of the first eight WrestleManias, from 1985-1992. In addition, Hogan made an unscheduled apperance at Wrestlemania IX and won the WWF Championship from Yokozuna to once again become the WWF Champion. Hulk Hogan would not again appear in the event until Wrestlemania 18, losing to "The Rock" in an Icon Vs. Icon match. Wrestlemania 19 featured Hulk Hogan's only Wrestlemania win since 1993 by defeating Vince McMahon.

A new storyline was introduced in early 1987: Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three years. André the Giant, a good friend (who was seen pouring champagne over him in the Madison Square Garden locker room in the interview scene following his title win) came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterwards, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in the WWF for 15 years." In actuality, André had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in the WWF, but had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André, but André walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of Piper's Pit, Hogan was confronted by Bobby Heenan. Heenan announced that his new protégé was André. André then challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, ripping the t-shirt and crucifix off of Hogan.

WrestleMania III, held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, an announced audience of 93,173, (a worked number, as reported in the Pro Wrestling Torch and Wrestling Observer), witnessed Hogan successfully defend the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant. The match would become the most famous of Hogan's career, and is often regarded as the biggest match in the history of the business, one which saw Hogan bodyslam the 520-pound Frenchman before pinning his shoulders to the mat. The match was considered as being a "passing of the torch" between one of the biggest stars in wrestling of the 1970's, André, and the biggest star in wrestling of the 1980's, Hogan. Years later, Hogan stated that André was so heavy; he felt more like 700 pounds.

Hogan lost the belt in extremely controversial fashion to André on NBC's "The Main Event" on February 5, 1988, thanks to a convoluted scam involving "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and "evil" twin referee Earl Hebner (in place of the match's appointed arbiter, his twin brother Dave Hebner). After André delivered a belly-to-belly suplex on Hogan, Hebner three-counted Hogan while his left shoulder was clearly off the mat. After the match, André handed the title over to DiBiase to complete their storyline business deal. As a result, the WWF Championship was vacated for the third time in its 25-year history, and all this in turn led to Hogan's on/off friend "Macho Man" Randy Savage taking the vacant title in a tournament at WrestleMania IV a month later.

Note: The live primetime NBC broadcast of The Main Event on February 5, 1988 is the highest rated television show in professional wrestling history, with a 15.2 rating.

Together, Hogan, Savage, and manager Miss Elizabeth formed a partnership known as The Mega Powers. The Macho Man Randy Savage played an instrumental role in Hogan's character development. However, the Mega-Powers would soon implode from within, due to Savage's burgeoning jealousy of Hogan and his paranoid suspicions that Hogan and Elizabeth were "more than friends." A feud between Hogan and Savage began, which culminated with Hogan beating Savage for his second WWF Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania V on April 2, 1989. Hulk Hogan earned $1.8 million for his match against "Macho Man" Randy Savage at WrestleMania V.

Hogan's second run lasted a year, during which time he starred in his first movie, No Holds Barred. The movie was the inspiration of a feud with Hogan's co-star in "No Holds Barred," Tiny Lister, Jr., who appeared at wrestling events as his movie character, Zeus. Zeus was a monster heel who was "jealous" over Hogan's higher billing and now wanted revenge. However, Hogan was easily able to defeat Zeus in a series of matches across the country during late 1989, beginning with a tag team match at SummerSlam.

Also during his second run, Hogan won the 1990 Royal Rumble Match, last eliminating Mr. Perfect. He dropped the title to Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior on April 1, 1990 at WrestleMania VI. It was the first time in over seven years that Hogan was pinned. That title match was notable in that the two wrestlers were both faces, and Hogan graciously handed Warrior the belt and shook his hand at the conclusion of the match, remembered as one of the most sportsmanlike displays in WWF history.

Hogan soon became embroiled in a heated feud with the 468-pound Earthquake, a mountain of a man who gained infamy by crushing Hogan's ribs in a sneak attack on "The Brother Love Show" in May 1990. On TV, announcers explained that Hogan was depressed over his injuries and his WrestleMania VI loss to The Ultimate Warrior and both took such a huge toll on his fighting spirit that he wanted to retire. Viewers were asked to write letters to Hogan and send postcards asking for his return (they got a postcard-sized picture in return, autographed by Hogan, as a "thank you"). Hogan returned by SummerSlam 1990 and dominated Earthquake in a months-long series of matches across the country. His defeat of this overwhelmingly large foe would cause Hogan to add a fourth demandment: believing in yourself.

On March 24, 1991, Hogan stood up for the USA against Iraqi-sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter, outwitting him for his third WWF Championship at WrestleMania VII. Hogan lost the title to The Undertaker at the Survivor Series on November 27, 1991, in an infamous bout marred by interference from the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Just two days later, Hogan regained the title in a match held on a special pay-per-view named Tuesday In Texas, but due to the controversy surrounding both matches, the title was again declared vacant.

In the 1992 Royal Rumble, Hogan was eliminated by storyline friend Sid Justice and failed to regain the championship. In the ensuing five months, Hulk Hogan announced he was contemplating retirement from wrestling and would 'bow out' after his match against Justice at WrestleMania VIII on April 5, 1992. The match against Justice was not without controversy as Justice seemingly broke character and kicked out of Hogan's legdrop finish. In reality, he was covering for an error in timing, as Papa Shango was late to break up the pin. Hogan eventually won the match via DQ when Shango finally made it to the ring. The returning Ultimate Warrior saved Hogan from the post match beat down. Hogan later reconsidered his career and was back in the ring within a year due to The Ultimate Warrior not being the next Hogan as the WWF anticipated.

A lot of fictitious rumors surround the Hulk Hogan sensation, employed in part by the WWF and later WCW to sensationalize and hype up their star name. Hogan dyed his hair platinum blonde and wore a bandana. His usual colors were yellow and red; as a heel they were black and white. One statistic about Hogan that did stand, at least at the time, was that he had the largest arms in professional sports, a title he legitimately held only for a few years. "24-inch pythons" was a phrase commonly used to describe Hogan's arms.

Hulk Hogan's crossover popularity led to several television and movie roles. Along with 1982's Rocky III, he starred, as mentioned above, in No Holds Barred (1989), as well as Suburban Commando (1991), Mr. Nanny (1993), Santa with Muscles (1996), and 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998). He made two appearances on The A-Team (in 1985 and 1986), and starred in his own TV series, Thunder in Paradise, in 1994.

End of Hulkamania?

Hogan returned to the WWF in January 1993, helping out his friend Brutus Beefcake in his feud with Money Inc.. Hogan scooped his fifth WWF Title on April 4 of that year, overcoming Yokozuna in an impromptu bout at WrestleMania IX. At this point everything was looking good for Hogan, he had the World Wrestling Federation Championship once again and it seemed like Hulkamania was back and better then ever. However, this was not the case at all.

At the first annual King of the Ring pay per view, Hogan had to defend the title against Yokozuna again. It was his first title defense since he first defeated Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. The plan was for Hogan to defeat Yokozuna at the King of The Ring and later lose to King of The Ring tournament winner Bret Hart at SummerSlam. Hogan felt Hart unworthy of defeating him. He had been beaten down throughout the entire match, then a camera flash temporarily blinded him which allowed Yokozuna to pick up the victory by using his own version of Hogan's legdrop on him. After his victory, Yokozuna proceeded to give Hogan a Banzai drop amidst the crying children and cursing adults. As Yokozuna celebrated, Hogan was helped back to the locker room by ringside officials, as he clutched his face. Hulkamania had seemingly taken its final breath.

Hogan departed the WWF two months later after a series of bouts against Yokozuna on the Hulkamania European tour. An impending steroid scandal led to Vince McMahon deciding to phase out large, muscular wrestlers such as Hogan and give the top spots to smaller, more technically sound wrestlers such as Bret Hart. After Hogan left the WWF, he decided to concentrate on movies and TV and take time off from professional wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling

In June 1994 Hogan was expensively lured back to the ring by Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling, which was the WWF's main competitor at the time. When Hogan signed with WCW, officials (namely, Eric Bischoff, who convinced Hogan to join WCW in the first place) hoped that they could relive the glory days of Hulkamania, but everyone involved also knew it would be tough to convince many loyal, old-school WCW fans of Hogan's worth, particularly the southern fans that were traditionally anti-WWF. Hogan was also at this time given virtually absolute creative control over his onscreen character. Hulk Hogan's contract signing on June 11 was held at Disney World in Orlando, following a red-and-yellow ticker tape parade.

Hogan won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his debut match, overcoming Ric Flair in a genuine 'dream' match on July 17. After tussling with Flair, Vader, and the Dungeon of Doom for the next eighteen months, Hogan dropped the belt and began to only appear occasionally on WCW shows. WCW fans were clamoring for younger, more exciting international stars such as Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and were growing tired of seeing Hogan's "red-and-yellow good guy" persona they had seen for ten years in the WWF. Hogan soon reinvented himself as a heel (his first time playing a heel role since 1981) and returned full-time on July 7, 1996.

The nWo

Scott Hall and Kevin Nash both left the WWF in early 1996 and returned to their old employer, WCW. They were portrayed as "Outsiders" and quickly announced their intent to "take over" WCW, with the help of an unnamed third member of their team (initially rumored to be either Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels). At the Bash At The Beach PPV, Hall, Nash and their partner were scheduled to face the WCW trio of Sting, Randy Savage, and Lex Luger. The third partner did not begin the match, and, after Luger left the match due to an injury, some assumed that he would be the "third man." When Hogan came out, many expected him to replace Luger and attack Hall and Nash. However, in one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history, Hogan leg dropped Randy Savage and declared himself to be Hall and Nash's partner, with the trio comprising what Hogan dubbed the New World Order of professional wrestling.

Hogan soon dyed his beard black and renamed himself Hollywood Hogan. Hogan managed to redefine the heel character: rather than the traditional "bad guy" Hollywood Hogan gave birth to a more realistic, street-smart villain, with none of the usual wrestling gimmicks and devices. Some have placed Hollywood Hogan as one of the best and most effective heels in pro wrestling history.

After defeating The Giant at Hog Wild on August 10, 1996 by hitting him with the WCW title belt, Hogan held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for most of 1997, save for a several week reign by Luger. He would spray paint black letters "NWO" across the title belt as well and scribble across the nameplate. During this period, Hogan grappled with Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, and many more. The ever-expanding nWo gang concurrently became the hottest concept in wrestling, too, helping WCW to achieve 83 straight Monday night ratings victories over the WWF. The black-and-white nWo T-shirt also became one of the highest-selling pieces of wrestling merchandise ever during 1997.

Hogan then lost the belt to Sting in a hugely-hyped, eighteen-months-in-the-making match at StarrCade in December 1997. The event was also the highest-drawing PPV in WCW's history. Wrestling fans and pundits were disappointed in "The match of the decade" because match length and ending didn't justify the buildup. The ending had to be re-worked because Hogan, with a Creative Control clause in his contract, wanted to beat Sting, whom the bookers had already decided would win. In order to keep the booking plans in place and to appease Hogan, it was decided that Hogan would beat Sting after an alleged "fast count" by referee Nick Patrick. WCW's newly contracted Bret Hart would accuse Patrick and have the match restarted with Sting winning by submission. This finish was executed at StarrCade, and after a rematch the following night on WCW Monday Nitro, the title became vacant.

After Hogan spent 1998 wrestling celebrity matches with buddies such as Dennis Rodman and Jay Leno, he announced his retirement on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He also attempted to launch a run for the U.S. Presidency in November (strictly as a publicity stunt to try to draw some of the hype of Jesse Ventura's Minnesota gubernatorial win back to him). After some time off from WCW, Hogan returned to Nitro to challenge Kevin Nash for the WCW title. He controversially regained the WCW title in what would later be dubbed the Fingerpoke of Doom. This reformed the previously broken up nWo branches - nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac - which began feuding with Bill Goldberg and a ruthless Four Horsemen. Within these months, Hogan’s heel look would gradually recede through the shaving of his black beard and the removal of the red "NWO" from his title belt. He was soon cheated out of the WCW Championship to Ric Flair at Uncensored 1999 in a steel cage, first blood match. Strangely enough, a heavily bleeding Flair would win via pinfall thanks to biased referee Charles Robinson.

The end of Hogan in WCW

July 1999 saw Hogan return to his face persona. On August 9, 1999, he started the night dressed in the black and white, but after a backstage scene with his son, he came out dressed in the traditional red and yellow for his main-event 6-man tag team match. Injuries and frustrations were mounting up however, and Hogan was soon absent from TV from October 1999 to February 2000. In his book Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Bollea said that he was asked to take time off of TV from newly hired head of creative Vince Russo and not told when he would be brought back at the time. Despite some reservations, he agreed to do so. On October 24, 1999 at the Halloween Havoc Pay-Per-View in Las Vegas, Hogan was to face Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (which he had lost to Sting at Fall Brawl the previous month). However, Hogan came to the ring in street clothes, layed down for the pin, and left the ring.

Soon after his return to WCW TV in February 2000, Hogan began feuding with Lex Luger, Ric Flair, and Billy Kidman. Then, at Bash at the Beach 2000, Hogan was involved in a very controversial, real-life incident with WCW booker Vince Russo. Hogan was scheduled to wrestle Jeff Jarrett for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan felt that he should win because he felt Russo wouldn't use him in anymore future storylines. At that time Hogan still had several months left on his contract and was obligated to appear at more Pay-Per-Views. So, he used the clause in his contract that gave him creative control over all the finishes of his matches. According to Hogan, it was the only time he ever used that clause in his tenure with WCW. Russo was furious at Hogan because he did not think that Hogan should be the champion.

Unbeknownst to Hogan, Russo told Jarrett to lie down in the middle of the ring and asked Hogan to pin him straight away. A visibly confused Hogan complied, then got on the microphone and told Russo "That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in, because of bullshit like this!" Russo responded by coming out and saying that he wanted to get rid of all the "old guys" and that since Hogan refused to job to Jarrett, a new WCW World Heavyweight Championship would be created, setting the stage for a title match between Booker T and Jeff Jarrett later that night. Hogan was never seen or mentioned on WCW television after the event, and he filed a defamation of character lawsuit against Russo soon after, which was eventually thrown out of court. Russo later revealed that the Bash at the Beach incident was in fact a work. However, since WCW could no longer afford to pay Hogan for any more Pay-Per-View appearances, Hogan was never called back and kept off WCW television (which put the wheels in motion for the lawsuit).

World Wrestling Federation: The comeback

From July 2000 to November 2001, Hogan was out of the public eye. He had been dealing with self-doubt and depression following the Vince Russo incident, wondering if what Russo had said about him was true. Hogan was also dealing with the death of his father Peter Bollea in December 2001, which he took very hard. Fans at the time had largely agreed with Russo's sentiments, feeling that Hogan was "washed-up" and had been holding down younger talents for too long. Hogan wanted to prove his detractors wrong and show them that he still had another run or two left in him.

In the months following the eventual demise of WCW in March 2001, Hogan underwent surgery on his knees in order for him to wrestle again. As a test, Hogan worked a match in Orlando, Florida for the XWF promotion run by his longtime handler Jimmy Hart. Hogan defeated Curt Hennig in this match and felt healthy enough to accept an offer to return to the WWF in February 2002. Initially, Hogan returned as leader of the original nWo with Hall and Nash. Soon after arriving, he fought a memorable match against The Rock at WrestleMania X8 on March 17, 2002. This was Hogan's only WrestleMania match fought as a heel, but the record SkyDome crowd of 68,237, cheered wildly for Hogan, effectively turning him face during the match. The Rock cleanly won the contest but befriended Hogan at the end of the bout and helped him fight off Hall and Nash, who were upset by Hogan's conciliatory attitude.

After the match, Hogan was a definite face again, though he continued wearing black and white tights for a few weeks after WrestleMania X-8 until he resumed wearing his signature red and yellow tights. He had a month-long reign as Undisputed World Wrestling Federation Champion in the spring of 2002 after defeating Triple H at Backlash. During Hogan's title reign of 2002, the World Wrestling Federation changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), thus marking Hogan as the last ever WWF champion and as the first champion under the new company name. After an angle with Brock Lesnar which saw Lesnar hand Hogan his most convincing defeat in history in August 2002, Hogan went on hiatus. He returned in early 2003 to battle the Rock once again and defeated Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX. He then had another run as Hulk Hogan (with the old "Hulk Rules" logo being revived and altered as "Hulk Still Rules") and later, the mask-wearing spoof superhero Mr. America.

Mr. America

Mr. America was another Hulk Hogan alter-ego. Mr. America was actually Hulk Hogan in disguise, wearing a mask. He used Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme music. He was the subject of a story line after Hollywood Hulk Hogan was forced by his boss Vince McMahon to sit out the rest of his contract after he won at WrestleMania XIX because McMahon wanted Hulkamania to die.

On May 1, 2003 Mr. America debuted on SmackDown! on "Piper's Pit," in which Vince appeared and claimed that Mr. America was Hulk Hogan in disguise, Mr. America shot back by saying, "I am not Hulk Hogan, brother!"

The feud continued through the month of May, with a singles match between Mr. America and Hogan's old rival Roddy Piper at Judgement Day. Zach Gowen was also involved in the feud on the side of Mr. America.

Vince tried desperately to prove that Mr. America was indeed Hulk Hogan but failed on all accounts. Mr. America even passed a lie detector test.

Mr. America's last WWE appearance was on the June 26, 2003 edition of SmackDown!, where The Big Show, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas defeated Mr. America, Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle in a six-man tag team match when Show pinned Mr. America. After the show ended, Mr. America unmasked to show the fans that he was indeed Hulk Hogan. The next week, Hogan quit the WWE due to frustration with the creative team. On the July 3, 2003 edition of SmackDown!, McMahon showed the footage of Mr. America unmasking as Hogan and "fired" him. For several months afterwards, WWE hyped up Big Show as the man who retired Hogan at Madison Square Garden (where the six-man tag team match was held), in order to give Big Show some more credibility. In a twist of irony, Big Show was first discovered by Hogan himself and in 1995 was pushed as a major threat to Hogan's WCW Championship reign.

The Mr. America gimmick came under fire briefly from Marvel Comics, who anointed it a rip-off of Captain America, citing costume similarity. (The single star on the mask was also a trademark on Captain America's chest piece.) This was also adding fuel to the fire over the rights to use the Hulk Hogan name, as because of the problems, the WWE was forced to edit out all references to the "Hulk Hogan" name and started to refer to Hogan under the "Hollywood Hogan" name he used in WCW.

It wasn't long until Hogan and Vince's uneasy truce with one another blew apart, with Hogan being unhappy with payoffs for his matches shortly after his comeback under the Mr. America gimmick. Vince decided to terminate Hogan's contract and Hogan left the WWE in 2003 and many in the industry thought that Hogan would never again work for Vince McMahon.

A few months afterwards, Hulk Hogan worked a match for New Japan Pro Wrestling, beating Masahiro Chono at the Ultimate Crush II event. Hogan had been looking to make his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (even going so far as to take a guitar shot from then NWA champion Jeff Jarrett during a press conference), but another knee surgery delayed negotiations, and the deal was never finalized.

According to various reports, on November 7, 2004, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage crossed paths backstage at a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling event in Orlando, Florida. Savage had been going on numerous media outlets for many months, promoting his rap album and was also challenging Hogan to a real fight "anytime anywhere", to which Hogan did not respond. Reports say that Hogan approached Savage to shake his hand. Savage did not shake his hand and had several choice words for Hogan. Hogan then asked Savage if he "wanted to step outside." The two were then separated, but many witnesses say Savage didn't seem too keen on accepting Hogan's request. There has been a rift between the two former best friends for many years, even before this incident. It is speculated that the rift was influenced by different factors, such as Hogan pulling out of a Tampa, Florida nightclub deal in historic Ybor City with Savage as well as a charity match the two were to do for children with cancer.

Hall of Fame

Hogan was inducted by Sylvester Stallone into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 2, 2005. The Hulkster was greeted with a loud standing ovation which lasted several minutes prior to his acceptance speech. During his speech, Hogan was interrupted more than once by fans chanting "One more match!" The following night at WrestleMania 21, Hogan gave them a teaser of things to come, saving Eugene from an attack at the hands of Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari. On May 1, 2005, Hogan gave the fans what they had asked for, when he teamed with Shawn Michaels to defeat Hassan and Daivari at Backlash.

The "one more match" chants and claims began to become more frequent for Hogan, who, by the time that he was finished competing in his match at Backlash, claimed to have second thoughts of hanging up the boots. On the June 27 edition of RAW, Hogan was announced as the mystery tag team partner of WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels in a match against Chris Jericho, Christian, and Tyson Tomko, and since then he is considered to be a part-time wrestler.

"The Icon" versus "The Legend"

Hogan then appeared the following week on the July 4 edition of RAW as the special guest of Carlito on his talk-show segment "Carlito's Cabana." After being asked questions by Carlito concerning his daughter Brooke Hogan, Hogan proceeded to attack Carlito. This was then followed up by an appearance of Kurt Angle, who made comments about Brooke, which further upset Hogan. Hogan was eventually double teamed by Carlito and Angle but was saved by Shawn Michaels. Later that night, Shawn Michaels and Hogan defeated Carlito and Kurt Angle in a tag match. During the post match celebration, Michaels delivered Sweet Chin Music to Hogan and walked off. The following week on RAW, Michaels appeared on "Piper's Pit" and challenged Hogan to face him one-on-one for the first time. Hogan appeared on RAW one week later and accepted the challenge. The match took place on Sunday, August 21 at SummerSlam.

The match between Hogan and Michaels was the main event of the night, and the two collided in a battle billed as "Legend vs. Icon." The match went back and forth, with two referees getting knocked out and Michaels using a steel chair to try to gain an advantage. Even after Michaels hit his Sweet Chin Music, Hogan still kicked out and mounted some offense against Michaels, finally hitting him with the legdrop and scoring the victory. Michaels extended his hand to him, telling him that he "had to find out for himself," and Hogan and Michaels shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd.

2006 Return

Hulk returned to the July 15th edition of Saturday Night Main Event with his daughter Brooke. By the end of the night Hulk was challenged by Randy Orton to a match at Summerslam.

Other media

Hollywood Hulk Hogan made cameo appearances in Muppets from Space as "Man in Black" and in The New Batch as himself. Hogan also appears in Spy Hard, gets tagged in when Leslie Nielsen's character is getting beaten up, and then rips his shirt off and throws a few punches. Hogan has also starred in a few movies which are infamous for being in IMDB's Bottom 100, including Mr. Nanny and Santa With Muscles. Hogan was portrayed as being offered the role of Zeus on an episode of Hogan Knows Best and was shown during the filming of the movie. Hogan claims his movie career is more successful as compared to The Rock's because his direct to video movies have reached a bigger audience.

The music video for Dolly Parton's wrestling-themed love song Headlock on my Heart features Hogan as "Starlight Starbright."

Hogan has also influenced character in other media as well:

  • In the Taito Pro Wrestling game Mat Mania, the character Golden Hulk was modelled from Hogan.
  • In Capcom's Street Fighter III, the character Alex is loosely based on Hulk Hogan. His pre-fight entrance has him ripping his shirt like the "Hulkster" himself and his special pre-fight entrance with Hugo (who resembles André the Giant) having a stare-down as a reference to the Hogan-André stare-down at Wrestlemania III.
  • In SNK's World Heroes, the character Muscle Power was modeled on Hogan's character when he wrestled in Japan. He uses Hogan's "Number One!" catchphrase that he used there as well as his Japan-exclusive finishing move the Axe Bomber, a massive clothesline.
  • Hulk Hogan was also the spokesperson for the Legends of Wrestling video game.
  • The Japanese series Kinnikuman has a British wrestler named Neptuneman who looks similar to Hulk Hogan.

In a interview on the Tonight Show, Hogan acknowledged that the George Foreman grill was originally offered to him, but he failed to respond in time, and thus allowing Foreman to use his endorsement.

Personal information

Hogan attended the University of South Florida but did not graduate. In 1983, Hogan met his future wife Linda in a restaurant in Los Angeles. For the first two years, their relationship was mostly via telephone as Hogan traveled throughout the world. They married in 1983, and Linda moved to Tampa, Florida (Hogan's hometown).

On May 5, 1988, Linda gave birth to their first child, daughter, Brooke. On July 27, 1990 their second child, son, Nick was born in Van Nuys, California. The family has a 20,000 square-foot, States dollar|$" target="_blank" >*10,000,000 home in Belleair, Florida, $7,000,000 Beach House in Sarasota, Florida, $4,000,000 Condominium at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a $12,000,000 home in Miami, Florida. Hogan Knows Best, Season Finale, 2006

Is good real-life friends with former professional wrestler "Nasty Boy" Brian Knobbs, who has appeared on several episodes of Hogan's VH1 reality TV show, Hogan Knows Best, and is the workout buddy and frequent guest on the Bubba The Love Sponge Howard 101 Sirius Radio Program.

Controversy

Hulk Hogan has been the subject of controversy throughout the latter part of his career. Many fans and wrestlers alike considered him a "politician" who used his influence to secure a spot at the top of the roster. When asked about his apparent refusal to job or sell moves in a 2005 interview, Hogan stated, "Verne Gagne, for three years, told me not to go down to a knee. That put me into a spot where everybody wanted to say 'Well, he doesn't want to do a job. He can't work. He can't take bumps.' Promoters said 'Man, if you go off your feet, we're not going to make any money. You're the Hulk!' You need to know the whole picture of this business." Hogan is rumored to have taken down Gagne with a front facelock following a heated dispute that became physical.

Despite his success, Hogan rarely wrestled technically proficient matches in the United States, relying more on his charisma than his pure wrestling ability. In his tours of Japan, where workrate is appreciated by the fans more than theatricality, he would wrestle a more technically sound style and use maneuvers not seen by the U.S. crowd, such as the Enzuigiri.

Wrestling contemporary, Bill Goldberg once asked Hogan on how to become successful in the wrestling business, to which he replied "Less is more", meaning that taking a minimalist approach to in ring work while letting charisma get you over is the key. He is widely regarded as having acted as a catalyst in the gradual movement of professional wrestling away from sport and towards entertainment.

In 1985, on the TV show Hot Properties, Hogan demonstrated a chin lock on host Richard Belzer. Belzer fell unconscious to the floor and required stitches in his scalp. He sued Hogan for $5 million, settling out of court.

In January 1996, Hogan was sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman named Kate Kennedy. Hogan filed a countersuit citing extortion and was subsequently acquitted of all charges.

Finally, Hogan's lengthy career and multiple faux retirements have led to jibes about his inability to "leave the spotlight." Hogan continues to wrestle despite having an artificial hip and various nagging injuries. Many insiders and fans have accused Hogan of "not knowing when to quit and call it a day" because, in one form or another, Hogan continues to participate in matches or is involved in mini segments (such as a run in, or a Interview show) and effectively trying to "steal the spotlight from everyone else." As early as 1996, the WWF parodied Hogan (then working for WCW) with a character known as "The Huckster."

In August of 2005, Hogan was heavily mocked and parodied by his SummerSlam opponent Shawn Michaels. While many mockeries within professional wrestling are usually worked, Michaels actually worked in a "shoot" mode while mocking Hogan. Along with overusing the word "brother," one of these segments of mockery by Michaels was when he parodied Hogan's appearance on Larry King Live where Michaels (dressed up as Hogan) moved with the assistance of a Walker and suffered back cramps (a mockery of his history of back problems over the years). Michaels also poked fun at his backstage persona (when asked "Are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Michaels responded with "Well on camera brother, I'm a GREAT guy....but when the cameras go off brother- it's a different story").

After watching a video package on Shawn Michaels, "Hogan" responded with "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to do some serious politicing with Vincent K. McMahon". He also claimed that he didn't care about the fans either, saying "Once they're in the building, you've already got their cash in your front pocket". Michaels' comments were not only designed to mock Hogan, they also referenced Hogan's backstage persona; it is heavily believed by WWE Insiders that Hogan used his influence to persuade Vince of the outcome of the SummerSlam match between himself and Shawn Michaels. And since Vince needed Hogan to appear at WWE Homecoming later in the year, Vince reluctantly agreed. However, many fans and insiders would state that, potentially due to Hogan's state of condition, it was Shawn Michaels who impressed and carried the match with his performance and that they were disappointed with its ending.

Shawn Michaels would appear on Raw the next night and continue to mock Hogan in his hometown, with such quotes such as "Unless he needs another paycheck, he's not coming back". Hogan responded to this in an interview with The Sun that he was disappointed with Michaels' promo and that he would, from now on, refuse to work with him anymore. Hogan's backstage influence and what happened to Shawn Michaels have been concerns with Stone Cold Steve Austin whom Hogan wants to have a match with. Austin has expressed interest in doing so but also stated that he will have "none of that bullshit" (in reference to Hogan's backstage influence in the match).

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves

  • Managers

  • Signature taunts
  • Finger Wag
  • Hulking Up
  • Wrist twist to cupping the ear.

  • Theme songs and entrance music
Hogan's earliest entrance music was Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," the chart-topping song from Rocky III. It was replaced by the theme song to Hogan's animated series Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling (which was an edited version of Bonnie Tyler's song "Ravishing" from her Secret Dreams & Forbidden Fire album) and later by his best-known entrance theme, a track called "Real American" performed by Rick Derringer. The accompanying music video for "Real American," featuring clips from Hulk Hogan's various WWF matches, Hogan riding his motorcycle, and stock footage of various forms of crashing (i.e. buildings and airplanes) intersecting between footage of Hogan playing guitar in front of a blue screen (with various American landscapes and the American flag projected on it), was memorably critiqued on Beavis and Butt-head.

However, as the WWF owned "Real American" Hogan could not use it when he made the jump to World Championship Wrestling, instead he used the song "American Made," from the Hulk Rules album until he joined the nWo and began using their theme, and later the Wolfpac theme. During his time in the nWo he also used "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix and then used it again for his "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" run in WWE.

Towards the end of his last WWE run, when he wore a mask and was known by the name Mr. America, he once again made his entrance to "Real American." Upon his return in 2005 for the WWE Hall of Fame induction, WrestleMania 21 and subsequent appearances he also uses "Real American."

WWE has subsequently dubbed over "Voodoo Child" in recent video footage to avoid paying out royaltes for the use of the song.

Championships and accomplishments

Defeated Nick Bockwinkel (as "Incredible" Hulk Hogan) on April 18, 1982 in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Match decision was reversed by AWA President Stanley Blackburn for "hitting the champ with an illegal object." Ruling was overturned on April 4, 2005 by the AWA.

Defeated Nick Bockwinkel (as "Incredible" Hulk Hogan) on April 24, 1983 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Match decision was reversed by Stanley Blackburn, due to Hogan throwing Bockwinkel over the top rope during the match, which was against AWA rules at the time. Ruling was overturned on April 4, 2005 by the AWA.

  • NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Southern division)
Defeated Ox Baker (as Terry Boulder) in February 1979 in Alabama, USA
Lost to Austin Idol on June 20, 1979 in Mobile, Alabama, USA

  • NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern division)
Defeated Dick Slater (as Sterling Golden) on December 1, 1979 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Lost to Bob Armstrong on December 25, 1979 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Defeated Antonio Inoki by knockout in tournament final on June 2, 1983 in Tokyo, Japan
Lost to Antonio Inoki by countout on June 14, 1984 in Japan

Defeated Ric Flair on July 17, 1994 in Orlando, Florida, USA
Lost to The Giant on October 29, 1995 in Detroit, Michigan, USA

Defeated The Giant on August 10, 1996 in Sturgis, South Dakota, USA
Lost to Lex Luger on August 4, 1997 in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA

Defeated Lex Luger on August 9, 1997 in Sturgis, South Dakota, USA
Lost to Sting on December 28, 1997 in Washington, D.C., USA

Defeated Randy Savage on April 20, 1998 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Lost to Goldberg on July 6, 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Defeated Kevin Nash on January 4, 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Lost to Ric Flair on March 14, 1999 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Defeated Randy Savage on July 12, 1999 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Lost to Sting on September 12, 1999 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

Defeated Jeff Jarrett on July 9, 2000 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA''
Stripped of title by Vince Russo on July 9, 2000 after getting frustrated with dealing with Hogan's backstage politics. Title reign is disputed.

Defeated The Iron Sheik on January 23, 1984 in New York City, New York, USA
Lost to André the Giant on February 5, 1988 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Defeated Randy Savage on April 2, 1989 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
Lost to The Ultimate Warrior on April 1, 1990 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Defeated Sgt. Slaughter on March 24, 1991 in Los Angeles, California, USA
Lost to The Undertaker on November 27, 1991 in Detroit, Michigan, USA

Defeated The Undertaker on December 3, 1991 in San Antonio, Texas, USA
Stripped of title due to disputed finish.

Defeated Yokozuna on April 4, 1993 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Lost to Yokozuna on June 13, 1993 in Dayton, Ohio, USA

Defeated Triple H on April 21, 2002 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Lost to The Undertaker on May 19, 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Defeated Billy and Chuck on July 2, 2002 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Lost to Un-Americans on July 21, 2002 in Detroit, Michigan, USA

Awards

  • (PWI) ranked him # 1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
  • He was also ranked twice in the best tag teams of the "PWI Years." He was # 44 with Antonio Inoki and # 57 with Randy Savage.
  • Hogan has appeared on the cover of Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine more times than any other wrestler (a total of 81 times, including the 25th Anniversary issue.)
  • PWI ranked him #1 in the 1991 PWI 500.

  • Hogan also won numerous PWI Awards over the years:
  • PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler 1983
  • PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler 1999
  • PWI Comeback of the Year 1994
  • PWI Comeback of the Year 2002
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year 1985
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year 1989
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year 1990
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year 1987
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year 1991
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year 1994
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year 1996
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year 1998
  • PWI Match of the Year 1985 (with Mr. T vs. Paul Orndorff & Roddy Piper at WrestleMania),
  • PWI Match of the Year 1988 (vs. André the Giant on NBC),
  • PWI Match of the Year 1990 (vs. Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI)
  • PWI Match of the Year 2002 (vs. the Rock at WrestleMania X8).
  • PWI Feud of the Year 1986 (vs. Paul Orndorff).

  • Hogan was inducted to the 2005 WWE Hall Of Fame.
    • Hogan is one of the very few to be inducted into both the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2003) and the WWE Hall of Fame (2005).

  • He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in April 1985. Next to the swimsuit issue, the magazine was the year's best seller. He is one of only two professional wrestlers to ever appear on the cover of SI; the other is Danny Hodge.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996).
  • 1982 Best Babyface
  • 1983 Best Babyface
  • 1984 Best Babyface
  • 1985 Best Babyface
  • 1985 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1985 Most Overrated Wrestler
  • 1986 Best Babyface
  • 1986 Feud of the Year (vs Paul Orndorff)
  • 1986 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1986 Most Overrated Wrestler
  • 1987 Best Babyface
  • 1987 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1988 Best Babyface
  • 1989 Best Babyface
  • 1989 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1990 Best Babyface
  • 1990 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1991 Best Babyface
  • 1991 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1994 Most Overrated Wrestler
  • 1995 Most Overrated Wrestler
  • 1996 Most Overrated Wrestler
  • 1997 Best Box Office Draw
  • 1997 Most Overrated Wrestler
  • 1998 Most Overrated Wrestler

References

DVDs

  • nWo: Back In Black (WWE Home Video, 2002)
  • Hulk Still Rules (WWE Home Video, 2002)
  • The Ultimate Anthology (WWE Home Video, 2006)(To be released toward the end of the year.)

Books

  • Hollywood Hulk Hogan (Pocket Books (WWE Copyright), 2003)

See also

References

External links

1953 births | American actors | American professional wrestlers | AWA alumni | Born-again Christians | Film actors | Hulk Hogan | Hogan wrestling family | Italian-Americans | Living people | nWo | People from Augusta, Georgia | People known by pseudonyms | Tampans | The A-Team actors

Hulk Hogan | Hulk Hogan | Hulk Hogan | Hulk Hogan | האלק הוגאן | Hulk Hogan | ハルク・ホーガン | Hulk Hogan | Hulk Hogan | Hulk Hogan | Хоган, Халк | Hulk Hogan | Hollywood Hogan

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Hulk Hogan".

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