Hulk Hogan by jekky
Early life The son of Ruth a homemaker and dance teacher and Peter Bollea a construction foreman Hogan was raised in Tampa Florida As a boy he was a pitcher in Little League Baseball He began watching professional wrestling at 16 years old While in high school he revered Dusty Rhodes and he regularly attended cards at the Tampa Sportatorium It was at one of those wrestling cards where he first turned his attention towards Superstar Billy Graham and looked to him for inspiration Hogan was also a skilled musician spending ten years playing bass guitar in several Florida based rock bands Many of the wrestlers who competed in the Florida territory at that time visited the bars where Hogan was performing He then attended the University of South Florida of which he later dropped out he spent most of his time at a local gym where he met pro wrestler Mike Graham the son of legendary wrestler and National Wrestling Alliance president Eddie Graham Hogan s physical stature also caught the attention of Jack Brisco and his brother Gerald Hogan stood 6 4 tall and weighed in around 260 pounds Together they convinced Hogan to try wrestling Having been a wrestling fan since childhood Hogan agreed and in 1976 Mike Graham introduced Hogan to Hiro Matsuda who was among the sport s top trainers According to Hogan during their first training session Matsuda sarcastically asked him So you want to be a wrestler and purposely broke Hogan s leg Professional wrestling career Early years 19771979 Within a year Matsuda had prepared him for his professional debut in which Eddie Graham booked him against Brian Blair in Fort Myers Florida on August 10 1977 A short time later Bollea donned a mask and assumed the persona of The Super Destroyer a hooded character first played by Don Jardine and subsequently used by other wrestlers A few months later he joined Louie Tillet s Alabama territory where he tag teamed with Ed Leslie later known as Brutus Beefcake as Terry and Ed Boulder These early matches as a tag team with the surname Boulder being used by both men prompted a rumor among wrestling fans unaware of the inner workings of the sport that Hogan and Beefcake were brothers as few people actually knew their real names outside of immediate friends family and of course the various promoters the two worked for During this time he appeared on a talk show where he sat beside Lou Ferrigno star of the television series The Incredible Hulk The host commented how Terry who stood 6 ft 7 in 201 cm and weighed 295 pounds with 24 inch biceps actually dwarfed the Hulk As a result Bollea began performing as Terry The Hulk Boulder and sometimes wrestled as Sterling Golden In May 1979 Bollea had an early shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship which at the time was generally recognized as the highest honor in wrestling In June 1979 Bollea won his first wrestling championship the NWA Southeast Heavyweight Championship recognized in Alabama and Tennessee when he defeated Ox Baker World Wrestling Federation 19791980 Later that year former NWA World Champion Terry Funk introduced Bollea to the World Wrestling Federation WWF chief Vincent J McMahon who was impressed with his charisma and physical stature McMahon who wanted to use an Irish name gave Bollea the last name Hogan At this time Hogan wrestled Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship and he started his first big feud with Andr the Giant which culminated in a match with Andr at Shea Stadium in August 1980 Hulk Hogan claims in his autobiography that he and Andr the Giant were the reason for the Shea gate However Sammartino Zbyszko sold out everywhere they wrestled leading up the show Hogan and Andre wrestled in White Plains New York drawing 1 200 in a building that held 3 500 as the main event before they wrestled at Shea During his initial heel run in the WWF Hogan was paired with Classy Freddie Blassie a wrestler turned manager New Japan Pro Wrestling 19801983 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 13 1980 while he was still with the WWF He toured 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 technical traditional wrestling holds and maneuvers as opposed to the power based brawling style U S fans became accustomed to seeing from him Another difference is that Hogan used a running forearm lariat called the Axe Bomber as his finisher in Japan as opposed to the running leg drop that has been his traditional finisher in America On June 2 1983 Hogan became the first International Wrestling Grand Prix IWGP tournament winner although he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt this was not the beginning of the actual championship 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 Hogan s popularity in Japan was so great he even recorded an album there forerunner to the World Wrestling Federation s Rock n Wrestling of the mid 1980s American Wrestling Association 19811983 After filming his scene for Rocky III against McMahon s wishes Hogan made his debut in the American Wrestling Association AWA owned 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 and more charismatic Hogan and soon the AWA s bookers were compelled to turn Hogan face Using Eye of the Tiger as his theme music Hogan soon became the promotion s top babyface and throughout 1983 he engaged in a big feud against AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel and his manager Bobby Heenan Gagne however continued to tease the AWA audience by booking numerous screwjobs meant to keep the championship with Bockwinkel who was a veteran of the territory and had assumed the mantle of the organization s centerpiece following Gagne s retirement from active competition Due to backstage politics at the time Gagne had a talent sharing agreement with All Japan Pro Wrestling while Hogan was a New Japan star these two groups were in an intense rivalry at the time Gagne would not let him be champion On several occasions Hogan defeated Bockwinkel to win the title only to have the decision later reversed Hogan himself also began to grow frustrated with Verne Gagne s unwillingness to give Hogan a larger share of his merchandise sales Eventually Gagne was finally ready to book Hogan to win the AWA title however according to Hogan Gagne wanted a piece of the large money Hogan was making from his frequent trips to Japan more control over the bookings that Hogan took overseas Hogan refused flatly saying he didn t need the AWA title at that point Also according to Hogan in his autobiography Verne wanted Hogan to be brought into the family by marriage before handing the AWA title over to him Hogan unwilling to give up his life as a bachelor just for the world title of the AWA continued to turn down the belt Shortly after these attempts to woo Hogan into giving Gagne more of a share of his profits and booking in Japan and attempts to bring him into the Gagne family Hogan was lured back to the Northeast by Vincent K McMahon who had just recently purchased the WWF from his ailing father Over twenty years later just prior to Hulk Hogan s WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2005 the revived AWA under the authority of owner Dale Gagne real last name Gagner relented and acknowledged the legitimacy of Hogan s two title wins over Nick Bockwinkel making him a two time AWA champion This resolution however has been regarded as apocryphal to most as the resurrected AWA is generally regarded as an entirely different body than the Verne Gagne owned AWA of old As recently as the release of the DVD The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA interviews between Hogan and the Gagnes show that there is still animosity between both parties indicating the unlikelihood Hogan s AWA title reign would have been retroactively instated under the original ownership The WWE won a lawsuit against Dale Gagner due to trademark infringement which declared Gagne s claims to ownership of the AWA false and as such rendered the resolution moot as WWE only recognizes twelve American world titles being attributed to Hulk Hogan and the AWA World Title is not among that number World Wrestling Federation 19831993 The Birth of Hulkamania Hogan as the WWF Champion with Brutus Beefcake After purchasing the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982 Vincent K McMahon had plans to expand the territory into a nationwide promotion and he handpicked Hulk Hogan to be the company s showpiece attraction due to his charisma and name recognition Hogan made his return to the WWF at a television taping in St Louis Missouri on December 27 1983 defeating Bill Dixon Initially Hogan was a heel once again allied with Blassie however this was short lived On the January 7 1984 edition of Championship Wrestling Hogan turned face by saving Bob Backlund from a three way assault Hogan s turn was explained simply by Backlund He s changed his ways He s a great man He s told me he s not gonna have Blassie around The storyline shortcut was necessary because less than three weeks later on January 23 Hogan won his first WWF Championship pinning The Iron Sheik who had Blassie in his corner in Madison Square Garden The storyline accompanying the victory was that Hogan was a last minute replacement for the Sheik s original opponent Bob Backlund and became the champion by way of being the first man to escape the camel clutch the Iron Sheik s signature move Immediately after the title win commentator Gorilla Monsoon proclaimed Hulkamania is here Hogan frequently referred to his fans as Hulkamaniacs in his interviews and introduced his three demandments training saying prayers and eating vitamins Eventually a fourth demandment believing in oneself was added during his feud with Earthquake in the 1990s Hogan s ring gear developed a characteristic yellow and red color scheme his ring entrances involved him ritualistically ripping his shirt off his body flexing and listening for audience cheers in an exaggerated manner The majority of Hogan s matches during this time involved him wrestling heels who had been booked as unstoppable monsters using a format which became near routine Hogan would deliver steady offense but eventually lose momentum seemingly nearing defeat He would then experience a sudden second wind fighting back while feeding off the energy of the audience becoming impervious to attack process described as hulking up His signature maneuvers pointing at the opponent shaking his finger to scold him three punches an Irish Whip the big boot and Atomic Leg Drop would follow and ensure him a victory That finishing sequence would occasionally change depending on the storyline and opponent for instance with larger wrestlers the sequence might involve a body slam Over the next year Hulk Hogan became the face of pro wrestling as McMahon pushed the WWF into a pop culture enterprise with The Rock n Wrestling Connection on MTV drawing record houses pay per view buyrates and television ratings in the process The centerpiece attraction for the first Wrestlemania on March 31 1985 Hogan teamed with legit friend Mr T to defeat his archrival Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff On the first edition of Saturday Night s Main Event Hogan successfully defended the WWF title against Cowboy Bob Orton in a match which Hogan won by a disqualification Hogan was named the most requested celebrity of the 1980s for the Make a Wish Foundation children s charity He was featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated TV Guide and People magazines while also appearing on The Tonight Show and having his own CBS Saturday morning cartoon titled Hulk Hogan s Rock n Wrestling Hogan went on to headline eight of the first nine WrestleMania events and he also co hosted Saturday Night Live on March 30 1985 during this lucrative run AT T reported that his 900 number information line was the single biggest 900 number from 1991 to 1993 Hogan operated the 900 number through his stint in WWF and then recreated it when he joined World Championship Wrestling First title reign 19841988 On the October 5 1985 edition of Saturday Night s Main Event he successfully defended the title against Nikolai Volkoff in a flag match He met long time rival Roddy Piper in a WWF title match at the Wrestling Classic pay per view PPV event Hogan retained the title by disqualification after Bob Orton interfered and hit Hogan with his cast Hogan had many challengers in the way as the new year began Throughout 1986 Hogan made successful title defenses against challengers such as Terry Funk The Magnificent Don Muraco King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match at WrestleMania 2 Paul Orndorff and Hercules Hernandez In the fall of 1986 Hogan occasionally wrestled in tag matches with The Machines as Hulk Machine under a mask copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling gimmick Super Strong Machine At WrestleMania III in 1987 Hogan was booked to defend the title against Andr the Giant who had been the sport s premier star and was pushed as undefeated for the previous two decades A new storyline was introduced in early 1987 Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three consecutive years Andr the Giant a good friend came out to congratulate him Shortly afterward Andr was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being undefeated in the WWF for 15 years Hogan came out to congratulate Andr who walked out in the midst
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