Professional wrestling lost its biggest star on July 24. I lost not only my favorite wrestler, but my childhood hero as well.
For many, Hulk Hogan is considered the end-all be-all of professional wrestling. And you know they’re right!
Hulk won twelve world titles during his career inside the squared circle–six for Vince McMahon’s WWF (now WWE), and another six for Ted Turner’s WCW (World Championship Wrestling). Hulk was in the main event of eight of the first nine WrestleMania events.
In those eight main events, he teamed with Mr. T, body-slammed Andre The Giant, ended the year-long championship reign of “Macho Man” Randy Savage, faced off with the Ultimate Warrior in a match billed as “The Ultimate Challenge,” and defended the honor of America against the Iraqi sympathizer version of Sgt. Slaughter (perhaps the one that’s said about Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter, the better).
Hogan became a pop culture icon. He appeared in movies, on TV shows, on cereal boxes, and his action figure stared at you from every angle at any toy store worth visiting. Now, you may say I’m far too young to be a Hulkamaniac, and that all of that was well before my time. Well, on one hand, you would be right, at twenty-eight years old, I missed the original run of Hulkamania by almost a decade.
But let me tell you something, brother, Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania are timeless! And if you don’t believe me, I have proof!
When I began watching wrestling in the summer of 2006, WWE was building towards The Biggest Party of the Summer, WWE’s second biggest event on the annual calendar. And Hulk Hogan (who would turn 53 just nine days before Summer Slam that year) was gearing up to step into the ring at the event. The fact that Hulk was getting ready for a major match on a big stage nearly two decades after the original onset of Hulkamania isn’t the only reason this match is proof that he is timeless; his opponent is proof as well.
His opponent was a young wrestler known as “The Legend Killer,” Randy Orton, who had earned his nickname on screen by taking out the wrestling greats of yesteryear. And if the name Orton rings a bit, it’s probably because you’ve heard the name before, and (if so) it was likely in connection with Hulk Hogan.
To find the missing piece of this wrestling history puzzle, we must go back to the 1980s. During the original boom of Hulkamania, Hulk Hogan saw himself as the top baby face (hero) in the WWF. It’s only there that he would find himself across the ring from the top heel (villain), ”Rowdy” Roddy Orton (1954-2015), and one of his henchmen was “Cowboy” Bob Orton, Jr., Randy’s father.
Hulk Hogan transcended decades and generations so much that he eventually found himself standing across the ring from the son of one of his former rivals, and still was able to captivate the audience as he had done two decades previously! If it isn’t timeless, then I don’t know what is.
But long ago isn’t the only thing that makes Hulk Hogan timeless. In 1996, Hulkamania was once again running wild, but this time in Turner’s WCW. But in the rebellious, anti-authority culture of the mid and late 1990s, the red and yellow of Hulk Hogan had lost a bit of its luster. Meanwhile, fellow former WWF stars Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had also jumped ship to WCW, and were running wild themselves over the entire roster, and teased that their man would be joining them.
At the WCW Bash at the Beach event in 1996, Hulk Hogan was revealed as the third man. He traded the red and yellow for the black and white. Hulk Hogan had turned heel. The unthinkable had happened. Hulk Hogan became “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, and along with Hall and Nash, formed the New World Order of wrestling—the NWO. The NWO would go on to change the face of professional wrestling forever. The impact they had was so significant that people still wear NWO t-shirts to wrestling shows every single week, twenty-nine years later.
On top of that, in the nearly three decades that have passed since Bash at the Beach 1996, there have been thousands upon thousands of heel turns in wrestling. And yet, the night that Hollywood Hulk Hogan formed the NWO is still the standard by which they have all been measured. Timeless.
Hulk Hogan had a career that most wrestlers can only dream of. So many have tried and failed to reach his level. Many have been attempting to captivate an audience like he did during the 1980s, but few have succeeded.
Many wrestlers try to plan their matches out move-for-move before they even go through the curtain. Hulk’s secret to a good game was far simpler: open these (points to his ears) and list what’s in here (points at his chest). He listened to the fans. He was tuned into the crowd like no other. And as a result, he had the audience in the palm of his hand for nearly his entire career. He was the ultimate entertainer.
His impact on wrestling and pop culture will never be forgotten. And perhaps no wrestler ever reached the heights of Hulkamania.
Terry Bollea may have left this world for the big ring in the sky, but the spirit of Hulkamania will run wild forever, brother.
