Hall of Fame 101: Hulk Hogan

Real Name: Terry Bollea
Height: 6’7”
Weight: 303 pounds
Hometown: Venice Beach, California
Finishing Move(s): Hogan Leg Drop
Career Highlights: WWE Champion, WCW World Heavyweight Champion, WWE World Tag Team Champion, 1990 Royal Rumble Winner, 1991 Royal Rumble Winner, and WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2005 Inductee

Hulk Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea on August 11, 1953 in Augusta, Georgia, was the man that revolutionized the professional wrestling industry. He would compete in multiple professional wrestling promotions before being signed to the WWE in various areas, such as Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. He was given the name “Hulk” based on his appearance of being significant to the size of The Incredible Hulk, portrayed by Lou Ferrigno, and he was portrayed a God from the Greeks, which led to Vincent J. McMahon, the father of current Chairman of the WWE, Vincent K. McMahon, signing Hulk in 1979.

Terry Funk introduced Hulk to Vincent J. McMahon, and thus Vince hired Hulk and gave him the last name of Hogan, to eradicate the last name of an Irish descent. Hogan would compete in the early 1980s against guys like André the Giant, Bob Backlund, Bruno Sammartino, and Larry Zbyszko, and would eventually main event Shea Stadium with André the Giant. Hulk would end up turning heel and be managed by Classy Freddie Blassie, before Hogan left the company to go to New Japan Pro Wrestling.

A lot of Hogan’s success in the professional wrestling industry would come in Japan. He would compete against some of Japan’s top wrestling superstars, such as Abdullah the Butcher, Antonio Inoki, and Tatsumi Fujinami. Hulk would also win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on a few separate occasions too. He would then leave Japan and head back to the United States competing under the American Wrestling Association (AWA) after he finished filming Rocky 3, where he portrayed Thunderlips. The main reason why Hogan left the WWE was because he was forbidden to be part of the movie by WWE owner, Vincent J. McMahon. Hogan would end up being managed by Johnny Valiant in the AWA and would use the theme song from Rocky, “Eye of the Tiger”. Hogan would stay part of the AWA for a while, and then would be lured back to the Northeast by Vincent K. McMahon, the son of Vincent J. McMahon and recently purchased the company from him.

After Vincent K. McMahon purchased the WWE from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, in 1982, Hogan would be brought in for a major push due to his physique resembling a Greek God. This would be the era when the professional wrestling industry became what it is today and the day that Hulkamania was born. On January 23, 1984, Hulk Hogan would compete in Madison Square Garden for the first time and would walk out the new WWE Champion after beating The Iron Sheik. After the title win, Gorilla Monsoon would state that “Hulkamania is here”. Hogan would then create the name for his fan base as Hulkamaniacs, and would begin the catchphrase that became so famous over the years, “Train Hard, Say Your Prayers, and Eat Your Vitamins”.

The first ever Pay Per View produced by the WWE, Wrestlemania, would be a huge success and would be headlined by Hulk Hogan when he teamed up with Mr. T, and accompanied by “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, to defeat Rowdy Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, accompanied by “Cowboy” Bob Orton. He would then defeat Rowdy Roddy Piper at The Wrestling Classic in 1985 to retain the WWE Championship via disqualification after “Cowboy” Bob Orton interfered. Hulk would again retain the title after he beat King Kong Bundy in the main event of Wrestlemania 2 in a Steel Cage Match.

Wrestlemania 3 would be a worldwide phenomena and would make history when Hulk Hogan was defending the WWE Championship against André the Giant in the main event, where Hogan would Body Slam André and then finish him off with the Hogan Leg Drop. Hogan would hold the title for four years and thirteen days (1,474 days total) and then he lost the title to André the Giant, which he then sold to “Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase and the title would then be declared vacant. Hogan would face André at Wrestlemania 4 to a double count out in the tournament, giving “Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase a bye to the finals. Hogan would help “Macho Man” Randy Savage become the WWE Champion in the main event of Wrestlemania 4, thus The Mega Powers were born. The main event of the first Summerslam event saw Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage beat “Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase and André the Giant, with Jesse “the body” Ventura as the referee. Hogan would accidentally eliminate Savage from the 1989 Royal Rumble Match, and then they started to collide and clash, which led to the main event of Wrestlemania 5, “The Mega Powers Explode”, which saw Hogan become the new WWE Champion after beating Savage, with Miss Elizabeth being in a neutral corner.

Hogan would win the 1990 Royal Rumble Match, the first superstar to win the match as the WWE Champion, last eliminating Mr. Perfect from the match. In the main event of Wrestlemania 6, Hogan would lose the WWE Championship to the WWE Intercontinental Champion, The Ultimate Warrior, in a Title vs. Title Match. Hogan would then feud with Earthquake on The Brother Love Show, and the two would clash at Summerslam 1990, which Hogan won via count out.

Hogan would then become known worldwide as “Immortal” Hulk Hogan when he won the 1991 Royal Rumble Match, the first superstar to win back to back Royal Rumble Matches, when he last eliminated Earthquake. In the main event of Wrestlemania 7, Hulk Hogan would beat Sgt. Slaughter, an anti-American, that betrayed the United States for Iran, when he paired up with The Iron Sheik and General Adnan. Hogan would then feud with Ric Flair, but would defend the WWE Championship against Undertaker at Survivor Series 1991, which Undertaker won to win the title due to help from Ric Flair. Hogan won the title back at This Tuesday in Texas, even though Flair interfered. The title would then be declared vacant, which would be another history making event when the WWE Championship was going to be on the line for the first time in the 1992 Royal Rumble Match with the winner winning both the 1992 Royal Rumble Match and the vacant WWE Championship. Flair would last eliminate Sid Justice to win the match, after Hogan was eliminated by Sid Justice.

Hogan would face Sid Justice in the main event of Wrestlemania 8, which Hogan won via disqualification after Harvey Wippleman interfered on Sid’s behalf.

On The Arsenial Hall Show, Hulk Hogan spoke bad about Vincent K. McMahon and about the use of steroids within the WWE, which gave Hogan bad heat from Vince and Hogan would leave the WWE. Hogan would return to the WWE in February 1993 teaming with Brutus “the barber” Beefcake, and they would lose to “Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster via disqualification at Wrestlemania 9 with the WWE World Tag Team Titles on the line. Later that same night, Hogan would beat an already tired out Yokozuna to become the new WWE Champion. Hogan would lose the WWE Championship back to Yokozuna at King of the Ring 1993 when Harvey Wippleman, disguised as a Japanese Photographer, shot a fireball into Hogan’s eyes. Hogan would then leave the WWE, along with Jimmy Hart, and would then return back to Japan.

In Japan, Hogan had a short stay and would compete against guys like Keiji Mutoh, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Muta, and Masahiro Chono. Hogan then left Japan and would sign with the WCW (World Championship Wrestling).

At Bash at the Beach, Hogan would debut and he would beat Ric Flair to become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Hogan would then beat the likes of Ric Flair, The Butcher, Vader, The Taskmaster, One Man Gang, Meng, The Barbarian, Kamala, Lex Luger, The Giant, The Yeti, Maxx Muscle, Loch Ness, Hugh Morrus, Konnan, Big Bubba Rogers, Braun the Leprechaun, The Shark, Zodiac, and King Curtis Iaukea to retain the WWE Championship. Hogan would hold the title for 15 months, the longest ever in history of the title, before he lost the belt to The Giant at Halloween Havoc 1995 via disqualification. Hogan would then focus on his partnership with “Macho Man” Randy Savage and they’d feud with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Brian Pillman, Kevin Sullivan, The Barbarian, Meng, Lex Luger, Z-Gangsta, and The Ultimate Solution, along with the managers being Woman, Miss Elizabeth, and Jimmy Hart, under the team name of The Alliance to End Hulkamania, which Hogan and Savage would come out victorious.

At Bash at the Beach 1996, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and a mystery partner were taking on “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Sting in a 6 Man Tag Team Match, which Hogan came out as the mystery partner, thus the New World Order (nWo) was born. Hogan would be renamed to Hollywood Hogan (or Hollywood Hulk Hogan).

Hogan beat The Giant at Hog Wild 1996 to become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion and the numbers of the nWo would grow, with guys such as Curt Hennig, Scott Steiner, Brian Pillman, Eric Bischoff, Disciple, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Syxx-Pac, Vincent, “Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase, nWo Sting, Buff Bagwell, VK Wallstreet, Big Bubba Rogers, Scott Norton, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Nick Patrick, The Giant, The Great Muta, Miss Elizabeth, Dusty Rhodes, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, Masahiro Chono, Dennis Rodman, Konnan, Brian Adams, Bret “Hitman” Hart, Horace Hogan, Mark “Slick” Johnson, Stevie Ray, Rick Steiner, David Flair, Torrie Wilson, Disco Inferno, Lex Luger, Barry Windham, Jeff Jarrett, Ron Harris, Don Harris, and Sting over the years, with different branches coming out, such as Hollywood, Wolfpac, 2000, Black & White, and Elite.

Hogan would win multiple World Titles back in WCW before the nWo disbanded and when Hogan left WCW due to issues with Vince Russo. Hogan would return back to the WWE, along with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, at No Way Out 2002 by attacking Stone Cold Steve Austin. Hogan would then feud with The Rock and he would face him at Wrestlemania 18, which The Rock won. At Backlash 2002, Hogan would become the new WWE Champion after he beat Triple H for the title, but would lose the title back to Undertaker at Judgment Day 2002. At King of the Ring 2002, Kurt Angle beating Hogan, which Angle became the first superstar to make Hogan submit in his entire career.

Hogan and Edge would defeat Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo on July 4, 2002 episode of Smackdown to win the WWE World Tag Team Titles, but would lose them to Christian and Lance Storm at Vengeance 2002.

Brock Lesnar would then attack Hogan and make him submit to a Bearhug, which Hogan would be out of commission for a while, but he would return to face Mr. McMahon at Wrestlemania 19, which Hogan won.

Hogan would leave the WWE, but return as Mr. America and would partner with Zach Gowen, but Hogan would then face Rowdy Roddy Piper at Judgment Day 2003, which Hogan won.

Big Show, Shelton Benjamin, and Charlie Haas would then beat Mr. America, Kurt Angle, and Brock Lesnar, and when Smackdown went off of the air, Hogan unmasked veiling himself as Hogan, which he would no longer appear in the WWE.

In 2005, Hulk Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and would make an appearance at Wrestlemania 21 attacking Muhammad Hassan and Daivari by coming to the aid of Eugene. At Backlash 2005, Hogan would team with Shawn Michaels to beat Muhammad Hassan and Daivari, and thus Hogan would then face Michaels at Summerslam 2005 in the main event, which Hogan won.

Hulk Hogan is the reason professional wrestling is what it is today and he is simply Immortal. Hogan shall live on forever and he is Hulkamania, a legend, and Immortal for life, brother!

Next on Hall of Fame 101...

Eddie Guerrero