In August of 1977, Championship Wrestling in Florida would see the return of The Super Destroyer portrayed by a someone other than the original, Don Jardine. This new Super Destroyer would only stick around in the CWF for a couple of months, before vanishing from the promotion, seemingly never to return. I imagine the fans attending these shows were unfazed by the appearance & disappearance of the Super Destroyer. Little did they know that they were witnessing the debut of the most iconic wrestler of all time.
There is a lot that can be said about Hulk Hogan that has been echoed a thousand times. He is arguably the most controversial and polarising figure in the wrestling industry. I could sit here and cover his many controversies, fact check the many lies he has span and critique the man for his actions both in the ring and behind the curtain. However, it gives me no pleasure to speak ill of the recently deceased. I do not intend for this to be a hit piece, I would prefer to speak about him objectively about what happened in his career. I might have to refer to some of the issues he is involved in if it feels relevant, because I think that it is important to acknowledge them not ignore them.
That’s my disclaimer. I don’t want to slander the guy, but if we’re being honest, he has made it incredibly difficult to solely view him in a positive light. I’ll try my best. Here is a career retrospective of ‘The Immortal’ Hulk Hogan.
Life Before Hulkamania
Terry Bollea was born in Augusta Georgia to Ruth & Pietro “Peter” Bollea in 1953. Terry had an older brother, Allan, who passed way at the age of 36 in 1986 by a drug overdose. Terry shortly moved to Florida and took up baseball, but he became enamoured by wrestling at the age of 16. Wrestling wasn’t his only passion though, he would find a love for music and play base guitar for several Floridian bands.
His college life and music aspirations often clashed, leading Terry to drop out of college and focus on being a musician. In 1976, Bollea formed the band Ruckus and gained popularity around Tampa Bay performing in several bars. Many of the wrestlers who competed in this territory attended these bars and saw Terry perform. One of those wrestlers turned out to be former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Brisco.
Brisco was impressed by Terry Bollea not only for his musical prowess, but his physique and natural charisma. After the show, Jack approached Terry about becoming a wrestler and offered to help him get started. Brisco introduced Bollea to Eddie Graham and Hiro Matsuda. The former booked for Championship Wrestling in Florida, the latter trained for them.
Championship Wrestling in Florida
Matsuda was notorious for a tough trainer. Bollea claimed that he broke his leg training with him, rehabbing for 10 weeks before returning and being able to block the attack. Other sources claim it was his ankle. Jack Brisco gave Terry a pair of wrestling boots and told him he was being booked. On the 9th of August 1977, Don Serrano defeated Terry Bollea in his CWF debut.
Bollea would wrestle for the CWF until late October before leaving the promotion, calling Hiro Matsuda an unbearable trainer. Terry took a long hiatus from wrestling, managing a private club in Florida called the Anchor Club. He became good friends with the owner Whitney Bridges and opened ‘Whitney & Terry’s Gym’ together.
Struggling to manage The Anchor Club and the Gym, Bollea brought in his friend Ed Leslie to help take the load off and run things. Ed & Terry would regularly work out together and Terry noticed Ed’s impressive physical stature. He was convinced that they would make a great tag team and yearned for a wrestling return. Terry reached out to his connections and found them work outside of Florida. Ed & Terry went to Alabama to begin their careers together as tag team partners.
First Taste of Gold
The two friends were booked as Terry & Ed Boulder, the Boulder Brothers, making the audience believe they were real brothers since kayfabe was alive and well. They wrestled in Alabama briefly, Terry Boulder won his first title becoming the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Champion. He also had an early shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Harley Race.
After appearing for Continental Wresting Association in Memphis, promoter Jerry Jarrett offered Terry & Ed significantly more money to wrestle for him, so they signed and worked in Memphis. During jis time in Memphis, Terry was featured on a local talk show beside Lou Ferrigno, who portrayed The Hulk in, well, The Incredible Hulk movie. Terry dwarfed Ferrigno, his 6”7 height and giant biceps made the Hulk actor look small in comparison. So, Terry started performing as Terry ‘The Hulk’ Boulder.
Terry’s time in CWA came to an end and after a brief stint in Georgia Championship Wrestling, he would set his sights on a new territory to try and build his brand. Bollea wanted to go to New York and he wanted to speak to Vincent J McMahon.
First WWF Run
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk set up a meeting with Terry Bollea and Vince McMahon Sr. McMahon was impressed by his look and charisma but wanted to make a few changes. He wanted to use an Irish name so he gave Terry the surname Hogan. McMahon wanted him to dye his hair red too, but Terry rejected the idea since his hair was already starting to recede and fall out.
Bollea dropped his first name and officially wrestled as Hulk Hogan for the first time on November 17 1979, defeating Harry Valdez on an episode of Championship Wrestling. Hogan made his Madison Square Garden debut in December of that year, defeating Ted DiBiase. Hulk thanks DiBiase and said that he owed him one, a favour that Hogan would repay many years later.
Hogan would briefly return to GCW to win the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship for a second time, dropping it to Bob Armstrong less than a month later. Hulk would be pushed as a prominent heel in the WWF, having notable feuds with Tito Santana, Andre the Giant and the WWF champion, Bob Backlund. However, Hulk Hogan’s time with the WWF came to an abrupt end after he accepted a role in the upcoming movie Rocky III. McMahon refused to allow a wrestler to partake in acting, firing Hogan on the spot.
Hulk Hogan would not struggle for work, the WWF were not the only promotion benefiting from his talents at this time.
Ichiban
Hulk Hogan started doing tours of New Japan in 1980 in-between his WWF commitments. The fans dubbed him ‘Ichiban’ meaning number 1. I know Hogan gets a bad rep for his wrestling ability, but those who say he cannot wrestle have clearly never seen him work in Japan. That guy was moving. He learned the Japanese style and held his own against the likes of Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu, Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen and of course Antonio Inoki.
Hogan’s best year was in 1983. He competed in the IWGP League and made it to the finals, defeating Inoki to become the first ever IWGP Heavyweight Champion. This was a different version of the belt that we are more familiar with today. Hogan won a title that was only defended once a year against the IWGP League winner, until it was replaced the regular world title in 1987. Hogan held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for a year before losing to to the 1984 IWGP League winner Antonio Inoki.
Also in 1983, Hulk Hogan teamed with Antonio Inoki to win the MSG Tag Team League, an early version of what is known as the World Tag League today. Inoki & Hogan finished 2nd in the league, but defeated first place Andre the Giant & Swede Hanson in the finals.
Over the next couple of years, Hulk Hogan’s star power rose to unprecedented heights and his appearances for New Japan became scarce. The end of his New Japan run came in 1985, losing to Antonio Inoki via count out. Hogan would focus his efforts on being the face of the WWF, but before we get there we have another promotion to talk about.
AWA
Without a promotion in the US, Hulk Hogan made a brief return to Championship Wrestling in Florida before joining Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association in 1981. Hogan joined as a villain but that did not last long, the fans fell in love with him. Hogan became a fan favourite and regularly feuded with the Heenan Family and Nick Bockwinkel.
Although Hogan was their top faces, main eventing shows and defeating the top stars, he was never made the AWA Heavyweight champion. Even after his face became even more recognisable thanks to Rocky III, Verne Gagne refused to put the belt on Hogan. The talk is that Gagne did not see him as a true wrestler rather a performer unlike the technically savvy Bockwinkel.
After growing frustrations, Hulk Hogan wrote a letter for Gagne saying that he was quitting the AWA. Gagne thought this was a prank from a rival promoter until Hogan never returned.
Rise of Hulkamania
It is a tale as old as time. Vince McMahon Jr buys out his father to own the WWF. He plans national expansion and starts to hoover up talent and promotions to build his empire. Vince handpicked Hulk Hogan as the new face of his company with dollar signs in his eyes. McMahon persuaded Hogan to join the WWF by promising to make him champion. On January 4th 1984, in his 4th match back in the WWF, Hulk Hogan defeated Iron Sheik at Madison Square Gardens to become the WWF World Heavyweight Champion.
After his win, Gorilla Monsoon called that “Hulkamania is here” coining a phrase that would last a life time. Hogan began calling his fans Hulkamaniacs and promoting training, saying your prayers, eating yur vitamins and believing in yourself. Hulk Hogan became the biggest entity in the WWF, no one else came close to his star power, at least not for a long time.
Hogan would reign as world champion for 1474 days, the third longest in WWE history. David Schultz, Greg Valentine and Paul Orndorff among the many names Hogan feuded with in the early days of the reign. His biggest adversary would be Roddy Piper who he would clash with throughout 1985, most notably in the main event of Wrestlemania.
The inaugural Wrestlemania was a make or break show for the WWF and Vince McMahon. The star power of Hulk Hogan paired with celebrity appearances of Mr T, Muhammed Ali and Cyndi Lauper made the first ever wrestling PPV a blockbuster success, catapulting the WWF into the popularity stratosphere. The company was more popular than ever before and Hulk Hogan was at the head of it.
Running Wild
Hulk Hogan continued to sell out venues wherever he went. He main evented shows against Roddy Piper, King Kong Bundy and of course, Andre the Giant. Wrestlemania III was a spectacle unlike ever before, a near 80,000 mass of people came to watch Hulk Hogan bodyslam the Giant in the Pontiac Silverdome. Although he was victorious on the biggest stage, Hogan’s feud with Andre was far from over.
Andre the Giant would be the only survivor in an 8-man elimination tag match at the inuagural Survivor Series in 1987, thanks to Hogan being counted out. This earned him a championship rematch in February 1988 and Andre defeated Hogan thanks to a crooked referee. Andre tried to sell the title to Ted DiBiase, but WWF president Jack Tunney put the stop on it and declared the title vacant ahead of Wrestlemania IV.
Wrestlemania IV was a night-long tournament for the WWF championship and we saw the final match in the Andre/Hogan trilogy. The match ended in a double count out, eliminating both men and carving the path for Randy Savage to win his first world championship. Hulk Hogan would come out in the main event to help Savage win and celebrate with him.
Hogan and Savage formed the Mega Powers and dominated the WWF, until Savage was overcome by paranoia and turned heel on his friend. This awesome storyline set up Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage to main event Wrestlemania V, where Hogan won the world title for the second time.
NO Holds Barred
Hulk Hogan continued his feud with Randy Savage throughout 1989, Savage recruited Zeus who was a character from the upcoming movie No Holds Barred, also starring Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster recruited his friend Ed Leslie, now named Brutus Beefcake, to help him against his foes. After coming out victorious of his feud with Zeus and Savage, Hogan won the 1990 Royal Rumble whilst still reigning as the WWF champion, since the whole Rumble stipulation hadn’t been established yet. During that match, Hogan came face to face with his next biggest challenger. The Ultimate Warrior.
Hogan and Warrior main evented Wrestlemania VI in a match that is far better than anyone would expect it to be. Simple, well booked and hype as hell. Hogan put over Warrior as the next top guy, although he kicked out of the splash as soon as the 3 was counted. Hulk Hogan was no longer on top, but that wouldn’t last too long.
Hulk Hogan feuded with Earthquake throughout 1990, then he was ready to resume being the top guy thanks to the Ultimate Warrior’s run being underwhelming. US veteran turned Iraqi sympathiser Sgt. Slaughter defeated Warrior at the Rumble thanks to a Randy Savage run in. Hulk Hogan won the 1991 Royal Rumble, being the first man to go back to back with it. Hogan became a banner of hope for the American people, ready to take down the Iraqi sympathiser, in a controversial angle capitalising on the very real Gulf War at the time. Hulk Hogan defeated Slaughter at Wrestlemania VII for his third WWE championship.
Fall of Hulkamania
Hogan continued to make his presence felt in the acting world whilst ruling over the WWF, but his star was beginning to dim in the eyes of the fans. He had a cameo in the Gremlins 2 movie, before being the lead in Sci-Fi action comedy Suburban Commando. Fun fact, a young Mark Calloway appears in that movie, as does an incredibly young Elisabeth Moss.
Hogan feuded with The Undertaker and Ric Flair in late 1991, which seemed clear to be setting up Hogan vs Flair at Wrestlemania VIII but that match never happened because Vince McMahon didn’t think it was going to be a draw based off house show revenue. Instead, Hogan face Sid Justice at Wrestlemania, in one of the worst Wrestlemania main events of all time. Yes, the one with the botched Papa Shango run in.
His victory over Sid was advertised as being Hulk Hogan’s last ever match, which if course it wasn’t, but it was part of a much bigger story.
The Steroid Trial
In 1991, Dr George Zaharian, the WWF ringside doctor, was found guilty of illegally supplying anabolic steroids to athletes. Due to the social pressures of the trial, Hulk Hogan took a leave of absence from the WWF in 1992 and the company focused on booking more athletic, technical wrestlers rather than bodybuilders. Hulk Hogan vanished from wrestling for a full year, giving him time to celebrate his 1993 movie Mr Nanny as well as his straight-to-video TV series Thunder in Paradise.
After slimming down to look a bit more naturally muscular, Hulk Hogan made his return ahead of Wrestlemania IX to team with friend Brutus Beefcake to form the Mega Maniacs and challenge Money Inc. for the WWF Tag Team Titles. They won by DQ, leaving empty handed, at least Beefcake was. Later in the show, after Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart for the WWF championship, Hulk Hogan came out and made an impromptu challenge to Yokozuna. Hogan squashed the big man in 11 seconds for his 5th WWF championship in one of the most bafflingly awful booking decisions in company history.
Due to poor public reception and his increased focus on acting, Vince McMahon was reluctant to use Hulk Hogan as prominently as he once did, so Hogan prepared to make his exit. Hulk Hogan put over Yokozuna at the King of the Ring PPV in 1993 which would be his last televised appearance for the WWF. He finished off the Summer tour of house shows in August and departed the company. After nearly 10 years, the WWF was without Hulk Hogan.
Return To Japan
Before leaving the WWF, Hulk Hogan made a return to New Japan Pro Wrestling as the WWF champion to defeat IWGP Heavyweight champ The Great Muta at Wrestling Dontaku in 1993. After leaving the WWF, Hulk Hogan returned to Japan for 3 more matches. He teamed with the Great Muta to defeat the Hellraisers, before having a rematch with Muta this time under his real name Keiji Mutoh. Finally, Hulk Hogan defeated Tatsumi Fujinami at NJPW Battle Field in the Tokyo Dome, on their annual 4th of January super show before Wrestle Kingdom was created.
Around this time, Hulk Hogan looked to make a return to wrestling as part of the second biggest wrestling promotion in the US. World Championship Wrestling.
Before we move on, let’s wrap up the Steroid Trial. In 1993 Vince McMahon was indicted. 3 of the 6 charges were thrown out before it even reached trial, but it seemed like Vince McMahon was doomed to be jailed after Hulk Hogan was revealed as a witness against him. Hogan was offered immunity if he was willing to testify against Vince McMahon on oath. Hogan accepted the terms, but he swerved them on the stand. Hogan admitted to taking steroids, but denied any involvement of Vince McMahon. Hulk was the major factor in the trial and his testimony was crucial to the final decision. Vince McMahon was found not guilty of all charges relating to the steroid trial.
Crossing Enemy lines
After communicating with Gene Okerlund for a couple months, Hulk Hogan confirmed that he was leaving the set of Trouble in Paradise and making a return to wrestling. He officially signed on June 11th 1994 and was immediately booked into a first time ever dream match against Ric Flair for the WCW Heavyweight championship. Hogan was victorious, winning his 6th total world championship.
The acquisition of Hulk Hogan and later Randy Savage among others helped establish WCW as a close second to the WWF. Hogan would feud with Ric Flair and Vader before main eventing Starrcade ’94 against his best friend Ed Leslie, now going as The Butcher. The event was critically panned and seen as the death of WCW’s ties to the old school NWA style of wrestling and transition towards being more like the WWF. Hogan had cartoonish feuds with the Dungeon of Doom and The Giant as well as an alliance of heels called ‘The Alliance End Hulkamania’.
Hogan would wrestle significantly less for WCW than he did in WWF, he worked only 19 matches in 1995. This was due to a trio of movies coming out in 1996 that he was a part of. One was just a cameo in Spy Hard but the other 2 he was in the lead role. The Secret Agent Club and more famously, Santa With Muscles, which featured the acting debut of Mila Kunis.
When WCW debuted their new live show Monday Nitro, we saw the opening of Hulk Hogan’s restaurant ‘Pastamania’ which spawned one of Hogan’s most insane promos of all time. Pastamania opened in the Mall of America but only lasted a few months before being closed.
Although WCW were doing good ratings, the quality of the product was not good and people were already growing tired of the same Hulk Hogan shtick they have seen far too much.
Luckily for Hogan and WCW, two new defections from WWF would change help change the wrestling landscape forever.
The Third Man
At Bash at the Beach 1996, Hulk Hogan turned heel for the first time in 15 years to help Scott Hall and Kevin Nash defeat Team WCW. Hulk Hogan cut a heel promo with trash raining down from the crowd. Hogan, Hall and Nash would introduce themselves as the New World Order here to destroy WCW and take over the world of wrestling.
In a time when wrestling became very lame in a lot of ways, the nWo made wrestling feel cool again in the mainstream. Hulk Hogan felt cool and mainstream. Gone were the yellow and red in favour of black and white. He grew out his beard and dyed it black to contrast with his moustache. Most importantly, he renamed himself Hollywood Hogan. Hogan defeated The Giant at Hog Wild in 96 to win his second WCW world championship. Afterwards, Hogan spray painted nWo on the title and called it the ‘nWo title’.
Hogan and his crew continued to make waves in WCW and wrestling, making the company far superior to the WWF in terms of quality and viewership. The nWo hoovered up new members including ‘Trillionaire’ Ted DiBiase, WCW president Eric Bischoff, referee Nick Patrick and NBA champion Dennis Rodman. The nWo dominated WCW for a year and a half capturing gold and destroying opponents. Roddy Piper came to WCW and scored a huge victory over Hogan at Starrcade 1996 but it was non-title.
Lex Luger managed to end Hogan’s reign after 359 days, scoring a huge victory on Nitro to win the world title, but he would only hold the gold for 5 days before Hollywood Hogan recaptured the title. It seemed like no one could save WCW…except for one man.
Biggest Blunder Ever
After 18 months of domination, the stage was set for Starrcade 1997. They had built Hogan as the ultimate villain, and Sting as the ultimate saviour. 18 months of storytelling, cheap finishes and nWo dominance led us to…one of the most disappointing endings to a wrestling PPV ever. Sting should have defeated Hulk Hogan, and he did, but the finish was done so poorly that it made Sting look like a joke and ruin a year and a half worth of storytelling. This could mark the beginning of the end for WCW.
After eventually losing the title to Sting decisively, Hulk Hogan got into a feud with his fellow nWo member Randy Savage, thus starting the nWo civil war storyline. Hogan would betray Kevin Nash and lead to two nWo factions. Hogan’s nWo Hollywood and Nash’s nWo Wolfpac. The two factions would feud throughout 1998, Hogan defeated Randy Savage in April on Nitro for his 4th WCW world championship. His reign would only last until July when he was defeated by WCW’s newest rising star, Goldberg.
Hollywood had another batch of movies released in 1998. He appeared in the martial arts film 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain as well as The Ultimate Weapon, both releasing to negative reviews from critics. He wouldn’t have another major film role until voicing Terrafirminator V.O. in 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet.
Hulk Hogan competed in marquee matches in 1998 featuring celebrities like Karl Malone and Jay Leno, as well as a universally panned rematch against the Ultimate Warrior at Halloween Havoc. On a Thanksgiving episode of Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, Hulk Hogan announced his wrestling retirement and intention to run for president. This was a publicity stunt to take some heat from Jesse Ventura’s governor victory in Minnesota.
After a brief hiatus, Hollywood Hogan returned to challenge Kevin Nash for the WCW title. Infamously dubbed ‘the finger poke of doom’ Hogan won back the WCW title in scandalous fashion, the nWo reformed and the fans were not happy.
Final Days of WCW
Hollywood Hogan lost the WCW title to Ric Flair at Uncensored in 1999. He would remain amongst the title picture along with Flair, Savage, Sting and a few others. He would win it back one final time in July against Randy Savage. Around mid-1999 Hogan started wearing his classic yellow and red look once more, calling himself Hulk Hogan and a clean babyface yet again. With mounting injuries and frustation at the godawful creative WCW were pumping out, Hulk Hogan was absent from October 1999 to February 2000. Apparently Vince Russo asked him to take time off.
At Halloween Havoc in 1999, Hulk Hogan walked out in street clothes, lay down for Sting to pin him and then walked out in a stupid, bullshit worked shoot angle that only reinforced that WCW was in creative freefall. Hogan returned and began feuding with nWo 2000 members.
Hulk Hogan continued to butt heads with the man running the creative juices through WCW at the time, Vince Russo. Russo kept coming up with garbage ides, Hogan kept using his creative control to shoot them down. This all came to a head at Bash at the Beach 2000, the last time we would see Hulk Hogan in a WCW ring.
Bash at the Beach 2000
Hulk Hogan was scheduled to face WCW champion Jeff Jarett at Bash at the Beach. Hulk Hogan wanted to win, but Russo wanted Jarrett to win then drop it to Booker T. So what happened? In the ring, Jeff Jarrett lay down for Hogan whilst Russo threw the WCW title at his feet, gesturing Hogan to take the win. Hogan then loudly says “Is this your idea, Russo? That’s why this company is in the damn shape it’s in, because of bullshit like this!” He takes the WCW title and leaves.
Vince Russo returns to the ring and buries Hulk Hogan. He says it will be the last time the fans see “that piece of shit” in a WCW ring. He tells them about Hogan abusing his creative control clause. Hogan winning the WCW title here is not recognised as an official reign. Booker T would defeat Jeff Jarrett in the main event to become the new champion.
Hulk Hogan sued Vince Russo for defamation but the case was dropped. The whole situation is confusing. Basically, Vince Russo claims that the whole thing was a planned work, but both Hogan and Eric Bischoff claim that Vince Russo coming out and burying Hogan was unplanned and a shoot. Either way, this was another nail in the soon to be sealed coffin of WCW.
The Return
After a brief and hilarious stint in Jimmy Hart’s XWF promotion, Hulk Hogan made his grand return to we would consider his home. At No Way Out in 2002, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash all returned to WWE as the nWo. The stage was set for Hogan to return in an epic fashion, taking on The Rock. Icon vs Icon. Hulk Hogan vs The Rock might go down as the Hulkster’s best match, similar to the Wrestlemania VI encounter how simple the action was but they focused on crowd reactions.
The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan, although Hogan started as the heel he ended the match as the face thanks to overwhelming crowd support in Canada. Hulk Hogan was back and he never felt this popular since the late 80s. Riding the wave of revitalised popularity, Hogan defeated Triple H for the WWE championship at Backlash, but dropped it to the Undertaker a month later. This makes him a 12 time world champion.
Hulk Hogan feuded with Kurt Angle and the Un-Americans in 2002 before taking a hiatus after being destroyed by Brock Lesnar. When Hogan made his return, he got into a feud with Mr McMahon which culminated with a street fight at Wrestlemania XIX. In storyline, McMahon forced Hogan to sit out the rest of his contract so we saw a new debuting star, Mr America. Hulk Hogan in a mask. Hogan and McMahon continued to feud on-screen for a few months, until Vince finally proved Hogan and Mr America were the same person, giving him grounds to fire him. Hulk Hogan would take a hiatus from WWE.
Hall of Famer
In October 2003, Hulk Hogan made a shocking return to New Japan Pro Wrestling for one final match. Hogan faced the legendary Masahiro Chono at Ultimate Crush II airing from the Tokyo Dome. Hogan walked out victorious in a match that far exceeded anyone’s expectations. Hulk Hogan said farewell to Japan but that wasn’t all.
After the match, TNA founder and NWA world champion Jeff Jarrett insulted Hulk Hogan in an angle that was meant to set up a match between them for TNA. However, that never materialised as Hogan returned to WWE.
Hulk Hogan was inducted in to the 2005 WWE Hall of Fame by Sylvester Stallone. Hogan was reserved for special appearances in WWE but he had a few PPV matches left in him still. He teamed up with Shawn Michaels to defeat Muhammed Hassan and Shawn Daivari at Backlash, leading up to the hilarious match that Hogan and HBK would have at Summerslam. A year later at Summerslam 2006, Hulk Hogan would wrestle his last match for WWE, defeating Randy Orton in what was probably the incorrect booking decision.
Negotations started for a Hogan vs Cena match at Wrestlemania but they fell through. Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon had a falling out and Hogan decided to venture outside of the WWE once more.
Side Quests
Hulk Hogan was lured over to Memphis Wrestling by Jerry Lawler setting up a match between the two legends. The match was booked for months, but WWE blocked the match from happening by stating that no NBC performers (which included Lawler) can compete on the VH1 network. The event promoter sued WWE for this, whilst Lawler was replaced by Paul Wight, aka the Big Show. Hulk Hogan defeated Paul Wight at Memphis Wrestling’s PMG Ultimate Clash of Legends.
In late 2009, Hulk Hogan led the ‘Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin’ Tour on 4 dates across Australia. The card featured recognisable names such as Brutus Beefcake, Heidenreich, The Nasty Boys, Mr Anderson and Orlando Jordan. Stacked. All 4 dates were headlined by Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair and Hogan won all 4 of them.
After 3 years out of the wrestling spotlight, Hulk Hogan made a return to mainstream wrestling in a shocking way.
BUsiness Partner
It was revealed in late 2009 that Hulk Hogan has signed to Total Nonstop Action wrestling. In December, Hogan announced he would be there on a 3 hour episode of Impact an January 4th 2010 to help TNA Impact compete with WWE Raw. Hogan had brief reunions with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, before claiming that him and Eric Bischoff were going to turn TNA upside down. They certainly did.
Hogan took Abyss under his wing and turned him from a monster into a Hulkamaniac. They feuded with Ric Flair and his protégé AJ Styles leading to a pair of matches on the 8th of March, Hogan and Abyss getting the win. The story developed into another Hogan vs Flair feud, both men choosing a team to compete in Lethal Lockdown. Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, RVD) defeated Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode & James Storm).
In October 2010, Hulk Hogan turned heel for the first time in 8 years by aligning with Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Hardy and Eric Bischoff. Yes, within about 6 months Hogan stopped associated with these guys, they all turned heel and then he turned heel too. Hulk Hogan called this new faction Immortal and they decided to join forces with Ric Flair’s faction Fortune to form a mega group of way too many members. Dixie Carter suspended Hogan from TNA indefinitely in storyline, so that he could go recover from spinal fusion surgery.
Owner of TNA
Hulk Hogan returned in March of 2011 and revealed himself to be the new owner after beating Dixie Carter in court. Hogan lost control after 2 months to Network consultant Mick Foley, who revealed that he was causing Hogan and Immortal issues since their hostile takeover.
Over the following months, Hogan teased a match with Sting and kept interfering in his matches. This led to an eventual match at Bound for Glory 2011 where Sting defeated Hogan in what would be the Hulkster’s last singles match. His loss meant he was no longer the owner of TNA. Of course, Immortal attack Sting ang Hogan makes the save so that he can turn face once again. Only 4 months later, Hogan replaced Sting as the General Manager of TNA. If you are lost and confused about how this all happened, trust me, everyone is.
Hulk Hogan’s final wrestling match was in January of 2012 during a TNA tour of the United Kingdom. Hulk Hogan, James Storm and Sting defeated Bully Ray, Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode in Manchester.
Hulk Hogan continued to work for TNA in angles that nearly killed the company altogether. Bully Ray marrying Brooke Hogan, feuding with the Aces & Eights. Come October 2012, Hulk Hogan had enough, refusing to sign a contract extension and he quit on-screen the same day that his contract expire.
Calm Before The Storm
Hulk Hogan returned to WWE in early 2014 to promote the new WWE Network. He hosted Wrestlemania XXX where he famously called the Superdome the Silverdome and had an awesome promo with The Rock and Steve Austin.
Hogan seemed to have found himself a comfortable place as a WWE legend, coming back for occasional appearances and to do his shtick. He posthumously inducted Randy Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame, he appeared at Wrestlemania 31 to back up Sting against Triple H and D-Generation X. Hulk Hogan was unable to wrestle again, but there are other ways he could still contribute.
And then, his entire public image was destroyed.
Hulk Hogan, We comin’ For you…
On July 2015, A 2007 sex tape was leaked which featured an incredibly racist rant by Hulk Hogan on black people. As soon as it was leaked Hogan apologised for his comments. African-Americans such as Kamala, Dennis Rodman and Virgil all came out in support of Hogan, saying that he is not racist and they still consider him a friend. Other’s such as Booker T, Mark Henry and Big E expressed their feelings and concerns but have also made it clear that Hogan has apologised to them for his comments and they are able to extend forgiveness to him.
However, the impact was devastating. Hulk Hogan was removed from the WWE Hall of Fame and essentially blacklisted from the company for 3 years. Sure Hogan found himself in WWE’s favour again in 2018, but the damage to his character was irreparable. It is from this point forwards that public perception of Hulk Hogan worsened and never recovered. The details about the Hulk Hogan were always out there, but since 2015 people are paying more attention to the stories that are being told.
Hulk Hogan returned to host Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia which got a positive reaction, but he got a mixed reaction when appearing at Wrestlemania 35. He received a second Hall of Fame induction as part of the nWo faction. He appeared on a few Raw or Smackdown episodes here and there before playing host at Wrestlemania 37 with Titus O’Neill. He received a few loud boos on that show, but nothing quite like his final WWE appearance on the debut episode of Raw on Netflix. He was booed out of the building trying to plug his new Real American Beer.
The End of Hulkamania
This year in 2025 it was announced that Hulk Hogan, Eric Bishoff and Izzy Martinez were going to be running Real American Freestyle wrestling. They plan to elevate wrestlers into stars similar to how the Voice elevates singers. Do they elevate singers? This is a reality show mixed with wrestling with the first show scheduled to take place on August 30th. Kurt Angle, Bubba Jenkins and Chael Sonnen are on board to provide commentary.
The RAF is the last piece of legacy Hulk Hogan left behind. Hulk died of a cardiac arrest on July 24th 2025. It is common knowledge he has struggled with physical health issues for over a decade, including 10 different surgeries on his back alone.
The Legacy of Hulk Hogan
People are so inclined to look at everything black and white these days. Such and such is the best or such and such is the worst. Life is not black and white, it is a very confusing shade of grey. Do not feel guilty if you mourn the loss of Hulk Hogan. Do not feel guilty if you feel indifferent. Hulk Hogan is a complex figure in our world who is equally an incredibly contributor and a deeply flawed human being.
We are allowed to sit here and call Hulk Hogan a legend, because he is. Hogan is undeniably one of the most important and influential figures that have ever entered the wrestling ring. He helped elevate wrestling to a global scale and I don’t think there were many people at the time who could have done it quite like he did. Hulk Hogan took a wrestling character and turned it into a brand, an identity that transcends wrestling. Other people have managed to do the same, but he was the first and the biggest. He was the first wrestler to make it big as an actor, paving the way for The Rock, John Cena and Batista to follow in his footsteps.
However, we are also allowed to excuse ourselves from the celebration of his life. That is fine also. Hulk has done and said a lot of things that have had a negative impact. All I ask is you show respect to those that were close to him who want to honour him. They are within their right to do that, even if you disagree.
Hulk Hogan’s legacy will be his undeniable importance to pop culture and his unforgettable collapse into controversy.
Hulk Hogan Match Recommendations
- vs The Rock, Wrestlemania X8
- vs Stan Hansen, WWF/AJPW/NJPW Wrestling Summit
- vs Lex Luger, Randy Savage & Sting, Bash at the Beach 1996
- vs Randy Savage, Wrestlemania V (or their deep cut from 28/09/1985)
- vs Lex Luger, Monday Nitro 04/08/1997
- vs Ric Flair, Halloween Havoc 1994
- vs Kurt Angle, King of the Ring 2002
- vs Masahiro Chono, 13/10/2003
- vs Hawk & Animal, SWS Wrestlefest 30/03/1991
- vs Abdullah the Butcher, NJPW Big Fight Series 26/05/1982
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