Hulk Hogan: 'The Immortal One'

It doesn’t matter if you follow Pro wrestling or not, whether you live in a beach-house or under a rock, whether you are a regular or an extreme sort of person, it doesn’t even matter if you are a child or an adult, you know who Hulk Hogan is……brother!!

Pro wrestling for the longest time, was a fringe sport/spectacle and while it had its share of fans and followers, it wasn’t something that you could openly talk about in a crowd, when discussing your leisure interests. Of course, there were the freaks and the giants like Andre the Giant, who were attractions.

But, it was Vince Mcmahon and his creation Wrestlemania that was the watershed moment and the vehicle that transported this freakshow straight out of the local television spots into the drawing rooms of every American household. As with every event of such magnitude, there needs to be an anchor and in this case, it was a gargantuan, blonde guy with a handle-bar mustache named Terry Bollea, more famously known as Hulk Hogan.

Hogan, as popular as and recognisable as he is today, had a humble start when cutting his teeth in the business and earned his stripes the hard way, as was commonplace back in the day. A skilled musician during his college days (he was a part of a college band!), Bollea was a fan of wrestling since childhood and took up the sport after being spotted by the Briscoe brothers.

Trained by the hard-nut Hiro Matsuda, Bollea started off his career in the local CWF, before venturing into areas such as Alabama and Memphis. It was during his time in Memphis, that he appeared on a talk-show alongside Lou Ferigno, star of the television series ‘The Incredible Hulk’ and with his stature out-sizing Lou’s, Bollea got a new nickname ‘The Hulk’, which would stick with him throughout his career.

He eventually landed in the then WWWF, where he crossed paths with Andre for the first time and had a memorable feud, but he was destined for bigger things and when the promoter Vince J. Mcmahon didn’t see his vision, he left the organisation and took part in the movie ‘Rocky 3’ which gave him the mainstream exposure that would jetstart his career into the skies.

Building on his newfound popularity, Hogan became a staple on the Japanese wrestling scene and the audience loved him and very soon, he was back on American soil as part of the AWA where he was the star attraction, yet not the champion as Verne Gagne was too old-school to realise the potential of the charismatic American.

But Hogan wouldn’t be undermined for too long as when Vince K. Mcmahon bought the promotion from his dad and renamed it the WWF, he had a grand vision for it and Hogan was going to be the centerpiece of the promotion. Repackaged as a ‘Real American’, Hogan cut through age, class, race and diversities of America and ‘Hulkamania’ was running wild like a bull on a rampage.

Apart from being the world champion for majority of the time from ’85 – ’90, he took the promotion to heights never seen before and set various attendance records. Many memorable moments were created during this time and none more than him slamming Andre to the mat before pinning him, in front of a never-before-heard crowd of 93,000 in attendance.

Many a contenders came to dislodge the man off his throne, closest being the Macho Man and the Ultimate Warrior, but Hogan’s shoes were too large to fill…literally! It took a steroid bust-up and his waning interest in the business for a change in guard to happen. Hogan though was only gone for a bit, but never forgotten, when he left the WWF.

In a return to the business, as part of the Turner promoted WCW, Hogan was responsible for the resurgence in popularity of wrestling when he formed the NWO, alongside Kevin Nash & Scott Hall and more importantly, he turned heel. The turn caused the angle to be red-hot and his new employer started beating his former employer in the rating wars. As always in his wrestling career till then, he was the centerpiece of the show and his ability to reinvent himself as per the changing times was the prime reason for his longevity at the top.

Behind the scenes, Hogan has earned himself quite a bit of notoriety as someone who is a self-serving master manipulator and many attribute his success to the same, rather than his in-ring ability. Among the most polarizing figures in wrestling history, the past 5-6 years has seen Hogan hit low after low and miraculously, he has managed to emerge out of it all with his trademark bandana and persona intact.

A lesser man would have succumbed to the travails and the nausea-inducing rollercoaster of a life that he has led, but Hogan is made of special mettle and like a true hero, has managed to remain in the public eye with due relevance. These days, he is seen in TNA Impact Wrestling and has been instrumental in the behind-the-scenes working of the company and wrestles occasionally too.

But, just his mere presence lends TNA the credibility that it needs to be the no.2 wrestling organisation. As he turns a senior citizen today, the question every Hulkamaniac asks the non-believers is still the same……Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do brother…when Hulkamania runs wild on you!!

A very happy birthday to the ‘Immortal One’ Hulk Hogan