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Hulk Hogan: King of Wrestling, Marketing and Charisma

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Hulk Hogan completes successful Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin tour of Australia in November 2009, returns to U.S into management position with TNA

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"The Hulkamania Experience"

Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon

Hulk Hogan and Greg Tingle (Media Man director and founder) - Sydney, Australia November 2009

Hulk Hogan in WWE Legends Of WrestleMania Video Game

Hulk Hogan VS The Rock

A profiles section on Media Man Australia could not be complete without a bio on Hulk Hogan.

Hogan, more of an entertainment figure, than that of media tycoon, it was Hogan and Vince McMahon that got the world's media attention focused on the professional wrestling business in the mid 80's.

Together with McMahon, he made wrestling go mainstream and sold out arenas around the world.

Hogan was on the cover of wrestling and entertainment magazines, and he will forever be remembered as the wrestler who took his business to the world stage.

Bio (credit: The Professional Wrestling Online Museum)

His name is Terry Bollea, but the world knows him as "Hulk Hogan" and more than anyone else, he was responsible for the meteoric rise in the popularity of professional wrestling in the 1980's. While not the most skillful wrestler of his era, nor even the biggest, Hogan combined his enormous physical stature with an outstanding screen presence to cause the World Wrestling Federation to rocket past all other Wrestling Organizations as the top provider of wrestling entertainment on a nationwide basis.

Hogan was brought into the sport of Professional Wrestling when he was discovered while playing the bass guitar in nightclub in the early 1970's. In order to learn his new trade, Hogan trained under the tutelage of Japans great Hiro Matsuda, after which he moved from his home in Tampa to the west coast, where he began bodybuilding in Venice Beach, California, working under the name of "Sterling Golden." Later, he changed his Ring name to Terry Boulder, before settling on the name of Hulk Hogan. He was later managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie and wrestled as a heel in a number of organizations, including the AWA and the WWF. While he gained in popularity in several regions, Hogan had not yet gained national exposure - this would happen in 1982.

In 1982, Hogan appeared in the motion picture Rocky III, starring as the enormous wrestling villain "Thunderlips." Because of the huge positive response his appearance received, Vince McMahon lured him back to the WWF and made him the focal point of that federation's ability to survive and then thrive. He defeated the Iron Sheik in 1984 to secure the WWF Heavyweight Championship and quickly became the WWF's most popular athlete. Behind Hogan's 26" arms and huge shoulders, McMahon pushed the WWF towards a national audience. Commencing with several tie ins with MTV, Hogan, the WWF and the sport of Pro Wrestling hit the big time when the Hulk appeared with actor Mr. T at the WWF's first big wrestling extravaganza, Wrestlemania I.

Wrestlemania I was not the first nationally broadcast live wrestling event, but at that time it was certainly the most important. Unbeknown to most fans, had Wrestlemania not been a big success, the WWF may have had to return to the days of operating as regional operation - or worse, it may have closed down completely. With all of the organizations hopes riding on the event, it is not surprising that Hulk Hogan was called upon to carry the burden of turning it into a colossal success. After countless appearances on popular television shows (including Saturday Night Live) in which he promoted the event, Hogan finally appeared alongside Mr. T and repelled the team of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and "Cowboy" Bob Orton. The success of this event saved the WWF, established the validity of a national promotion and catapulted Hogan into the realm of popularity known only to the biggest stars of entertainment and sports - but even this was not the most important event for Hulk Hogan. That event would be Wrestlemania III.

Loaded with extraordinary matches, Wrestlemania III set a indoor attendance record as more than 92,000 fans crowded the Pontiac Silverdome for the event. On that day, the Main Event, and the match which spawned the huge attention to the arena was the battle between Hulk Hogan and the previously unbeaten Andre the Giant. After suffering an injury early on, Hogan astounded viewers around the world as he not only defeated Andre, but lifted the 500 pound Frenchman off of the ground and slammed him to the Ring canvas to retain his title.

Hogan went on to defend his title in the WWF and has recently moved to the WCW where he quickly gained that organizations Championship title. Over the years, and in the future, Hulk Hogan has symbolized the growth of professional wrestling into a multi-million dollar industry - but to thousands of young fans, he has become their hero and their champion.

Hulk Hogan: Media coverage - 2003

13th October 2003

A post match press conference in Japan by Hulk Hogan turned nasty last night when TNA's Jeff Jarrett showed up to confront Hogan.

Hogan was meeting with the Japanese press following his victory over Masa Chono at the big New Japan event in the Tokyo Dome, when Jarrett arrived on to the scene and attacked Hogan.

Hogan was addressing the Japanese media about his future, and had just said "I have unfinished business here in Japan. I want to win the IWGP title again. I also have unfinished business in the United States. The only title I've never won is the NWA World Heavyweight Title." Jeff Jarrett burst on the scene in a rage and attacked Hogan and left him a crimson mess.

Jarrett taunted Hogan by saying, "I heard the rumors that you wanted to come to TNA.....well TNA just came to you."

TNA has been in contact with members of the Japanese media and will air footage of the incident on this week's episode of NWA-TNA: Total Nonstop Action.

Hogan did come to terms with NWA TNA last week, however no word if an actual contract as been signed yet though. Hogan is set to return on a special 3 hour NWA TNA event featuring Hogan vs. Jarrett in the main event.

Television and Movie roles

Hulk Hogan's crossover popularity led to several television and movie roles. Along with 1982s Rocky III, he starred, as mentioned above, in No Holds Barred (1989), as well as Suburban Commando (1991), Mr. Nanny (1993), Santa with Muscles (1996), and 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998). He made two appearances on The A-Team (in 1985 and 1986), and starred in his own TV series, Thunder in Paradise, in 1994. He also appeared in Walker Texas Ranger. Along with Roddy Piper, Hogan lent his voice for a few episodes of the stop motion animation skit show, Robot Chicken.

Hogan made cameo appearances in Muppets from Space and in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Theatrical version) as himself. Hogan also appears in Spy Hard, gets tagged in when Leslie Nielsen's character is getting beaten up, and then rips his shirt off, throws a few punches, gets beaten up and has to tag in to Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Hogan guest starred in a two part episode of "Suddenly Susan" in 1999. In 2001, Hogan guest stared on an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger, playing a reformed criminal now operating a Christian Community Center and helping Walker steer teenagers away from gangs. Hogan was offered the role of Zeus in Little Hercules in 3D on an episode of Hogan Knows Best and was shown during the filming of the movie. He also played a cameo in the end of the movie, Little Monsters.

Hogan will host the comeback series of American Gladiators, which has been picked up for a midseason run on NBC in 2008. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Television and movie roles

Hulk Hogan's crossover popularity led to several television and movie roles. Along with Rocky III (1982) and No Holds Barred (1989), he starred in the family films Suburban Commando (1991), Mr. Nanny (1993), Santa with Muscles (1996), and 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998). He starred in his own television series, Thunder in Paradise, in 1994. He is the star of The Ultimate Weapon (1997), in which Brutus Beefcake also appears in a cameo.

Hogan also starred in a pair of made-for-television movies, originally intended as a pilot for an ongoing series for TNT, produced by Eric Bischoff. The movies, Shadow Warriors: Assault on Devil's Island and Shadow Warriors: Hunt for The Death Merchant, starred Hogan alongside Carl Weathers and Shannon Tweed as a freelance mercenary team.

Guest appearances

Hogan made cameo appearances in Muppets from Space, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (the theatrical cut), and Spy Hard as himself. . Hogan was offered the role of Zeus in Little Hercules in 3D on an episode of Hogan Knows Best and was shown during the filming of the movie. He also played a cameo in the end of the movie Little Monsters.

Hogan made two appearances on The A-Team (in 1985 and 1986), and along with Roddy Piper, Hogan lent his voice for a few episodes of the stop motion animation skit show, Robot Chicken. He guest starred in a two-part episode of Suddenly Susan in 1999. In 2001, Hogan guest stared on an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger, playing a reformed criminal now operating a Christian Community Center and helping Walker steer teenagers away from gangs.

Host roles

Hogan hosts the comeback series of American Gladiators, which has been picked up for a midseason run on NBC in 2008.

Websites

Hulk Hogan official website

World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE Hall Of Fame Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan's Talent Agency - Prince Marketing Group

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