Hulk Hogan always knows when to cash in.
Regardless if it was when he took a hefty contract from Ted Turner to jump ship to WCW in 1994, where he received a sizable percentage of merchandise and a piece of the pay-per-views that he headlined, or when he worked Dixie Carter for millions of dollars and cut bait before TNA collapsed, Hulk is a slick businessman. That’s not a knock either, that’s capitalism, I don’t blame the real-life Terry Bollea for taking the money that was offered. Sure, his political games are one of the many reasons that WCW went down the drain, he teased a debut with TNA in 2003 to get another run in the WWE, and he wouldn’t be able to tell the truth if it was presented to him with another right hook from Macho Man, but the fact remains that Hulk knew how to secure the biggest paydays possible.
Even in his most embarrassing moments, when he was secretly recorded spewing racist comments during a sex tape in 2012, Bollea successfully sued the website that posted the footage for millions of dollars.
That’s why it was no surprise when Bollea was ranting around on stage, ripping his shirt at the Republican National Convention of all places last year. At 71, he looked like a fool trying to cut a wrestling promo from 40 years earlier for an event that was supposed to be a key part of the political process for the country. Ironically, as we know, politics has devolved into pro wrestling, which would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
A side note, politics are more of a work than pro wrestling, and it’s more profitable, too.
Given Trump’s rising popularity in mid-2024 after inflation put the boots to America, Hulk saw an opportunity to jump on the band wagon, which is exactly what he did. All things considered, it shouldn’t be that surprising since Trump uses heel tactics direct from the 80s golden era to work the crowd at rallies and enjoys the circus atmosphere so he won’t pass up a chance to rub elbows with celebrities. Plus, it’s well-known that Trump has a track record with WWE. Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, which went bankrupt several years ago, hosted a pair of Wrestlemania events in 1988 and 1989. Trump was also involved with the famous hair vs. hair match with Vince McMahon in 2007. Plus, Linda McMahon donated $6 million to his original campaign and then worked on the board of a Republican Super Pac to get him re-elected in 2024. She was rewarded as the head of the Small Business Administration in 2016 and then was named the head of the Department of Education earlier this year. The math scores in the country are going to go through the roof.
The point being, it’s not uncommon for Trump to embrace the WWE, or in this case, embrace Hogan, who claimed that the orange villain was his hero at the Republican convention. Don’t get me wrong, the other side of the aisle is as lost as Jim Herd at a booking meeting in WCW, but that’s a different discussion for a different time.
Of course, there was always a catch for Hulk to associate himself with Trump, and that was the launch of his “Real American Beer” brand, using patriotism as a selling point. Dedicated Americans that believe in true American values will support Real American Beer, right?
Now, Hulk Hogan is ready to cash in on the Real American gimmick again.
Last week, The Hulkster and former WCW president, Eric Bischoff made some waves when an NWO-style video was posted on social media, claiming that they were going to change everything again with a third man to be revealed, a nod to the original NWO in 1996. It can’t be understated how cringe worthy it was to watch Bischoff and Hulk try to cut a promo from thirty years ago when they are in their 70s. The reason being, given the nature of what the project actually is, was anyone supposed to take this seriously when there were two senior citizens trying desperately to sound like movie villains?
The “third man” was revealed to be Izzy Martinez, an amateur wrestling coach that has worked with fighters in the UFC. The problem with this reveal was that only the most diehard amateur wrestling fans would have any idea who he is. Obviously, It wasn’t quite as shocking as Hulk’s heel turn in 1996.
However, aside from Martinez, the project itself was announced, “Real American Freestyle Wrestling,” an amateur wrestling style organization that will be a professional league. The Associated Press had a slew of details on the venture, including that there will be eight men’s weight classes and four women’s weight classes. The inaugural event will be held on August 30 in Cleveland, with two more events already scheduled. According to the Associated Press, Hogan claimed that the concept was sparked after he saw Wyatt Hendrickson beat Gable Steveson with Trump in attendance.
Once again, Hulk plans to use the real American gimmick to try to shill the project to the MAGA audience. From strictly a business perspective, it’s not a bad strategy. The Trump audience will more often than not, line up for the Kool Aid when he endorses someone or a product. That being said, at best, this venture might yield some success for its first event but then fall of a cliff since the product they are trying to sell is essentially the opposite of the nature of ammeter wrestling in the first place. It’s important to note that the earliest forms of professional wrestling were legitimate matches based on amateur techniques that an audience paid to watch, but when the bouts went too long without enough action, the concept of worked matches started the modern form of professional wrestling. History proves that legitimate amateur matches don’t have the ingredients to draw money, which is completely fine because the basis of amateur wrestling is supposed to be pure competition, not entertainment.
The bottom line is, there has never been a market for amateur style matches that were legitimate because it’s simple not flashy enough to garnered the casual fan, if there was then the concept of worked matches wouldn’t have been introduced as a way to draw money.
Hulk has claimed that the RAF isn’t going to interfere with college competitions or NIL deals, but that still doesn’t automatically mean that the top amateurs in the country are going to sign with the upstart league. If a competitor has aspirations of trying to make the Olympic team, are they really going to risk an injury outside of the amateur leagues? Furthermore, would a top level collegiate wrestler risk an injury that could derail a scholarship with a professional organization?
Of course, Hogan managed to embarrass himself on the media tour already. On Fox News, Hulk claimed that RAF will be as big as the WWE or the UFC. It goes without say that there’s not enough star power for that to be even remotely possible, but despite his claims on state TV, RAF doesn’t have the style to reach that level either. Sure, the UFC has wrestling involved as a part of mixed martial arts, but it’s the combination of striking, wrestling, and submissions that provide enough action for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to be a marketable brand. The WWE blends athleticism and theatrics to draw money. As mentioned, strictly amateur wrestling doesn’t have enough of any of those ingredient to be able to sell it to the general public. When Hulk was listing names of former amateurs that had success in the WWE, he got Shelton Benjamin’s name wrong during multiple interviews, calling him “Benjamin Shelton,” which prompted a response from Benjamin for The Hulkster to stop mentioning him in interviews.
While Hogan mentioned, names like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, and Benjamin, it should be noted that former UFC fighter, Ben Askren is the only competitor with any notoriety that is officially listed on the RAF roster. The 40-year-old wrestler was knocked out by Jake Paul within two minutes of the first round in a boxing match in 2021. Askren, who showed up looking bloated for the bout, was clearly just there for the easy payday after his MMA retirement.
Still, the mission for Hulk remains the same, he will get his money from his involvement in this project while the money marks that fund it, Left Lane Capital, a group that funded ventures like a volley ball league in the past, eventually use the losses from the league as a tax write off.
Hogan will be the commissioner of the league, which makes sense considering that he has zero background in freestyle wrestling. Eric Bischoff was given the title of Chief Media Officer, which is probably a nice way of saying that he’s the Brutus Beefcake in this situation. Make no mistake about it, Hulk will make money on the deal, but Real American Freestyle Wrestling will eventually be added to the list of Pastamania, The Thunder Mixer, and the other ventures that flopped.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
