Just a few hours ago, my phone was flooded with texts within the span of just a few minutes. Regardless of the details, that’s generally never a good thing, and I have to say. I was completely stunned, and I still am as I write this, to see the news that Hulk Hogan passed away at the age of 71. According to reports from TMZ, Hogan, who had been rumored to be ill in recent weeks, suffered a heart attack earlier today and was rushed to a hospital before he died.
This was after sleazy radio host, Bubba The Love Sponge, made headlines for the past month or so, claiming that Hogan was near death, a notion that Hulk’s representative fiery denied. If the radio host’s statements were based on anything concrete or if the timing of Hogan’s death was merely a coincidence is rather moot.
The Hulkster’s Impact
There’s absolutely no doubt that one of the titans of the industry has died, and the impact that The Hulkster had on the genre helped shape the business that exists today. However, and this should be a key point going forward, the legacy of Hulk Hogan is very, very complicated.
In short, the impact that the Hulk Hogan character had on fans and the early perception of the industry was overwhelmingly positive. He was an all-American hero for many of those that needed a hero and someone to look up to. It’s also undeniable that without The Hulkster as the flag bearer of the WWE, Vince McMahon’s national expansion of the early-80s and thus the total transformation of the scale of professional wrestling might’ve flopped. Hulk was the right guy at the right time with the right character to be the centerpiece of the ability to take sports entertainment to a national level. His persona and the MTV crossover with the Rock N’ Wrestling connection were a perfect pair to spotlight larger-than-life stars, a premise that became the standard of today.
Of course, as time went on, more was revealed about the man behind the persona. Hulk Hogan was the top star who battled the villains while telling the youngsters to take their vitamins and say their prayers. Many have spoken about how The Hulkster inspired them to pursue pro wrestling or weightlifting, and that inspiration is definitely positive. That being said, through the years, the behind-the-scenes narratives emerged that the real-life Terry Bollea was much different than the on-screen character. He was a calculated politician that carefully crafted and protected his position at the top of the card at the expense of not only other performers’ careers, but also the demise of some organizations. The whole “that don’t work for me, brother” routine was one of the many reasons that WCW folded. He just had to beat Yokozuna at Wrestlemania IX to make sure a newer star, Bret Hart couldn’t get the spotlight that night. The Starrcade finish against Sting is still debated since he was hesitant to put the new crow character over. He had a “knee injury” in 2006 until the finish was changed for him to defeat Randy Orton at Summer Slam. The Hogan era of TNA led the company off a cliff, as Hulk showed up, made a lot of money, and left. According to Jesse Ventura, when the former Minnesota governor tried to start a pro wrestling union ahead of Wrestlemania II, it was Hogan that told Vince McMahon about it. A union didn’t matter to Hulk, nor would he want anything to get in the way of the plans for the show because he was going to be the highest paid performer on the card anyway.
Hulk Hogan’s Leak
When the infamous sex tape leaked a decade ago and was published by the Gawker website, it did damage to his legacy that it never truly recovered from. Bubba The Love Sponge’s then-wife and Hulk were secretly recorded and during their encounter, the real-life Terry Bollea spewed several racial slurs and he admitted that he was a racist on the portions of the tape that were posted online.
This revealed that the real-life Terry Bollea was everything that the beloved Hulk Hogan character wasn’t. The aura of The Hulkster seemed like it was a fraud, that the fans that had supported him for decades were misled.
Hence the debate that often happens when someone of that caliber is embroiled in controversy, can you separate the artist from the art, or in this case, can you separate Terry Bollea from the Hulk Hogan character?
His apology tour not long after the headlines seemed superficial, and it was tough to put any stock into it as far as a sincere apology since the entire concept of the sports entertainment industry is to work the viewing audience into believing something that may or may not be true. Furthermore, and this was probably more damaging to his attempt at redemption than anything else, he didn’t seemed to do much to make the situation right after the television appearances. It seemed like he waited for the story to fade from the headlines instead. Mark Henry has spoke on the topic, explaining that he didn’t think Hulk truly wanted to learn from the mistakes.
RAW’s Netflix Debut
The fans didn’t forget either, as Hulk was booed out of the building during the Raw debut on Netflix earlier this year. Being a true politician and wanting to maximize his earning potential as he had done throughout his wrestling career, Bollea jumped on the Trump bandwagon, cutting a ridiculous promo at the Republican National Convention. It just looked silly when the 70-year-old tore his shirt at what should’ve been an event based on the democratic process of the country. But, nobody can say that Hulk wasn’t a smart businessman. Keep in mind, politics are more of a work than pro wrestling and it’s more profitable, too. Hogan’s Real American beer brand was designed to target the MAGA demographic, as is the Real American Freestyle Wrestling project, which was just picked up for a streaming deal on the Fox Nation platform. It goes without saying that picking a political side in the modern era, especially to such a strong degree, will further divide the fan base.
The biggest point that should be made here is that just because someone passes away, it doesn’t automatically make them a good person, and they shouldn’t be praised unless they actually deserve it. If someone was inspired by Hulk Hogan and wants to grieve his passing, they certainly have the right to do that. However, I can’t suddenly ignore the terrible things he said or the political damage he did to the wrestling business. Not being a racist is a low bar, and it was still one that Terry Bollea, in his own words, didn’t clear. This is just my opinion; the positive impact of the scripted Hulk Hogan character doesn’t excuse the real-life racism that Terry Bollea spewed. The bottom line is, real life is more important than a scripted wrestling show.
The stance on Hulk Hogan will, without question, soften since he died, and maybe it should. The lifetime ban on Pete Rose was recently lifted. I will be the first to acknowledge that I’m a relatively stubborn person and perhaps I should be more forgiving, but at least for right now, I just don’t think the fact that he was in the main event of Wrestlemania should be a reason to overlook that he might’ve been a hateful guy. On the flip side, John Cena proved to be the real-life superhero that he was on-screen so maybe he would be a better choice for the term hero than Hogan. That might’ve been the most frustrating aspect of the latter stages of Hulk Hogan’s career, it always seemed like he wanted to sweep the controversy under the rug and move onto the next sales pitch rather than ever truly address it.
This is a sad day, and make no mistake about it, I wish Hulk would’ve had some true resolution. It would’ve been much better if he came to some type of realization about how ignorant he was, but that was never truly made clear. To be fair, it’s possible that he changed his mindset, but that was never properly communicated to the public. It was sincerely disheartening when his legacy was tarnished, especially because the character was a legitimate inspiration to many fans of different generations.
So, as with almost everything, it’s a matter of perspective. I’m not going to mourn the passing of Hulk Hogan because I think his real-life comments overshadowed what he did on a scripted wrestling show. But, for those that can overlook it and those that he inspired, it will be a major positive aspect of his legacy. Just because Terry Bollea passed away, that doesn’t automatically make him a good person, but the impact of the Hulk Hogan character was overwhelmingly positive, both for the expansion of the business and an entire generation of fans.
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
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
