signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is the on-screen General Manager.[6] Hogan enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and 90s as the all-American character Hulk Hogan in the World
Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and as Hollywood Hogan, the villainous nWo leader, in World Championship Wrestling
(WCW). A regular pay-per-view headliner in both organizations, Hogan
closed the respective premier annual events of the WWF and WCW, WrestleMania and Starrcade, on multiple occasions. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
He is a 12-time world champion being a six-time WWF/E Champion and six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He is the second longest combined reigning WWF Champion of all time (after Bruno Sammartino),
the longest-reigning champion of the 1980s, and holds two of the ten
longest title runs in WWF/E history, having held the title for 1,474
days from 1984-1988 (the fourth longest reign of all time) and 364 days
from 1989 to 1990 (the 9th longest reign of all time). He is also the
longest-reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion of all time, with a 469
day reign from 1994-1995. Hogan won the Royal Rumble in 1990 and 1991, making him the first man to win two consecutive Royal Rumbles
Professional wrestling career
Early years (1977–1979)
In the summer of 1977, after over a year of training with Matsuda,[16] the Brisco brothers dropped by Matsuda's gym to see Hogan.[16] During this visit, Jack Brisco handed Hogan a pair of wrestling boots and informed him that he was scheduled to wrestle his first match the following week.[16] In his professional wrestling debut, Eddie Graham booked him in a mixed tag team against Adam and Eve his tag team partner was baby Jesus in Fort Myers, Floridain Championship Wrestling from Florida.[17][18] A short time later, Bollea donned a mask and assumed the persona of "The Super Destroyer," a hooded character first played by Don Jardine and subsequently used by other wrestlers. Hogan, however, eventually could no longer work with Hiro Matsuda,[19] whom he felt was an overbearing trainer,[19] and left Championship Wrestling From Florida.[20] After declining an offer to wrestle for the Kansas City circuit,[20] Hogan took a hiatus from wrestling and managed a private club in Cocoa Beach, Florida-known as the Anchor Club-.[20] for a man named Whitey Bridges.[20] Eventually, Whitey and Hogan became close friends, and decided to open a gym together;[20] the gym became known as Whitey and Terry's Olympic gym.[20] Soon after, Hogan's friend Ed Leslie (later known as Brutus Beefcake) came down to Cocoa Beach to help Hogan and Bridges manage both the Anchor Club and the Whitey and Terry's Olympic Gym.[20] On his spare time, he and Leslie worked out in the gym together,[20] and eventually, Beefcake developed a muscular physique;[21] Hogan was impressed by Beefcake's physical stature and became convinced that the two of them should wrestle together as tag team partners.[21] Depressed and yearning to return to wrestling,[21] Hogan called Superstar Billy Graham in 1978 with hopes that Graham could find him a job wrestling outside of Florida;[21] Graham agreed and Hogan soon joined Louie Tillet's Alabama territory.[21] Hogan also convinced Leslie, who had yet to become a wrestler,[21] to come with him and promised to teach him everything he knew about the sport.[21]In Alabama, he and Leslie wrestled as Terry and Ed Boulder, known as the Boulder Brothers.[22] These early matches as a tag team with the surname Boulder being used by both men prompted a rumor among wrestling fans unaware of the inner workings of the sport that Hogan and Leslie were brothers,[22] as few people actually knew their real names outside of immediate friends, family, and of course the various promoters the two worked for. After wrestling a show for Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) in Memphis,[23] Jerry Jarrett, the promoter for the (CWA), approached Hogan and Leslie and offered them a job in his promotion for $800.00 a week;[23] this was far more than the $175.00 a week they would make working for Tillet.[23] Hogan and Leslie accepted this offer and left Tillet's territory.[23]
During his time in Memphis, Hogan appeared on a local talk show, where he sat beside Lou Ferrigno, star of the television series The Incredible Hulk.[24] The host commented on how Terry, who stood 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) and weighed 295 pounds with 24 inch biceps, actually dwarfed "The Hulk." Watching the show backstage, Mary Jarrett noticed that Hogan was actually bigger than Ferrigno, who was well known at the time for having large muscles.[25] As a result, Bollea began performing as Terry "The Hulk" Boulder[25] and sometimes wrestled as Sterling Golden.[2]
In May 1979, Bollea had an early shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which at the time was generally recognized as the highest honor in wrestling. On December 1, 1979, Bollea won his first wrestling championship, the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division), recognized in Alabama and Tennessee, when he defeated Bob Roop in Knoxville, TN. Bollea would drop the belt in January 1980 to Bob Armstrong.
Return to World Wrestling Federation (1983-1993)
The birth of Hulkamania (1983–1984)
After purchasing the company from his father in 1982, Vincent K. McMahon had plans to expand the territory into a nationwide promotion, and he handpicked Hulk Hogan to be the company's showpiece attraction due to his charisma and name recognition. Hogan made his return at a television taping in St. Louis, Missouri on December 27, 1983 defeating Bill Dixon.[32]On the January 7, 1984 edition of Championship Wrestling, Hogan confirmed his face status for the WWF fans by saving Bob Backlund from a three-way assault.[33] Hogan's turn was explained simply by Backlund: "He's changed his ways. He's a great man. He's told me he's not gonna have Blassie around." The storyline shortcut was necessary because less than three weeks later on January 23, Hogan won his first WWF Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik (who had Blassie in his corner) in Madison Square Garden.[2][34] The storyline accompanying the victory was that Hogan was a "last minute" replacement for the Sheik's original opponent Bob Backlund,[3] and became the champion by way of being the first man to escape the camel clutch (the Iron Sheik's finishing move).[35] The backstage story was that the WWF Champion Bob Backlund had refused to let Hogan win the title from him, demanding that any wrestler to whom he lost the belt have a legitimate wrestling background. As a consequence, The Iron Sheik won the title from Backlund first and then dropped it to Hogan.
Over the next year, Hulk Hogan became the face of pro wrestling as McMahon pushed the WWF into a pop culture enterprise with The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection on MTV, drawing record houses, pay-per-view buyrates, and television ratings in the process. The centerpiece attraction for the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, Hogan teamed with legit friend, TV and movie star Mr. T, to defeat his archrival "Rowdy"Roddy Piper and "Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.[2][36] On the first edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Hogan successfully defended the WWF title against Cowboy Bob Orton in a match which Hogan won by a disqualification (Orton had been in the corner of Piper and Orndorff at Wrestlemania and had accidentally caused his teams defeat by knocking out Orndorff after he jumped from the top turnbuckle and hit him in the back of the head with his arm cast in a shot meant for Hogan).[37]
Hogan was named the most requested celebrity of the 1980s for the Make-a-Wish Foundation children's charity. He was featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated (the first and as of 2013, only professional wrestler to do so), TV Guide, and People magazines, while also appearing on The Tonight Show and having his own CBS Saturday morning cartoon titled Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. Hogan, as the premier WWF icon, headlined eight of the first nine WrestleMania events. He also co-hosted Saturday Night Live on March 30, 1985 during this lucrative run. AT&T reported that his 900 number information line was the single biggest 900 number from 1991 to 1993. Hogan operated the 900 number through his stint in WWF and then recreated it when he joined World Championship Wrestling.[38
