Whatcha Gonna Do??? Remembering Hulk Hogan

Last Thursday’s passing of the professional wrestling giant known as Hulk Hogan (born as Terry Bollea) came as a big shock to most of us.

The initial reports said that Hulk Hogan died from a heart attack.  The internet has been circulating that Hogan had complications following a recent surgery on his neck.

He was 71 years of age.

That seems relatively young, but the actuarial tables of major insurance companies say that American men live to an average of 77 years compared to age 81 for women.

To the surprise of no one, top male professional wrestlers like Hulk Hogan have a much shorter average life span than the average US male.

A BBC report cited a research study showing that years of physical pain, lack of rest, travel, and the a propensity to become dependent on alcohol and/or prescription meds contribute to a shorter life span for most professional wrestlers.

That same study said that professional wrestlers are most likely to die prematurely due to cardiovascular issues, drug-related issues, and cancer.

Did you know…???

The average professional wrestler makes about $85,000 per year according as a professional wrestler.

Most professional wrestlers are considered independent contractors.  They are not employees of the wrestling organizations they are currently affiliated with.

The majority of pro wrestlers have no medical insurance, no retirement plan, and must pay their own social security into the system as independent contractors.

Many work up to 300 nights per year.  Those in regional wrestling circuits (not on national television) pay for their own travel expenses to the majority of their weekly venues.

That is why you see many of the older wrestlers at various conventions signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans for a fee.

Terry “Bass Guitar” Bollea caught the wrestling bug as a teen

Those of us born in the post-World War II Baby Boom generation (like Hulk Hogan) have literally grown-up with the evolution of television.

TV introduced us to Elvis Presley, Beatlemania and the music of the 1960’s and 1970’s.

A tall but overweight Terry Bollea loved music of that era. He became a very good bass guitar player during his high school days in the Tampa, Florida area.

He also became a big fan of professional wrestling at that same time. 

Terry Bollea and his friends looked forward to watching the local television station’s pro wrestling show every Saturday and even attended some of the matches in person.

Those Saturday made-for-television pro wrestling shows were everywhere

Professional wrestling flourished as television grew during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Regional wrestling promotions grew by utilizing a locally produced made-for-television hour-long program showcasing the troupe’s top personalities.

The vast popularity of those local TV shows were a “win-win” proposition for all parties.

The television ratings for your local television station’s “Championship Wrestling” show were usually a quite large – especially on Saturday when younger fans were able to watch at home.

Getting big TV ratings meant local advertisers would pay top money to place their commercial ads during the broadcast.  The regional wrestling promoters utilized these television shows to encourage viewers to buy tickets for the coming week’s events being held at a variety of locations within the television station’s coverage area.

Those weekly televised wrestling shows were a mix of short matches and several interviews.  The top talent would passionately “sell” their upcoming grudge matches to encourage fans to come out and support them.

Dusty Rhodes was The Hulkster’s early wrestling idol

Terry Bollea’s favorite pro wrestler during that time was Dusty Rhodes (who would die in 2015 at age 69 from kidney failure).

Rhodes (whose real name was Virgil Runnels, Jr.) was a former college football player at West Texas State who needed a job after a very brief try at pro football.

He jumped into regional pro wrestling and dubbed himself as “The American Dream”.  His bleached blonde hair and offensive lineman build were not very unique.

It was Dusty Rhodes’ incredible ability to deliver those tantalizing television “promos” for upcoming matches that made him into a star and inspired one particular Florida teen.

Terry Bollea transforms from bass guitar player into the “Super Destroyer”

Young Terry Bollea entered college in the Tampa area while majoring in business. He made money for school playing his bass guitar on weekends as part of a popular local band.

A couple of the pro wrestlers remembered seeing the towering 6’7” young man playing guitar at a band gig after spotting Bollea working out at the same local gymnasium frequented by the wrestlers.

They approached 21-year old Terry Bollea and told him that he really looked the part to become a future pro wrestler.

Terry Bollea became excited about that possibility and decided to give it a try.

He trained for a year and entered the squared circle in 1977 as a masked wrestler named “Super Destroyer” in Florida’s regional Championship Wrestling promotion.

One year later, Terry “Super Destroyer” Bollea quit wrestling and went into business running a Florida gym.

Evolving from the Super Destroyer into Terry “The Hulk” Boulder

He became gym friends with a young man named Ed Leslie.

Terry Bollea was convinced that he and his “beefy” training buddy Ed Leslie would make a dynamic wrestling tag team.

The duo found some wrestling work with an Alabama-based promotion.

The new “Boulder Brothers” quickly became a regional hit.

A Memphis-based wrestling territory then offered to quadruple their weekly pay up to $800 per week. Memphis is also where “Boulder Brother Terry” would receive a new wrestling name that would soon become known worldwide.

A local Memphis television talk show lined up an interview segment featuring the 6’7” and 300 pound “Terry Boulder” sitting next to the man who was billed as “The Incredible Hulk” on the hit CBS television program.

Former bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno was 6’5”, but Terry Bollea was taller and appeared to be just as big.

Memphis wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett (father of future pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett) was thrilled with the publicity and immediately dubbed his wrestler as Terry “The Hulk” Boulder.

Cable television launches wrestling sensation Hulk Hogan into superstardom

Terry “The Hulk” Boulder was becoming famous in Memphis as cable television was beginning a rapid growth spurt in the late 1970’s.

The hottest television property for the sports-oriented Madison Square Garden Network was a weekly professional wrestling show aired by the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

The WWWF (owned by Vincent McMahon, Sr.) became the first pro wrestling promotion seen nationwide via cable television.

The senior McMahon liked Terry-the Hulk’s size and on-screen charisma.  He was signed by the WWWF and morphed into “Hulk Hogan” in December, 1979.

Terry Bollea’s former tag team partner eventually found a home with the same organization.  Ed Leslie was signed in 1984 and became known as Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. 

He also enjoyed a long career as a solo performer and was inducted into the WWE Hall-of-Fame.

Hulk-a-Mania runs wild!

Vince McMahon’s son bought the wrestling group from his father during the early 1980’s and changed the name to the World Wrestling Federation.

Hulk Hogan developed into the WWF’s national and international star as he dominated matches as a “face” (good guy).  His bleached blonde hair, dark tan, and immense physical presence (assisted by years of steroid use) made Hogan the favorite wrestler of kids and adults alike.

His lengthy feuds with other wrestling icons such as The Iron Sheik, Sergeant Slaughter, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Andre the Giant were legendary.

Hulk Hogan was also a frequent guest on nationally televised late-night shows and appeared in several films during this period..

He was, quite literally, everywhere.

Changing employers to become “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan took a big money offer to make a career swerve in the middle 1990’s.

He signed with upstart wrestling competitor World Championship Wrestling. Hogan turned “heel” to become the leader of the so-called “New World Order” as the bad guys ran roughshod in the WCW for several years.

The WCW overspent on its wrestling talent and underestimated its expenses.  It folded in 2001.

The WCW video library was sold (for relative peanuts) to Vince McMahon’s WWE organization.  Many of the top WCW wrestlers (such as Hulk Hogan) would come back to work at the WWE for McMahon.

“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan briefly returned to the WWE as a “heel” character for about one year. He regained his popularity with fans by morphing back into a hero “real American” persona in 2003.

Age, injuries and self-inflicted mistakes take a toll

The Hulkster was now approaching age 50.  He had endured several major surgeries as a result of the physical nature of his job.

A scandal surfaced in 2015 where Hulk Hogan had been secretly recorded using offensive language a decade earlier.

He repeatedly apologized for making such a poor decision and, over time, won back the public’s favor.  Hulk Hogan was reinstated into the WWE Hall-of-Fame in 2018.

He was still participating in a few tag-team matches despite being more than 60 years of age.

Terry Bollea underwent a reported 25 surgeries during his 40+ years as a professional wrestler.  Some of his health problems were attributed to years of steroid abuse.

Terry Bollea became more openly religious in recent years and remained wildly popular with wrestling fans up until his passing last Thursday at age 71.

Thanks for the memories, Hulk Hogan!

Millions of fathers and sons were able to do some family bonding watching televised events during Hulk Hogan’s wrestling heyday.  My two sons and I (and even, to a lesser extent, my wife) shared many moments of laughter and enjoyment watching those WCW and WWE Monday Night wrestling TV wars of the late 1990’s.

Terry Bollea’s wife (Daily) said last week that her husband “loved his fans so much.”

She added, “Despite his growing discomfort, he did everything he could to show up, sign autographs, take photos, and connect with the people who supported him through it all.  You meant everything to him.”

One of Hulk Hogan’s favorite expressions was, “To all you little Hulksters out there – train hard, take your vitamins, and say your prayers.”

Thanks for taking us along for the ride, brother!

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