Hulk Hogan: Remembering My Childhood Hero

The world of pro-wrestling lost Hulk Hogan today. I, and many others, lost our childhood hero. I have been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember and every second I can remember Hulk Hogan has always been my favorite. I would not be writing for 411 if I wasn’t introduced to wrestling by my father, and wrestling would not have stuck with me if not for Hulk Hogan. My first memories of pro-wrestling were right before WrestleMania 2 when Hulk Hogan was getting squashed by King Kong Bundy.

However, it was the feud and build to WrestleMania III that made me a fan for life. I watched every weekend with my jaw dropped as they built to Hogan/Andre on Piper’s pit. 20 minute promos weren’t needed. It was short and to the point and launched the biggest match of all time. They have tried for decades to hype others matches as bigger, but nothing has topped Hogan/Andre in The Dome! I have told the story many times, but I watched WrestleMania III at my grandmother’s house. I was the first grandchild she let eat in her living room. It was spaghetti with a salad and butter bread. I was terrified about what Andre The Giant might do to my childhood hero, so I ran into the kitchen and couldn’t watch. My step-dad (who I lost last August), and who wasn’t a wrestling fan, yelled “he won,” and I ran back in to see the replay of The Body Slam Hear ‘Round The World. That slam is the single biggest moment in pro-wrestling history. It’s a great memory of my childhood hero, my grandmother and my step-dad.

While that was the feud that I remember hooking me on wrestling, it was The Mega Powers forming and then exploding that ignited a deep love and passion for wrestling. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage are my two favorite wrestlers of all time and for some that is weird because most assumed you had to like one and not the other. It’s kind of ironic that last week I went back to watch WWE’s tribute to Randy Savage because of the whole Coldplay ordeal. Less than a week later, the other Mega Power is gone.

As mentioned, last year I lost my step-dad, and while he wasn’t a wrestling fan, he loved me and took me to my first wrestling show. Friday, February 15, 1991 he took me to The Civic Arena in Pittsburgh to see Hulk Hogan battle Earthquake in a stretcher match. It was a house show and the noted attendance was 10,000. When my step-dad passed I found the card online and I have a picture of it saved to my phone. It was a reminder of what my step-dad would do for me and now, it is also a reminder of the first time I saw my childhood hero.

I followed Hogan to WCW and they were now the cool show to watch in my eyes. When Hulk Hogan came out as the third man on July 7, 1996, I ran around my house screaming. My mom thought I was mad Hulk Hogan had turned bad, but it was the exact opposite. I was thrilled beyond belief and suddenly Hulk Hogan had reignited another golden era in pro-wrestling.

I was along for the ride when he returned to the WWE in 2002 and I nearly had tears in my eyes when he would receive long ovations from a WWE crowd that missed their hero. Then came WrestleMania X-8 against The Rock and no matter what anyone wants to rate the match, there is nothing that can compare to Hogan hulking up on The Rock and the reaction from the fans in SkyDome. Hogan lost that match, but unlike when I ran home crying when he lost in that same stadium to Warrior, it didn’t matter this time. My childhood hero was back where he belonged and I would see him wrestle one more time when he was WWE Champion and defended against Chris Jericho on SmackDown in Pittsburgh.

I was along for the ride in TNA when things didn’t go so well, but it was Hulk Hogan so I still enjoyed it. He had the guts to think they could go head to head with RAW and while it failed, that first night was a fun reminder of when we used to have a Monday Night War. His TNA run also produced what may be the best Sting/Hogan match of all time.

He returned to the WWE again and WrestleMania XXX featured an iconic opening with Hogan, Rock, and Austin. It was WWE’s Mount Rushmore come to life and it made me smile to see him back where he belonged.

These are some of the memories that make it impossible for me to let go of what Hulk Hogan meant to me. Yes, there is the bad and it has been something I have had a hard time dealing with over the years. I remember vividly sitting at lunch on work and seeing the headline come across a web browser that Hulk Hogan had been fired by WWE for racial remarks. I was stunned as that’s not the Hulk Hogan I knew watching as a kid. There is no defending it and I just had to sit and watch people tear down my childhood hero. Ever since then it has been a difficult balance in trying to write reviews of old shows and praising Hogan without thinking you are going too far and worrying about any backlash. I have found it is okay to say Hulk Hogan is my childhood hero and the main reason I am a fan. I have always tried to look for the good in people and give them the benefit of the doubt, because I have learned nobody is perfect. This isn’t meant to get political either as political debates don’t really interest me and I don’t see one side of the aisle or the other. His racial remarks are a viable reason to have an unpleasant opinion of Hogan. Him “holding down” your favorite wrestler in the 80s and 90s is another thing entirely. This is pro-wrestling and there has been a line of people before and after that have done the same. Sadly, we have all learned that there is a line of wrestlers before and after that have done things even worse than the racial remarks. Though that’s not brushing over what was said on that tape or later.

I have read nearly every tweet I can from people inside the industry and I have watched videos. Some have been respectful and some have been full of love. There is the other side that is enjoying today and that is their right, as Hogan made plenty of mistakes and people will make sure they are known. Again, he is a public figure and made his choices and people will have the right to their own opinion. What has been hard to see is people calling out and blasting any fan or colleague who is mourning Hogan’s loss. Hogan’s impact on the industry and pop culture can’t be overstated and there will be many people you like that will offer their respects to a person that made them want to be a wrestler or got them into wrestling.

There are a lot of us that grew up on Hulk Hogan that are hurting right now. No, he wasn’t family or a close friend. He was my childhood and was my entry into becoming a fan of something I love so much. I watched a collection of matches that Peacock had on their WWE page at lunch today and I broke down and cried. I had to go back to work and the last match I saw was an early Hogan/Savage match. It seemed fitting to stop there.

Wrestling has always been a world where clear good and evil make for the best stories. In the real world there is nuance and with Hulk Hogan’s legacy it isn’t just black and white for me. I know what Hulk Hogan means to me and I know the faults of Terry Bollea. Some people can separate the two and others can’t and to me there is no right or wrong way. It is up to each individual person. That is something I heard Mick Foley say in an interview before I started writing this piece. It’s the same dilemma people will have when others in the industry pass and in some cases, they will be the favorites of people who are attacking Hulk Hogan. I have no time for hate and will never take joy in someone else’s grief.

We live in a world now where the greatest professional wrestler of all time is gone. It’s a day that was coming sooner than later and as of right now, I am not okay. It’s fine if you are and it’s fine if it’s just another day for you. For me, and others, today has been hard, but my childhood hero taught me in the 80s to get up and keep moving forward. It hurts now, but as I have seen with my Retro Review series I will always have the memories and videos of when Hulk Hogan was immortal and ruled the wrestling world.