137-667: Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association ) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett . The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling or the Memphis territory. This promotion was a chief NWA territory during the 1970s and early 1980s while operating out of Tennessee and Kentucky . The CWA
274-443: A Banzai Drop . This was Hogan's last WWF pay-per-view appearance until 2002, as both he and Jimmy Hart were preparing to leave the promotion. Hogan continued his feud on the international house show circuit with Yokozuna until August 1993. After that, Hogan sat out the rest of his contract which expired later that year. On May 3, 1993, Hogan returned to NJPW as WWF Champion and defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta in
411-568: A hardship driving license at the age of 14, Jarrett began promoting professional wrestling events: renting buildings, advertising shows, constructing the ring, selling tickets, and stocking refreshments. He worked as a promoter until enrolling in Peabody College . After graduating in 1963, Jarrett worked four years for the Murray Ohio Manufacturing Company as a purchasing agent before deciding to pursue
548-518: A heroic all-American helped usher in the 1980s professional wrestling boom , where he headlined eight of the first nine editions of the WWF's flagship annual event WrestleMania (a record which was broken by Roman Reigns ). Hogan also was a regular headliner of Saturday Night's Main Event and its spin-off The Main Event in which he headlined 31 editions of both shows combined. During his initial run, he
685-537: A quitclaim deal between Titan Sports, Marvel Comics and himself wherein Marvel obtained the trademarks "Hulk Hogan", "Hulkster" and "Hulkamania" for 20 years, and Titan agreed to no longer refer to him as "incredible" nor simply "Hulk" or ever dress him in purple or green. Marvel also subsequently received .9% of reportable gross merchandise revenue associated with Hogan, $ 100 for each of his matches and 10% of Titan's portion of his other earnings under this name (or 10% of
822-481: A steel cage match at WrestleMania 2 ), Paul Orndorff, and Hercules Hernandez . In the fall of 1986, Hogan occasionally wrestled in tag team matches with The Machines as Hulk Machine under a mask copied from NJPW's gimmick " Super Strong Machine ". At WrestleMania III in 1987, Hogan was booked to defend the title against André the Giant, who had been the sport's premier star and was pushed as undefeated for
959-570: A 1997 interview with the Memphis Flyer , Lawler claimed he had improvised during their first match and the Letterman incident. Although officials at St. Francis Hospital stated that Kaufman's neck injuries were real, in his 2002 biography "It's Good to Be the King...Sometimes," Lawler detailed how they came up with the angle and kept it quiet. He also said that Kaufman's explosion on Letterman
1096-699: A Madison Square Garden house show before it was discarded altogether. The War Bonnet gimmick was revisited in the WWE's online comedy series Are You Serious? in 2012. The Mega Powers began to implode due to Savage's burgeoning jealousy of Hogan and his paranoid suspicions that Hogan and Elizabeth were more than friends. At the Royal Rumble in 1989, Hogan eliminated Savage from the Royal Rumble match while eliminating Bad News Brown, which caused tension, only to be eliminated by The Twin Towers himself. In early 1989,
1233-456: A career in professional wrestling. He began working for Welch and Gulas as an office assistant and became a referee by default after a referee was a no-show. While working as a referee in the 1960s, Jarrett became a professional wrestler. His friend Tojo Yamamoto and veteran wrestler Sailor Moran trained him. He wrestled his first match in Hayti, Missouri in 1965. After debuting, Jarrett formed
1370-465: A chair several times. Terry Funk and Jerry Lawler would not fight against each other for the rest of 1981. This was a notable feud as it marked the first time Terry Funk ever wrestled Jerry Lawler, with both men putting on two classic wrestling matches that some might say are the best in wrestling history. Deceased individuals are indicated with a cross (†). Jerry Jarrett Jerry Winston Jarrett (September 4, 1942 – February 14, 2023)
1507-503: A championship match for the early version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Hogan was the only challenger in the history of that title that didn't win the tournament to become the no. 1 contender to the championship. After accepting an offer to work on the film Rocky III (a decision Vincent J. McMahon disapproved of and subsequently chose to release Hogan from the promotion for), Hogan made his debut in
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#17327903096011644-401: A construction company and an international television distribution company. Jarrett had four children: a daughter Jennifer, and sons Jerry Jr., Jeff , and Jason. Jerry Jarrett became estranged from Jeff in 2005 after they had disputes about their operations while running NWA:TNA ; they reconciled in 2015. Jerry Jarrett was married to Eddie Marlin 's daughter Deborah. Jarrett died of
1781-403: A convoluted scam involving "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Earl Hebner (who assumed the place of his twin brother Dave Hebner , the match's appointed referee ). After André delivered a belly to belly suplex on Hogan, Hebner counted the pin while Hogan's left shoulder was clearly off the mat. After the match, André handed the title over to DiBiase to complete their business deal. As
1918-408: A double disqualification. Later that night in the main event, Hogan came to ringside to stop André interfering which helped "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeat Ted DiBiase to win the title. Together, Hogan, Savage, and manager Miss Elizabeth formed a partnership known as The Mega Powers . After Savage became WWF World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania IV, they feuded with The Mega Bucks (André
2055-553: A dream match at Wrestling Dontaku . Hogan wrestled against Muta again, this time under his real name (Keiji Mutoh), on September 26, 1993. Hogan also wrestled The Hell Raisers with Muta and Masahiro Chono as his tag team partners. His last match in Japan was on January 4, 1994, at Battlefield , when he defeated Tatsumi Fujinami. Starting in March 1994, Hogan began making appearances on WCW television, as interviewer Gene Okerlund —who
2192-404: A format which became near-routine: He delivered steady offense, but eventually lose momentum, seemingly nearing defeat. After being hit with his opponent's finishing move, he got a sudden second wind , fighting back while "feeding" off the energy of the audience, becoming impervious to attack – a process described as "Hulking up". His signature maneuvers – pointing at
2329-524: A fourth demandment—believing in yourself—and he also became known as "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan. Hogan became the first wrestler to win two Royal Rumble matches in a row, as he won the 1991 Royal Rumble match . At WrestleMania VII , Hogan stood up for the United States against Sgt. Slaughter , defeating him for his third WWF Championship, and then defeating him again in the rematch at United Kingdom-only pay-per-view UK Rampage at London Arena. In
2466-567: 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 World Heavyweight Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik (who had Blassie in his corner ) in Madison Square Garden . The storyline accompanying the victory was that Hogan was a "last minute" replacement for the Sheik's original opponent Bob Backlund, and became
2603-448: A group of thugs in a failed attempt to take Hogan out before WrestleMania. Later that night, Hogan won his fifth WWF Championship by pinning Yokozuna in an impromptu match only moments after Yokozuna had defeated Bret Hart for the championship. Hogan reportedly used his influence to have the finish of WrestleMania changed the weekend of the event so he would be champion during an upcoming international and de facto farewell tour. At
2740-555: A heart attack while undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer on February 14, 2023, at 80. Jarrett contributed to 2004's The Story of the Development of NWATNA: A New Concept in Pay-Per-View Programming and released the autobiographical The Best of Times in 2011. Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea ( / b ə ˈ l eɪ ə / ; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan ,
2877-410: A host of other teams were regulars. During the mid-1970s the focal point of the territory changed from tag wrestling to singles action. In the mid-1970s the territory split in two, with separate promoters for each half. Jerry Jarrett was in charge of Memphis, Louisville, Lexington and Evansville while still part of NWA Mid-America, while Nick Gulas , who had been the primary booker, continued to promote
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#17327903096013014-422: A huge toll on his fighting spirit that he wanted to retire. Viewers were asked to write letters to Hogan and send postcards asking for his return (they got a postcard-sized picture in return, autographed by Hogan, as a "thank you"). Hogan returned by SummerSlam , and he dominated Earthquake for several months in a series of matches across the country. His defeat of this overwhelmingly large foe prompted Hogan to add
3151-427: A job wrestling outside of Florida; Graham agreed and Hogan soon joined Louie Tillet's Alabama territory. Hogan also convinced Leslie, who had yet to become a wrestler, to come with him and promised to teach him everything he knew about the sport. In Alabama, Hogan and Leslie wrestled as Terry and Ed Boulder, known as The Boulder Brothers. These early matches prompted a rumor among wrestling fans (who were not aware of
3288-567: A large sum of money into what he thought was a 10%-share of the promotion and learned that Gulas had tricked him into paying for an option to buy less (which by the time he learned had already expired), he decided to go his own way. Jarrett decided to break away by starting competing cards at the Cook Convention Center in March 1977. Gulas, who lived in Nashville, eventually made "Music City" his home base, running weekly cards at
3425-690: A non-title handicap match in the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois . Hogan went on to repeatedly challenge Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship , with the matches generally ending in disqualifications (a decision wherein the Championship does not change hands). In April 1982, Hogan defeated Bockwinkel and was declared the new AWA World Heavyweight Champion, only for
3562-481: A one-fall contest to a Texas death match. The stipulations of these matches varied from a title vs Cadillac match, where Lawler promised to take the Southern Heavyweight Title, the main championship in the promotion, from Dundee or he would give Dundee his Cadillac. Another stipulation was that Dundee said he would shave his head if he did not win the title from Lawler. Dundee lost this match, but
3699-615: A pair of wrestling boots and informed him that he was scheduled to wrestle his first match the following week. In his professional wrestling debut, Eddie Graham booked him against Brian Blair in Fort Myers, Florida , on August 10, 1977, in CWF. A short time later, Hogan 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 eventually could no longer work with Hiro Matsuda , whom he felt
3836-612: A potential merger. After negotiations broke down in 1989, Jarrett instead entered into a merger with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), a promotion based in Dallas, to create the United States Wrestling Association . The United States Wrestling Association began promoting shows in Tennessee and Texas in 1989, with Jarrett aspiring to make it a national promotion. In 1990, WCCW withdrew from
3973-400: A result, he became a major figure during the " Monday Night War ", another boom of mainstream professional wrestling . He headlined WCW's annual flagship event Starrcade three times ( 1994 , 1996 and 1997 ) in which Starrcade 1997 was the most profitable WCW pay-per-view in the company's history. Hogan returned to the WWF in 2002 following its acquisition of WCW the prior year, winning
4110-512: A result, the WWF World Heavyweight Championship was vacated for the first time in its 25-year history because then WWF President Jack Tunney decreed the championship could not be sold from one wrestler to another. At WrestleMania IV , Hogan participated in a tournament for the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship to regain it; he and André were given a bye into quarter-finals, but their match resulted in
4247-508: A series of matches across the country during late 1989, beginning with a tag team match at SummerSlam , in which Hogan and Brutus Beefcake topped Zeus and Savage. Hogan and Zeus met at the Survivor Series , where the "Hulkamaniacs" faced the "Million Dollar Team"; in the early part of the match, Hogan put Zeus over by hitting him with everything to no effect. Zeus then manhandled Hogan and shoved referee Dave Hebner down twice, with
Continental Wrestling Association - Misplaced Pages Continue
4384-606: A steel cage match on the Saturday Night's Main Event XXI , which was aired on May 27. In May on WWF on NESN , Hogan retained the title by losing once again by count-out against Savage. This was also the last time the WWF World Heavyweight Championship was referred to as such during a televised title defense, as Hogan's next successful title defense against The Honky Tonk Man on Saturday Night's Main Event XXII saw
4521-424: A story in 1988's Marvel Comics Presents #45 , a wrestler resembling Hogan was tossed through an arena roof by The Incredible Hulk, because he "picked the wrong name." Over the next year, Hogan became the face of professional 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
4658-691: A tag team with Yamamoto. Jarrett performed primarily for NWA Mid-America for the first few years. Between 1970 and 1976, he won the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship once, the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) once, and the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) ten times. Jarrett also performed for Gulas' Southeastern Championship Wrestling promotion and won
4795-465: A talent exchange with Bill Watts ' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Jarrett and Lawler advised Watts to bring more young performers into his territory to attract a younger generation of fans, especially females since they would often bring their boyfriends to the shows. In 1988, Jarrett began talks with Verne Gagne , owner of the Minneapolis , Minnesota–based American Wrestling Association , about
4932-663: A telephone survey asking if people wanted to see Hogan in WCW. On June 11, 1994, Hogan officially signed with Ted Turner 's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in a ceremony that was held at Disney-MGM Studios . The next month, with Jimmy Hart as his manager, Hogan won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his debut match, defeating Ric Flair in a "dream match" at Bash at the Beach . Hogan continued his feud with Flair (who defeated him by count-out on
5069-563: A television taping in St. Louis, Missouri , on December 27, 1983, defeating Bill Dixon. On the January 7, 1984, episode of Championship Wrestling , Hogan confirmed his fan favorite status (for any WWF fans unaware of his late 1981 babyface turn) by saving Bob Backlund from a three-way assault by the Wild Samoans . Hogan's turn was explained simply by Backlund: "He's changed his ways. He's
5206-503: A totally separate promotion run by Jarrett. In 1980 after only three years, the Gulas territory folded when Gulas retired and the CWA took over some of the more profitable locations (e.g. Nashville). After the split from Nick Gulas, the CWA became a National Wrestling Alliance affiliate, which entitled the CWA to NWA World Heavyweight Championship defenses. The champion regularly toured through
5343-463: A week; this was far more than the $ 175 a week they would make working for Tillet. Hogan and Leslie accepted this offer and left Tillet's territory. 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 . The host commented on how Hogan, who stood 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) and weighed 295 pounds with 24-inch biceps, actually dwarfed "The Hulk". Watching
5480-552: Is an American retired professional wrestler . He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide, the most popular wrestler of the 1980s and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Hogan began his professional wrestling career in 1977, but gained worldwide recognition after signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE ) in December 1983. There, his persona as
5617-719: Is of Italian , Panamanian , Scottish , and French descent; his paternal grandfather also named Pietro was born in 1886 in Cigliano , Province of Vercelli . Bollea had an older brother named Allan (1947–1986) who died at the age of 38 from a drug overdose. When he was one and a half years old, his family moved to Port Tampa, Florida . As a boy, he was a pitcher in Little League Baseball . Hogan attended Robinson High School . He began watching professional wrestling at 16 years old. While in high school, he revered Dusty Rhodes , and he regularly attended cards at
Continental Wrestling Association - Misplaced Pages Continue
5754-496: Is the longest in the title's history) ended when he lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to The Giant at Halloween Havoc via disqualification. Following the controversial loss (which was due to a "contract clause"), the WCW World Heavyweight Championship became vacant and a new champion was to be crowned in a 60-man three-ring battle royal at World War III , where The Giant cost Hogan
5891-526: The Clash of the Champions XXVIII , thus Hogan retained the title), which culminated in a steel cage match (with Flair's career on the line and Mr. T as the special guest referee ) that Hogan won. After Hogan headlined WCW's premier annual event Starrcade ( Starrcade: Triple Threat ) in December 1994 by defeating The Butcher for the title, his next feud was against Vader , who challenged him for
6028-498: The 1990 Royal Rumble match , before losing to Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior in a title versus title match at WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990. Hogan soon became embroiled in a heated feud with the 468-pound Earthquake, who had crushed Hogan's ribs in a sneak attack on The Brother Love Show in May 1990. On television, announcers explained that both Hogan's injuries and his WrestleMania VI loss to Warrior took such
6165-652: The American Wrestling Association (AWA), owned by Verne Gagne , in August 1981. Hogan started his AWA run as a villain, with "Luscious" Johnny Valiant as his manager. This did not last long, however, as the AWA fans fell in love with Hogan's presence and Hogan became the top fan favorite of the AWA, battling the Heenan Family and Nick Bockwinkel . Hogan's turn as a fan favorite came at
6302-600: The Axe Bomber , a crooked arm lariat , as his finisher in Japan instead of the running leg drop that has been his standard finisher in America. Hogan still made appearances for the WWF, even unsuccessfully challenging Pedro Morales for the Intercontinental Championship on March 26, 1981. On June 2, 1983, Hogan became the first International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) tournament winner and
6439-558: The Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) territory from September through December 1979 as Sterling Golden. In the fall of 1979, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk introduced Bollea to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) owner/promoter Vincent J. McMahon , who was impressed with his charisma and physical stature. McMahon, who wanted to use an Irish name, gave him the last name Hogan, and also wanted him to dye his hair red. Bollea claims his hair
6576-648: The Mid-South Coliseum and airing television shows each Saturday morning on WMC-TV . In 1981, NWA Mid-America folded due to competition from the CWA, with Gulas selling his territory to Jarrett. In 1979, The Freebirds asked Jarrett to play " Free Bird " on their entrances. They first tried it in the Mid-South Coliseum and twirling the house spotlights. As a result, Jarrett became one of the first promoters to use music and videos to promote his roster of wrestlers. In 1984, Jarrett entered into
6713-542: The Mid-south Coliseum . In those matches, the pair sold out the Mid-south Coliseum once on August 1, where 11,300 people came to watch the two fight. Jimmy Hart would try to bring in wrestlers from other areas to fight Jerry Lawler. Hart did this because Lawler had broken his leg. So, Hart wanted to bring in a wrestler to break Jerry's leg. One of the wrestlers brought in was Terry Funk. Terry Funk
6850-870: The NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship in 1975. In 1977, Jarrett founded the Continental Wrestling Association . In addition to booking the promotion, he also occasionally wrestled. He and Yamamoto became the inaugural CWA World Tag Team Champions in July 1980, losing the belts to Austin Idol and Dutch Mantel the following month. In 1985, Jarrett briefly wrestled under a mask as "Hawaiian Flash". Jarrett formally retired in 1988, although he came out of retirement in 1993 and 1995 to wrestle on several occasions for his United States Wrestling Association . In
6987-476: The Tampa Sportatorium . It was at one of those wrestling cards where he first noticed Superstar Billy Graham and began looking to him for inspiration; since he first saw Graham on TV, Hogan wanted to match his "inhuman" look. Hogan was also a musician, spending a decade playing fretless bass guitar in several Florida-based rock bands. He went on to study at Hillsborough Community College and
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#17327903096017124-608: The University of South Florida . After music gigs began to get in the way of his time in college, he dropped out of the University of South Florida. Eventually, Hogan and two local musicians formed a band called Ruckus in 1976. The band soon became popular in the Tampa Bay region. During his spare time, Hogan worked out at Hector's Gym in the Tampa Bay area, where he began lifting. Many of the wrestlers who were competing in
7261-471: The AWA and the CWA into one federation in an attempt to counter the World Wrestling Federation ’s national expansion. The federation was renamed the Championship Wrestling Association in late-1987 when Lawler began co-promoting with Jarrett. Subsequently, all singles titles in the CWA ( AWA Southern , CWA/AWA International and NWA Mid-America Heavyweight ) were merged in order to recognize one CWA Heavyweight Champion. On May 9, 1988 in Memphis, Lawler took on
7398-559: The Anchor Club and the Whitey and Terry's Olympic Gym. In his spare time, he and Leslie worked out in the gym together, and eventually Beefcake developed a muscular physique. Hogan was impressed by Beefcake's physical stature and became convinced that the two of them should wrestle together as tag team partners. Depressed and yearning to return to wrestling, Hogan called Superstar Billy Graham in 1978 with hopes that Graham could find him
7535-461: The Beach on July 7, during a six-man tag team match pitting The Outsiders ( Kevin Nash and Scott Hall ) against WCW loyalists, Hogan interfered and attacked Randy Savage on behalf of Hall and Nash, thereby turning heel for the first time in nearly fifteen years. After the match, Hogan delivered a promo , accosting the fans and WCW for under-appreciating his talent and drawing power, and announcing
7672-591: The Beach , where Hogan won by escaping the cage. After successfully retaining the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Big Bubba Rogers and Lex Luger in two separate matches on Nitro in September 1995. The October 9, 1995, broadcast of Nitro was Hogan's first appearance in an all-black attire. Hogan feuded with The Dungeon of Doom , which led to a WarGames match at Fall Brawl where Hogan's team (Lex Luger, Randy Savage, and Sting ) won. Hogan's reign as WCW World Heavyweight Champion (which, at 469 days,
7809-564: The CWA with the Dallas –based promotion World Class Championship Wrestling , creating the United States Wrestling Association which he sold to Lawler in 1997. In 2002, he co-founded NWA:TNA in Nashville with his son Jeff Jarrett , selling his controlling interest to Panda Energy International later in the same year. Jarrett was born to Christine "Teeny" Jarrett (1923–1998) in Nashville on September 4, 1942. His parents divorced when he
7946-1082: The Continental Wrestling Association. Throughout the existence of the CWA, there were notable feuds that took place. These feuds included Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee in 1977, and Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler in 1981. The professional wrestling territory commonly referred to as the “Memphis Area” was originally part of the NWA Mid-America promotion that was founded in the 1940s. It operated in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, but also included stops in surrounding cities and states. The "NWA Mid-American" territory featured tag teams in nearly all of its main events, and sometimes featuring only one or two singles matches to complement an evening of tag matches. Such teams as The Von Brauners , The Interns, The Infernos, The Bounty Hunters, Tojo Yamamoto and Jerry Jarrett, Don and Al Green, Bobby Hart and Lorenzo Parente, The Fabulous Kangaroos , Jerry Lawler and Jim White , The Fabulous Fargos, and
8083-480: The Fairgrounds and all over mid-Tennessee. Originally Gulas was backed by many of the areas top draws. Jarrett, however, was backed by Jerry Lawler, who had just toppled Jackie Fargo as the headliner of the Memphis area. Gulas did attempt to run shows in Memphis for some time but without the headliner, Lawler, he could not compete. This split between Gulas and Jarrett created the Continental Wrestling Association as
8220-529: The Florida region visited the bars where Ruckus was performing. Among those attending his performances were Jack and Gerald Brisco , two brothers who wrestled together as a tag team in the Florida region. Impressed by Hogan's physical stature, the Brisco brothers asked Hiro Matsuda —the man who trained wrestlers working for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF)—to make him a potential trainee. In 1976,
8357-504: The Giant , which culminated in a match with André at Shea Stadium in August 1980. During his initial run as a villain in the WWF, Hogan was paired with "Classy" Freddie Blassie , himself a villainous wrestler-turned- manager . In 1980, Hogan began appearing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where Japanese wrestling fans nicknamed him "Ichiban" ( 一番 , "Number One") . Hogan first appeared on May 13, 1980, while he
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#17327903096018494-400: The Giant and Ted DiBiase) and defeated them at the main event of the first SummerSlam . They then went on to feud with Slick's Twin Towers : Akeem and Big Boss Man . In mid-1988, Hogan wrestled at house shows in singles competition with his "War Bonnet", a red and yellow gladiator helmet with a fist-shaped crest. This was notably used to give Bad News Brown his first WWF loss at
8631-794: The MSG (Madison Square Garden) Tag League tournament two years in a row: in 1982 and 1983. In 1984, Hogan returned to NJPW to wrestle Inoki to defend the early version of the IWGP title after that Inoki won in the finals of the IWGP League, becoming the new no. 1 contender to the championship. Hogan lost the match and title belt by countout , thanks to interference from Riki Choshu . Hogan also defended his WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Seiji Sakaguchi and Fujinami, among others, until ending his tour in Nagoya on June 13 losing to Inoki via count-out in
8768-559: The Mid-South Coliseum shows wrestling women in the undercard matches, and after winning Kaufman would berate the Memphis crowd and proclaim his own greatness in the sport. He even went so far as to claim that no woman could beat him and if they did – he would marry that woman. Jerry Lawler, however, was a proud defender of wrestling and angry at Kaufman for mocking the sport that made him a star, so he decided to coach one of Kaufman's opponents. Kaufman still won despite Lawler's coaching and gloated until Lawler had enough and pushed Kaufman, sending
8905-406: The Mid-South Coliseum wearing a neck brace, vowing to get even with Lawler. The feud got national exposure in several newspapers after Kaufman's supposed injury, and it would get even more press after Kaufman discussed it on Saturday Night Live . On July 27, 1982, Kaufman and Lawler were guests of David Letterman on Late Night with David Letterman . Kaufman still wore a neck brace even though
9042-590: The NBC network executives uneasy, believing that the hatred between the two was real and that mayhem could break out at any time. Kaufman and Lawler kept claiming that their hatred and actions were real, but they were later revealed to have been a staged " work ", as the two were actually friends. The truth about it being a work was kept secret for more than 10 years after Kaufman's death until the Emmy nominated documentary A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman aired on NBC in 1995. In
9179-511: The USWA after a revenue dispute and folded shortly afterwards. In 1992, the USWA began a talent exchange program with the World Wrestling Federation . By the mid-1990s, attendances at the Mid-South Coliseum had fallen sharply, and Jarrett sold his stake in the promotion to Jerry Lawler and Larry Burton before it folded in 1997. In 1993, Vince McMahon was indicted on suspicion of supplying illegal anabolic steroids to professional wrestlers. Before
9316-427: The Undisputed WWF Championship for his record equaling (for the time) sixth reign before departing in 2003. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 , and inducted a second time in 2020 as a member of the nWo. Hogan also performed for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he headlined the inaugural AWA closed circuit supercard, Super Sunday in 1983, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) – where he
9453-442: The WCW World Heavyweight Championship at SuperBrawl V , where Hogan won by disqualification after the returning Flair's interference. Hogan then defeated Vader (who was managed part-time by Flair) in a non-title leather strap match at Uncensored . Because of the controversial ending caused once again by Flair at Uncensored, Hogan's feud with Vader culminated in a steel cage match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Bash at
9590-406: The WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan then lost the title to Sting in a match at Starrcade on December 28. In the match, WCW's newly contracted Bret Hart accused referee Nick Patrick of fast-counting a victory for Hogan and had the match restarted – with himself as referee. Sting later won by submission. After a rematch the following night on Nitro , where Sting controversially retained
9727-438: The WWF to pursue a career in film and television. He was lured back to the ring when he signed with rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times , and holds the record for the longest reign . In 1996, he underwent a career renaissance upon adopting the villainous persona of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, leading the popular New World Order (nWo) stable . As
9864-591: The allegations. Due to intense public scrutiny, Hogan took a leave of absence from the company. Hogan returned to the WWF in February 1993, helping out his friend Brutus Beefcake in his feud with Money Inc. ( Irwin R. Schyster and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase), and officially renaming themselves The Mega-Maniacs , taking on Money Inc.'s former manager "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart (a long-time friend of Hogan's outside of wrestling) as their manager in what
10001-498: The alleged injury had occurred 5 months before. Lawler described the neck brace as a "flea collar" and tensions rose between them until Lawler stood up and slapped the Kaufman out of his chair and off the stage. Kaufman unleashed a profanity-laced tirade on Lawler, culminating with Kaufmann throwing a cup of coffee at him. Kaufman continued cursing Lawler as he (Kaufmann) stormed out of the studio. The antics of Lawler and Kaufman made
10138-736: The back of the head with his arm cast in a shot meant for Hogan. On Saturday Night's Main Event I , Hogan successfully defended the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Orton in a match that Hogan won by disqualification . 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
10275-488: The champion by way of being the first man to escape the camel clutch (the Iron Sheik's finishing move). Immediately after the title win, commentator Gorilla Monsoon proclaimed: "Hulkamania is here!". Hogan frequently referred to his fans as "Hulkamaniacs" in his interviews and introduced his three "demandments": training , saying prayers , and eating vitamins . Eventually, a fourth demandment ( believing in oneself )
10412-603: The championship was again declared vacant. It was decided that the winner of the 1992 Royal Rumble match would also be declared the new WWF Champion. Hogan entered in the #26 spot, but failed to regain the championship as he was eliminated by friend Sid Justice . In turn, Hogan helped cause Sid's elimination, leaving Flair (who had entered the match as the 3rd entrant) as the winner and new WWF Champion. Hogan and Sid patched things up and teamed together on Saturday Night's Main Event XXX against Flair and Undertaker, but during
10549-521: The comedian on a tirade. The fans loved every second of it, watching the local star defend the sport against the arrogant actor from Hollywood. During the inevitable Lawler/Kaufman match, Lawler executed two Piledrivers (a move that was "banned" in Memphis) after which Kaufman was carried out of the arena on a stretcher (kayfabe). The following day several newspapers reported that Kaufman had in fact broken his neck. Several weeks later, Kaufman returned to
10686-556: The company after WCW programming on TBS and TNT was canceled. After the sale of World Championship Wrestling to the World Wrestling Federation and the bankruptcy of Extreme Championship Wrestling , the North American professional wrestling industry lacked a viable competitor to the WWF. Jerry and Jeff Jarrett attempted to fill the void. On May 9, 2002, they formed J Sports and Entertainment (JSE),
10823-577: The cooperative attempt with the AWA failed, Jerry Jarrett bought WCCW from the Von Erichs and unified the two promotions as the United States Wrestling Association in 1989, thus ending the era of Continental Wrestling Association. Through the summer until the early fall of 1977, Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee had their first of many feuds take place. From July to September, the pair faced each other 10 times. The matches varied in types of wrestling matches and in stipulations. The types of matches varied from
10960-487: The decision to be overturned by AWA President Stanley Blackburn due to the use of a foreign object during the match. Hogan left the AWA in November 1983. 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 Hogan to be the company's showpiece attraction due to his charisma and name recognition. Hogan made his return at
11097-483: The duo broke up while wrestling The Twin Towers on The Main Event II , when Savage accidentally collided with Miss Elizabeth during the match, and Hogan took her backstage to receive medical attention, temporarily abandoning Savage. After ensuring Elizabeth was all right, Hogan returned to the ring and begged Savage to tag him in. Savage, in a fury, grabbed Hogan's outstretched hand with one hand, and slapped him across
11234-445: The early 1980s, Andy Kaufman routinely wrestled women during his shows, proclaiming himself the “Intergender Wrestling Champion” and offering women $ 1000 if they could beat him. As part of this performance, Kaufman would imply that these matches were “real” and thus also imply that professional wrestling was not “real”, which countered the sacrosanct belief of fans in that era that wrestling was "real". Kaufman even started appearing in
11371-796: The early 1990s. These shows showcased a series of wrestlers as they made their way through the Memphis territory including Hulk Hogan , Harley Race , Terry Funk , Jack Brisco , and Ric Flair . The biggest run of the promotion was the Jerry Lawler- Jimmy Hart feud which lasted throughout the early 1980s. Jimmy Hart's "First Family" included dozens of wrestlers who Hart brought in to face Lawler. Included in this list were The Iron Sheik , The Dream Machine, The Nightmares, Eddie Gilbert , Ken Patera , Jesse Ventura , Hulk Hogan, Bugsy McGraw , Kevin Sullivan , Bobby Eaton , "Killer Tim Brooks", and Paul Ellering . The feud ended when Hart
11508-496: The early-1970s, Jarrett and his mother began promoting professional wrestling shows on behalf of Gulas in the Memphis area . After a dispute with Gulas in 1977, Jerry Jarrett opted to break away beginning a promotion, the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA). With the support of his mother, Jerry Lawler , and Buddy Fuller, Jerry Jarrett built the CWA into a successful promotion, staging events each Monday that regularly sold-out
11645-431: The earnings, if Titan held no interest). This extended to WCW, whose parent company Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner in 1996 and became sister companies with Marvel rival DC Comics . (As Hogan was well underway with the nWo storyline under the "Hollywood Hogan" ring name at the time, this avoided Time Warner the awkward situation of paying Marvel the rights to the name while owning its chief rival.) In
11782-519: The end of July 1981, when during a television taping that aired in August, Jerry Blackwell , after suffering a pinfall loss to Brad Rheingans , began beating down Rheingans and easily fighting off anyone who tried to run in for the save. Hogan ran in, got the upper hand and ran Blackwell from the ring. Hogan was eventually victorious in his feud with Blackwell and by the end of 1981, gained his first title matches against Bockwinkel. In March 1982, Hogan defeated Bockwinkel and his manager Bobby Heenan in
11919-470: The end of the match, Jimmy Hart showed up revealing the bandaged man to be Andy Kaufman. In the confusion Bockwinkel won the match. The Lawler/Kaufman feud ended in the early part of 1983 after Lawler threw a fireball at Kaufman, ending his run with the CWA. After Kaufman left, Lawler refocused his efforts on Jimmy Hart and his First Family stable . Lawler challenging for the World title and almost winning it
12056-604: The face with the other before leaving the ring. Hogan eventually won the match by himself. After the match, Savage attacked Hogan backstage, which started a feud between the two. Their feud culminated in Hogan beating Savage for his second WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania V . Hogan's second run in 1989 lasted a year, during which he defended the title in two matches against Savage in April that he lost both times by count-out, before defeating The Big Boss Man in
12193-538: The fall of 1991, Hogan was challenged by Ric Flair , the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion who recently arrived in the WWF. The challenge went unmet, as Hogan lost the WWF Championship to The Undertaker at Survivor Series . Jack Tunney immediately granted Hogan a rematch at This Tuesday in Texas six days later, which Hogan won. Flair had interfered in both matches and due to the resulting controversy,
12330-511: The first annual King of the Ring pay-per-view on June 13, Hogan defended the WWF Championship in a rematch against Yokozuna. This was Hogan's first and only title defense since defeating Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. Yokozuna kicked out of Hogan's signature leg drop and scored the pinfall win after Hogan was blinded by a fireball shot by a "Japanese photographer" (actually a disguised Harvey Wippleman). The victorious Yokozuna proceeded to give Hogan
12467-412: The first holder of an early version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship , defeating Antonio Inoki by knockout in the finals of a ten-man tournament. Since then, this championship was defended annually against the winner of the IWGP League of the year until it was replaced by current IWGP Heavyweight Championship , that is defended regularly. Hogan and Inoki also worked as partners in Japan, winning
12604-443: The first session in training, Matsuda broke Hogan's leg. After 10 weeks of rehab, Hogan returned to train with Matsuda and blocked him when he tried to break his leg again. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In mid-1977, after training for more than a year with Matsuda, the Brisco brothers dropped by Matsuda's gym to see Hogan. During this visit, Jack Brisco handed Hogan
12741-545: The formation of the New World Order (nWo). The new stable gained prominence in the following weeks and months. Hogan grew a beard alongside his famous mustache and dyed it black, traded his red and yellow garb in for black and white clothing, often detailed with lightning bolts, and renamed himself "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan (often shortened to Hollywood Hogan). Hogan won his second WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Hog Wild on August 10 by defeating The Giant for
12878-413: The inner workings of the wrestling business) that the two really were brothers, as few people actually knew their real names outside of immediate friends, family, and the various promoters the two worked for. After wrestling a show for Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) in Memphis, Jerry Jarrett, the promoter for the CWA, approached Hogan and Leslie and offered them a job in his promotion for $ 800
13015-644: The match Sid abandoned Hogan, starting their feud. At WrestleMania VIII , Hogan defeated Sid via disqualification due to interference by Sid's manager Harvey Wippleman . Hogan was then attacked by Papa Shango and was saved by the returning Ultimate Warrior. At this time, news sources began to allege that Dr. George Zahorian III, a doctor for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, had been selling steroids illegally to wrestlers in general and Hogan in particular. Hogan appeared on an episode of The Arsenio Hall Show to deny
13152-489: The match, Hogan thanked DiBiase for putting him over and told him that he "owed him one", a favor he repaid during DiBiase's second run with the company in the late 1980s and early 1990s as "The Million Dollar Man". McMahon gave Hogan former tag team champion Tony Altomare as chaperone and guide. At this time, Hogan wrestled Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship , and he started his first big feud with André
13289-401: The midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of Piper's Pit , Hogan was confronted by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, who announced that André was his new protégé, and Andre challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, where Hogan successfully defended the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant. During the match, Hogan hit a body slam on the 520-pound André (which
13426-456: The opponent (later accompanied by a loud "you!" from the audience), shaking his finger to scold him, three punches, an Irish whip, the big boot and running leg drop – followed, ensuring victory. That finishing sequence occasionally changed depending on the storyline and opponent; for instance, with "giant" wrestlers, the sequence might involve a body slam . In 1984, similarities between Hogan's character and that of The Incredible Hulk led to
13563-403: The other half of the territory. Many of the wrestlers in the promotion were upset at Gulas for over booking his son George Gulas in the profitable Memphis half of the territory. It was very hard to believe that George could regularly beat his larger more experienced foes. George was given matches and wins over longtime veterans of the territory without "paying his dues". After Jarrett had invested
13700-591: The parent company of NWA:TNA , a new professional wrestling promotion that began airing weekly pay-per-views on In Demand on June 19. In October 2002, JSE sold a 72% controlling interest in NWA:TNA to Panda Energy . Jarrett remained part of the NWA:TNA management team until departing in late-2005 over a dispute about the direction of the company. In October 2005, he introduced professional wrestler Oleg Prudius to WWE , where he became Vladimir Kozlov . After stepping away from professional wrestling, Jarrett owned
13837-464: The premier WWF icon, headlined seven of the first eight WrestleMania events. He also co-hosted Saturday Night Live on March 30, 1985, during this lucrative run. AT&T reported that the 900 number information line he ran while with the WWF was the single biggest 900 number from 1991 to 1993. Hogan continued to run a 900 number after joining World Championship Wrestling (WCW). On Saturday Night's Main Event II , he successfully defended
13974-510: The previous fifteen years. A new storyline was introduced in early 1987; Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three consecutive years. André the Giant, who was Hogan's good friend, came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterward, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in the WWF for 15 years". Hogan came out to congratulate André, who walked out in
14111-423: 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 when "Cowboy" Bob Orton , who had been in the corner of Piper and Orndorff, accidentally caused his team's defeat by knocking out Orndorff after he jumped from the top turnbuckle and hit him in
14248-492: The ratings for the weekly CWA show which drew previously unheard of shares behind the strength of Lawler's local popularity. Throughout the late 1970s, the 1980s and into the early 1990s, Jerry Lawler also engaged in feuds with Dutch Mantell , Robert Fuller , The Mongolian Stomper , Bruiser Brody , Jimmy Valiant , Austin Idol , Rocky Johnson , Tommy Rich , Randy Savage , Rick Rude , and Bill Dundee among others. These men were also on and off again partners to Lawler. In
14385-801: The reigning AWA World Champion Curt Hennig and won the title. As the year went on the AWA/CWA alliance was expanded to include the World Class Wrestling Association out of Texas, with a title unification match set for the AWA’s first (and only) pay-per-view , AWA SuperClash III . Lawler retained the AWA World Heavyweight Championship and won the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship in controversial fashion—the match
14522-495: The ring after he had his head slammed into a table by Lawler. This match is remembered as being the first time Lawler had ever dropped his strap on his wrestling singlet and not won the match immediately. Before this match, Lawler would drop his strap and immediately beat his opponent. After this match, Funk was extremely upset that he had lost. He wanted to get his revenge on Lawler during a rematch. Funk wanted this rematch to take place in an empty arena. Funk's justification for this
14659-546: The second shove prompting Hebner to disqualify Zeus from the match. Hogan and Beefcake then defeated Zeus and Savage in a rematch at the No Holds Barred pay-per-view to end the feud. Hogan also had defeated Savage to retain the WWF Championship in their official WrestleMania rematch on October 10, at United Kingdom show First WWF UK Event at London Arena . During his second reign as the WWF Champion, Hogan won
14796-783: The show backstage, Mary Jarrett noticed that Hogan was actually bigger than Ferrigno, who was well known at the time for having large muscles. As a result, Hogan began performing as Terry "The Hulk" Boulder and sometimes wrestled as Sterling Golden. On December 1, 1979, Hogan won his first professional wrestling championship , the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) , recognized in Alabama and Tennessee , when he defeated Bob Roop in Knoxville, Tennessee . He dropped it in January 1980 to Bob Armstrong . He briefly wrestled in
14933-407: The spike from smashing it against the ring post and tried to drive the spike into Lawler's eye. According to Jim Cornette, former wrestling manager and wrestling historian, Funk left the CWA for a month to wrestle in Japan. Funk did return later in 1981, where he came on television and asked where Lawler was. Lawler was not present in the studio, so Terry Funk decided to take out his anger by punching
15070-800: The territory defending the title against top contenders. The main title of the CWA was the Southern Heavyweight Title, which was nominally sanctioned by the NWA (into 1978) or the AWA (beginning in 1978). The cornerstone of the CWA was the weekly Monday night shows from the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, where the cards regularly drew full houses. These shows were repeated in some form weekly in Louisville and Nashville (on Saturday nights). Having three major shows at all three cities, and additional shows through other towns in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Northern Alabama provided significant profits into
15207-530: The title against Nikolai Volkoff in a flag match . He met long-time rival Roddy Piper in a WWF title match at the Wrestling Classic pay-per-view (PPV) event. Hogan retained the title by disqualification after Bob Orton interfered and hit Hogan with his cast. Hogan had many challengers in the way as the new year began. Throughout 1986, Hogan made successful title defenses against challengers such as Terry Funk , Don Muraco , King Kong Bundy (in
15344-414: The title being renamed and referred simply as the WWF Championship. Also during Hogan's second reign as champion, he starred in the movie No Holds Barred , which was the inspiration of a feud with Hogan's co-star Tom Lister, Jr. , who appeared at wrestling events as his movie character, Zeus (an "unstoppable monster" who was jealous over Hogan's higher billing and wanted revenge). Hogan easily beat Zeus in
15481-428: The title, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship became vacant. Sting went on to win the vacant title against Hogan at SuperBrawl VIII on February 22, 1998, and Hogan then developed a rivalry with former friend (and recent nWo recruit) Randy Savage, who had just cost Hogan the title match at SuperBrawl by hitting him with a spray can. The feud culminated in a steel cage match at Uncensored on March 15, which ended in
15618-466: The title. He spray painted "nWo" across the title belt, scribbled across the nameplate, and referred to the title as the "nWo title". Hogan then started a feud with Lex Luger after Luger and The Giant defeated Hogan and Dennis Rodman in a tag team match at Bash at the Beach on July 13, 1997. On the August 4 episode of Nitro , Hogan lost the title to Lex Luger by submission . Five days later at Road Wild on August 9, Hogan defeated Luger to regain
15755-443: The title. This led to a steel cage match between Hogan and The Giant at SuperBrawl VI , where Hogan won to end their feud. In early 1996, Hogan reformed The Mega Powers with Randy Savage to feud with The Alliance to End Hulkamania, which culminated at Uncensored in a Doomsday Cage match that Hogan and Savage won. After coming out victorious from his feuds, Hogan began to only appear occasionally on WCW programming. At Bash at
15892-471: The trial, McMahon appointed Jarrett to run the company in case he was found guilty and sent to prison. When McMahon was found not guilty, Jarrett left to focus on the USWA. After stepping back from working in promotion, Jarrett worked as a consultant for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the WWF. In 2001, Jarrett suggested the acquisition of WCW, calculating that he could return the company to profitability by aggressively cutting costs. The WWF acquired
16029-487: The two brothers asked Hogan to try wrestling. Hogan eventually agreed. At first, Mike Graham , the son of CWF promoter Eddie Graham , refused to put Hogan in the ring; according to Hogan, he met Graham while in high school and the two did not get along. After Hogan quit Ruckus and started telling people in town that he was going to be a wrestler, Graham finally agreed to accept the Brisco Brothers' request. During
16166-564: The video game, Hulk Hogan's Main Event . He was the frontman for The Wrestling Boot Band, whose sole record, Hulk Rules , reached No. 12 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart in 1995. Hogan was born in Augusta, Georgia , on August 11, 1953, the son of construction foreman Pietro "Peter" Bollea (December 6, 1913 – December 18, 2001) and homemaker and dance teacher Ruth V. ( née Moody; 1922 – January 1, 2011). Bollea
16303-439: The week after promised to beat Lawler for the title or else he would shave his wife's head. Dundee lost this match as well, and his wife's head was shaven. This was a notable feud in the CWA, as it did a lot of business in terms of ticket sales. According to newspaper clippings, the pair sold a total of 85,538 tickets over their 10-match feud. That is roughly an average of 8,500 people coming to watch wrestling every Monday night at
16440-486: Was a five-time WWF Champion , with his 1,474-day reign being the longest of the WrestleMania era ever. He is the first wrestler to win consecutive Royal Rumble matches, winning in 1990 and 1991 . His match with André the Giant on WWF The Main Event on February 5, 1988, still holds American television viewership records for wrestling with a 15.2 Nielsen rating and 33 million viewers. In 1993, Hogan departed
16577-455: Was a National Wrestling Alliance champion from 1975 to 1977, and was considered by many to be one of the best wrestlers of his generation. The first Lawler vs Funk match occurred on March 23, 1981, in the Mid-south Coliseum. This match was a No Disqualification match. Terry Funk had Jimmy Hart at ringside. The two men wrestled for about 11 minutes. Jerry Lawler won the match by count out, as Terry Funk had been incapacitated and could not return to
16714-482: Was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance until 1986 and affiliated with the American Wrestling Association until 1989. In 1989, the CWA merged with the World Class Wrestling Association to form the United States Wrestling Association thus ceasing to exist as a separate entity. Lance Russell and Dave Brown were the television commentators and hosts for the Memphis territory, including
16851-597: Was a recurring theme throughout the mid-1980s, with neither the AWA nor the NWA being willing to actually put their main title on Lawler. The NWA World title was not defended very often in the Memphis area, usually touring with companies that had more political clout in the Alliance, which meant that the CWA actually featured the AWA World champion more regularly than the group of which they were actually dues-paying members. In 1988, plans were set in motion to actually merge
16988-410: Was added during his feud with Earthquake in 1990. Hogan's ring gear developed a characteristic yellow-and-red color scheme; his ring entrances involved him ritualistically ripping his shirt off his body, flexing , and listening for audience cheers in an exaggerated manner. The majority of Hogan's matches during this time involved him wrestling heels who had been booked as unstoppable monsters , using
17125-405: Was already beginning to fall out by that time, and he refused to dye it, simply replying, "I'll be a blond Irish". Bollea wrestled his first match in the WWF under the ring name "Hulk Hogan" by defeating Harry Valdez on the November 17 episode of Championship Wrestling . He made his first appearance at Madison Square Garden on December 17, 1979, defeating Ted DiBiase after a bearhug . After
17262-639: Was an American businessman, professional wrestling promoter , and professional wrestler. Along with his long-term business partner Jerry Lawler , he was a key figure in the history of professional wrestling in the Mid-Southern United States . Described as a "wrestling genius", he was inducted into the National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame in 2009. Jarrett founded the Memphis, Tennessee –based Continental Wrestling Association in 1977. In 1989, he merged
17399-630: Was an overbearing trainer, and left CWF. After declining an offer to wrestle for the Kansas City circuit, Hogan took a hiatus from wrestling and managed The Anchor club, a private club in Cocoa Beach, Florida , for a man named Whitey Bridges. Eventually, Whitey and Hogan became close friends, and opened a gym together; the gym became known as Whitey and Terry's Olympic gym. Soon after, Hogan's friend Ed Leslie (later known as Brutus Beefcake ) came to Cocoa Beach to help Hogan and Bridges manage both
17536-473: Was dubbed "the bodyslam heard around the world") and won the match after a leg drop. Hulk Hogan vs Big Boss Man on March 7, 1989, at the El Paso Civic Center for a video-taping of a WWF "Superstars of Wrestling" event. Hogan remained WWF World Heavyweight Champion for four years (1,474 days) . In front of 33 million viewers, Hogan finally lost the title to André on The Main Event I after
17673-471: Was now a WCW employee—visited him on the set of Thunder in Paradise episodes. Hype then built over whether Hogan should remain with Thunder in Paradise or join WCW and have an opportunity to wrestle Ric Flair . On the May 28, 1994, episode of WCW Saturday Night , Hogan tore up his Thunder in Paradise contract and stated he was now willing to quit the show and return to wrestling, and Okerlund issued
17810-436: Was signed by the World Wrestling Federation in 1985, and Lawler won a match against Eddie Gilbert in which the stipulation was Hart leaving the territory. The federation also aired live Saturday-morning wrestling cards from the studios of WMC-TV in Memphis, hosted by Lance Russell and Dave Brown . In the territorial era of wrestling, many local promotions had huge ratings with their wrestling shows, but none of them topped
17947-562: Was still with the WWF. He occasionally toured the country over the next few years, facing a wide variety of opponents ranging from Tatsumi Fujinami to Abdullah the Butcher . When competing in Japan , Hogan used a vastly different repertoire of wrestling moves, relying on more technical, traditional wrestling holds and maneuvers as opposed to the power-based, brawling style American fans became accustomed to seeing from him. In addition, Hogan used
18084-510: Was stopped due to excessive blood loss from Kerry Von Erich —and was declared the “Unified World Champion”, cementing his claim by carrying the AWA and WCCW titles with him. Due to controversies following the PPV, the CWA (and WCCW) broke off their relationship with the AWA, and Lawler was stripped of the AWA World title. In retaliation, Lawler kept the physical AWA World Heavyweight championship belt for not getting his payoff for SuperClash III. After
18221-455: Was that he did not trust the audience or referee, who he felt were on Lawler's side. The match took place in an empty Mid-south Coliseum on April 6, 1981, and it aired on television on April 25, 1981. The only people at this match other than Lawler and Funk was Lance Russell, a cameraman, and a photographer. The match ended after Lawler had stuck a wooden spike in Funk's eye. This was after Funk made
18358-492: Was the comedian's own idea. At the end of 1982, Jerry Lawler had seemingly won the American Wrestling Association (AWA)'s World Title from Nick Bockwinkel , but due to the match's controversial ending, the title was returned to Bockwinkel with a rematch scheduled for January 1983. On the night of the match, manager Jimmy Hart showed up in Bockwinkel's corner, face bandaged after being beaten up by Lawler in December. Near
18495-545: Was the first time WWF audiences had seen Hart as a fan favorite. At WrestleMania IX , Hogan and Beefcake took on Money Inc. for the WWF Tag Team Championship , a match the Mega-Maniacs lost via disqualification. Hogan went into the match injured (he had a cut above his left eyebrow, and the left eye itself was fully black). The WWF used Hogan's injury in a storyline that had DiBiase allegedly paying
18632-600: Was the inaugural winner of the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship – and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). During and after wrestling, Hogan had an extensive acting career, beginning with his 1982 cameo role in Rocky III . He has starred in several films (including No Holds Barred , Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny ) and three television shows ( Hogan Knows Best , Thunder in Paradise , and China, IL ), as well as in Right Guard commercials and
18769-593: Was three. To support Jerry Jarrett and his sister, Christine began working as a ticket vendor at the Nashville Hippodrome for Nick Gulas and Roy Welch , the promoters of NWA Mid-America . Over time Christine Jarrett was given more responsibility by Gulas and Welch, and by the early-1970s, she was promoting shows on their behalf in Indiana and Kentucky . At the age of seven, Jerry Jarrett began selling programs for Gulas and Welch. After receiving
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