Hulk Hogan (opinions)

I realize Hogan has many flaws, including a racist comment several years ago about his daughter dating black dudes. I know there are plenty of reasons for knocking the guy. I can’t disagree with the reasons for hating the man. I truly can’t.

Yet, he still manages to be a favorite of mine. Probably will be one of my all-time favorites, no matter how old I am. No matter how flawed certain people are, all of us still manage to have fond memories of certain people. Hogan is one of those guys that I have a hard time hating on too much.

Perhaps it’s all those memories I’ve built up, over the years. Maybe I realize that we all screw up hard and try my damnedest to judge him too harshly.

As far as entertainers are concerned, he was huge at a time when wrestling didn’t have nearly the TV time that it has now. Since the internet wasn’t exactly available, we didn’t exactly get to see guys like Hogan on TV on a never-ending cycle. Made it a lot easier to hide his in-ring flaws.

Personally, I feel WWE officials were a lot smarter back then. They used people as agents, bookers, and whatnot to help develop their talent in such a way that they could look good on television.

Hogan was no different. He was pushed in such a away where his strong points were emphasized. Quite simply, Hogan had a certain charisma. Kids seemed to love him. When kids love certain performers, promotions are foolish to not take advantage of that. WWE was no different. You need younger fans, those less jaded, to help sell tickets. When younger fans want to go to a show, the parents buy tickets for the kids, themselves, maybe bring along a few friends. It could be a parent and the interested child. Maybe it’s the whole family.

Either way, you’ve got several people going to the event. Merchandise is bought at the event. A buddy of mine from Middle School used to get all the Pay-Per-Views, back in the day. This was when the major companies only had 4-5 major shows a year. Didn’t matter if we were talking WWE or NWA/WCW. Dude use to get them all.

Stuff like this was huge. Took guys like Hogan to keep drawing in the revenue.

Somehow, he managed to do it. Even as a kid, we knew it was the same, worn out, tired shtick. Said the same thing when he was on TV. His matches followed the same format. I suppose it was forgivable, considering the generation. Hogan had so many talented opponents, all of whom seemed more then capable of working an entertaining feud, nobody seemed to care all that much.

Wasn’t until a few years into the 90’s when anyone gave a damn. Wrestling was gaining more exposure on TV. We had a fresh crop of talent available to us. Tastes were changing. While the business was slowly changing, beginning with the New Generation, guys like Hogan were still operating under the old ways of doing business.

Took the formation of the New World Order to give Hogan a fresh image, something that allowed fans to look at him in a new light. If you didn’t grow up in this generation, you can’t completely understand how big of a deal this was. Personally, I feel this kept Hogan’s career alive. There’s a strong possibility that Hogan’s career would’ve ended in the mid-90’s if he failed to change with the business.

Hogan’s ability to change with the business was probably his biggest asset. Playing politics, no matter your line of work, is always a high priority. I don’t care if you clean toilets for a living. If you have the ability to play ball convincingly, you’ll always be poised to get the best returns for your investment, in a manner of speaking. That’s what kept Hogan going for so many years.

Sure, he had the look. He had the gift to gab. He could keep your attention when you’d otherwise stop caring. Hogan had the ability to make you believe he was in deep crap, during his matches. Each match could be the match where some monster heel, such as King Kong Bundy or Andre the Giant, would take him down. When he face a technically sound opponent, he had a way of making them look strong as well, despite the size advantage he had over them.

We don’t get that like we used to. Perhaps one day, we’ll go back to the basics. Perhaps we’ll return to the days where you had to convince the fans that shit has gotten real.