Hulk Hogan

Real name Terry Gene Bollea. He idolized dusty Rhodes and Superstar Billy Graham. Jack and Jerry Briscoe encouraged him to wrestle professionally. They had him train for a year with Hiro Matsuda in 1976.

He first started out as the masked Superdestroyer. His first wrestling partner was Brutus Beefcake as Ed and Terry Boulder. He also wrestled as Terry "The Hulk" Bolder and Sterling Golden

Vince McMahon gave him the name Hogan in 1979 because he wanted him to sound Irish. In the early 80's he found huge success in New Japan Wrestling. He was nicknamed Ichiban, which means number 1. On June 2, 1983, Hogan became the first International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) tournament winner, defeating Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki by knockout in the finals of a 10 man tournament featuring top talent from around the world. Hogan and Inoki also worked as partners in Japan, winning the prestigious MSG Tag League tournament two years in a row: in 1982 and 1983. Hogan's popularity in Japan was so great, he even recorded an album there.

At the same time in the early 80's, he was also wrestling in the AWA. He feuded with champion Nick Bockwinkle but Verne Gagne would not let Bockwinkle loss the title. According to Hulk Hogans biography, Verne agreed to give him the title but he wanted a cut of Hulks purses in Japan. Hulk said no, he didnt need the title. The Gagne wanted Hulk to marry into the family to get the title. At this point, Hogan didnt need the title and refused. Hogan was then lured back to the WWF by a young Vince McMahon Jr who had bought the company from his ailing father.

In 1983, Vince McMahon decided to take the WWF into a nationwide promotion with Hulk Hogan as its centerpiece. In January 1984, Hulk would win his first WWE Championship from the Iron Sheik. Gorilla Monsoon would declare that Hulkamania was here and Hulk would start referring to his fans as Hulkamaniacs. He then started his three DEMANDMENTS. Training, saying your prayers and eating your vitamins. Wrestlemania III was probably the most talked about and watched wrestling event in televison history with The Hulkster body slamming and defeating Andre The Giant to retain his WWF championship. He held the title for 4 and a half years, third only to Legendary Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund. He would then lose it in a scam of a payoff to the referee by Ted Dibiase. It all ended with a tournament and Randy Savage got the title.

In 1988-89, he would form a tag team with randy Savage called the Superpowers. They would defeat the team Megabucks, Dibiaxe and Andre, in the first ever summerslam event. The team would breakup in 1989 when the injected the jealousy angle, Macho Man suspecting his wife Miss Elizabeth and Hulk were more than just friends. It would set off a feud that eventually led to Hulk winning the championship again from Randy Savage in Wrestlemania V. In 1990, he would lose the belt to Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior in a title versus title match at Wrestlemania VI.

He also became the first WWF wrestler two win back to back Royal Rumbles in 1990 and 1991. In Wrestlemania VII, Hulk would win his third WWF title by defeating Iraqi sympathizer Sgt Slaughter. Yhrough a series of bizarre events, Ric Flair would cause the title to be vacated and he would eventually win it in the 1992 Royal Rumble. In 93 he would reunite with Brutus Beefcake to form the Megamaniacs at Wrestlemania IX. He would defeat Yokozuna for his 4th WWF title reign. In a 1993 King of the Ring PPV, Hulk wold lose the title back to Yokozuna with a bizarre scam where Yokozunas manager Harvey Whippleman would "blind" Hogan with a fireball. Hogan would then leave WWF for WCW.

Hogan would win the WCW Heavyweight Championship in his first WCW match against Ric Flair in PPV Bash at the Beach. He would hold that title until 1995, when he would lose to the Giant(a VERY young Big Show). Then from 1986 to 1988 he did the whole NWO thing. He would win his 2nd WCW Championship by beating The Giant at Hog Wild. He would then spray paint the letters NWO across the belt. In August of 1997, Lex Luger would put Hulk in the torture rack to win the title but Hulk would be him 5 days later at Road Wild for 3rd WCW title. In the next year, Sting would take the belt.

In 1997, the NWO would implode and Hulk woud win his 4th WCW championship against Randy Savage. He would later lose the title to newcomer Bill Goldberg with some outside interference. He would retire and then come back in 1999 to defeat Kevin Nash for his 5th WCW Championship reign. They then reformed the NWO but this time there were 2 different groups, the white letters and the red. Vince Russo then started writing the matches and Hogan did not get along. Even so, Hulk would win his 6th and final WCW Championship at Bash at the Beach against Randy Savage. Russo would ask Hogan to take some time off, so he laid down in street clothes in the ring and let Sting pin him. Later at another event, Jeff Jarret would enter the ring as the champion and just lay down waiting for Hulk to pin him, per Russo's writing. Hulk thrashed Russo on the microphone that he had ruined the company. Hogan would pin Jarret to win the title. The video of that match is below. Russo would come out and fire Hogan for real. Hulk would later sue Vince Russo for defamation of character which was settled out of court. Eric Bischoff would later confirm Hogans version of the story, they actually went out and celebrated Hogan being fired, he wanted out of his contract.

Hogan would then watch WCW go out of business and take 2000-2001 off to have major knee surgery so he could return to the WWF. On april 4th, 2002 Hulk would win his 6th and final WWF Championship at backlash from Triple H. He would then go on to lose the title to the Undertaker at judgement day 1 month later. He would then tag with Edge to win the WWE Tag Team belts. They would then lose the belts to The UnAmericans Christian and Lance Storm at Vengeance. He would go on to beat Vince McMahon in a match in Wrestlemania XIX, which they billed as 20 years in the making. In a storyline that has been used in EVERY wrestling program in America, Hulk would come back as a masked wrestler when Vince would ban him for beating him. He claomed he wanted Hulkamania to die. He was Mr. America and even came out to Hulks Real American music. He would eventually unmask to show the fans who he "really" was and would then quit the WWE, citing a "lack of creativity" by the writers. Vince would then go on the air the following week and show the footage that Mr. America was really Hulk Hogan and fire him but Hulk had already quit the WWE amd McMahon wanted to save face, it didnt work.

In 2003-2005, Hulk wrestled in Japan and had negotiated a contract with TNA but injuries forced him to pull out.

In 2005, The hulkster was inducted into the WWE Wrestling Hall of Fame.