Throwback Thursday- Hulkamania

Whatcha gonna do, brother?

I hope you said your prayers and ate your vitamins, because Hulkamania is about to run wild in the Tiki Bar! I can confidently say that every 80's and 90's boy looked up to Hulk Hogan. He was our hero and our savior in the fight against evil. He was the Real American. He was the positive influence you could look to day in and day out. We played with his toys, we wore his shirts, and any time we played a WWF game, he was always the character you fought to get.

I remember the first time I saw the Hulkster: It was 1989. I has just started getting into wrestling because my father and my uncle were into it. I was watching WWF Superstars on the USA network. All of a sudden, that music started, the crowd went wild, and out came this ripped guy with blond hair who tore through his work out shirt, and started pounding on some heel in the ring. The fight wasn't even close. Hogan reigned as the victor, and went on to show the public how much he loved them.

That was when I joined up as a full-fledged member of the Hulkamaniacs, and just like any other Hulkamaniac, I had to beg to have every piece of Hulk Hogan merchandise there was. To their credit, my parents were more than generous in their attempts to keep me happy. Just to clarify, I was never a spoiled kid. I never cried or did the "I hate you" bit if they didn't buy me what I wanted. Perhaps that's why they never hesitated to grab up whatever they could find, I guess they appreciated not being screamed at.

You name it, I had it. Hulk Hogan wrestling buddy, Hulk Hogan action figures, Hulk Hogan talking figurine, Hulk Hogan work out set, but let's be real, they only bought it for the shirt and bandanna. Vitamins, ice cream pops, the list goes on and on. I loved the WWF, and more specifically, I loved Hogan. I remember when I was about 5 years old, that there were rumors that Hogan had fought his last match. He wasn't the champion anymore, and guys like The Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man, Undertaker, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels had become the faces of the company. While I loved all of those guys, none of them were the Hulkster.

1992 rolled around and so did Yokozuna. He had taken the place by storm, and were virtually unbeatable. Brutus the Barber was a fan favorite, and had been a close friend to Hulk Hogan. I remember one night on Monday Night Raw (at least I think it was on Raw), he was attacked by Money Incorporated, and had taken a steel briefcase to the face, forcing him to wear a protective mask. He vowed revenge, and was granted it through a tag team match at Wrestlemania 9 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. By his side was his friend, and Hulkamania was to run wild one more time.

The Mega-maniacs, along with Jimmy Hart, gave it to Money Inc. and walked out as the victors (more or less). Then the main event came as Yokozuna and Bret Hart battled it out for the WWF championship. Yokozuna beat Hart after Mr. Fuji threw salt in Bret's eyes. Hogan ran out to the ring to help Bret Hart out, and instead was challenged by Fuji to fight Yokozuna for the championship. After a matter of minutes, Hulk Hogan dropped the Big Leg, and pinned Yokozuna to become the WWF champion once again. It was, in my childhood at least, the final moment of WWF glory for Hulk Hogan.

If my memory serves me correctly, I think Hogan lost the belt to Yokozuna the next night on Raw, but I might be mistaken. The truth was, Hogan wasn't finished with wrestling, he was finished with the WWF. He had bolted for Ted Turner's WCW, a company built on overpaying for Vince McMahon's prized stars, and drawing them over to the rival. Slowly but surely, Hogan, Macho Man, Diesel, Razor Ramone, The Legion Of Doom, and countless others were heading over to the dark side. Honestly, I didn't follow them. I stayed true to WWF.

Then something horrible happened in the mid-90's. Hulk Hogan came out to a crowd at a WCW show, and proclaimed that he was no longer the good guy. He didn't care about the kids, and had abandoned the career and legacy he had built as the ultimate good guy. Instead, Hollywood Hogan and the New World Order was born. I would tell you more about it, but honestly, I don't know much more because I never watched it. In fact, I was so hurt by the entire situation from him leaving to him becoming a heel, that I had stopped watching wrestling all together. It wasn't until my friend told me about a guy named Stone Cold Steve Austin that I started to watch again.

By the time Hogan came back to the WWF in 2002, I wasn't watching anymore. I would tune in a little from time to time, but I had grown tired of most of the story lines and was too involved with other things. I caught a few of his PPV matches, and saw a little bit of the "Hulk Still Rules" era when he was wearing his yellow and red again, but honestly, I didn't see enough of it to talk about it. Every now and again, I'll go to Nassau Coliseum with a friend and check out a WWF event (to me, it will always be the WWF, not the WWE). I don't know most of the people involved, and I don't have too much connection with any of the fighters.

I go because it reminds me of being there as a kid. I don't watch Randy Orton and see Randy Orton. I see Hogan, and Macho Man, and Stone Cold. I remember making my cardboard signs and screaming for my favorites. I remember hearing that signature Hogan music and listening to the crowd go wild. I remember playing his my toys every day. Then I realized that I hadn't eaten my vitamins that morning, and I should probably get on that when I get home.

-Sean
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