Is Hulk Hogan a nice guy and/or a good person?

[steve(thelil)]

I'm not a wrestling fan, but I'd like to know. I'm under the impression that he's a nice guy, and maybe even a good person. Thanks.

[rollhead]

I don't know about Hulk Hogan, but I do know something about the man who defeated him: "The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment"

A local guy, Joe Layden, wrote for The Rock the book: "The Rock Says: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment," and apparently The Rock went to the mat for Joe, demanding that Joe's name appear on the cover and that Joe get a bigger piece of the proceeds.

Layden, who has ghostwritten several books for many "Most Electrifying Men/Women in in Sports, Entertainment, Business and/or Politics" said (told a friend of mine) that no one he ever ghosted for fought as hard for him as did "The Rock." And that, in general, The Rock was a super nice guy.



I firmly believe that most professional wrestlers, even the bad guys, are much nicer than your average everyday garden snake of a politician or business leader. But my understanding is that The Rock is nice even for professional wrestler standards.

[steve(thelil)]

The Rock seems like a really good guy. I heard him interviewed and he played along, seeming totally amused, with the interviewer repeatedly calling him "The Dwayne" (his real name) instead of "The Rock."

[Scott Dolan]

I knew a cat that went to high school in Tampa with Mr. Bollea. Said he didn't really know him that well but he did indeed seem like a pretty nice guy.

[rollhead]

The interviewer was no doubt electrified to be in The Rock's presence, and wasn't thinking straight. It is understandable.

[rollhead]

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Best Congressional Investigation Ever Reveals Hulk Hogan To Be A "Terrible" Wrestler
Posted by michaelscherer | Comments (49) | Permalink | Trackbacks (3) | Email This
With no real fanfare, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has finished up his investigation of steroids in professional wrestling. (Yep, it's a problem.) Marc Ambinder, a hopeless fan of the squared circle, has a good write up of some of the highlights and the policy implications.

But the steroid stuff is not really the most interesting part. In his effort to rid the nation of steroid abuse, Waxman has incidentally created a great historical treasure trove, one of the most comprehensive pictures ever produced of the fascinating, exhilarating, often-nasty and always-elusive professional wrestling business. This industry is, it must be said, America's last great circus, a traveling band of performers with pecs and tights that is televised with huge ratings three times a week on cable, fills untelevised arenas many other nights each week, and attracts millions of dollars in annual pay-per-view revenue. It is "fake" in the way that it is not a sport, like baseball or football. But as a business, as a form of entertainment, and as an athletic drama it often puts real sports leagues to shame.

In recent years, American professional wrestling has been mostly run as a monopoly, under the umbrella of the WWE, which is controlled and operated by Vince McMahon and his family, who often perform at the events. They like to keep the backstage details quiet, by necessity. Like magic, pro-wrestling is about illusion. You never want to reveal more than the trick demands. But Waxman has now laid these details bare, in testimony to Congress, where lies are prosecutable offenses. We learn that the WWE, for instance, employs about 10 writers to develop story lines for the wrestlers. In addition to the writers, a group of "producers," mostly former wrestlers, travel on the road to help the performers with rough choreography of each match. (Each match needs a beginning, middle and end.) The performers can make anywhere from a few thousand to many hundred thousand dollars, depending on the event. Then there is this, my favorite nugget from what I have read so far--from an interview with Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of Vince and the person in charge of talent relations and creative writing.

Q: How does talent get to become main-event talent?

A: Basically, hard work and perseverance and overwhelming the audience. . . . When someone walks out on that stage, they either connect with the people or they don't. If you walk out on stage and nobody cares and you don't have any presence, you are never going to be a main-event guy. But if you walk out and you make the people notice you, you can be a main-event guy. You really don't even have to be a good wrestler. Hulk Hogan was a terrible wrestler, and he still is.

Q: For the record, I am sure he would disagree with that.

A: I am sure he would disagree with that. I forget this is all public. But, you know, he was. He was a terrible wrestler. But what an incredible psychologist and what an incredible charismatic person. There is no denying Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest stars in the history of our business and will always be perceived as such. But he was not a great wrestler, not a great technician.
Later in the interview, Stephanie McMahon says she regrets saying on the record that Hogan was a bad wrestler. But she elaborates, nonetheless.

When I said Hulk Hogan wasn't a great wrestler, I didn't mean he didn't know how to do the moves, the move technically. He just had three moves. And that is all he did. That is what I meant. It wasn't an exciting technical display of reversing holds and, you know, multiple different maneuvers. It was a very basic match. Psychologically it worked every time. The crowd got behind Hulk.
Just Stephanie's interview alone runs 138 pages. All great stuff. The full archive of Waxman's investigation can be found here.

UPDATE: Ambinder responds to this post, by agreeing with McMahon: Hulk stunk as a wrestler. The Atlantic's in-house wrestling expert even posts video evidence to prove it: a vintage match between Hogan and Minnesota's own Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

MORE: Wade Keller, the editor of Pro-Wrestling Torch, who probably learns more about wrestling before lunch before I have gathered in a lifetime, points out correctly that Waxman is not the first to put to paper the mechanics of behind-the-curtain wrestling production, a craft that has been documented in fan publications and wrestler memoirs for years. (Had a McMahon ever knocked Hogan's wrestling skills in public before?) That said, Waxman's historical record is still quite astounding, and great reading, and it will be a valuable historical and journalistic reference for years to come.

[clinthopson]

It's not "wrestling," it's "rasseling." Big dif.

I miss Gorgeous George.

[Mike Schwartz]

Anybody who asks kids to "say your prayers and take your vitamins" (which was part of the act at one time) must be a saint

[kedoane]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

Anybody who asks kids to "say your prayers and take your vitamins" (which was part of the act at one time) must be a saint

And he has a wonderfully dysfunctional family to boot.

I pulled these two stories about his son, Nick, and daughter, Brooke, from eonline.com.

Nick Hogan is a free man.

After serving 166 days of an eight-month sentence, Hulk Hogan's son was released from a Pinellas County jail around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and taken immediately to his family's Clearwater, Fla., home.

Hogan, 18, got out early after receiving three months' credit for good behavior.

The Hogan Knows Best star pleaded no contest to felony reckless driving back in May stemming from a September 2007 car crash that left his best friend, John Graziano, in critical condition and needing lifelong medical care. He was subsequently sentenced to eight months behind bars as well as five years' probation and 500 hours of community service.

The Grazianos are expected to file a civil suit against the Hogans seeking damages.

-----------------------------
Brooke Hogan can't wait until her little brother receives his get-out-of-jail card.

The Hogan Knows Best babe writes on her MySpace blog that she can't wait to fawn over Nick Hogan, who's due to be released Tuesday from a Tampa jail after serving 166 days for reckless driving in the 2007 car crash that left his friend in a vegetative state.

"I can't even tell you, as a sister, how exciting this is for me! Nick and I are like best friends...and I can't believe how long Ive gone without him," she writes. "Not seeing him for 6 months has been really really hard...without having him there to hug me just at the right time, or crack a joke when im havin a bad day."

As for her feelings on the crash that left John Graziano in critical condition and near comatose, Brooke blames the news media for circulating misinformation.

"Some people wish terrible terrible things on us and say the the most nasty comments that I can't even repeat on here... It really hurts," she writes. "I understand people have their own opinion, but most of the people that come up to us don't know the whole story, or how much we really really love John.

"It's really sad, because were not bad people....were just going through a really hard time, and so is John's family. I feel sorry for the people who are misinformed because all they have to go off of is the media, which lets just face it, is NEVER a reliable source."

She then asks for prayers for Graziano's recovery, improbable as it may be, as well as for her own family.

"I know—like I know—John is gonna walk out of that hospital and things will be ok again. I know his strength and I know he can do it with our prayers...Please pray for my brother's safety too."

But most of all, Brooke blogs about the "happy stuff" she's looking forward to when Nick gets out, a date three months early due to good behavior.

"I just can't wait to see my Nicky! Im gonna make him every kind of food you can possibly think of!" she writes. "He's been living on bread and potatoes so far and I know some mac'n'cheese is gonna hit the spot!"

[Scott Dolan]

One hour in the Pinellas County jail is a fate worse than death.

And what makes the family so disfunctional based on those two stories?

[bigtiny]

I'm from St. Pete and a lot of wrestlers come from that area. The resurgence of Pro Wrestling in the early 70's (at least in the South) was centered around "Championship Wrestling from Florida" which was based in Tampa. I've known a few of the wrestlers and I've known people that know them. Most of them are ordinary Joes, often good high school and some college athletes who weren't good enough to go pro in their respective sports (usually football) but good enough to do the wrestling thing.

I went once and saw Dusty Rhodes fight Andre the Giant. When Andre went into the ring, he lightly stepped OVER the top rope. As a 12 year old, I was tickled to death at that! =:-)

bigtiny

[tippy]

this is fatima and I am here to send you ancient warning about nice guys and/or good people - watch out for them!

[steve(thelil)]

FIXED:

Originally Posted by tippy

this is fatima and I am here to send you ancient warning about nice guys and/or good people - watch out for them -especially that damned Caroline Kennedy!

[tippy]

steve(thelil),

fatima says you are skating on thin ice far from the edge of the river.

[Monte Smith]

My wife knew a girl in high school who was dating Ric Flair. That's it, that's all I got.

[tippy]

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by bigtiny

I'm from St. Pete and a lot of wrestlers come from that area. The resurgence of Pro Wrestling in the early 70's (at least in the South) was centered around "Championship Wrestling from Florida" which was based in Tampa. I've known a few of the wrestlers and I've known people that know them. Most of them are ordinary Joes, often good high school and some college athletes who weren't good enough to go pro in their respective sports (usually football) but good enough to do the wrestling thing.

I went once and saw Dusty Rhodes fight Andre the Giant. When Andre went into the ring, he lightly stepped OVER the top rope. As a 12 year old, I was tickled to death at that! =:-)

bigtiny

That's right. Eddie Graham had a hell of a lot more to do with the resurgence than McMahon did. But if you didn't live in the area (I grew up in Port Charlotte a couple of hours south of St. Pete) you really had no idea.

[Monte Smith]

Hey tippy, I got something for you. Belated Christmas.

[tippy]

your best isn't good enough, Monte
i'm going to stomp you
stomp you good
but before I stomp you good
first I'm gonna wrap a cable around your neck
and then I'm gonna throw you to the ground
and bend you leg back so far
your knee is really gonna smart
yes it is

[tippy]

but before I wrap your neck with a cable
and right before I hurt your knee
First I'm gonna pull your hair out
yeah
I'm gonna pull your hair until you cry out
"Ow, my hair!"
and right before I pull out your hair and
before you cry "Ow, my hair!"
I'm gonna give you a noogie
yeah
and while I'm giving you a noogie
you're going to experience a false sense of relief
like
"oh, she's only giving me a noogie. that's not so bad. I can handle a noogie
after all."
but then all the bad stuff is gonna happen
like
when I pull your hair out
and later on hurt your knee
which is all going to take place
right before I stomp you
bad
into the ground
GGGGGRRRRRRRRR

[Monte Smith]

YOU'RE GOIN' DOWN, TIPPY! Oh yes! There can be only one undisputed champion on this thread and it's gonna be me.

[Scott Dolan]

It's painfully apparent that Monte has absolutely no recollection of what happened the last time he challenged young tippz to a steel cage match.

Multiple concussions in rapid succession will do that to you, I suppose.

[tippy]

well let me explain something to you
and 'splain to you good
while you still have your weak but salient faculities
to hear and understand what I'm sayin to you:
the man from manchester might be leaving manchester a man
if a man from manchester be you, a man
but what's coming back is going to be something far different
far different, indeed,
from a man
yes indeed
what's going to come back is going to look an awful lot like
something completely different
like you but with a black eye
a punched nose
and a hurt knee - don't forget the hurt knee part -
and bald patches where some hair used to be

[Monte Smith]

I'm actually going to back down from this confrontation because I think my blood sugar is too low to get into it. You win again, tippy. Damn you.

[Scott Dolan]

Actually:

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

I'm actually going to back down from this confrontation because I forgot I was planning to paint my toenails this evening. You win again, tippy. Damn you.

[Sergio Zamora]

Los meros meros

[clinthopson]

Tip - YO DA MAN!

[jesus marion joseph]

I agree with Scott that the Hogans are no more disfunctional than many other families. That said, Nick does seem to be somewhat of a spoiled fuckup. This is from Wiki, but it tracks stories I read at the time of the incident:

"Bollea was involved in a serious accident in Clearwater, Florida, on the evening of August 26, 2007. Bollea and three members of the pit crew for his drifting team,[4] using two of his father's cars — a yellow Toyota Supra[11] and a silver Dodge Viper — were traveling to a steakhouse when the single-vehicle crash occurred at Court St. and Missouri Ave., near downtown Clearwater. The yellow Supra, which Bollea had been driving in the outside lane,[12] fishtailed and spun across the road, crashing into the median strip and into a palm tree. The impact destroyed the car.[13]

Bollea and his passenger, 22-year-old John Graziano, were flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. Bollea was released from care on August 27 and said to be "OK".[14] Graziano, a U.S. Marine and a member of Bollea's pit crew, was not wearing a seatbelt.[11] The eye and brain injuries he sustained are expected to leave him in a nursing home for the rest of his life."


The car:

[Scott Dolan]

Ouchy!

Too bad, too. Those Supra's were outstanding cars, but like the 300ZX they inspired a little too much confidence in drivers.

Trust funders were wrapping 300ZX's around trees to beat the band in Florida when they first hit the market.

[GoodSpeak]

Oh....I'm thinking he's at least as nice as Jesse "The Body" Ventura.