HULKAMANIAC
Inside Hulk Hogan’s crazy life, from sex tape with best friends’ wife to having gun pulled on him by Harley Race in WWE
HULK Hogan is arguably the most recognisable wrestler EVER to have come out of the WWE.
The all-American hero, who spouted catchphrases like, "Whatcha gonna do, brother?!", won the then-WWF Championship five times during a career that began with the federation in 1983.
But as the now 68-year-old, real-name Terry Bollea, became a household name his reputation was soon tarnished by crazy antics and wild scandals.
There was a sex tape with the wife of his best friend, accusations of racism, and a former opponent once pulled a gun on him.
After he and his ex-wife Linda Hogan were banned from attending AEW shows by Tony Khan because of a controversial tweet about the George Floyd protests in America, SunSport looks at his mad life, that is set to be featured in a Hollywood movie starring Chris Hemsworth.
SEX TAPE
In 2012, a sex tape featuring Hogan and Heather Clem, the estranged wife of his best friend Bubba the Love Sponge, emerged online.
A few months later, American blog Gawker, which has since folded, published a small snippet of the tape online.
In the clip, Bubba can be heard telling Clem and Hogan to "do their thing" while he works in his office.
Once they've finished having sex, Hogan turns to Clem and says, "If we ever need to retire, here is our ticket".
Hogan filled a lawsuit against Heather and Bubba for invasion of privacy, winning a settlement.
He was also awarded £91million after successfully suing Gawker for defamation, loss of privacy, and emotional pain.
In 2016, with Gawker dissolving, they settled on £25million.
"It was a bad choice and a very low point," Hogan later told radio shock-jock Howard Stern.
"I was with some friends and made a wrong choice. It has devastated me, I have never been this hurt".
ACCUSED OF RACISM
Hogan was fired from the WWE, removed from the Hall of Fame and axed from their YouTube channel after a racist rant about his daughter Brooke's former boyfriend - rapper Stacks - emerged from the sex tapes with Clem.
In audio that was released by the National Enquirer and the Death in Taxes website in 2016, Hogan is heard telling Clem, "I don't give a f*** if she (inaudible) an eight foot tall basketball player.
"If we're gonna f*** with n*****s, let's get a rich one!"
He also admitted he is "racist to a point."
"I'm not a double standard type of guy," he continues to Clem.
"I'm a racist to a point, y'know, f****** n*****s, but then, when it comes to nice people..."
Hogan later went on US TV show The View and admitted he was very sorry for the incident and it was "probably the stupidest thing I ever said."
He added: "The people who know me know I’m not a racist."
HANDS UP
There are two legends to this story. But it's worth explaining how the beef unfolded first.
National Wrestling Alliance legend Harley Race was said to be so angry about the WWE invading NWA territory in the mid 1980s, he took the law into his own hands.
He raced to a WWE event at the Municipal Auditorium in the NWA stronghold Kansas City, and broke into a dressing room to find Hogan.
It's said Harley walked up to his foe, who was seated, slapped him in the ribs and knocked him to the floor.
When Hogan sheepishly told Harley he was surprised his assailant wasn't packing a piece, Race pulled out a .38 Special.
However, Hogan has a different version that he revealed to Ric Flair during his podcast in 2015.
He said he had heard from the ring crew that Race was in the building and had tried to set fire to the ring.
To avoid a confrontation, Hogan went across the road to a dive bar where he drank two bottles of wine before returning in time for the main event.
Hogan was on the toilet, when Davey Boy Smith ran in and screamed, “Harley’s here! Harley’s here!”
Immediately, he left the cubicle to find Race standing in front of him with a gun threatening to blow his kneecaps off, unless he got the chance to work with him.
Hulk shook hands with Race and agreed to introduce him to Vince McMahon. Race joined the WWE in 1986.
ANOTHER BIG REGRET
Since it was released in 1994, the ' George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine’ has sold over 100 million units.
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However, if Hogan was more business savvy it would have been him that earned a £161million payday by endorsing the product.
In 2011, he told the story about how he was offered the opportunity to launch a ‘Hulkamania Meatball Maker’ or the now world-famous grill by his agent, Sam Perlmutter.
He chose the former, which was a flop, while the agent gave another client (Foreman) the grill. The rest is history.
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