Grilling JR - Hulk Hogan in the WWE [Show Notes] (Patreon)

On this episode of Grilling JR, it's all about Hulk Hogan in the WWE!

Your first night with the WWF was at the March 9, 1993 TV tapings in Augusta, GA. Would this be the first time you met Hogan in person?

Or did you see him in the film Rocky III before seeing any of his wrestling?

He was first in the WWF from 1979-81, then the AWA for a couple of years before returning to the WWF at the tail end of 1983.

Vince had already started branching out into other territories, but once he got Hogan he went full steam ahead and went everywhere in the United States in 1984.

How did you feel as the pro wrestling landscape was drastically changing?

How much of Hogan and the WWF in general were you keeping up with before you got there in 1993?

There’s always been a lot of talk about Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan as they were the two faces of the two biggest brands in professional wrestling…what say you Jim?

He and Brutus Beefcake defeated the Beverly Brothers that night. A match you later did voiceovers for with Bobby Heenan for a WWF Coliseum Video release.

Hogan of course wins the WWF title from Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX a few weeks later, minutes after Yoko had just defeated Bret Hart for the belt.

Were you in the know while sat at ringside watching, if the following week’s TV voiceovers were recorded in advance like they regularly were during this period of time? or was it all a surprise for you too?

It’s a very memorable call of yours…how much of that is you vs. Vince’s direction?

Hogan barely appears in the WWF over the next few months, only at a handful of house shows, and then loses the title back to Yokozuna at King of the Ring in June. It’s another memorable call of yours when a supposed photographer's camera explodes in Hogan’s face.

Jim you’re with the company for a short time. You have called the biggest face in professional wrestling winning the WWF World Title for the 5th time and then his biggest loss - the one to write him out of the company. This is… a pretty big deal is it not?

Hogan sticks around a little while longer to fulfill his commitments for WWF’s European tour in August 93, where all the promotion was built around him.

Any memories of interaction with Hogan during this time when he was still wrestling there, or is it likely there was none?

Hogan did appear on your Radio WWF show in the fall, mainly to promote his new Mr. Nanny film that had just been released.

Did you have any instances of any… “That doesn’t work for me brother.”

Was your opinion of Hogan changed after working with him?

Then a couple of weeks later on Radio WWF, Randy Savage is a guest and buries Hogan on the show:

From Meltzer:

“A few notes on the fallout of the Randy Savage interview regarding Hulk Hogan on the WWF Radio show on 10/16. The most intriguing aspect of all this is that Hogan was asked a few days earlier to appear on the show although never informed that Savage would be on or what subject matter was being planned for the show. Apparently there was a well laid out plan to "ambush" an unknowing Hogan with Savage's comments in a public forum. Hogan, who had done the same radio show two weeks earlier, apparently had a premonition something was up since it was awfully quick to be asked back to do a radio show for a company he was no longer working for, or simply was busy and "lucked into" not being in a potentially embarrassing position. Even as the show was going on, neither Jim Ross nor Randy Savage knew for certain whether or not Hogan was going to call in as reportedly he never either confirmed or non-confirmed the request to appear.”

Jim let’s stop right there - when this is all going on or being put together…what’s the backstory? Did you know there was heat? Was it a work?

“It should be noted that it was pretty obvious the way Savage, Jim Ross and Johnny Polo (who co-hosts the radio show) were interacting during the segment that all three knew what was about to be said. Ross, before bringing Savage on as a guest noted that he would be saying things that you won't believe and later made comments that some of the things he would be saying you will be reading tomorrow morning in the sports pages of your newspaper, although at press time no newspaper had acknowledged the interview although I suspect the comments to make the wrestling columns in the few newspapers that have them. It's clear from the television promotion of the show that Ross is working very hard to garner publicity for his radio vehicle. A few weeks back Ross was able to get the green light from Vince McMahon to be more controversial on the show and talk about other promotions. The question begging to be asked is Vince McMahon's role in the decision making process of this specific interview, if it wasn't an angle arranged ahead of time with Hogan's permission. It is well-known within wrestling that what Savage said on the show echo things he's been saying in the dressing room dating back to the period shortly after his divorce in the summer of 1992. It is also obvious Ross is trying to earn a niche for the radio show as being something other than an extension of weekly WWF television. Nevertheless, it is very difficult for me to believe that either would go public in that nature without the okay from McMahon. Hogan was very protective of McMahon whenever the subject came up in his publicity tour for "Mr. Nanny."”

Well Jim almost 20 years later we’re talking about it. Was this the first time you remember a Hulk - Vince animosity coming to the forefront and why was it Randy with the public beating on Hulk?

Savage's comments started with: "Have you ever heard the name Hulk Hogan? The five- time World Wrestling Federation champion. Hulk Hogan became at one time the biggest superstar in the history of professional wrestling. I personally used to look up to Hulk Hogan. But that was a big mistake. I really thought he was a friend. But he's definitely not. He's the worst prima donna I've ever met in my life. Hulk Hogan's ego went so far out of control that Hulk Hogan consumed Terry Bollea, which is his real name.

Let's just say I've lost a lot of respect for Hulk Hogan aka Terry Bollea, both as a man and a human being. That's an extreme understatement that I'm saying right there. A lot of people out there might be thinking it's professional jealousy. But putting professional jealousy aside, if there is any, which I'm not saying there is, I lost respect for Hulk Hogan big time. Number one, when he completely lied on Arsenio Hall, denying the use of anabolic steroids except for rehabilitation for an injury."

This is something that today would be clipped and replayed and all over social media and YouTube…what do you remember after the fact? Were talent saying anything to you…Randy? What did Vince think of how this all went?

“While many were furious with some remarks Savage made, Hogan is publicly taking the

"ignore it and it'll go away position" and isn't expected to publicly acknowledge any of this ever happened. Hogan, who spent most of this past week at Disney Studios in Orlando filming "Circus of the Stars," which he's hosting with MTV's Adam Curry for CBS-TV, supposedly wasn't even aware of the comments on either television or radio until Tuesday. There is a good case to be made for taking this position since if Hogan were to get into a public pissing contest, he'd end up having his name soiled even more, particularly since any attempt at defending himself on the charge of lying on Arsenio is going to be tough to pull off. At the same time, this "ignore it and it'll go away" position when it comes to same repeated criticism for lying on Arsenio Hall in July 1991, has ended up being extremely damaging to Hogan. While he's attempted to ignore it and pretend it has gone away for two-and-a-half years, it has constantly resurfaced since that time and has resulted in severe damaged to his image both as a wrestling drawing card and in many public arenas and much private criticism within his profession. If not the idea itself, almost surely the approval of the idea, to have Savage go on radio and make those comments had to come from Vince McMahon. Because of that, the relationship between the WWF and Hogan, the name synonymous with the organization for the past ten years, has to be strained more now than ever before and many close to the situation believe it is now strained beyond repair.”

Tell us from your side of things Jim what you remember from all of this.

Hogan wouldn’t be seen in the WWF again until February 2002…do you think that radio appearance by Randy fueled that or was it Vince’s position on Hulk?

How much talk was there about ever bringing Hogan back earlier than that?

Did you ever speak or have any negotiations with Hulk or was everything always handled by Vince regarding Hogan?

Did you agree with Hulk coming back at the time in a main event position after years of WWF telling us Hogan was a dinosaur in the Monday Night Wars era?

There was a lot of shots taken at Hulk when he was in WCW…the Huckster…hotline teases…Age in the Cage…did you ever talk with Hulk about them? Did he ever “sell” them to you?

There were obviously a lot of memorable moments in his 2002 run that we’ve talked about a lot this year on Grilling JR, such as the Hogan-Rock match at WrestleMania in Toronto, and winning the WWF Title for the final time in the yellow and red.

But what do you remember about Hogan’s abrupt departure from the company in August 2002 after a clean loss to Brock Lesnar on TV?

Hogan returned in February 2003, to set up a rematch with Rock at No Way Out and then with Vince at WrestleMania XIX in Seattle.

You didn’t call this match Jim but what do you remember about Hogan’s return and these matches?

They then created a “Mr America” character for Hogan for a short while. While there were some entertaining TV segments with Hogan and Vince during this period, the angle was considered a major flop. And then at the end of June after a Smackdown taping in Madison Square Garden, Hogan is abruptly gone again, reportedly unhappy with the pay he was getting during the run.

Were you doing payroll for Hulk or was it Vince handling it? Did you ever discuss pay with Hulk?

Hogan is noticeably absent from WrestleMania XX at the Garden and WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony the night before, where it’s likely he was a shoe in for both if he was in good graces with the company.

But by a year later, all is right again and Hogan is rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame in Los Angeles and makes an appearance at WrestleMania 21 the following day. What do you remember of Hulk for his Hall of Fame appearances?

Was Hulk coming in and out of the company a constant conversation?

Hulk comes back for the summer and teams with Shawn Michaels to defeat Shawn Daivari & Muhammad Hassan before Shawn later turns on Hogan to set up a dream match of Hulk Hogan vs Shawn Michaels headlines SummerSlam 2005 in Washington D.C with Hogan winning the match clean, but a lot of people remember it for Michaels’ overselling in the match - almost cartoonish. Reportedly as Hogan refused more than a 1-match program for the feud, with the original plan being a 3-match series, with both picking up a win, and Hogan winning the blowoff in a cage.

Did Shawn Michaels “over sell” for Hulk Hogan?

What did you think of Shawn’s performance in this? Were you surprised the “plans changed” with Hulk?

A year later, Hogan is again involved in SummerSlam and pins Randy Orton in his final match for the company. That wasn’t a surprise to you either was it?

There’s a show put together in Memphis that’s scheduled between Hulk and your great personal friend Jerry Lawler that sees the WWE pull Lawler out. Was there heat with Hulk and the company and with Jerry about putting this together? What do you remember King saying to you at this time about it?

After another fallout, Hogan makes one final appearance on the Raw 15th Anniversary show in December 2007, and has a confrontation with the Great Khali, perhaps teasing a potential match between the two but it never happens. Do you think there could’ve been money with Hulk vs. Khali?

Hogan is on the outs again for a long time, and is involved with TNA for several years before returning in 2014 when the WWE Network was being launched as more of a goodwill ambassador for the company. Did you think Hulk in TNA could’ve made them a threat to the WWE?

One of the last great moments for Hulk in the WWE when at WrestleMania 30 it’s the Rock, Austin & Hogan in the ring together cutting promos. To this day Jim do you think the biggest money miss program of all time is Austin vs. Hogan?

Hulk’s name has provided a lot of controversy over the years but there’s no doubt that he is the biggest star in the history of this business is that fair to say?