It’s not every day that your parents call you about a celebrity death. But it’s also not every day a super hero dies. For children of the 1980’s, Hulk Hogan was a comic book hero come to life.
The eighties were a time of great change in entertainment. Cable television and pay per view entered our homes. Regulations for toys and cartoons changed, bringing in an epic era of merchandising. Over muscled heroes like Stallone and Schwarzenegger starred on the silver screen. And at the crossroads of all of this stood Hulk Hogan.
For a child watching G.I. Joe and He-Man, epic tales of good versus evil, and right after the Saturday morning cartoons here comes this syndicated wrestling show featuring a hero that could stand alongside the Masters of the Universe. Hogan was bigger than life. A giant who didn’t seem real, yet he was. A giant who fought other, bigger, evil giants. We grew up with tales of the seven labors of Hulk Hogan. He was beaten, squashed, betrayed, cut – and got back up to slay the dragon. King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant, Earthquake, and scores more received the big boot of comeuppance.
Superman was truth, justice and the American way but right beside that mantra was the foundation of Hulkamania: eat your vitamins, say your prayers, and believe in yourself. While Hogan’s vitamins may have been different from our chewable variety, the message was clear. A positive affirmation with physical and mental health can reap rewards. Cartoons may have battled terrorist organizations or ancient evils, but Hogan made us believe that everyday monsters like school bullies, could be defeated if we didn’t give up.
A winning formula was repeated throughout our childhood and as we grew older and a young boy’s attention turned to other things so Hogan tried other things. While we put our toys away, he turned to acting and all of us left wrestling in the rear view mirror.
But then a funny thing happened. Wrestling started to grow up. The audience of the eighties grew up and wanted some violence, some controversy, some sex, something extreme. Hogan sensed opportunity and changed wrestling once more. By turning heel and forming the New World Order in WCW, wrestling regained popularity and once again Hogan was at the forefront. Very few people have revolutionized an industry once. Far fewer have done it twice. We no longer wanted good vs. evil, we sought bad guys vs. badder guys and that era of wrestling brought it.
Hulk Hogan is one of the few wrestlers to pass the “grandma test”. Your grandmother may have not known what a Thundercat, or a He-Man, or a Ric Flair is, but she knew Hulk Hogan. He became one of the most famous faces on the planet in an industry that very often is reviled by pop culture.
Hogan, like many stars before him, continued to reach for the spotlight with lessening degrees of success. His audience moved on, as most of us are in our forties or fifties and no longer saw a bleached blonde god, but a flawed old man.
Then the news of his death came and Hogan became immortal. The epic tales of WrestleMania, Saturday Night’s Main Event, Nitro, and many more are added to the heroic pantheon. The shirt has been torn, the giant has been slammed, and the final muscular pose of a hero will not be found in a museum, but in a squared circle.
(This tribute is to the character of Hulk Hogan. This writer recognizes that Terry Bollea was a flawed human being who made decisions in his personal life that are not to be celebrated.)
Perfect.