Without Hulk Hogan, pro wrestling wouldn’t be the same as we know it today. Hulkamania helped take the industry mainstream. He was a major influence on fans and aspiring wrestlers alike back in the day.
Where Hogan was largely responsible for wrestling’s first recorded boom period (and at the start of the cultural shift that would come to be known as the Attitude Era), he has presented some of the most egregious claims the business has ever seen.
Hulk Hogan’s lies, as fans like to call these outrageous stories, might just be my favorite rabbit holes to revisit. What’s funny about some of these claims is that they have been refuted multiple times by people who were/are actually in the know.
That being said, let’s take a look at some of the “greatest” lies as told by Hulk Hogan:
Elvis Presley was a Hulkmaniac
I’d love for Elvis to debunk this outrageous claim. The only thing is the “King of Rock and Roll” passed away in 1977, two years before Hulk Hogan’s debut for the Memphis territory. Plus, Hulkamania truly picked up steam following Hogan’s iconic win over The Iron Sheik in 1984.
Either Hogan has a terrible memory or he seems to confuse the timelines of important historical events a lot. Whatever the case, truth be told that Elvis was a known wrestling fan and would’ve probably competed in a karate-wrestling crossover match against Memphis’ own Jerry Lawler had it not been for his death in the late seventies.
Auditioning for Metallica
Metallica’s arrival in the music industry coincided with Hulk Hogan’s surging popularity in the AWA. Turns out, Hogan almost joined the then-fledging band as their bassist because he sent in tapes, but never heard back from Jerry Hall.
The Hogan told a similar story to The Sun in 2012. “I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler,” Hogan had said at the time. “played bass guitar… was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn’t work out.”
This was James Hetfield’s reaction when asked if the Hulkster ever auditioned for the band: “Huh? Definitely not. But anyway, it’s a good fit, yeah? [Laughs] He makes us look very small.”
Buster Douglas didn’t want to get in the ring with him
Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson to score one of the biggest upsets in sports history, but never wanted to get in the ring with Hulk Hogan. Yes, that’s what the Hulkster told Joe Rogan on his podcast.
Long story short, Vince McMahon was tying to set up a match between Hogan and Tyson. Per Hogan, McMahon assured him that Tyson would not lock Hogan in an armbar or flip the script. Hogan even suggesting that “Iron Man” Mike would be remotely scared of him might be the biggest stretching of the truth.
Andre the Giant weighed 600lbs during WrestleMania match against Hulk Hogan
Okay, first of all, Andre was billed as weighing 520 pounds and standing at 7 feet 4 inches tall in his physical prime. I don’t know how and where Hogan got the 600lbs-figure from. Only the Hulkster would know.
Hogan has also said the bodyslam he gave Andre during their fabled WrestleMania III encounter broke 18 muscles in Andre’s back and he died days later because of it.
Andre had been slammed countless times prior to the WrestleMania III spot. He passed away in 1993 from congestive heart failure, years after the Mania match against Hulk Hogan.
When Undertaker’s tombstone “broke” Hulk Hogan’s neck
Mark Calaway had one of the weirdest gimmick names in WCW history. Ole Anderson never saw the big guy as a draw. Calaway would end up jumping ship to rival WWE. A meeting with Vince McMahon would lay the foundations for the The Undertaker to rise from the casket.
The Deadman made his illustrious debut at Survivor Series 1990. Come Survivor Series 1991, he’d be fighting Hogan for the WWE Championship. He’d win the match with his patented Tombstone Piledriver finisher.
While Taker’s version of the piledriver has never injured his opponents, it somehow ended up “breaking” Hulk Hogan’s neck. Thankfully, footage exists from the match and fans can clearly see that Hogan’s neck never made contact with the floor. That’s how properly Taker protected him.
Truth be told, that was just Hogan trying to milk his fake injury to sabotage the career of a rookie Taker. The WWE title would be vacated as the rematch between Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker also saw a controversial finish.
(Dis)honorable Mentions
- Hulk Hogan wrestled 400 days in one year
- Marked out for Kevin Owens in WWE while he was already a big name on the indie scene
- Broke his ribs wrestling The Rock at WrestleMania 18… err, broke them in a match with Rikishi before the PPV
- Hulk Hogan once outdrank John Belushi even though the latter had passed away years prior
- Not a steroid user
Also read: Best WCW Gimmick Names Of All Time
