PROFILE 1

Known as the biggest attraction in World Championship Wrestling, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan is the now the recognized leader of the New World Order...however, Hogan has enjoyed a long and successful career dating back long before the NWO was born... Hogan is a five-time former WWF champion and is the current WCW Champion (Hogan has held the WCW belt on one other occasion)...over the course of his career he made his mark as one of the greatest and most popular figures in the history of professional wrestling, and is still widely known as the biggest name in the sport...made his pro debut 18 years ago in the Mid-Southern area, where he was managed by Jimmy Hart...in 1979, Hogan entered the WWF as a rulebreaker and was managed by Freddie Blassie...signed with the AWA, where he seemed to win the World title from Nick Bockwinkel in a no-DQ match; the title was stripped however when the contract was disputed... appeared in the 1983 film Rocky III as a wrestler named Thunderlips; this role would help make Hogan famous and attract mainstream attention to himself and pro wrestling...beat Antonio Inoki on June 2, 1983 to become the first IWGP heavyweight champion...returned to the WWF in late 1983 after the Iron Sheik defeated Bob Backlund for the WWF title...on January 23, 1984, Hogan quickly defeated the Sheik and a new era in wrestling was born called "Hulkamania"...Hulkamania ran wild for years afterward as Hulk Hogan, promoter Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation continued to ride the wave of success...perhaps Hogan's most memorable match was against Andre the Giant, whom Hogan pinned at Wrestlemania III... lost the WWF title to Andre on February 5, 1988 involving twin referees Dave and Earl Hebner...Ted DiBiase would later attempt to buy the title from Andre and the belt was held up...helped Randy Savage beat DiBiase for the title at Wrestlemania IV...Hogan and Savage would form the MegaPowers and begin a long and tumultuous relationship which would continue to this day...after the team split over their manager Elizabeth, Hogan beat Savage for his second WWF title... lost the belt at Wrestlemania VI to the Ultimate Warrior, which marked one of the rare occasions in Hogan's career where he was cleanly pinned...Hogan regained the title from Sgt. Slaughter soon after Savage aided Slaughter in defeating the Warrior...Hogan's title defenses became less and less frequent...lost to the Undertaker at the 1992 Survivor Series...Hogan would quickly regain the title some six days later, but the belt was declared vacant (Ric Flair would win the belt at the 1993 Royal Rumble)...Hogan defeated Sid Justice by DQ at Wrestlemania VIII in what was supposed to be Hogan's last wrestling match...returned however on February 22, 1993 on Monday Night Raw...Hogan won his fifth (and last) WWF title at Wrestlemania IX in Las Vegas after Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart...Yokozuna's manager Mr. Fuji challenged Hogan and Hogan beat Yokozuna in less than 10 seconds to win the belt...Hogan did not defend the title after the win however, and disappeared from the WWF for several months to film a movie...after his return, a much lighter Hogan lost the belt against Yokozuna in dramatic fashion at the 1993 King of the Ring...the match saw Yokozuna totally dominate Hogan, though the match had a screwjob ending as Hogan was blinded by a ringside photographer's flash and was pinned...Hogan let down his Hulkamaniacs by failing to beat the seemingly unbeatable Yokozuna, and Hogan left the WWF for the final time...signed with WCW on June 11, 1994 and defeated Ric Flair for the WCW title in his first match...though Hogan was initially widely popular in WCW, many fans became tired of Hogan's in-ring dominance and refusal to put other wrestlers over...became involved in an angle with a masked man who would attack him repeatedly... Hogan defeated Flair in a retirement match at Halloween Havoc on October 24, 1994, and after the match the masked man was revealed to be Hogan's good friend Brutus Beefcake (Ed Leslie, who was known then as "The Brother," then "The Butcher")...after a pathetic feud, Hogan defeated Leslie at Starrcade '94...Savage entered WCW, and the two teamed up again...Hogan and Savage would later lobby to reinstate Ric Flair, who served in a managerial role for Vader...Vader and Hogan feuded wildly for some time...at the Clash of Champions XXX, Hogan got up after a Vader powerbomb, shattering Vader's air of invincibility...after Vader was later forced to team with Hogan, Vader left WCW...Hogan's popularity continued to decline as he refused to job to wrestlers, and it was soon felt by many that a change was needed. After the Hogan-Vader feud ended and the Hogan-Flair feud subsided, Hulk Hogan found himself less and less popular with fans...many fans openly booed Hogan as he appeared on WCW Monday Nitro broadcasts... no longer the WCW champion (the title was stripped, and after World War 3 '95 the belt would later go to Randy Savage, who would lose to Ric Flair), Hogan became involved in a long and bitter feud with the "Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan and the Dungeon of Doom...after bringing in several clown-like wrestlers to take on Hogan such as Kamala, the Shark (formerly known as Earthquake and Avalanche), and the Zodiac (Ed Leslie with yet another gimmick), Sullivan brought in a huge wrestler called the Giant (Paul Wight) who claimed to be the son of the late Andre the Giant, Hogan's old nemesis (in reality, Wight is of no relation)...Hogan feuded bitterly with Sullivan, the Giant and the Dungeon of Doom until he left WCW for a hiatus from wrestling to film a movie...many fans were glad to see Hogan gone, since the WCW title was then regularly defended and other wrestlers received deserved attention...he had not been forgotten however, as promos continued to be shown featuring the "Hulkster"...Hulk Hogan would return to WCW in dramatic fashion, in a manner which would revitalize his sagging career and shake up the entire wrestling world...at the 1996 Bash at the Beach pay-per-view, Hogan returned during a match between Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage versus Scott Hall and Kevin Nash...while the fans believed Hogan appeared to aid Sting and Savage since Luger had been injured earlier and carried out on a stretcher, Hogan legdropped Savage and reveiled himself to the mystery "third man" who was the partner of Hall and Nash...the legdrop marked Hogan's first time as a heel in well over 10 years...after the match (which ended in a DQ after Hogan threw the referee out of the ring) Hogan gave one of the best interviews of his career in which he denounced the WWF, stating that he was the reason for the federation's success ("I made people rich up there," Hogan said)...as Hall and Nash claimed to be attempting to "take over" WCW, Hogan's involvement with the two men seemed to imply he was against WCW all along...indeed, Hogan's heel turn marked the birth of the New World Order, and it was this organization which would help shift the balance of power to WCW in its war with the WWF...Hogan began feuding with then the current WCW Champion the Giant (who defeated Ric Flair)...Hogan beat the Giant (who would himself later join the NWO) at WCW Hog Wild '96 in Sturgis, SD for Hogan's second WCW title...this time, however, Hogan would desecrate the title belt by spray-painting it with the letters 'N.W.O.'...Hogan began calling himself "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, since he claimed to be a star in Hollywood (actually, none of Hogan's movies have been big hits according to Hollywood standards)...began another feud with his old rival Randy Savage, and Hogan and the NWO gave Savage numerous beatings...Savage failed to beat Hogan for the WCW title at Halloween Havoc '96, after which Roddy Piper appeared and challenged Hogan, saying he was the only wrestler whom Hogan had never beaten... Piper would later defeat Hogan in a non-title Starrcade '96 pay-per-view match after putting him in a sleeper...claimed the Giant "dropped the ball" after the Giant lost his match against Lex Luger, though he himself lost on the card as well...the Giant would later be kicked out of the NWO after the Giant requested a shot against Hogan after winning World War 3...Hogan faced the Giant at NWO Souled Out, but the match ended in a no-contest after the NWO attacked the Giant...Hogan defeated Piper at Superbrawl VII after Randy Savage interfered, who joined the NWO at the event in spite of his bitter history with the organization...currently Hogan has had several issues to deal with...first of all he is now the target of Sting, as Sting appears poised to return to wrestling to avenge the wrath of the NWO...Hogan also has Lex Luger, the Giant, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Diamond Dallas Page as potential threats to his title...finally, Hogan has also had to deal with the internal strife within the NWO, as he clashed briefly with Kevin Nash over the direction of the group...though Hogan's title defenses are nearly nonexistent at the moment (to date he has not defended the title in over four months), Hollywood Hogan continues to enjoy a renewed career in pro wrestling as the most hated heel in the sport, and the reign of terror Hogan has spearheaded with the New World Order appears to have no end in sight.

Profile 2

Hulk Hogan Biography Wrestling has been around for many years, but is wasn't until the emergence of a wrestler named Hulk Hogan that the sport's popularity exceeded all previous standards. It was eight years ago that the 6'6", 290 lb., Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, won his first World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Championship and "Hulkamania" was born. The 38-year old Hogan flexes more than his 24-inch biceps, when he encourages his "little Hulksters" to "Train, say your prayers, take vitamins and believe in yourself." Hogan's larger than life physique and persona have led him beyond the forum of wrestling and into personal appearances, endorsements, charitable activities and most recently television and movies. Hogan is arguably one of the most widely known figures in the world. "Hulkamania" hysteria has led to a television cartoon series as well as poster, t-shirts and a countless number of other merchandise. Hogan first won the WWF title against the Iron Sheik in 1984 at New York's Madison Square Garden. He proceeded to hold the title throughout the rest of the 80's and along the way, captured the imagination of the entire world. As the most dominant wrestler during that time, Hogan is the only WWF star to ever grace the cover of Sports Illustrated and the only WWF Superstar to be crowned Champion on four different occasions. One of Hogan's most memorable feats was accomplished in 1987 when he body slammed and pinned 7'4", 500 lb. Andre the Giant before a world record crowd at Wrestlemania III. It still holds the record as the most attended indoor event, surpassing previous records held by the Pope and Rolling Stones. Hulk Hogan has always been slightly larger than life, as he weighed ten pounds seven ounces at birth in Augusta, Georgia on August 11, 1953. His success story began in 1967 in a Tampa, Florida gym when he started bodybuilding. After studying business administration and music at the University of South Florida, Bollea began training as a wrestler in 1973. In the late 1970's, he moved to Venice Beach, California - also known as "Muscle Beach" - and became a professional wrestler under the name of Terry Boulder. In 1979, Vincent McMahon, Sr. recruited Bollea into the WWF and in 1983, Hulk Hogan was born. "Hulkamania" has even reached into Hollywood. Hogan made his big screen debut as Thunderiips in "Rocky III." With a special request from Steven Spielberg, the Hulkster played himself in "Gremlins II." His first starring role was in the movie, "No Holds Barred." In 1990, Hogan starred with Christopher Lloyd in the action comedy "Suburban Commando." Hogan is currently in Miami with Sherman Hemsley filming his next movie "Rough Stuff," a comedy about an ex-wrestler who becomes the guardian for two wealthy children. Although Hogan has always had an extremely busy schedule, he has always devoted special time to visiting ailing children throughout the world. A charity that is very near and dear to his heart is the Make-A-Wish Foundation of which Hogan is the number one requested celebrity of these wish children. Other organizations that Hogan is involved with include Pediatric AIDS Center, Special Olympics and the Starlight Foundation. Hogan takes extra special pride in his two children, daughter Brooke and son Nicholas. He has been married for seven years to his lovely wife Linda where they met in California.