Freshly Squeezed True Crime

#28, Hulk Hogan vs. Terry Bollea... Part #1

• Suhailly Nieves • Season 1 • Episode 28

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SPEAKER_00

This is French Squeeze True Crime, a Florida only True Crime podcast. I'm Sammy, and before we get to this week's juicy episode, I ask you to visit the website at fsccpodcast.com where you'll find all of our social media platforms as well as the newest episodes. And also, find us on YouTube where we would like you to follow us, subscribe, share it, do all the things. So, pour yourself a teleplass of orange juice, and let me tell you a story.

SPEAKER_02

We humans are multifaceted beings who walk around trying to put each other into neat little boxes. Good, bad, right and wrong, broken and fixed, brave and scared, mean and kind. We lose so much of the beautiful nuance that life has to offer when we force everything, including ourselves, into a box. What's true is that two things, at the very least, can be true at once. Even things that look contradictory on the surface can be simultaneously true. Let me explain. Hulk Hogan was born Terry Jean Belea in Augusta, Georgia, on August 11, 1953, the son of a construction worker, foreman, Pietro Peter Belea, and homemaker and dance teacher Bernice Ruth. Hogan was of Italian, Panamanian, Scottish, and French descent. Hogan had an older brother named Alan, who died at the age of 38 from a drug overdose. When he was one and a half years old, his family moved to Port Tampa, Florida. As a boy, he was a pitcher in Little League Baseball. While in high school, he regularly attended cards at the Tampa Sportatorium. It was at one of these wrestling cards where he first noticed superstar Billy Graham and began looking to him for inspiration. Since he first saw Graham on television, Hogan wanted to match his quote inhuman look. Hogan was also a musician, spending a decade playing fretless bass guitar in several Florida-based rock bands. He went on to study at Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida. After music gigs began to get in the way of his time in college, he dropped out of USF. Eventually, Hogan and two local musicians formed a band called Ruckus in 1976. The band soon became popular in the Tampa Bay region. During his spare time, Hogan worked out at Hector's Gym in Tampa Bay area where he began lifting. Many of the wrestlers who were competing in the Florida region visited the bars where Ruckus was performing. Among those attending, his performances were Jack and Daryl Briscoe. Jack and Daryl Briscoe got Hogan connected with Hiro Masuda, the man who trained wrestlers for CWF or the Championship Wrestling from Florida to make him a potential trainee. During the first season in training, Masuda broke Hogan's leg. After 10 weeks of rehab, Hogan returned to train with Masuda and blocked him when he tried to break his other leg. In Hogan's professional wrestling debut, CWF promoter Eddie Graham booked him against Brian Blair in Fort Myers, Florida, on August 10, 1977. After a brief hiatus, Hogan wrestled for the Alabama-bass GCCW, the Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling in 1978. He formed a tag team with Ed Leslie, known as the Boulder Brothers under the names Terry and Gene Boulder. During his time in Alabama, Hogan had early encounters with On the Giant, including two matches and a television-armed wrestling contest that generated significant local interest. On May 24, 1979, Hogan wrestled his first World Championship match against NWA World's Heavyweight Champion Harley Race at Rip Hughes Sports Complex in Dolph, Alabama. Hogan pinned race during the match and was briefly announced as a new champion on GCCW television. However, the NWA later overturned that decision, declaring a disqualification and nullifying the title change. Hogan went on to win the Southeastern Heavyweight Championship twice later in the year, first defeating Ox Baker, then again after regaining it from Professor Tanaka following a brief loss to Austin Idol. Later that year, Hogan and Leslie joined Jerry Jarrett's Memphis-based promotion, CWA, the Continental Wrestling Association. While in Memphis, Hogan made a talk show appearance alongside actor Lou Ferrigno, star of the television series The Incredible Hulk. The host commented that Hogan, standing at 6'7 and weighing at 295, when 24-inch biceps dwarfed Ferrigno. Inspired by this, Mary Jarrett suggested the nickname The Hulk, resulting in Hogan wrestling as Terry the Hulk Boulder. He also occasionally performed under the name Sterling Gold. According to his autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring, Belea briefly left wrestling in 1979 and was working on the Tampa docks when he was spotted by Gerald Briscoe. Briscoe and his brother encouraged Hogan to return to wrestling and helped arrange a meeting with WWF promoter Vince McMahon Sr. However, this claim is disputed, with some wrestling historians crediting Terry Funk with recommending Hogan to McMahon Sr., having recognized his potential during Hogan's early matches. Funk, who previously appeared in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone film Paradise Alley, would also later recommend Hogan to Stallone for the role of Thunderlips in Rocky III. McMahon, impressed with Beleia's charisma and physical stature, offered him a spot on WWF's roster as an opponent for Andrew the Giant. McMahon, who wanted to use an Irish name, gave him the last name Hogan and suggested he dye his hair red. Hogan, whose hair had already thinning, declined equipping I'll be a blonde Irishman, Hogan wrestled his first match in the WWF under the name Hulk Hogan by defeating Harry Valdez on November 17th episode of Championship Wrestling. He was presented as a villain or heel in WWF and was managed by classy Freddie Blasi. The next year, Hogan began a high-profile feud with Andre the Giant. On August 9th, 1980, a showdown at Shea, Andre defeated Hogan in a match. However, Hogan notably body slammed Andre during the bout, an early version of the iconic moment that would later be immortalized at WrestleMania 3. They faced off again on August 30, 1980, at Madison Square Garden in a television match with Gorilla Monsoon serving as special guest referee. Once again, Hogan managed to bodyslam Andre, but was unsuccessful in ultimately defeating him. In 1980, Hulk Hogan began wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the NJPW, where he was nicknamed Ichiban or Number 1 by Japanese fans. He made his debut on May 13, 1980, while still under contract with the WWF and continued to tour Japan occasionally over the next few years. During his time NJPW, Hogan used a more technical wrestling style than the power-based approach he used in the United States. He also used the axe bomber as his finisher in Japan instead of the leg drop. While appearing for the WWF, including wrestling Pedro Morales for the Intercontinental Championship on March 26, 1981, Hogan achieved major success in Japan. You see, on June 2, 1983, he won the Intercontinental Wrestling Grand Prix, a tournament by defeating Antonio Ignoki by knockout, becoming the first holder of the original version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Hogan also teamed with Anoki to win the MSG Tag League tournament in both 82 and 83. In 84, Hogan returned to NJPW to defend the IWGP title against Anoki, who had earned the title shot by winning that year's league. Hogan lost the match and therefore the title by count-out after interference from Riki Chosi. During this period, Hogan also defended the WWE World Championship in Japan. His final match of that tour was on June 13, 1984, where he again lost to Anoki by Count Out in an IWGP title match. Hogan was the only IWGP champion to defend the title without winning the qualifying tournament. After accepting a role in Vaké 3, a decision that led to Vincent J. McMahon releasing him from WWF, Hogan joined the American Wrestling Association, the AWA, owned by Vern Gag in August 1981. He initially debuted as a villain managed by luscious Johnny Vallon, but quickly became a fan favorite due to his charisma and popularity with the crowd. Hogan introduced the term Hulkamania during a June 15, 1982 appearance on the Johnny Carson show. Following his role in Rocky III, Hulkamania gained widespread popularity. It was also during this time in the AWA that Hogan first claimed Hulkamania is running wild, a recurring catchphrase over his career. Despite his growing popularity, Gaines resisted making Hogan the AWA world champion, personally preferring traditional technical and matte wrestling over Hogan's muscle-bound, famboyant, entertainment-driven style, and remaining firm about having the AWA being held around one of the best technical wrestlers. Gange later agreed to have Hogan win the title at AWA's Super Sunday event April 24th, 1983, but only if Hogan gave him the majority share of his merchandise and earnings in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Hogan declined, offering only a 50-50 split, and Gange withheld the championship. Later that year, Vincent McMahon Jr. secretly visited Hogan in Minneapolis and offered him a leading role in WWF. Hogan accepted and abruptly left AWA in November 1983, reportedly sending his resignation by telegram. Gange initially believed it was a prank until he realized Hogan was not showing up for AWA shows. In his memoir My Life Outside the Wrestling Ring, Hogan stated that he left because McMahon promised him the WWE Heavyweight Championship and a key role in expanding the company nationally. After purchasing the WWE from his father in 1982, Vincent K. McMahon planned to expand the company nationally and selected Hulk Hogan as its top star, citing his charisma and widespread recognition. Hogan returned to the WWE at a televised taping in St. Louis, Missouri on December 27, 1983, defending Bill Dixon. On January 23, 84, Hogan won his first WWE Championship by defeating the Iron Sheik at MSG, becoming the first wrestler to escape the Sheik's finishing move, the camel clutch, in the process. Following his victory, commentator Gorilla Monsoon famously declared, Hulkamania is here. Hogan quickly became the face of the WWE, referring to his fans as Hulkamaniacs and promoting his three demands: training, saying prayers, and eating vitamins. A fourth, believing in yourself, was later added during the 1990 feud with Earthquake. Hogan's ring attire adopted a red and yellow color scheme, and his entrance featured him tearing his shirt, posing, and encouraging the fans to cheer. His matches during this period often followed a formula. After an initial offense, he would appear to be on the verge of defeat after being beaten down by his opponent before hulking up, drawing on crowd energy to make a sudden comeback. This would be then followed by a signature sequence of moves, finger pointing, punches, an Irish whip, the big boot, and the running leg drop to secure a victory. Over the following year, Hulk Hogan became the face of professional wrestling, and Vincent McMahon expanded WWE into mainstream pop culture through the rockin' wrestling connection on MTV. This period saw large increases in attendance, television ratings, and pay-per-view buys. Hogan was the main attraction at the first WrestleMania held on March 31, 1985, where he teamed with actor and wrestler Mr. T to defeat Roddy Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful Paul Ondorf. At WrestleMania 3 in 1987, Hogan defended his title against Andre the Giant and was promoted as undefeated for 15 years. Andre turned heel by aligning with manager Bobby Heenan in the lead up to a match at WrestleMania 3, which was billed as one of the biggest matches in wrestling history. At the event, Hogan successfully defended the title by body slamming Andre winning the match with a leg drop. At WrestleMania 4, Hogan was eliminated from a tournament to determine a new champion after a match with Andre ended in a double disqualification. After this, he formed a partnership with the winner of the tournament, Rambi Savage, known as the Mega Powers. The duel feud with the Mega Bucks and the Twin Towers throughout the rest of 1988. However, by the end of 88, the alliance had begun to fall apart after the storyline saw Savage grow jealous of Hogan and begin to suspect romantic tension between Hogan and his wife slash manager Miss Elizabeth, leading to a breakup at the main event 2, the culmination of WrestleMania 5, where Hogan defeated Savage to win his second WWE World Heavyweight Championship. During Hogan's second reign as champion, he starred in the film No Holes Bard, which was the inspiration of a feud with Hogan's co-star Tom Lister Jr., who appeared at wrestling events as his film character Zeus. The duo would fight multiple times across the country during late 89, including tag team matches at SummerSlam and at the No Hole's Bard pay-per-view, with Hulk Hogan winning each match. He also won the 1990 Royal Rumble match, during which he encountered Ultimate Warrior for the first time. Their brief interaction in the match led to a feud between the pair, culminating in Hogan losing his championship to Warrior in a title versus title match at WrestleMania 6. Hogan became the first wrestler to win two Royal Rumble matches in a row after winning the 91 Royal Rumble match. He subsequently defeated Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania 7 and lost the title to Undertaker at Survivor Series later that year following interference from Ric Flair. Hogan regained the championship at this Tuesday in Sacxic six days later after throwing ashes from Undertaker's urn in his face. The championship was later declared vacant due to two succeeding controversial title changes. It was decided the vacant WWE Championship would be decided in the 1992 Royal Rumble match. During the match, Hogan was eliminated by Sid Justice, who in turn Hogan helped Flair to eliminate, leading to Flair's victory. Hogan and Flair subsequently faced each other at several live main events leading up to WrestleMania 8, although the two were never featured in a major television match. Instead, Hogan defeated Sid via disqualification at WrestleMania after interference by Sid's manager, Harvey Whippleman. During this time, news sources began to allege that George Zahan, a doctor from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, had been selling steroids illegally to wrestlers including Hogan. Amidst public scrutiny, Hogan took a leave of absence from the company in late 92. Hogan returned in February 1993, helping his friend Brutus Beefcake in his feud with Money Incorporated and taking on Jimmy Hart, who had recently turned face as his manager. Renaming themselves the Magamaniacs at WrestleMania 9, Hogan and Beefcake lost by disqualification to Money Inc. in a match for the tag team championship. Later that night, Hogan won his fifth championship by pinning Yokozuna in an impromptu match only moments after Yokozuna had defeated Bret Hart for the championship. Hogan reportedly used his influence to have the finish of WrestleMania changed the weekend of the event so he would be champion during an upcoming international and de facto Failwell tour. Official Bruce Pritchard said in interviews, Hogan was made champion to help ticket sales for the European tour. At the first annual King of the Ring pay-per-view on June 13th, Hogan lost the championship to Yokozuna after Hogan was blinded by a fireball shot by Harvey Whipperman disguised as a Japanese photographer. This was Hogan's last pay-per-view appearance until 2002 after continuing his feud on the International House Circuit Show with Yokozuna until August 1993. Hogan set out the rest of the contract, which expired later that year. In 1993, Hogan opted to leave WWE in order to distance himself from the ongoing steroid scandal surrounding Vincic Mann. By November 1993, Hogan had ended his affiliation and was now focusing on filming his television series Thunder in Paradise. On the February 10th, 2026 episode of his YouTube show, Something to Talk About, with Bruce Pritchard, longtime WWE official Bruce Pritchard acknowledged to Conrad Thompson that other employees who left around the time Hogan's decision to join WCW after leaving WWE was in fact on his own terms with Hogan cutting off ties to WWE after being offered a lucrative deal for more money, with WCW overall owner Ted Turner could easily have provided. However, Pritchard also stated that Vince in fact quote made excuses for Hogan with regards to Hogan's decision to end ties with him, putting more blame on Ted Turner and Hogan's ties to Turner Company, which he got through Thunder in Paradise. Regardless of what McMahon thought, it was acknowledged on a broadcast which aired on local Florida TV station 2 on November 9th, 1993, that Hogan's main business collaborator for Thunder in Paradise was in fact World Disney Company, which even led him in its biggest soundstage at Disney MGM Studios, which was even described on the broadcast as Hogan's new home. However, the Disney MGM Studios was also at the time taping events for WCW. On May 3rd, 1993, Hogan returned to New Japan wrestling as a WWE champion and defended the IWGP heavyweight champion to the great Muda. Hogan also wrestled the Hellraisers with Muda and Mashiro Kono as his tag team partner. His last match in Japan was on January the 4th, 1994 at Battlefield when he defeated Tasumi Fujinami. Starting in March 1994, Hogan began. Making appearances on WCW, also known as World Championship Wrestling, with interviewer Gene Okerlin visiting him on the set of Thunder in Paradise. On June 11, 1994, Hogan officially signed with WCW in a ceremony that was held at Disney MGM Studios. Jimmy Hart remained Hogan's manager, and the next month, Hogan made his in-ring debut at Bash at the Beach, defeating Ric Flair to win the WCW World's Heavyweight Championship. Hogan's arrival was seen as a turning point for the company, bringing mainstream attention, increased pay-per-view sales, and new sponsorships. Afterwards, Hogan continued feuding with Flair and later faced other top wrestlers like The Butcher and Vader over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan also reunited with Randy Savage, reforming the Mega Powers in WCW. In September 1995, Hogan headlined the debut episode of WCW Monday Nitro, marking the beginning of the Monday Night Wars with WWE. Hogan feuded with the Dungeon of Doom, leading to a War Games match at Fall Brawl, where Hogan's team claimed victory. As the feuds continued afterwards, Hogan began wearing all black and claimed he had crossed over to the dark side. Hogan's 469-day title run, the longest in the title's history, ended at Halloween Havoc after a disqualification loss to the Giant. During the event, Jimmy Hart also turned on Hogan and aligned himself with the Dungeon of Doom. On the November 8th, 1995 episode of Nitro, it was revealed that the title was allowed to change hands under such circumstances due to Hart secretly putting in an agreed contract clause, but the controversy led to the title being vacated. Despite this, Hogan was unsuccessful in reclaiming the title at World War III. Hogan would have afterwards only had one more title shot during this period in WCW Run against Ric Flair on January 1, 1996, but would be unsuccessful in taking the belt from Flair due to Flair being disqualified. He would not get another title shot until the summer of 96. Hogan would engage his singles feud with the Giant with the cage match victory at Super Brawl 6. In early 96, Hogan and Savage formed the team to battle the Alliance to end Okamania, defeating them at Uncensored in a Doomsday Cage match. Here comes one of the greatest moments in wrestling history. Because unbeknownst to you listeners, I am by far the biggest wrestling fan. I have been a wrestling fan since I was in the crib, jumping off as Jimmy Superfly Snooker, and there's a picture to tell that story. So, at Bash of the Beach 1996, Hulk Hogan turned heel for the first time in nearly 15 years by attacking Randy Savage and aligning with the outsiders, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, cutting a promo afterwards in which he announced the formation of the New World Order, the NWO. Rebranding himself as Hollywood Hulk Hogan, he adopted a new black and white persona and dominated WCW, capturing his second WCW championship at Hog Wild on August 10th by defeating the Giant for the title. He briefly lost the title to Lex Luger on August 4th, 1997, only to regain it five days later at Road Wild. Meanwhile, a lengthy storyline between Sting and the NWO reached its pinnacle at Starkade on December 28th, where Sting defeated Hogan to win the championship in a controversial finish. A feud with fellow NWO members Randy Savage and Kevin Nash led to the group split. NWO Hollywood led by Hogan and NWO Wolfpack led by Nash. Hogan defeated Savage to win his fourth WCW World's Heavyweight Championship on April 20, 1998. He lost the title to then undefeated Bill Goldberg on the July 6th episode of Nitro 1998. After this, he spent the rest of '98 feuding with DDPallas Page in a high-profile celebrity match at various WCW pay-per-views involving the likes of Dennis Rodman and Carl Malone at Bash of the Beach and Jay Leno at Road Wilds, and then The Warrior. Hogan would have a critically panned rematch with The Warrior at Halloween Havoc on October 25th, where his nephew, Horace Hogan, aided his victory. In late 98, he announced a presidential run and retirement from wrestling, which were later revealed as public stunts, derived from pro wrestler Jesse Ventura during his recent Minnesota gubernatorial win. Hogan returned to WCW in January 1998 during the infamous Finger Poke of Doom match, where he reclaimed the championship from Kevin Nash via a simple poke to Nash's chest, with the pair afterwards reunifying the NWO factions. The incident is widely seen as a key factor in WCW's decline in ratings and popularity. Later that year in March, he lost the title to Ric Flair at Uncensored. Hogan returned as a babyface, or a good guy, in July 1999, defeating Savage to win his sixth belt on July 12th episode of Nitro. In August of 1999, he reverted to wearing red and yellow ring attire. On August 9th, Hogan defeated Nash at Road Wild to retain the championship. At Fall Brawl, Hogan lost the title to Sting. In the rematch at Halloween Havoc, Hogan came to the ring in streakloth, laid down for the pin, and left the ring. Hogan was convinced shortly after by headbooker Vince Russo to take time off. Hogan returned in June 2000, feuding with the cruiserweight Billy Kidman, culminating in a match at the Great American Bash. Their feud had a negative reception, being voted worst feud of the year by readers of the Wrestling Observer newsletter. At Bash at the Beach on July 9, 2000, Hogan was involved in a controversial segment. Hogan was scheduled to challenge Jeff Jarrett for the WCW World Championship. However, before the match, there was a backstage dispute between Hogan and Russo. The match ending was changed to a workshoot where Jarrett laid down for Hogan with Hogan winning, disparaging Russo and the company on the microphone. Moments later, Russo came to the ring and said this will be the last time fans would ever see this piece of shit in WCW Ring while revealing Hogan's Creative Control Clause in his contract. Creative Control Clause is basically Hogan's way of controlling everything that happens and the outcomes of his matches. As a result, Hogan filed a defamation of character lawsuit against Russo, which was eventually dismissed in 2002. Russo claims the entire incident was a work, and Hogan claimed that Russo had turned it into a shoot when Russo went into the ring. WCW president Eric Bischoff agreed with Hogan's side of the story, saying he and Hogan celebrated after an event over the success of the angle, but that Russo, coming out to fire Hogan, wasn't planned. Regardless, the incident marked Hogan's final appearance in WCW. In March 2001, Hogan underwent knee surgery on his knees, wrestling in a match for XWF Excitement Wrestling Foundation in November 2001 in preparation for his return to the WWE February 2002. At No Way Out on February 17, 2002, Hogan returned to WWF as a heel, reuniting with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash as the original NWO. The group attacked The Rock and cost Stonko Steve Austin a chance to become the undisputed WWE champion, which led to them feuding with both Austin and The Rock. This resulted in a match between Hogan and The Rock at WrestleMania 18 on March 17. Although Hogan entered as a heel, the WrestleMania crowd supported him and cheered him heavily. After losing the match, Hogan shook hands with The Rock and turned face, distancing himself from the NWO. Following WrestleMania 18, Hogan revived his red and yellow Hulkamania persona, though he initially kept elements of his Hollywood Hogan character, such as his blonde mustache and black beard combination. On March 25th episode of Raw, Hogan was drafted to the SmackDown brand where he began a feud with Triple H. Hogan defeated Triple H at Backlash on April 21st to win the undisputed WWE Championship, becoming the final WWF champion before the company was renamed in May 2002. Hogan lost the title to The Undertaker at Judgment Day on May 19th. Hogan later had a feud with Kurt Engel, losing to him by submission at King of the Ring on June 23rd. Notably, the first time Hogan had lost by submission. On the July 4th episode of SmackDown, Hogan teamed up with Edge to defeat Billy and Chuck to win the WWE Tag Team Championship before losing the titles to the Un-Americans, Christian and Landstorm, at Vengeance on July 21st. Hogan was also notably defeated by Brock Lesnar by Technical Submission on the August 8th episode of SmackDown. After his loss to Lesnar, Hogan went on a brief hiatus before returning on January 23, 2003 episode of SmackDown, dropping the remaining components of his Hollywood persona. Hogan faced The Rock again at No Way Out on February 23rd, losing the match. At WrestleMania 19 on March 30th, Hogan defeated Vince McMahon in a street fight billed as 20 years in the making. After the WrestleMania 19 match, Hogan adopted a masked alter ego named Mr. America after McMahon tried to force him out of WWE. Despite McMahon's attempts to prove Mr. America's identity, the masked wrestler continued to appear through May and June, including a victory over Radio Radi Piper at Judgment Day on May 18th. Mr. America's final appearance was on June 26 episode of SmackDown in a six-man tag match as he teamed up with Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle against Big Show and the world's greatest tag team, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, in a losing effort. The following week, Hogan quit WWE due to creative frustrations, unhappy with the payoffs for his matches after his comeback under the Mr. America gimmick. On the July 3rd episode of SmackDown McMahon, he aired footage of Hogan unmasking after the June 26 episode and fired him on screen, although Hogan had already left the company. Hogan returned to New Japan Wrestling in October 2003 when he defeated Masahiro Shono at Ultimate Crush 2 and the Tokyo Dome. Shortly after Hogan left WWE, TNA or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling began making overtures to Hogan, culminating in Jeff Jarrett, co-founder of TNA and then champion, launching an on-air attack on Hogan, Japan after the Chono match. The attack was supposed to be a precursor to Hogan battling Jarrett for the NWE World Heavyweight Championship at TNA's first three-hour pay-per-view. But due to recurring knee and hip problems, Hogan did not appear in TNA. On April 2nd, 2005, Hulk Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class 2005 by Sylvester Stallone. The following night at WrestleMania 21, Hogan made a surprise appearance to save Eugene from an attack from Mohammed Hassan and Kusaro Dvari. The lead up to his induction and WrestleMania appearance, which featured in the first season of Hogan Knows Best. At Backlash, Hogan teamed with Shawn Michaels to defeat Hassan and Daivari. Hogan and Michaels were later victorious in a match on the July 4th episode of Raw against Carlito and Kurt Angle, after which Michaels turned on Hogan. This led to a match at SummerSlam on August 21st, where Hogan defeated Michael. The two made up after the match shaking hands. Before WrestleMania 22 in 2006, Hogan inducted Gene Oakerland into the WWE Hall of Fame. He returned at Saturday Night Main Event 33 alongside Brooke Hogan, his daughter, where he was attacked by Randy Orton. Hogan later defeated Orin at SummerSlam. This marked Hogan's final WWE match, despite later talks of a potential bout with John Cena at WrestleMania 25, which ultimately fell through. On October 27th, it was announced that Hogan had signed with TNA. Hogan debuted on January 4th, 2010, alongside Eric Bischoff in an executive role. Over the next few weeks, Hogan began an on-screen mentorship with Abyss and the two teams to defeat AJ Styles and Ric Flair in Hogan's first TNA match on March the 8th. At lockdown on April 18th, Team Hogan, which featured Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Hardy, and Rob Van Dam, defeated Team Flair, which was composed of Sting, Desmond Wolf, Robert Rhode, and James Storm in a lethal lockdown match. After months of storylines involving speculation about a secret of controlling force in TNA, Hogan turned heal by helping Hardy win the TNA Championship at Boton for Glory on October 10th, forming Immortal. Immortal featured Hardy, Bischoff, Abyss, and Jarrett. As part of the angle, it was revealed on October 14th that Bischoff had tricked TNA president Dixie Carter into signing paperwork to turn the company over to him and Hogan. The storyline concluded at Bounds for Glory on October 16, 2011, when Hogan lost to Sting in a match that returned control of TNA to Carter. After the match, Hogan aided Sting during a post-match attack by members of Immortal, marking his return to a fan favorite role. Hogan wrestled his final matches during TNA's tour of the UK on January 26th and 27th of 2012 at house shows in Nottingham and Manchester, where he, James Storm, and Sting defeated Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, and Kurt Angle in a six-man tag team main event at both events. Two months later, Hogan assumed the role of TNA's on-screen general manager. His last major storyline in TNA was the mysterious mass group Aces and Aids. The storyline included an angle where Billy Ray was in a relationship with his daughter Brooke, culminating in lockdown on March 10, 2013, where Ray was revealed to be the leader of Aces and Aids. Hogan left TNA in October 2013 upon the expiration of his contract. His final appearance was on October 3rd on Wrestling Impact. Hogan returned for a fourth time to WWE in early 2014, appearing on Raw to promote the WWE Network on February 24th and alongside Owen Schwarzenegger and Joe Mangelano on March 24th. During WrestleMania 30, Hogan served as the host, making several appearances throughout the night. WWE honored Hogan's career during a live match at Madison Square Garden dubbed Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night with a special commemorative banner hanging from the rafters on February 27, 2015. The following month, he appeared on the March 23rd episode of Raw in a segment with Snoop Dogg and Curtis Axel. Hogan posthumously inducted Macho Man and Randy Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015 three days later. The next night at WrestleMania 31, Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash, representing the NWO, interfered in the Sting Triple H match on behalf of Sting, where they battled D Generation X members Willie Gunn, Xbox and Rodog, and Shawn Michaels. This is a two-part series. So next week we'll discuss the other side of Hulk Hogan.

SPEAKER_01

This episode was squeezed perfection. So thirsty and need more, visit us at fstcpodcast.com for links to all our social media handles, including YouTube. Want to keep the juice flowing? Make a donation by buying us a glass. And as always, cheers.