re: Hulk Hogan; Real American Documentary on Netflix

It was a good documentary. I grew up as a big wrestling and I was a little Hulkamaniac the late 80’s and early 90’s. Over the last 20-25 years, majority of us that followed wrestling knew the type of person Hogan really was whether it was his legal troubles or listening to other wrestlers in interviews. This documentary brought up a lot of these things and I’ll give Hogan credit for admitting he was wrong in a lot of those cases. It also introduced us to things about Hogan that was not made very public.

quote:

---

Hogan was a selfish POS behind the scenes, I agree with that. He wanted all the spotlight on him, but then again, he had the credentials to back it up. Directly responsible for the two biggest popularity booms in the history of the business.

---

I've heard Chris Jericho tell stories about his time in WCW. He was pretty much a nobody back then, and he said all Eric Bischoff cared about back then was Hulk Hogan and himself, so Jericho just started doing whatever he wanted to do and none of the higher-ups cared, which is how he elevated himself to top bill status.

quote:

---

There is video after video on YouTube of wrestlers from all levels - low card, mid card, main event saying what a POS Hogan was.

---

Everyone in this thread is bashing both Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart.

Makes me wonder what people will say about Ric Flair after he's no longer around to defend himself.

quote:

---

He's starting to look like The Crypt Keeper and Al Davis with all the scabs on his face/head. I don't see how he is still alive.

---

Especially with all the physical and alcohol abuse that he put his body through. And the plane crash.

I first saw him perform in 1975.

quote:

---

You leave the company you have to drop the strap first. It’s a small world. Swallow your pride and don’t burn that bridge

---

I wonder if LSU fans share this sentiment

quote:

---

Watched it. Hogan was a POS human being who admits he ruined careers and holding other wrestlers back from success. His backstage politics makes him a laughable joke. “That doesn’t work for me brother”

The guy had a ton of charisma no doubt but he tried to stay in the spotlight way too long and ruined his body and eventually his life.

---

Hogan may very well be a POS human, didn't know him personally.

Nothing listed above really makes him a POS though. This stuff is just parroted by bitter wrestlers that were never in a position to use the amount of power he had (but would have) and nerdy wrestling purists.

Hogan wanted to work with guys he thought he could make money with, that's not ruining careers. Michaels and the KLIQ ruined more careers by straight up bullying people and using their stroke with McMahon to bury guys.

quote:

---

Nothing listed above really makes him a POS though.

---

The car crash his son was involved in and all that came from that absolutely makes him a gigantic piece of crap. That was listed in this thread.

I loved Hogan as a kid and rhe NWO was awesome. I felt like I lost a family member watching this.

For those of you who don't know, I've worked in the pro wrestling business in various capacities for 30+ years and have met hundreds of wrestlers over the years. In regards to Ric Flair, he loves to be the center of attention and he loves women, no matter the age. In 1992 (while working for the WWF) he (and Curt Hennig as well) hit on a girl I was dating who had literally just turned 18. Flair was 43. Anyway, a wealthy acquaintance of mine who lives in Florida is a huge wrestling fan from the 70s/80s and he actually pays wrestlers to come and have dinner with him and his buddies, who are also old-school fans. He pays for their airfare (if necessary), hotel, and the meal, which is scheduled to last an hour. This past month it was Brain Blair. Most of the wrestlers (and sometimes referees) really appreciate it and get a nice payday out of it and the dinners end up lasting 2-3 hours most of the time because they're all having such a good time. Anyway he and his friends were all huge Flair marks back in the day and they invited him to a dinner. Flair and his wife at the time (Wendy aka Fifi from WCW) showed up. The guys always want to talk about old-school stuff (they're not really fans of today's stuff). They asked Flair who his favorite opponent of all-time was, and he said HHH. For the most part they felt the answers he gave were WWE-driven and disingenuous. They were all sitting there eating and talking wrestling and after an hour, Flair tapped his watch and said, "I was told this dinner would be for an hour, and it's going over." Then he and his wife just got up and left. From what I've always heard about Flair, once he no longer has a use for you, he's no longer interested. If you can't benefit him in some way, or offer him something, he couldn't care less about you.

Now - in regards to Warrior, I'll tell you this. He was terrible in the ring, no doubt. But there is a lot of hatred directed at him by former wrestlers and others in the business (such as Jim Ross) who felt he didn't deserve his push. And they're probably right, he didn't. That said, when I was still a teen in 1990, I attended a house show in Pittsburgh where Warrior defended the World title against Rick Rude. My best friend's buddy worked at a local hotel and tipped off my friend that they were staying there. So after the show, my best friend's dad (who attended the show with us) drove us to the hotel and waited for the wrestlers to show up. We waited over an hour and my friend's dad didn't want to wait around so we decided to leave. Just as we were walking out, a limo turned into the parking lot and pulled up to the front door. Out stepped Warrior and Jimmy Snuka. They grabbed their bags and quickly went in the doors and bee-lined it straight for the elevator. I told my best friend, "Come on!" and I started following them. Give me a break; I was 15. Anyway I caught up to them at the elevator, right as the door was opening. I said, "Excuse me, Warrior, Mr. Snuka, can I have your autographs?" Snuka completely ignored me and stepped into the elevator. He looked at Warrior. Warrior told him, "I'll meet you up there." Then he stayed behind and signed autographs and took photos. For that, I'll always defend him. He very easily could've ignored me like Snuka did and got into the elevator, but he didn't. Ironically, I've met good ol' JR several times over years and he was a prick every time.

Shawn Michaels? Helluva performer - one of the best - but also the biggest douchebag in the history of the business, and that says a lot.

Bret Hart? One of the most genuine guys I came across. He was the one guy who always stayed behind and signed autographs for anybody who wanted one. Jim Neidhart (who was a dick) would sit in the car and sulk while Bret signed. I know a lot of fans ridicule Bret for being so bitter, and I see where they're coming from, but I also understand his bitterness. He was on his way to becoming an elite all-time great, and still had so much to give, and then BOOM one dumb-arse mistake ended it. So I do understand why he's so bitter, to an extent. On a side note, back in the day when I used to have a wrestling hotline, I conducted an interview with Stu Hart over the phone. HE sounded EXACTLY like those who imitate him. I remember there were dogs barking in the background and he kept telling them to be quiet


tl;dr version: Some wrestlers are jerks. Some are cool.

quote:

---

Of course they had to play up his relationship with Trump as a negative.

---

I'm on record on this board for absolutely despising Trump through both of his terms and I didn't get this from that documentary at all. WTF you talking about.