Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 24.61.26.106 (talk) at 14:29, 6 November 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article may need clearer distinction between fact and fiction. Please review the Manual of Style and help improve this article. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Terry Gene Bollea
Born	August 11 1953 Augusta, Georgia
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	The Super Destroyer Sterling Golden Terry Boulder Hulk Hogan Hulk Machine Hollywood Hogan Mr. America
Billed height	6 ft 7 in (201 cm)
Billed weight	69lb (128 kg)
Billed from	Venice Beach, California
Trained by	Hiro Matsuda
Debut	August 19 1977

Hulk Hogan (born Terry Gene Bollea on August 11 1953), is an American professional wrestler and entertainer. He is one of the most successful and popular wrestlers in history, with a large, long standing fanbase called "Hulkamaniacs". He currently stars on the VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best.

Personal information

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Hogan was the third child of Italian-American couple Pete and Ruth Bollea. He had an older brother, Allan Bolea and an older half brother from Ruth's first marriage, Kenneth Wheller. Hogan attended the University of South Florida and graduated with a masters degree in Medical. Hogan met his wife Linda Claridge in a restaurant in Los Angeles, and they married in 1983. They have two children, Brooke and Nick. In April, 2005, the family bought a new $12 million bayfront estate in Miami Beach, Florida so their children could pursue singing and acting careers. The Miami Beach home, in the trendy North Bay Road neighborhood, is the site of filming of the VH1 reality series "Hogan Knows Best."

Hogan currently stars in an American reality television show, which is centered around his family life, in the spirit of such shows as The Osbournes. The show follows the lives of the Hogan family and Hogan's efforts to help his children establish show business careers of their own. Former professional wrestler "Nasty Boy" Brian Knobbs, a longtime friend of Hogan's, has appeared on several episodes. Knobbs is the workout buddy and frequent guest of Bubba The Love Sponge on his Howard 101 Sirius Radio Program.

Career

Early in life, Terry Bollea was a standout in little league baseball. He also spent ten years playing bass guitar in several Florida-based rock bands, including Ruckus and Infinity's End. Many of the wrestlers who competed in the Florida territory at that time would visit the bars in which Bollea was performing.

Bollea's impressive physical stature soon caught the attention of wrestlers Jack Brisco and his brother Gerald. Together, they convinced Bollea to give wrestling a try. Having been a wrestling fan since childhood, Bollea was eager to do so. He trained for nearly two years under the watchful eye of Hiro Matsuda, a hard-nosed taskmaster. According to Hogan, during their first training session, Matsuda sarcastically asked him, "So you wanna be a wrestler?" and then casually (and to instill respect, purposefully) broke Bollea's leg before Bollea could stop him.

Bollea wrestled his first professional match in Tallahassee, Florida on August 19, 1977 under the name "The Super Destroyer". His opponent was B. Brian Blair. Terry went through a few different ring name changes before becoming "Hulk Hogan"; along with "The Super Destroyer," he was also known as "Terry 'The Hulk' Boulder" and "Sterling Golden". Bollea would go on to win his first wrestling championships, the National Wrestling Alliance Southeastern Heavyweight Championships recognized in Alabama and Tennessee, respectively. In January 1979, Bollea even had an early shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, whose holder was at the time generally recognized as the industry's best.

World Wrestling Federation (First run) (1979-1981)

On November 13, 1979, Bollea made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation as a heel. He was given the name "The Incredible Hulk Hogan" by Vincent James McMahon, then the majority owner of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (at the time, the parent company of the Federation). In his debut, Hogan wrestled three matches in Allentown, Pennsylvania during one of the Federation's marathon television tapings. Hogan was victorious in all three bouts, squashing Harry Valdez in the first match, Paul Figueroa in the second, and Ben Ortiz in the third. One month later on December 17, Hogan made his Madison Square Garden wrestling debut, defeating Ted DiBiase in 11 minutes, 12 seconds.

The later, official explanation for the "Hulk Hogan" moniker was that many considered Bollea to be physically bigger than Lou Ferrigno, who at the time was starring in the popular TV series The Incredible Hulk. McMahon also wanted him to be a tough, working-man brawler with a possible Irish background at the same time, thus the name "Hogan." A deal was later struck with Marvel Comics to use the "Incredible Hulk" name. In February 2005, Bollea himself purchased the rights to the name "Hulk Hogan" shortly after a copyright dispute between Marvel and World Wrestling Entertainment prevented Bollea from being called Hulk Hogan in rebroadcasts of his matches.

Hogan started out in the WWF as an arrogant heel, managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Hogan feuded with then-WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation) World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund, "Mr. U.S.A." Tony Atlas, and André the Giant. His feud with André culminated in a match at Shea Stadium on August 9, 1980 in front of 36,295 fans, popularly called the Showdown at Shea.

In 1981, Sylvester Stallone personally offered him a part in the movie Rocky III. Industry etiquette demanded that he first ask for his boss's (Vincent J. McMahon) permission. McMahon, unlike his son (and future owner of the WWE) Vincent K. McMahon said no, believing that pro wrestlers should be pro wrestlers and not become actors. However, Hogan took the part anyway, expecting the role to dramatically increase his profile and earning potential. McMahon fired Hogan, who would not appear with the company again for several years.

American Wrestling Association

After filming his scene for Rocky III, Hogan made his debut in the Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association, owned and promoted by Verne Gagne. Hogan started his AWA run as a heel, taking on "Luscious" Johnny Valiant as his manager, but AWA audiences loved the muscular Hogan, and soon the AWA's bookers were compelled to turn Hogan face.

Hogan quickly became the AWA's top draw and feuded with world champion Nick Bockwinkel, but AWA owner Gagne, a close friend of Bockwinkel's and a former college wrestler who emphasized mat skills over showmanship, was reluctant to give the less-technically skilled Hogan a run with the belt. On two different occasions, Hogan had been scripted to win the AWA Championship from champion Nick Bockwinkel and have it revert back to Bockwinkel by contrived technicalities (known as a Dusty finish). This was a common plot device, used to milk audience anticipation that the face would topple the heel "next time." But this time, the crowd reactions was so furious that only Bollea's pleas (on the PA system, in character as Hogan) kept them from rioting. Hogan, for his part, quickly grew frustrated with the AWA's backstage politics over the world title, and was upset with promoter Verne Gagne's demands for a percentage of his Japanese earnings in exchange for winning the AWA Championship.

Over twenty years later, just prior to Hulk Hogan's WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2005, the revived AWA relented and acknowledged the legitimacy of Hogan's two title wins over Nick Bockwinkel, making him a two-time AWA champion.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (First run) (1980-1983)

A great deal of Hogan's early success was achieved in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Japanese wrestling fans were in awe of the gargantuan blond American, and nicknamed him "Ichiban" (which translates to "Number One"). Hogan first appeared in Japan on May 13, 1980, while he was still with the WWF. He would tour the country from time to time over the next few years, facing a wide variety of opponents ranging from Tatsumi Fujinami to Abdullah the Butcher. When competing in Japan, Hogan used a vastly different repertoire of wrestling moves, relying on more "scientific" (i.e., technical, more amateur style-seeming) looking traditional wrestling holds and maneuvers as opposed to the power-based (feats of strength), brawling style U.S. fans became accustomed to seeing from him. Another difference is that Hogan uses a running forearm lariat (Called the "Axe Bomber") as his finisher in Japan as opposed to the running leg drop that has been his traditional finisher in America.

On June 2, 1983,. Hogan became the first International Wrestling Grand Prix tournament winner, defeating Japanese wrestling icon Antonio Inoki by knockout in the finals of a 10-man tournament featuring top talent from throughout the world. Hogan and Inoki also worked as partners in Japan, winning the prestigious MSG Tag League tournament two years in a row, in 1982 and 1983. Hogan's popularity in Japan was so great, he even recorded an album there - a forerunner to the World Wrestling Federation's "Rock' n' Wrestlin' Connection" of the mid-'80's.

World Wrestling Federation (Second run) (1984-1993)

By 1983, Vince K. McMahon had bought the World Wrestling Federation from his father, with a goal of turning the WWF into a nationwide company, using Hogan's charisma and name recognition as the top draw. Hogan made a dramatic return to the WWF at a TV taping on January 3, 1984, saving Bob Backlund from a three-on-one assault. Hogan's turn was explained simply by Backlund: "He's changed his ways. He's a great man. He's told me he's not gonna have Blassie around." The storyline shortcut was necessary, because less than three weeks later, on January 23, Hogan won the WWF Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik in New York's Madison Square Garden . He became the first ever Southern-born WWF Champion in history. In Hogan's autobiography, he says that The Iron Sheik told him that Verne Gagne had offered the Sheik $100,000 to break Hogan's leg during the title bout, but the Sheik correctly saw the potential for making millions working a feud with Hogan and refused.

This title victory caused "Hulkamania" to sweep the WWF, as Hogan's popularity soared. He would frequently refer to his fans as "Hulkamaniacs" in his interviews, and would go on to introduce his three "demandments": training, saying your prayers, and eating your vitamins. Eventually, a fourth demandment (believing in yourself) would be added following his feud with Earthquake. The vitamins demandment has been parodied to mean steroids in recent years due to Vince McMahon's problems with a steroid trial in the early '90s.

Hogan would remain WWF Champion for four years and 13 days (no wrestler has held the WWF Championship for longer than one year since Hogan's first title reign), overcoming such challengers as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, Paul Orndorff, and King Kong Bundy, drawing record houses, PPV buyrates and TV ratings in the process. He co-hosted Saturday Night Live on March 30, 1985 and even had his own CBS Saturday morning cartoon during this lucrative run, titled Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling.

On March 31, 1985, the inaugural WrestleMania took place at Madison Square Garden, featuring Hogan in a tag team main event, with Mr. T his partner. Hogan would go on to headline seven of the first eight WrestleManias, from 1985-1992. In addition, Hogan made an appearance at WrestleMania IX, first to tag with longtime friend Brutus Beefcake against Money, Inc. and later in the evening win the WWF Championship from Yokozuna to once again become the WWF Champion. Hulk Hogan would not again appear in the event until WrestleMania X8, losing to The Rock in what was dubbed an Icon vs. Icon match. WrestleMania XIX featured Hulk Hogan defeating Vince McMahon.

In the fall of 1986, Hogan occasionally wrestled in tag matches with The Machines as Hulk Machine under a mask copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine."

A new storyline was introduced in early 1987: Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three years. André the Giant, a good friend (who was seen pouring champagne over him in the Madison Square Garden locker room in the interview scene following his title win) came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterwards, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in the WWF for 15 years." In actuality, André had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in the WWF, but had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André, but André walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of "Piper's Pit" (an interview/skit segment hosted by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper), Hogan was confronted by Bobby Heenan when Piper had invited Hogan and Jesse Ventura invited Heenan and Andre the Giant. Heenan announced that his new protégé was André. Andre then challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, ripping the t-shirt and crucifix off Hogan. Hogan was left in shock after André's challenge holding his torn shirt and cross.

WrestleMania III, held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, an announced audience of 93,173,(commentator Jesse Ventura claimed 93,176) witnessed Hogan successfully defend the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant. The actual number of fans that attended WrestleMania III is not known, and many speculate that the number presented by the WWE is greatly inflated. The match would become the most famous of Hogan's career, and is often regarded as the biggest match in the history of the business, one which saw Hogan bodyslam the 520-pound Frenchman before pinning his shoulders to the mat. The match was considered as being a "passing of the torch" between one of the biggest stars in wrestling of the 1970's, André, and the biggest star in wrestling of the 1980's, Hogan. Years later, Hogan stated that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 pounds, and that if he had lost his balance performing the slam, he was sure that Andre's weight would have seriously injured him. Hogan also says that in lifting the super heavyweight, he tore a shoulder muscle, which causes one side of his back to be visibly smaller than the other.

Hogan lost the belt in extremely controversial fashion to André on NBC's "The Main Event" on February 5, 1988, thanks to a convoluted scam involving "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and "evil" twin referee Earl Hebner (in place of the match's appointed arbiter, his twin brother Dave Hebner). After André delivered a belly-to-belly suplex on Hogan, Hebner three-counted Hogan while his left shoulder was clearly off the mat. After the match, André handed the title over to DiBiase to complete their storyline business deal. As a result, the WWF Championship was vacated for the first time in its 25-year history, and all this in turn led to Hogan's on/off friend "The Macho Man" Randy Savage taking the vacant title in a tournament at WrestleMania IV a month later.

Note: The live primetime NBC broadcast of The Main Event on February 5, 1988, from Market Square Arena, Indianapolis,IN was the highest rated television show in American professional wrestling history, with a 15.2 rating. The Hogan-Andre rematch from February 5, 1988 can be found on the History Of The WWE Championship DVD.

Together, Hogan, Savage, and manager Miss Elizabeth formed a partnership known as The Mega Powers. Savage played an instrumental role in Hogan's character development. However, the Mega-Powers would soon implode from within, due to Savage's burgeoning jealousy of Hogan and his paranoid suspicions that Hogan and Elizabeth were "more than friends." A feud between Hogan and Savage began, which culminated in Hogan beating Savage for his second WWF Championship at WrestleMania V on April 2, 1989. Hulk Hogan earned $1.8 million for his match against "Macho Man" Randy Savage at WrestleMania V.

Hogan's second run lasted a year, during which time he starred in his first movie, No Holds Barred. The movie was the inspiration of a feud with Hogan's co-star in "No Holds Barred," Tiny Lister, Jr., who appeared at wrestling events as his movie character, Zeus. Zeus was a monster heel who was "jealous" over Hogan's higher billing and now wanted revenge. However, Hogan was easily able to defeat Zeus in a series of matches across the country during late 1989, beginning with a tag team match at SummerSlam.

Also during his second run, Hogan won the 1990 Royal Rumble Match, last eliminating Mr. Perfect. He dropped the title to Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior on April 1, 1990 at WrestleMania VI. It was the first time in over seven years that Hogan suffered an uncontroversial pinfall defeat. That title match was notable in that the two wrestlers were both faces, and Hogan graciously handed Warrior the belt and shook his hand at the conclusion of the match, remembered as one of the most sportsmanlike displays in WWF history.

Hogan soon became embroiled in a heated feud with the 468-pound Earthquake, a mountain of a man who gained infamy by crushing Hogan's ribs in a sneak attack on "The Brother Love Show" in May 1990. On TV, announcers explained that Hogan was depressed over his injuries and his WrestleMania VI loss to The Ultimate Warrior and both took such a huge toll on his fighting spirit that he wanted to retire. Viewers were asked to write letters to Hogan and send postcards asking for his return (they got a postcard-sized picture in return, autographed by Hogan, as a "thank you"). Hogan returned by SummerSlam 1990 and dominated Earthquake in a months-long series of matches across the country. His defeat of this overwhelmingly large foe would cause Hogan to add a fourth demandment: believing in yourself. His name also changed: The Immortal Hulk Hogan.(In his AWA/WWWF days his name was The Incredible Hulk Hogan.)

On March 24 1991, Hogan stood up for the USA against Iraqi-sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter, outwitting him for his third WWF Championship at WrestleMania VII. Hogan lost the title to The Undertaker at the Survivor Series on November 27, 1991, in an infamous bout marred by interference from Ric Flair. Just six days later, Hogan regained the title in a match held on a special pay-per-view named Tuesday in Texas, but due to the controversy surrounding both matches, the title was again declared vacant.

In the 1992 Royal Rumble, Hogan was eliminated by storyline friend Sid Justice and failed to regain the championship. In the ensuing five months, Hulk Hogan announced he was contemplating retirement from wrestling and would 'bow out' after his match against Sid at WrestleMania VIII on April 5, 1992. Hogan eventually won the match via disqualification due to interference by Sid's manager Harvey Whippleman. Hogan then was attacked by Papa Shango, who actually was supposed to cause the DQ but was late, and was saved by the returning Ultimate Warrior.

Hogan returned to the WWF in January 1993, helping out his friend Brutus Beefcake in his feud with Money Inc.. Hogan scooped his fifth WWF Title on April 4 of that year, overcoming Yokozuna in an impromptu bout at WrestleMania IX only moments after Yokozuna's defeat of Bret Hart. At this point, everything was looking good for Hogan; he had the World Wrestling Federation Championship once again and it seemed like Hulkamania was back. However, this was not the case at all.

At the first annual King of the Ring pay per view, Hogan defended the championship against the former champion, Yokozuna. It was Hogan's first title defense since he first defeated Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. During the course of the match, Yokozuna amazingly kicked out of Hogan's signature leg drop. The hard-fought bout came to its close when a "Japanese photographer" (actually a disguised Harvey Whippleman) got on the apron and distracted Hogan, before shooting some sort of fireball out of the camera and into Hogan's face. This was followed by Yokozuna hitting a leg drop on Hogan for the pin. After his victory, Yokozuna proceeded to give Hogan a Banzai drop amidst the crying children and cursing adults. As Yokozuna celebrated, Hogan was helped back to the locker room by ringside officials, as he clutched his face. Hulkamania had seemingly taken its final breath.

Hogan departed the WWF two months later after a series of bouts against Yokozuna on the Hulkamania European tour. An impending steroid scandal led to Vince McMahon deciding to phase out large, muscular wrestlers such as Hogan and give the top spots to smaller, more technically sound wrestlers such as Bret Hart. After Hogan left the WWF, he decided to concentrate on movies and TV and take time off from professional wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling (1995-2000)

In June 1994, Hogan was expensively lured back to the ring by Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling, which was the WWF's main competitor at the time. When Hogan signed with WCW, officials (namely, Eric Bischoff, who convinced Hogan to join WCW in the first place) hoped that they could relive the glory days of Hulkamania, but everyone involved also knew it would be tough to convince many loyal, old-school WCW fans of Hogan's worth, particularly the southern fans that were traditionally anti-WWF. Hogan was also at this time given absolute creative control over his onscreen character. Hulk Hogan's contract signing on June 11 was held at Disney World in Orlando, following a red-and-yellow ticker tape parade.

Hogan won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his debut match, overcoming Ric Flair in a genuine 'dream' match on July 17. After tussling with Flair, Vader, and the Dungeon of Doom for the next eighteen months, Hogan dropped the belt and began to only appear occasionally on WCW shows. WCW fans were clamoring for younger, more exciting international stars such as Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and were growing tired of seeing Hogan's "red-and-yellow good guy" persona they had seen for ten years in the WWF. This led to one of the most talked about moments in wrestling history in the summer of 1996.

The buildup to this began when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash both left the WWF in early 1996 and returned to their old employer, WCW. They were portrayed as "Outsiders" and quickly announced their intent to "take over" WCW, with the help of an unnamed third member of their team (initially rumored to be either Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, or Sting). At the Bash At The Beach PPV held at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, FL on July 7, 1996, Hall, Nash and their partner were scheduled to face the WCW trio of Sting, Randy Savage, and Lex Luger. The third partner did not begin the match, and, after Luger left the match due to an "injury", some assumed that he would be the "third man."

After Luger was taken out, Hall and Nash began to beat on Savage, neutralizing him on the outside and leaving Sting alone in the ring. Almost immediately afterwards, Hogan came to the ring, making his first appearance in several weeks.

Many expected him to replace Luger and attack Hall and Nash. However, in one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history, Hogan leg dropped Randy Savage and declared himself to be Hall and Nash's partner, with the trio comprising what Hogan dubbed the New World Order of professional wrestling. The aftermath had fans littering the ring with garbage, with one jumping the rail in an attempt to attack Hogan, and Hogan cutting an interview with an angry (kayfabe) Gene Okerlund.

In the interview, Hogan further cemented his heel turn, claiming that he made WWF, that he had become bored with his character as it was, and that from then on he was in it for himself. He also said that he was tired of the fans' dumping on him after all he'd done for them, and that it was because of him that he and the rest of the fans - and for that matter, all the wrestlers - were there that night. He then declared that he, Hall, and Nash were going to take over WCW and destroy everything in their path. The interview was regarded as being one of the most important in wrestling history, and Okerlund later stated that the audience was so furious, he got a bloody nose from being hit by a beer can thrown in the ring.

Hogan soon dyed his beard black and renamed himself Hollywood Hogan. Hogan managed to redefine the heel character: rather than the traditional "bad guy" Hollywood Hogan gave birth to a more realistic, street-smart villain, with none of the usual wrestling gimmicks and devices. Some have placed Hollywood Hogan as one of the best and most effective heels in pro wrestling history.

After defeating The Giant at Hog Wild on August 10, 1996 by hitting him with the WCW title belt, Hogan held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for most of 1997, save for a several day reign by Luger. He would spray paint black letters "NWO" across the title belt as well and scribble across the nameplate. During this period, Hogan grappled with Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, and many more. The ever-expanding nWo gang concurrently became the hottest concept in wrestling, too, helping WCW to achieve 83 straight Monday night ratings victories over the WWF. The black-and-white nWo T-shirt also became one of the highest-selling pieces of wrestling merchandise ever during 1997.

Hogan then lost the belt to Sting in a hugely-hyped, eighteen-months-in-the-making match at StarrCade in December 1997. The event was also the highest-drawing PPV in WCW's history. Wrestling fans and pundits were disappointed in "The match of the decade" because the match's length and ending didn't justify the buildup. The ending had to be re-worked because Hogan, with a Creative Control clause in his contract, wanted to beat Sting, whom the bookers had already decided would win. In order to keep the booking plans in place and to appease Hogan, it was decided that Hogan would beat Sting after an alleged "fast count" by referee Nick Patrick. WCW's newly contracted Bret Hart would accuse Patrick and have the match restarted with Sting winning by submission. This finish was executed at StarrCade, and after a rematch the following night on WCW Monday Nitro, the title became vacant. Hogan and Sting would wrestle again at SuperBrawl in February 1998, with Sting coming out victorious.

After this, Hogan developed a rivalry with former friend (and recent nWo recruit) Randy Savage. The heat culminated into a steel cage match at Uncensored, which ended in a no contest. Savage would take the world championship from Sting at Spring Stampede in March, while Hogan's match at Stampede had him and Kevin Nash taking on Roddy Piper and the Giant in the first-ever Bat match. Marking the breakup of the original nWo, Hogan would betray Nash by hitting him with the bat and then challenged Savage the following night for his championship. This no disqualification match included two crucial points of interference: The first came from Kevin Nash, who entered the ring and powerbombed Hogan. The second came from Bret Hart, who turned heel that night by jumping in after Nash to attack Savage and preserve the victory for Hogan, who regained the WCW Championship.

Hogan defended the title until July of that year, when WCW booked him in a match against fast rising newcomer Bill Goldberg, who had yet to lose a match in the company. Hogan dominated most of the match, but became cocky toward the end as he continued to legdrop the challenger. Eventually, his luck ran out, and Goldberg was able to take control. After a final bit of interference by Curt Hennig was thwarted by Karl Malone at ringside, Goldberg was able to hit a Spear and a Jackhammer on Hogan and pinned him to gain his first and only WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

The rest 1998 Hogan spent wrestling celebrity matches with buddies. His second tag team match with Dennis Rodman pit them against Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone at Bash at the Beach 1998, and at Road Wild '98, he and Bischoff lost to Page and Jay Leno. Hogan also had a highly hyped rematch with Ultimate Warrior (then, known simply as "Warrior") at Halloween Havoc, where his newly revealed nephew Horace would aid his victory.

On the Thanksgiving episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Hogan officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling as well as his candidacy for president of the United States. The campaign had footage aired on Nitro of Hogan and Bischoff holding a press conference, making it appear legit. In the long run, however, both announcements were false and merely done as a publicity stunt attempting to draw some of the hype of Jesse Ventura's Minnesota gubernatorial win bac