HULKAMANIA is why his back concaves on the right. A souvenir from muscle ripping straight off the bone.
It's those scars on a knee torn by Diamond Dallas Page. On a leg broken by first coach Matsuda. On those matching hollows revealed when flexing both biceps.
"Yeah, tore them lifting Andre the Giant," Hulk Hogan shrugs. "It was Wrestlemania III and, while we hadn't planned it, Andre said 'if you reckon you can lift me brother, go for it'.
"Now you have to remember he'd weighed in earlier that day at Detroit airport. Exactly 308 kilos. But when I got in position man, I just went f... it and lifted."
Sitting in a tiny room on the second floor of Sydney's InterContinental Hotel, it's easy to see why Terry Gene Bollea - all bright pink shirt and matching bandanna - is universally loved.
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Why some 20 years after first telling us train hard, say your prayers and take your vitamins, this mustachioed marauder is still barred from doing his interviews in hotel foyers.
"No, we've tried that," says his female publicist, weighed down with a pile of schedules and flight plans. "Mr Hogan was mobbed."
It's why, at age 56, Hollywood Hulk Hogan is once again donning those famed yellow tights to bring us his Let The Battle Begin Tour in November.
Letting us Hulkamaniacs finally see live this image that's adorned energy bars, mixmasters and A-Team episodes. Who in the 1990s outrated Disneyland as the No. 1 Make a Wish Foundation pick.
Who even today needs submission moves learned in Japan to ward off lunatic fans.
"On Sunday we were in Melbourne, going into a restaurant when this guy - you know what a Hells Angel looks like, right? - well, he came screaming across the room at me," Hogan shrugs.
"So I blocked him, hooked him and took him down. It was all over fairly quickly."
But this, Hogan stresses quickly, is all part of Hulkamania, brother.
"And I can accept that, yes, these days I'm getting older, slowing down," the 131kg millionaire grins. "That there will come a point in time when I have to retire gracefully.
"But there's a big difference between retirement and being tired. And brother, I'm not tired yet." (Credit: The Daily Telegraph)
Reader Comment
Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Piper, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and too many more to list, thank you for the memories. Hulk Hogan's legend lives on and is alive and well down under in Australia. Australian's appreciate Hulk's hard work over the years and his own comeback of the decade. The way Hulk Hogan communicates his real life story is ultra impressive, and its great to see him putting in the hard yards, pounding the pavement and jetting around Australia to let the Australian public know that this upcoming tour is the real deal. The entertainment industry has been fuelled considerably by pro wrestling over the years, and guys like Hogan, Flair and Piper carried it on their backs, with switched on promoters at the likes of WWE, WCW and
NWA kicking it along. It appears that Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Jimmy Hart and Eric Bishcoff and co are putting together a great event here. For my money, having Hogan here means the show has already began. The coverage in the newspapers and Australian TV sure beats the hell out of some of the other stuff passed off as "entertainment news". Hulkamania forever. Wooooo! Just when they think they have the answers, Hogan and Flair change the questions.
Greg Tingle, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
Media Man Australia Profiles
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