Hulk Hogan's legendary appeal was successful because so many little things helped make his character work. The Hulkster was an icon during his heyday as he transfixed audiences with his finger waving, flexing, and shirt ripping. Hogan opened up on Apter Chat where he discussed the etymology of many aspects in his wrestling persona and the inspiration he was fortunate to choose from.
Hogan spent one year working for Vince McMahon Sr. in 1979, but he left to transform into the Superstar we know today. During his hiatus from the New York territory, Hogan found much of his footing and eventually returned in 1983 when Hulkamania ran wild.
"You know when I left the WWE originally [in 1980] and I went to work for Verne Gagne, I had a great deal in Japan," Hogan remembered. "I spent weeks and weeks, sometimes twenty weeks a year over there and I loved it over there because I actually got to wrestle over there and I didn't have to do the 'ear thing' and it was just totally different, it was fun for me it was kinda like how I learned how to wrestle.
"So going to Japan was fun and stuff like that but I've always dreamed about being the champion in New York. When I was there the first time [Bob] Backlund was the champion and even as a bad guy, kinda like how I heard how the crowd reacted to me and Andre [The Giant] at Shea Stadium, the Superdome -- not the Silverdome, brother -- for Bill Watts and working with Mike Labelle -- I worked all over with Andre. Then even in Japan, I was always the heel and I had that black leather armband and [Classy Freddy] Blassie would load it with a piece of metal and then I'd knock Andre out with it. "There was always that really great reaction so I had always dreamed that, 'Oh my gosh, if I could [do this in WWE].'"
Hogan was starting to put the pieces together as a heel and then he received some treasured advice from Gagne which really set his previous experience into high gear. Until then, Hogan was selling like any wrestler normally would, but through his time with Gagne, Hogan was able to add a vital aspect to his repertoire which became a staple of his Character.
"When I first started working in Pensacola [Florida], Austin Idol was there," Hogan said. "He used to be a friend of my brother's before my brother passed away.
"I knew [Idol] as a kid and he was really nice to me because he knew my brother really well. So when I went to work with him in Pensacola I watched him and he had the gimmick down, brother. He was the first one that I heard say 'Idolmania' so guess what I did? Guess who's the first one I saw do 'the ear?' Austin Idol, I saw Austin do it. So I kinda watched him work and I said, 'Oh okay, I get it... Austin Idol, Dusty Rhodes... I got this. I can figure this one out.' So I kinda took the hot sauce from each one of those guys.
"You know when I'd go down to sell and that one finger would come up brother... you know I'm selling and that one finger starts shaking. That's Dusty Rhodes all day long."
Hogan merged many different aspects of different legends in order to create something special for himself. One unique part of his persona came when he would rip off his shirts to pop the crowd. Hogan explained how he first stumbled across this idea and that the pre-cut rips in the back of his iconic look were due to a strategic necessity.
"I was in a six-man tag at the Rosemont Horizon [now Allstate Arena] and the place was sold-out of course," Hogan said. "It was me, Greg Gagne, and Jim Brunzell in the AWA [...] There were three Sheiks against us three and that night when I was in the ring I had a shirt made up that said 'Hulkamania' on the front and 'Python Power' on the back at the local mall there and in the middle of the ring, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell ran up to me and ripped my shirt off -- just ripped it off me. I was in crazy shape back then, I was a lot younger and the crowd went nuts. I went, 'Okay... that worked!' I didn't even know they were gonna do it. So I just start ripping my shirt off after that, you know?
"But the cuts in the back were my ex-wife. I used to buy smaller shirts -- the bigger I'd look, right? So instead of buying like an extra large shirt I'd but a medium shirt and there's no way I could fit in it. So I'd cut the sleeves off so it'd make me look just huge. Then because I didn't want to look like an idiot and some shirts are harder to rip, I'd always put a little tiny cut in the neckline so it would tear evenly when you pull it. Because sometimes you go to rip a shirt and you just can't do it and you look like an idiot, you know?
Hogan merged many different aspects of different legends in order to create something special for himself. One unique part of his persona came when he would rip off his shirts to pop the crowd. Hogan explained how he first stumbled across this idea and that the pre-cut rips in the back of his iconic look were due to a strategic necessity.
"I was in a six-man tag at the Rosemont Horizon [now Allstate Arena] and the place was sold-out of course," Hogan said. "It was me, Greg Gagne, and Jim Brunzell in the AWA [...] There were three Sheiks against us three and that night when I was in the ring I had a shirt made up that said 'Hulkamania' on the front and 'Python Power' on the back at the local mall there and in the middle of the ring, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell ran up to me and ripped my shirt off -- just ripped it off me. I was in crazy shape back then, I was a lot younger and the crowd went nuts. I went, 'Okay... that worked!' I didn't even know they were gonna do it. So I just start ripping my shirt off after that, you know?
"But the cuts in the back were my ex-wife. I used to buy smaller shirts -- the bigger I'd look, right? So instead of buying like an extra large shirt I'd but a medium shirt and there's no way I could fit in it. So I'd cut the sleeves off so it'd make me look just huge. Then because I didn't want to look like an idiot and some shirts are harder to rip, I'd always put a little tiny cut in the neckline so it would tear evenly when you pull it. Because sometimes you go to rip a shirt and you just can't do it and you look like an idiot, you know?
"I would cut a little tiny rip in the front and my ex-wife would say, 'That shirt looks horrible on you, it's so tight, is that a small' I'd go, 'No, it's a medium, come on!' She goes, 'Let me make it a little better for you.' So she cut the three little cuts in the back which actually gave me room to breathe and opened my shirt up a little more. So that's where all that stuff started."