Hulk Hogan: Real American Trailer

[Chico Torres]

Beautifully said.

To me when I started watching Hogan was this mythical ridiculous creature who we rarely saw wrestle but he was still around giving crazed sermons most weeks and I was enthralled by this bizzare, colourful over the top universe where policemen and undertakers and warriors and monsters existed and it was the most wonderfully American thing ever when America was the place where all the cool stuff was compared to our grim grey island. And this preposterous man was the king of this preposterous world and he slammed giants and shit. And then we “evolved” as fans and were told that if you did technical holds in some fake circus sport that somehow made you a better wrestler but then eventually you realize that actually this ludicrous bald orange moustache man beating up evil fat people in front of a packed Madison Square Garden is actually awesome. Yes he was a shitty person but they all are.

[herbie747]

The first big show I ever saw was WrestleMania IV.

• Hogan wasn't the champion going into it, so he wasn’t in the main event.
• He got DQ'd in his first match of the tournament, which was a stinker of a match. 
• Waving around the American flag did nothing for me. I'm not American. 

That was my first impression of Hogan. Nothing special. In fact, I knew him more from his appearance on The A-Team where he was BA's sidekick in an episode.

For me, Randy Savage was the man when I started watching wrestling, and Hogan was his friend who helped him even the odds at the end of the WM4 tournament when Andre tried to interfere. And when the Mega Powers exploded, I was on Randy's side. 

So while as a kid I knew Hogan was a big star, he did nothing for me. And then Warrior beat him at WM6, and I was a huge Warrior fan. So I was glad that happened. 
 

Edited April 25 by herbie747

[Merzbow]

1 minute ago, herbie747 said:

And then Warrior beat him at WM6, and I was a huge Warrior fan. So I was glad that happened. 

Big same, as much as I dislike him as a person in more recent years the burial on this show was the same tired lie that he couldn't hack it on top when in reality Vince just booked his run with the belt so badly and it's not even like numbers were down anywhere near they would be later with other champs.

[herbie747]

Also, was that really Jimmy Hart's house they showed at the start? It's huge.

He did alright didn't he? Probably not a big spender, but I'd assume some of that money is music royalties because he couldn't have made that much just being a manager.

[westlondonmist]

On 4/25/2026 at 11:09 AM, herbie747 said:

Also, was that really Jimmy Hart's house they showed at the start? It's huge.

He did alright didn't he? Probably not a big spender, but I'd assume some of that money is music royalties because he couldn't have made that much just being a manager.

I imagine he did alright pay wise, being Hogan's mate and what not mixed with WCW handing out bat shit deals. 

Apparently Hogan paid him a salary to do all his admin such as travel and media appearance booking on top of that. 

 

Also he didn't have day to day costs a wrestler did (roids,  painkillers, diet). That's gotta help right? 

[The Reverend]

On 4/25/2026 at 11:09 AM, herbie747 said:

Also, was that really Jimmy Hart's house they showed at the start? It's huge.

He did alright didn't he? Probably not a big spender, but I'd assume some of that money is music royalties because he couldn't have made that much just being a manager.

I also get the feeling that Hart was probably incredibly frugal - a lot of those managers looked they the were type who lived off soap and shampoo from hotel rooms

[herbie747]

I got to hang around with Jimmy Hart (and his 2 acquaintances) for the weekend in November 2004 when he came over to London trying to sell the XWF footage to us. Incredibly nice guy and very humble. He wouldn’t say a bad word about anyone.

We all drove up to Coventry the day after the TWC/XWF meeting, where he appeared at FWA’s British Uprising III. He was a last-minute addition to the show because he happened to be in the country anyway, so he agreed to do the show for a very small fee, which Alex was happy about. I think he ended up being a guest referee in the Terry Funk match?

I don't think he ended up getting paid in the end because the show lost a tonne of money - but I don't think he cared, because he was in town for business anyway, and AFAIK the guy far left (a New York money-mark lawyer called Sal) was paying for the entire trip.

I got the notion Jimmy was frugal when he used a free TWC drawstring bag to carry around all of his belongings that weekend. 

Notice here he's holding it upside down, and 3 seconds later all of his stuff fell out. 

[AshC]

Was Jimmy meant to be part of WrestleXpress? 

[Merzbow]

On 4/25/2026 at 11:09 AM, herbie747 said:

Also, was that really Jimmy Hart's house they showed at the start? It's huge.

It belongs to Ben Mallah, supposedly. A huge property guy who's a good mate of Jimmy Hart, Jimmy lives in the guesthouse.

[Statto]

1 hour ago, AshC said:

Was Jimmy meant to be part of WrestleXpress? 

He was, yeah. IIRC he was scheduled to manage Emory Hale on the show, as well as being part of the planned power struggle angle (him, Sonny Onoo, Bischoff & CoolRy).

I think that like Onoo he might have been in some way involved behind the scenes, either in a creative or talent liaison capacity, or both. Pretty sure he produced a bunch of entrance themes for everyone who was supposed to be on the show, most of which got recycled for the aforementioned XWF (and some possibly used in one of the Legends of Wrestling videogames?)

[IANdrewDiceClay]

6 hours ago, herbie747 said:

I got to hang around with Jimmy Hart (and his 2 acquaintances) for the weekend in November 2004 when he came over to London trying to sell the XWF footage to us. Incredibly nice guy and very humble. He wouldn’t say a bad word about anyone.

We all drove up to Coventry the day after the TWC/XWF meeting, where he appeared at FWA’s British Uprising III. He was a last-minute addition to the show because he happened to be in the country anyway, so he agreed to do the show for a very small fee, which Alex was happy about. I think he ended up being a guest referee in the Terry Funk match?

I don't think he ended up getting paid in the end because the show lost a tonne of money - but I don't think he cared, because he was in town for business anyway, and AFAIK the guy far left (a New York money-mark lawyer called Sal) was paying for the entire trip.

I got the notion Jimmy was frugal when he used a free TWC drawstring bag to carry around all of his belongings that weekend. 

Notice here he's holding it upside down, and 3 seconds later all of his stuff fell out. 

You reckon there is anything Jimmy is wearing that wasnt given to him for free?

[IANdrewDiceClay]

On 4/25/2026 at 11:09 AM, herbie747 said:

Also, was that really Jimmy Hart's house they showed at the start? It's huge

No, it was some youtuber real estate agent that Jimmy has hooked up with. On that "Most Wanted Treasures" show, it showed Jimmy lived in nice apartment next to an airport in Florida. He's a busy guy.

[Ironic Indie Lad]

Jimmy Hart is the man. 

As a general rule I have absolutely no interest in meeting wrestlers. I am not an autograph or polaroid hunter at all. I would rather just leave people alone.

I did see Jimmy Hart walking down the hotel corridor when I was in Texas for WrestleMania 25 though. I remember thinking "I can't not say hello to Jimmy Hart". I remember thinking it was weird seeing such an over the top and bombastic guy out of context, just sort of shuffling down a corridor on his own. He went from looking quite tired to turning it on in seconds. As soon as I spoke to him he was full blown mouth of the south, baby every other word and so on.

A lovely man.

Edited April 27 by Ironic Indie Lad

[Lorne Malvo]

3 hours ago, Ralphy said:

I get the impression also, from watching the Hogan documentary, that Hogan, deep down, cared for his friends and Linda i think did a lot of the damage to Hulk's personality 

I am just sad that he had such awful, awful racial views and i wont be able to ever quite think of Hulk in the same light again. Its a bit difficult for me to noy have some kind of like of Hulk, if only because without him, i wouldn't probably be watching wrestling now and i think many of us got into it because of him, even if you found out very early that he was not that great in the ring and got into other wrestlers instead, which was the case for me 

 

Real 'Skyler was the actual villain in Breaking Bad' vibes here. 

[Chili]

I'm watching the 1988 WWF TV as part of the OVP podcasts on YouTube and they make a brilliant point about Jimmy Hart, in kayfabe, he's so dedicated to the wrestlers he manages, unlike Heenan where you know it's all business and he's not to be trusted. Jimmy Hart seems to absolutely love the guys he manages, where it's almost rather likeable. It's interesting how he almost immediately feels out of time once he's managing Hogan in '93.

I love that bit in Bret's book where he mentions Jimmy using 'baby' all the time and describing him as on old hipster so from Jimmy it just sounds normal.

Edited April 27 by Chili