Ep. 425: WCW's Bash at the Beach 1994 (Part 2 of 3)

<v Speaker 1>So I mean, you know, you got to turn a
<v Speaker 1>negative into a positive. Hulk Hogan being praised the week
<v Speaker 1>that he testifies in Vince's trial that he roided as
<v Speaker 1>hard as he could and facilitated the delivery of steroids
<v Speaker 1>to him through a drug mule. That you know, these
<v Speaker 1>fans are grateful that he's setting a drug free example
<v Speaker 1>for the kids.
<v Speaker 2>He's such a fucking piece of ship. Come on, come on,
<v Speaker 2>he's being unfairly singled out. Yeah, yeah, of course, and uh,
<v Speaker 2>you know, and uh, you know what and I don't know, uh,
<v Speaker 2>trying to think of something. My mom, I don't know
<v Speaker 2>why this is. My Mom's in my fucking brain with
<v Speaker 2>that one. Look, it's it's because he's such a fucking phony.
<v Speaker 2>He's such a fucking phony. He's a he's a he's
<v Speaker 2>a Brett Hart's favorite word. It's just like and and
<v Speaker 2>I guess here, here's what it is. Because he's such
<v Speaker 2>a phony at it that he doesn't even sound like
<v Speaker 2>he means it, right, you know, he sounds like he's
<v Speaker 2>he sounds like he's reciting bullshit.
<v Speaker 1>Well, we know Hogan's voice, as wrestling fans, we know
<v Speaker 1>the promo voice, but we know kind of his voice too,
<v Speaker 1>and then we and you can hear the Hogan is
<v Speaker 1>being interviewed by someone not in wrestling voice. Yes, it's
<v Speaker 1>the same thing as that rock clip you play when
<v Speaker 1>he says, I think audiences can expect.
<v Speaker 2>The part of what makes that so delicious to the
<v Speaker 2>ear of a wrestling.
<v Speaker 3>Fan, audiences can expect just a great, overall entertaining movie.
<v Speaker 1>Is you know that that's more of an act than
<v Speaker 1>when he's the Rock on ww television exactly. And that
<v Speaker 1>right there on that CNN said is more of an
<v Speaker 1>act for Hulk Hogan than any WWF match you ever had.
<v Speaker 2>That's that's the problem right there. That that is the problem.
<v Speaker 1>I just turn a negative into a positive. He's got
<v Speaker 1>all these talking points. I mean, I'm willing I'm willing
<v Speaker 1>to wager that some of those calls were total kfab anyway,
<v Speaker 1>just how they they were all like designed to address
<v Speaker 1>different boxes Hogan needed to check in terms of repairing
<v Speaker 1>his image heading into working for a Turner Own wrestling organization.
<v Speaker 1>It's a charm offensive. It's you know what I mean,
<v Speaker 1>It's like a reputation restoration tour.
<v Speaker 2>Yep. Yeah, in so many ways. Of course, you got
<v Speaker 2>to you got to make the rounds and and make
<v Speaker 2>sure people still like you.
<v Speaker 1>There was reference there from one of the phone callers
<v Speaker 1>and having him see having seen Hulk Cogan wrestle Rick
<v Speaker 1>Flair before, which I'm not sure he was expecting on
<v Speaker 1>that front, because it's like we're kind of pretending this
<v Speaker 1>is the first time we've ever wrestled, so that that's
<v Speaker 1>a little awkward. Yes, Hogan cuts him off right away
<v Speaker 1>and says he cheated, you know, because he probably knows
<v Speaker 1>that the guy saw a match where Flair was declared
<v Speaker 1>the winner by DQ, you know, right. He doesn't want
<v Speaker 1>this fan bringing that up. But it's it's, you know,
<v Speaker 1>it's very irrelevant that when we go down the road
<v Speaker 1>with this Hogan Flair feud in WCW, as mentioned, Hogan
<v Speaker 1>doesn't return the favors. I mean, Flair had an expectation
<v Speaker 1>that after the Batch at the Beach, they're going to
<v Speaker 1>rematch with the Clash, and Flair was going to come
<v Speaker 1>out champion and win the rematch, and then Hogan wins
<v Speaker 1>the rubber match to Halloween havoc. But normally does Hogan
<v Speaker 1>want to win the rubber match? You want to win
<v Speaker 1>the second match to or at least not leave without
<v Speaker 1>the belt. You know, I mean, I forget does he
<v Speaker 1>he does he win by DQ?
<v Speaker 2>I don't even think it does. Yeah, I mean, it's
<v Speaker 2>just it's just awful what happens when you let the
<v Speaker 2>devil in, you know, I know, And it makes no sense.
<v Speaker 2>That's that's that's the that's the real thing is like,
<v Speaker 2>it just makes no sense to not to like drop
<v Speaker 2>the belt to Flair. That makes sense.
<v Speaker 1>No, I think that would be so newsworthy at the time.
<v Speaker 1>Like if Hulk came into w CW won the title
<v Speaker 1>in his first match, It's like, oh, here we go,
<v Speaker 1>but he loses it right away. Whoa Like in a
<v Speaker 1>weird w he means business here in terms of booking
<v Speaker 1>to get our attention.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, like it would it would actually, it would have
<v Speaker 2>meant more, you know. And it's it's funny that he
<v Speaker 2>you know, I mean, I know, we know Hogan's Hogan,
<v Speaker 2>and you know, it's it's never it's never that easy.
<v Speaker 2>It's never going to be that easy. From the creative
<v Speaker 2>control clasped exactly.
<v Speaker 1>We didn't you know, wrestling fans didn't necessarily know about
<v Speaker 1>that clause in the contract when Hogan first starts did yeah,
<v Speaker 1>you know, it became it became known after enough times
<v Speaker 1>passed where nonsensical things were happening visa v. Hulk Hogan
<v Speaker 1>and right it got out there.
<v Speaker 2>But a dungeon of doom.
<v Speaker 1>Dungeone of doom and all the rest. Exactly who's running
<v Speaker 1>the show here? Well, actually, Hulk isn't so because they
<v Speaker 1>wanted the rubber match, which would be justified because they
<v Speaker 1>would have split one and one. But all of a sudden,
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's not gonna lose the second match. What are we
<v Speaker 1>gonna do? How do we explain the need for a
<v Speaker 1>third And that's where all this retirement shit comes from. Oh,
<v Speaker 1>it comes from the fact that they needed a reason
<v Speaker 1>to wrestle again. Yeap, Hogan's gonna you know, leave with
<v Speaker 1>the belt twice, like who gives a fuck? But it
<v Speaker 1>is a creative control clause and of course that's happening
<v Speaker 1>behind the scenes upon Hogan's arrival here at Batch at
<v Speaker 1>the Beach ninety four. Even if we the wrestling fan
<v Speaker 1>were not the wiser, Eric Bischoff was certainly aware. As
<v Speaker 1>he says in his book Creative Control, Hogan knew he
<v Speaker 1>was surrounded by a hornet's nest.
<v Speaker 2>He wasn't what if he didn't know what if for
<v Speaker 2>some reason, Bischoff didn't know that Hogan had creative control,
<v Speaker 2>And a.
<v Speaker 1>Lot of the things he said about being involved in
<v Speaker 1>negotiating with Hulk go right down the toilet. But you know,
<v Speaker 1>I think that's key, probably because a if Titan did
<v Speaker 1>in fact have matching rights as melts are reported, they're
<v Speaker 1>not going to match that cause no way, right, that's
<v Speaker 1>an instant poison pill, And all of a sudden it's
<v Speaker 1>not a negotiation over dollar figures anymore. You know, even
<v Speaker 1>if Titan could come up with that money that they're
<v Speaker 1>offering Hogan, you can't offer that. No one had ever
<v Speaker 1>gotten anything like that in writing before as far as
<v Speaker 1>I know. I mean, there's like defective creative control, like
<v Speaker 1>you know, if you leave, it's going to hurt the territory.
<v Speaker 1>So we'll do whatever you want kind of creative control, right,
<v Speaker 1>but put to put it on the writing. No, I mean,
<v Speaker 1>because that's in writing. We have the fucking Bash of
<v Speaker 1>the Beach two thousand lawsuit. You know, there's no there's
<v Speaker 1>no grounds to sue like Hulk did. If you don't
<v Speaker 1>writing even if you kind of have that. You know,
<v Speaker 1>Steve Austin didn't have a legal leg to stand on
<v Speaker 1>when he walked out in two thousand and two, for instance,
<v Speaker 1>You know.
<v Speaker 4>Right right.
<v Speaker 1>Hogan knew he was surrounded by a hornet's nest. Bischoff wrote,
<v Speaker 1>he was surrounded by people whom he was completely dependent
<v Speaker 1>on in the ring to make him look good. But
<v Speaker 1>he knew that those people were intimidated and resentful because.
<v Speaker 2>He was coming over. They were fearful that Hulk Cogan
<v Speaker 2>was going to take over the.
<v Speaker 1>Come coming over again, getting over. I think they're more
<v Speaker 1>afraid of him coming over. Yeah, they were afraid Hulk
<v Speaker 1>Cogan is going to take over the company, which he
<v Speaker 1>absolutely did. That was why Rick Flair was so important
<v Speaker 1>when it came to convincing Hogan to sign with w SW.
<v Speaker 1>Rick couldn't guarantee anything, of course, but he made Hogan
<v Speaker 1>a lot more comfortable about the people he'd be dealing with.
<v Speaker 1>Oh no, don't worry about it, Terry. These guys they're
<v Speaker 1>in the business. They've in the business a long time.
<v Speaker 1>They understand now, you don't have to worry about that.
<v Speaker 2>Even worry about it, Hogan. Oh my god, don't worry
<v Speaker 2>about it. It's okay. I got it. I got him
<v Speaker 2>under control. A lot of young guns in that locker
<v Speaker 2>room for Rick. I'm just saying, Rick, no, no, no, no,
<v Speaker 2>they're not in anymore. They're not in anymore. No, no, no.
<v Speaker 1>Do you want me to fire Austin anybody else? Even
<v Speaker 1>to manufacture a circumstance to fire mc foley, I can
<v Speaker 1>get that done. I understand he split on the ww
<v Speaker 1>tag built.
<v Speaker 2>It doesn't matter. Tell you what, we'll get anyone. We'll
<v Speaker 2>get anyone fired. Send me a list, a list tomorrow,
<v Speaker 2>we'll bring in. We'll bring in whoever you want, and
<v Speaker 2>we'll do it over sea. Breeze.
<v Speaker 1>All I care about as we get back to the
<v Speaker 1>bar afterwards.
<v Speaker 2>You know what sounds good to be a big brother?
<v Speaker 2>All right? You know what, brother? That sounds like a plan. Man,
<v Speaker 2>I'm digging that creative. That's a good shirt like yeah
<v Speaker 2>with that like yeah like that, Yeah, that's all caps right,
<v Speaker 2>that creative.
<v Speaker 1>Like We've been talking about a lot, but that's the
<v Speaker 1>one I dig That's the one to highlight that. Ind case,
<v Speaker 1>there's been many suggestions tossed to the side up to
<v Speaker 1>that point. Even so, Bishoff Wrights. Hogan worried that eventually
<v Speaker 1>the US rus them mentality prevalent in the w W
<v Speaker 1>would eventually sabotage him, and while he respected Brick to
<v Speaker 1>a large degree, he didn't feel Flair understood the best
<v Speaker 1>way to utilize the whole Cogain character. I beat him
<v Speaker 1>over and over and over again, all right. He was
<v Speaker 1>worried that a storyline that looked good on paper might
<v Speaker 1>turn out to be a trap, letting other wrestlers sabotage
<v Speaker 1>this character.
<v Speaker 2>Talking about my god.
<v Speaker 1>Sabotaging characters, so Vince Russo did. That's why he wanted
<v Speaker 1>and got creative control. It assured him he wasn't going
<v Speaker 1>to be sabotaged. Hogan was not subtle or shy at
<v Speaker 1>all about this. Look, brother, the money's great. The opportunity
<v Speaker 1>to work with Ted Turner is great. Eric, I like you, Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>there can be a lot of great opportunities here. But
<v Speaker 1>I have a real problem with some of the people
<v Speaker 1>in this company. I don't know some of the people
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. He's talking about that he would have
<v Speaker 1>had history with. I can see him being fearful that
<v Speaker 1>people who were there that he'd never worked with before
<v Speaker 1>might feel like he's big footing them, but this makes
<v Speaker 1>it sound like there are people he had worked with before.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I guess Rick rud was somebody that he
<v Speaker 1>definitely did not get along with that okay, but was
<v Speaker 1>kind of on the outs. He was just exiting WW
<v Speaker 1>I think around this point. But other than that, I
<v Speaker 1>don't really know who they're talking about.
<v Speaker 2>They're gonna look, it's so weird. It is weird that
<v Speaker 2>he's just like, I mean, yeah, who you care about?
<v Speaker 5>Right?
<v Speaker 1>And who is this now? Paul Arndorf, Paul o'nore probably
<v Speaker 1>hates his guts. That's a good one.
<v Speaker 2>Brother, What dude, Mania what?
<v Speaker 1>I can understand you hate me too, brother, I just
<v Speaker 1>get I just hooked you up with the biggest pay
<v Speaker 1>days of your entire life, the important program in Spotlight
<v Speaker 1>you ever got in the business. I can understand that.
<v Speaker 4>Brother.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, I've been so bad to your brother. I understand.
<v Speaker 2>It's payback time. Rolld Hogan.
<v Speaker 1>They're going to look at Hulk Hogan as the guy
<v Speaker 1>who's going to come in and have too much control
<v Speaker 1>over their lives, little do they know, and they're gonna
<v Speaker 1>do everything they can to make that unsuccessful. Bishoff kind
<v Speaker 1>of you know, the channeling Hulk's thoughts there. The only
<v Speaker 1>way I'm making this move is with creative control. So
<v Speaker 1>if the situation is not comfortable for how.
<v Speaker 2>They didn't come into like two thousand, I guess I'm wrong.
<v Speaker 1>Oh my god, that is LOADI and Lenny are the
<v Speaker 1>only one. The other thing's missing here I created of
<v Speaker 1>control was Ron and Don Harris. Yeah, Lody and Lenny
<v Speaker 1>were you know what they were? They were Lanny, they
<v Speaker 1>were standards and practices, the heel tag team.
<v Speaker 2>Fucking I swear to god, what a fucking bunch of bullshit.
<v Speaker 2>It's trevendous.
<v Speaker 1>It made sense to me then Bishop off rights, and
<v Speaker 1>it makes sense to me now it was the right
<v Speaker 1>thing to do. You can't take an asset like Hullakog
<v Speaker 1>and an established brand and throw him in a lion's den.
<v Speaker 2>Did he say asset or ass hat? Asset?
<v Speaker 1>Okay, I prefer an ass hat like an ass hat
<v Speaker 1>like Hulgoag and throw him into a lion's den to
<v Speaker 1>be shredded up by a bunch of insecure people with
<v Speaker 1>their own agendas.
<v Speaker 6>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I could think Hogan didn't stay in WWF because he'd
<v Speaker 1>ended up in the lions Den against Ken Shamrock. Maybe
<v Speaker 1>Hogan boasted about it, or maybe he just told people
<v Speaker 1>that he had creative control written into his contract. In
<v Speaker 1>any event, word of the clause quickly leaked and I
<v Speaker 1>was roundly criticized. Admittedly, it was the first time in
<v Speaker 1>ww that anyone had ever had creative control in an agreement.
<v Speaker 1>But for years, if you were on top, if you
<v Speaker 1>were Rick flairt WWSA, whether it was written into your
<v Speaker 1>contract or not, you had a lot of control. You
<v Speaker 1>had the title and you were the champion. If a
<v Speaker 1>booker or a promoter or an executive wanted you to
<v Speaker 1>do something you didn't really want to do, you had
<v Speaker 1>a lot of options. Yeah, Flair had to basically uproot
<v Speaker 1>his entire career because he didn't agree with Jim Hurd.
<v Speaker 1>He couldn't force Jim Herd to do anything. He had
<v Speaker 1>to walk out on him, you know, to shape circumstances
<v Speaker 1>to his face. Of course, even though it doesn't exist
<v Speaker 1>in a WDB contract today, Yeah, Stone Cold is creative control.
<v Speaker 2>Blah blah blah.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Okay, creative control has been around in some way
<v Speaker 1>for a long long time. It's just that in Hogan's case.
<v Speaker 1>It was the first time it had been put in
<v Speaker 1>a contract. An effect, it forced arbitration between whoever the
<v Speaker 1>booker was in hul Cogan. We had to sit down
<v Speaker 1>and talk through it. As it turned out, we talked
<v Speaker 1>a lot.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah you did.
<v Speaker 1>Hogan had a number of ways to let me know
<v Speaker 1>what he wasn't pleased. I love this with the way
<v Speaker 1>particular story I was going. He take days to get
<v Speaker 1>back to me on the phone. Yes, Hogan's not happy,
<v Speaker 1>Like what a child? What a child?
<v Speaker 2>You know? Silent? I don't know, dude, what are you?
<v Speaker 2>What are you thinking here?
<v Speaker 4>Brother?
<v Speaker 2>What's what's the plan? What's it is? Dude? I heard
<v Speaker 2>that this.
<v Speaker 1>I heard part of the stop on this long road
<v Speaker 1>as Hull Hogan might be defined down for a little while,
<v Speaker 1>and hul Hoagan might be called in a question in
<v Speaker 1>terms of his dominance of the competition at w W.
<v Speaker 1>And I'm just worried about those bumps on the road
<v Speaker 1>and whether they're really necessary. You know, why can't we
<v Speaker 1>get to the destination of me hoisting that belt and
<v Speaker 1>skip the parts where I haven't faced any adversity whatsoever. Brother,
<v Speaker 1>He'd take days to get back to me on the phone.
<v Speaker 1>Or maybe i'd get word with the word through Jimmy Hart,
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's assistant. Can you imagine Jimmy Hogan giving Jimmy the
<v Speaker 1>word to get to Eric, because that's like he's kind
<v Speaker 1>of afraid ticking fro an Eric, but he wants to.
<v Speaker 2>Well, listen, he's gonna he's got a big Leagan, all right,
<v Speaker 2>He's got a big league So he's not gonna fucking
<v Speaker 2>you know, he's not gonna have He's not gonna do
<v Speaker 2>it himself. Can't do that.
<v Speaker 1>And how humiliating for Bischoff to go through all this
<v Speaker 1>leg work and all of this this rigam role to
<v Speaker 1>give Hogan all of this bounty. So he comes in
<v Speaker 1>and then he ends up having to deal with Jimmy
<v Speaker 1>Hart on major consequent decisions.
<v Speaker 2>Listen, you know what that's he's his manager. Okay, yep,
<v Speaker 2>And he's his manager, and you got to deal with that.
<v Speaker 2>You know who put that, especially well Eric himself.
<v Speaker 3>Yep, oh god, you mean it was a part of
<v Speaker 3>the original negotiation. Made it really clear early on that
<v Speaker 3>he depended on Jimmy a lot to help him get around,
<v Speaker 3>get through airports, get him to where he needed to
<v Speaker 3>be on time. He was, and that's the role that
<v Speaker 3>Jimmy played I think in WWE with hulkkan for a
<v Speaker 3>long long time. Yes, he was on camera that too,
<v Speaker 3>but Jimmy's real value was behind the scenes for Hulk,
<v Speaker 3>and Hulk made that very clear. So that went into
<v Speaker 3>the budget. Jimmy Hart got to put into the budget
<v Speaker 3>as a result, and I'm glad he did, because you know,
<v Speaker 3>Hulk needed people around him that he trusted and that
<v Speaker 3>he depended on it was comfortable with, and certainly Jimmy
<v Speaker 3>Hart was one of those people.
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure what he says help Hulk get to the airport,
<v Speaker 1>he means to keep fans away.
<v Speaker 2>But I just have this mention of Hulk.
<v Speaker 1>I just I just can't, Like I want he needs
<v Speaker 1>a wheelchair or no.
<v Speaker 2>I actually a picturehim. He's holding his hand, you know,
<v Speaker 2>he's like leading in through the thing, you know, holding
<v Speaker 2>his hand. But what I wanted to, Okay, how how
<v Speaker 2>is Jimmy Hard? More like, I want to know what
<v Speaker 2>his value really is because he doesn't seem like somebody
<v Speaker 2>who really was valuable in that role. He kind of was.
<v Speaker 2>It was kind of thrust upon him when Hogan asked
<v Speaker 2>him to do it, like where did he establish this
<v Speaker 2>value that he was more valuable behind the scenes, because
<v Speaker 2>I just don't I don't understand that.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, I think that
<v Speaker 1>he was just so reliable at WWF to do whatever
<v Speaker 1>they needed him to do. I'm not suggesting that he
<v Speaker 1>had any role bookkeeping or booking flights or anything, but yeah,
<v Speaker 1>he just was somebody that always always always made the town,
<v Speaker 1>did his job well, didn't fuck anything up, was reliable,
<v Speaker 1>was was was prescient about like putting out fires, you know,
<v Speaker 1>before they started. And that's that's all Hulk needs. Hulk
<v Speaker 1>just needs somebody who's going to pay attention to this
<v Speaker 1>because help. You know, it's pretty clear by now that
<v Speaker 1>Hulk used to blow cush like a motherfucker. I'm sure
<v Speaker 1>this guy who was high as a motherfucker half the.
<v Speaker 2>Time he was on the road. You know, Yes, you
<v Speaker 2>got to.
<v Speaker 1>Think about how easily you can fuck everything up, and
<v Speaker 1>logistically being on the road as hard as he was,
<v Speaker 1>going so many different directions like he was. Of course,
<v Speaker 1>that that's somebody that actually they're they're only or one
<v Speaker 1>of their abilities is just to remember to do things
<v Speaker 1>and to keep a schedule that are that alone, what's
<v Speaker 1>probably enough for Hope to say, can you be my guy?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah?
<v Speaker 2>You know, yeah, it's just just a weird thing, Like
<v Speaker 2>I I I just I've never I'm not saying that
<v Speaker 2>he doesn't have that value. It's just that I don't know.
<v Speaker 2>I hope I would have seen that in him. I
<v Speaker 2>just don't. I just don't know where it was established
<v Speaker 2>that he had it. Like he may have been the listen,
<v Speaker 2>Jimmy Hart may would very well have been the greatest
<v Speaker 2>out you know, out out of ring manager that there
<v Speaker 2>ever was. I just don't understand where he established this credibility.
<v Speaker 2>Be a great question for him.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, yeah, we read what's in his book about
<v Speaker 1>that point, and he probably points mostly to that night
<v Speaker 1>that he filled in for Bobby Heenan to allow Hulk
<v Speaker 1>to keep the match together. But yeah, just Jimmy, like what.
<v Speaker 2>Did you but but you do which I get that
<v Speaker 2>that that but like what is how does that translate
<v Speaker 2>into exactly? Hey, can you make sure I get that
<v Speaker 2>from point to point? B can you be my my
<v Speaker 2>in between guy for all these things? Like it's just
<v Speaker 2>it's it's a it's a weird leap that I can't compute. Right.
<v Speaker 1>Well, Tony Altamori had no business being that guy either.
<v Speaker 1>You know, I think if they just pick a guy
<v Speaker 1>who's gonna who knows the shady shit they're gonna do
<v Speaker 1>and knows how to keep that from becoming well known,
<v Speaker 1>or it knows how to keep that kind of cloistered away.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, you go all the way back to like
<v Speaker 1>the van Erks and Bruiser Brody flushing the drugs down
<v Speaker 1>the toilet for David. You know, it's part of the business.
<v Speaker 1>You know, like you've got to surround yourself with people
<v Speaker 1>who when the ship goes down, are going to cover
<v Speaker 1>your tracks or or tell you at that last second
<v Speaker 1>to zig instead of zag because you're about to walk
<v Speaker 1>into a situation that could you know, compromise a number
<v Speaker 1>of things, you know, everywhere helped those I'm sure he
<v Speaker 1>was mob for autographs. They had to, He's talked about this.
<v Speaker 1>They had to like case the airport and like create
<v Speaker 1>like a like a fascinating for him so we could
<v Speaker 1>get off the flight and get to his car without
<v Speaker 1>you know, losing an hour and a half getting mobbed.
<v Speaker 1>Jimmy would come in with his tail between his legs.
<v Speaker 1>Eric recalls and give me the puppy dog eyes. I
<v Speaker 1>don't think Hulk's very happy about this. I think you
<v Speaker 1>should both wow, both of them are sad because Hulkster's
<v Speaker 1>not happy. I think you should just give Hulk a call.
<v Speaker 1>I know he'd like to talk to you, So I
<v Speaker 1>got on the phone and convince him that no one
<v Speaker 1>was trying to screw him, or at least that I wasn't.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, this is all true. He collapsed.
<v Speaker 1>Hogan is Hogan. I don't give a fuck what anybody says.
<v Speaker 1>A lot of times I'd have to just drop what
<v Speaker 1>I was doing and go to see him. I remember
<v Speaker 1>one time going down to Tampa where Hogan lived because
<v Speaker 1>he wasn't happy about something. I found out he was
<v Speaker 1>in a gym working out. I drove over waited for
<v Speaker 1>an hour and a half for him to finish before
<v Speaker 1>he talked about the subject in hand.
<v Speaker 2>That's another thing. He would do a power move. He'd
<v Speaker 2>make you wait.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, I remember sitting in the corner of the gym, thinking, Wow,
<v Speaker 1>how about a whack is this? I'm running the company,
<v Speaker 1>not him. No you're not, Eric, that's the point.
<v Speaker 2>No, you're not. Exactly after you saw in his contract
<v Speaker 2>once you put creative control in his contract, it's game over.
<v Speaker 2>But at the time it was one of a lot
<v Speaker 2>of things we had to do as a company that
<v Speaker 2>I had to do as the head of the company.
<v Speaker 2>The stakes were starting to get pretty high. Tremendous stubbstic
<v Speaker 2>be tremendously, but it could also be a handful. Now
<v Speaker 2>where we gett those stakes, dude, exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Not omaha, brother, I'll tell you that roller. The politics
<v Speaker 1>between Hogan and Flair, and the politics between wrestlers and
<v Speaker 1>both men's camps gave me waking nightmares. There was always
<v Speaker 1>plenty of maneuvering, backbiting and politicking going on. Truth be known,
<v Speaker 1>the same thing exists today and wwe anytime you've got performers,
<v Speaker 1>I don't care if they are musicians, actors, dancers, ice, skaters, jugglers.
<v Speaker 1>Anytime you have people who perform for a living, those
<v Speaker 1>people are fueled first and foremost by their self image
<v Speaker 1>and their egos. Combine that with the fact that the
<v Speaker 1>better position to performer is the more money here she
<v Speaker 1>can make, and you've got a highly political situation. Dealing
<v Speaker 1>with those politics was one of the most draining aspects
<v Speaker 1>of my job. I was not drinking Hulkgan's kool aid
<v Speaker 1>by any stretch of the imagination. There were times when
<v Speaker 1>I would rather slam my own hand in a car
<v Speaker 1>door than hang out and have a burger with hul
<v Speaker 1>Cogan because of the ship he put me through.
<v Speaker 2>I didn't say this anymore.
<v Speaker 1>He was willing to say this in the book because
<v Speaker 1>there was no you know, no short term pay day
<v Speaker 1>out of him. This, by the way, I should mention,
<v Speaker 1>we record this as Hulk and Eric got back together,
<v Speaker 1>unaventured to do live arena freestyle wrestling. Did you hear
<v Speaker 1>about this venture at they I heard a little bit
<v Speaker 1>about it.
<v Speaker 2>I didn't. I didn't really get the whole thing. So
<v Speaker 2>I must have heard.
<v Speaker 1>About it because people were exploding with hashtag TNH because it.
<v Speaker 2>Just wreaked down, right, that's what it was, right, people
<v Speaker 2>were and I didn't, but I didn't like look into, uh,
<v Speaker 2>exactly what it was.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they do like a black and white nWo video
<v Speaker 1>where they're talking about the Third Man. Everyone's like, what
<v Speaker 1>are they doing start a wrestling company? The third Man?
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of Izzy Martinez who coaches MMA fighters in
<v Speaker 1>amateur wrestling, and Hulk, I guess watched the NCAA Finals
<v Speaker 1>this year, where Wyatt Hendrickson upset a Gable Steveson and
<v Speaker 1>one of the biggest upsets in the history probably the
<v Speaker 1>biggest upset in the history of collegiate wrestling, honestly. And
<v Speaker 1>then Trump is there and it's like this big USA thing,
<v Speaker 1>and so they get this idea of like, let's do
<v Speaker 1>amateur wrestling built up like pro wrestling, like no it's
<v Speaker 1>been tried before, and they call it like real American freestyle,
<v Speaker 1>and they're talking about they're going to sign these amateur
<v Speaker 1>wrestlers that have some name value in that world. And
<v Speaker 1>one of the guys they pointed to, bed Asker, ended
<v Speaker 1>up having an absolutely horrific health scare where he contracted
<v Speaker 1>a serious infection that caused him to have a double
<v Speaker 1>lung transplant, and who knows if you know, he'll ever
<v Speaker 1>be mobile again, let alone be able to wrestle. And
<v Speaker 1>then what happened to Hogan, according to Bubba, happened and
<v Speaker 1>at the very least, Hogan is hospitalized. And this thing
<v Speaker 1>has sold like three hundred tickets in a fifteen thousand
<v Speaker 1>seed arena in Ohio. It's going to be another complete
<v Speaker 1>fucking disaster. I'm sure Bishop's got the whole thing about
<v Speaker 1>who's you know, how he was involved but not really
<v Speaker 1>and how he had All he was was was a
<v Speaker 1>spokesman and he had no you know, logistical responsibility for
<v Speaker 1>you know, it's time to start getting your story straight
<v Speaker 1>about Yeah, right, it's.
<v Speaker 2>Not your fault, right exactly, listen, yep, exactly, time to
<v Speaker 2>start shifting responsibility.
<v Speaker 1>It's just so remarkable that that whole dynamic bubbled right
<v Speaker 1>back up to the surface, because by the time we
<v Speaker 1>were done with the TNH, I did feel like, for
<v Speaker 1>better or for worse, we're not going to see this
<v Speaker 1>repeat itself. No one else is going to I hate
<v Speaker 1>to use the word fall for it, but no one's
<v Speaker 1>going to see value in doing business with Hulcovi and
<v Speaker 1>Eric Bischoff again. And I was wrong. I was very wrong. Ah,
<v Speaker 1>that's the business that's wrestling.
<v Speaker 2>Yep.
<v Speaker 1>At the same time, I have to say that if
<v Speaker 1>push came to shove where Hogan was involved and I
<v Speaker 1>wasn't sure in my own heart what to do, I
<v Speaker 1>probably would call it for Hogan. Yeah, it's pretty easy.
<v Speaker 1>You don't have a choice, so I would prefer my
<v Speaker 1>only option as well.
<v Speaker 2>If I were you that was this a great thing?
<v Speaker 2>I heard one point. I don't know who said it,
<v Speaker 2>but learn to prefer it, yes, learn to prefer it.
<v Speaker 7>Hm.
<v Speaker 1>He earned that kind of consideration. Bischoff rights. The same
<v Speaker 1>thing held true for Rick Flair. I didn't question his
<v Speaker 1>booking decisions. It was when they were working against each
<v Speaker 1>other that things got tense, and that didn't help Rick. Frankly,
<v Speaker 1>as nineteen ninety four went on, things started to fall
<v Speaker 1>apart with Rick. We'd have meetings where he'd get up
<v Speaker 1>in the middle and say, excuse me, guys, I gotta
<v Speaker 1>go call Beth. We'd be sitting around for an hour
<v Speaker 1>and a half, two hours wondering where Rick went, only
<v Speaker 1>to find out he was on a plane heading home.
<v Speaker 2>Oh my god. Rick just couldn't handle what is Greg Valentine,
<v Speaker 2>Jesus Christ.
<v Speaker 1>He took up to the plane a while. You get
<v Speaker 1>warmed up and there were some real pressure situations with
<v Speaker 1>Brick as a booker. So if there was a jump
<v Speaker 1>ball and the parties couldn't agree, I bet on Hogan.
<v Speaker 1>Hogan had a better track record and fell in line
<v Speaker 1>with the look and feel our company needed. It wouldn't
<v Speaker 1>have made sense to bring him in and then do
<v Speaker 1>things the way we used to do things back in
<v Speaker 1>the NWA. Some people took that personally. They'd look at
<v Speaker 1>me and say, he's in love with hull Cogan.
<v Speaker 2>I wasn't.
<v Speaker 1>There were plenty of times he frustrated me so much
<v Speaker 1>I'd go bang my head on a curb. Yeah, brother,
<v Speaker 1>yeah yeah, But you don't have a pre nut, buddy,
<v Speaker 1>that's the problem exactly. You know, you can say, uh,
<v Speaker 1>you can say that you know you weren't in love
<v Speaker 1>with hul Cogan, but you married him, right exactly, So
<v Speaker 1>what's the difference. So this is however, looks back on
<v Speaker 1>it when it comes to you know, Hulk and some
<v Speaker 1>of the some may say selfishness that revealed itself in
<v Speaker 1>World Championship Wrestling, and how he assesses Hogan as a person.
<v Speaker 2>Looking back, you.
<v Speaker 3>Know, Hulk's got a different perspective than most. He had
<v Speaker 3>a brand to protect that most people don't even understand.
<v Speaker 3>They've never had to protect the brand the way that
<v Speaker 3>hul Cogan has to protect his brand, or had to
<v Speaker 3>protect his brand. They never experienced that challenge so often
<v Speaker 3>to those people who had never had to experience managing
<v Speaker 3>their personal business. The way Hulk Hogan had to manage
<v Speaker 3>his personal business because of the level of success that
<v Speaker 3>he achieved. To people on the outside looking in, it
<v Speaker 3>may look selfish, but it wasn't. It was what was
<v Speaker 3>in the best interests of not only the Hulk Hogan business,
<v Speaker 3>but the wrestling business from his perspective, and sometimes he
<v Speaker 3>was right and sometimes he was wrong.
<v Speaker 2>But it wasn't out of.
<v Speaker 3>Being self centered or selfish or non professional. It was
<v Speaker 3>doing business the way he had learned to do business
<v Speaker 3>and experience success the way he had experienced success. But
<v Speaker 3>he's not a selfish person. He's a very generous person,
<v Speaker 3>sometimes too generous. He's a very giving person. He's a
<v Speaker 3>very trusting person. He's a very loyal person. But like
<v Speaker 3>a lot of people who are financially very very successful
<v Speaker 3>and very loyal and very trusting, there are people that
<v Speaker 3>take advantage of that, and you could become cynical. Into
<v Speaker 3>the outside world. It just looks like you're being cynical
<v Speaker 3>and selfish, but you're really not. You're just protecting yourself
<v Speaker 3>from yourself. In some cases, I used to a Hulk
<v Speaker 3>all the time, man, I said, do you like a
<v Speaker 3>big fucking apple tree? You just like this giant apple
<v Speaker 3>tree with all these big giant apples on it, and
<v Speaker 3>then there's a bunch of people that are running around.
<v Speaker 3>They can hang out on you beneath that tree and
<v Speaker 3>they shake it every once in a while so they
<v Speaker 3>get some apples out of it. I saw that time
<v Speaker 3>and time again. So he's a very generous person who's
<v Speaker 3>a very loyal person, and he's very he's a good person.
<v Speaker 3>He's a human Yeah, fuck ship up, sick, well did
<v Speaker 3>I'll do? Made a mistake here there along the way,
<v Speaker 3>But he's a good human being.
<v Speaker 2>It's good a human being.
<v Speaker 8>He's the last fan wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that
<v Speaker 8>knows the boys need their candy. It's the lapsed fan.
<v Speaker 8>He's the lapsed fan wrestling podcast with Jack and Carnacio
<v Speaker 8>and JP Sorrow.
<v Speaker 2>That is the most fucking nausea.
<v Speaker 1>You had a brand to protect? What's the problem with that?
<v Speaker 1>I heard you get all worked up about that or
<v Speaker 1>somebody has a brand?
<v Speaker 2>No, no, no, him, you know, it was like it
<v Speaker 2>was him inferring that like that that I forget what
<v Speaker 2>I forget that, what the what the verbiage was, But
<v Speaker 2>it made it seem like like like people I can't
<v Speaker 2>remember what it was. I'm pissed now, but there's something
<v Speaker 2>about it that was, like, you know, he.
<v Speaker 3>Hulk's got a different perspective than most. He had a
<v Speaker 3>brand to protect that most people don't even understand. They've
<v Speaker 3>never had to protect the brand the way.
<v Speaker 2>That they don't have to, right, nobody has a brand
<v Speaker 2>like that's that's it. Like the people who are complaining
<v Speaker 2>about him protecting his brain because they don't know what
<v Speaker 2>it is, like they don't have one to protect, like
<v Speaker 2>they're just themselves, right, Like not everybody has a brand,
<v Speaker 2>you know, like what do they even mean exactly? So
<v Speaker 2>what does it fucking mean?
<v Speaker 1>So you know, that's where it all comes from. That
<v Speaker 1>that's like, you know, the idea that put the Apple
<v Speaker 1>logo on something and and it conveys like you know,
<v Speaker 1>technological cool and sophistication and all that, and that's obviously
<v Speaker 1>faded quite a bit. You know, it's kind of a
<v Speaker 1>it's kind of funny, it's kind of a it's kind
<v Speaker 1>of hokey to talk about the Apple brand now, you know,
<v Speaker 1>no one does does. I guess some phones it still carries.
<v Speaker 1>But remember you remember the time, like when you had
<v Speaker 1>the Apple on the on your laptop at Starbucks and
<v Speaker 1>that manure somebody.
<v Speaker 2>You know, yeah, exactly, were important for some reason.
<v Speaker 1>Right, for some reason exactly. And that's the point, Like,
<v Speaker 1>what is the brand, Brandon? Is just what people think
<v Speaker 1>when they see you. And right, if I protect the brand,
<v Speaker 1>you mean do a series of non wrestling projects that and.
<v Speaker 2>I'm not saying that like, you know, listen, I get it.
<v Speaker 2>You know, as much as I hate the term, I
<v Speaker 2>get the idea that that you know, there are there
<v Speaker 2>are businesses and stuff that you know, it's it's it's
<v Speaker 2>what they you know, you know, it's Oh, what's a
<v Speaker 2>great way to say it? Hold on, let me think here.
<v Speaker 2>Oh fuck, I get rid of it. Damn it. Oh
<v Speaker 2>you're ready. You had something to fire? Yeah, what we do,
<v Speaker 2>what we do is right, you know, that's I get it.
<v Speaker 2>I get that, That's what that's what you know, branding is.
<v Speaker 2>But it's like, again, not everyone has that, Not everyone
<v Speaker 2>wants that, you know, Like it's it's not a yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it would be it would be kind of a joke
<v Speaker 2>for most wrestlers to argue that they should have creative
<v Speaker 2>control companies to protect their brand. Most people, you know,
<v Speaker 2>that's what I mean he's like people like not understanding
<v Speaker 2>Is he talking about wrestlers not understanding that? Yeah, because
<v Speaker 2>I get it, talking about like like people not understanding it.
<v Speaker 8>I know.
<v Speaker 1>I think what he's saying is, yeah, people don't because
<v Speaker 1>so few wrestlers reach the point that there, of course
<v Speaker 1>you know their name, that the the strength of their
<v Speaker 1>name could determine what projects they could get and not get.
<v Speaker 1>Whereas wrestling, you know, your reputation in the business is
<v Speaker 1>kind of what keeps you employed and paid. It's not
<v Speaker 1>it's not quite a brand. It's not something that carries
<v Speaker 1>past wrestling.
<v Speaker 2>And I'm here to.
<v Speaker 1>Say, by the way high over here, that hul Cogan's
<v Speaker 1>brand didn't carry past wrestling either. That's the whole fucking
<v Speaker 1>lesson we're learning here in the Midnight. That's the whole point.
<v Speaker 1>It doesn't. It had a moment in nineteen eighty five
<v Speaker 1>maybe where he would be on mainstream talk shows and shit,
<v Speaker 1>but even then he wasn't there representing the Hulk Hogan brand.
<v Speaker 1>He was there representing the hokey WWF hyper iroonic pop
<v Speaker 1>culture phenomenon that was the WWF. And yes, he was
<v Speaker 1>the perfect guy for that. He was the icon of that,
<v Speaker 1>But he wasn't the icon of his own brand. He
<v Speaker 1>was the icon of what the WWF was presenting and
<v Speaker 1>how offbeat it was. That's what it was, and that's
<v Speaker 1>why you know he was made such a fool of
<v Speaker 1>when he tried to go and prove to Vince that
<v Speaker 1>Hulkomnia can run wild elsewhere, and it absolutely cannot.
<v Speaker 2>The only thing that worked.
<v Speaker 1>Is when he completely dumped Ulkamania and went Hollywood, and
<v Speaker 1>that was it worked because it was sub version of
<v Speaker 1>his brand within wrestling, not outside of wrestling. Outside of
<v Speaker 1>wrestling didn't give a fuck. We came to find they
<v Speaker 1>didn't care if he was Hulk or Hollywood. He got
<v Speaker 1>on all the same shows as Hollywood, and he couldn't
<v Speaker 1>have done something more indirect diametric ofp is to the
<v Speaker 1>brand that Bishoff is talking about and protecting them what
<v Speaker 1>he did when he went Hollywood, and he nothing changed
<v Speaker 1>for him. In fact, yeap based on how hot WCW got,
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure the opportunities were even more numerous in ninety
<v Speaker 1>eight and ninety nine or ninety eight ninety seven than
<v Speaker 1>they were in ninety four ninety five when that brand
<v Speaker 1>was being protected and everyone was bored to fucking tears
<v Speaker 1>by what he was doing in the wcw ring. Yep,
<v Speaker 1>no one would see his movies. There's no brand. I
<v Speaker 1>know that there's no brand such that it matters beyond wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>And when you say protect your brand, if all you
<v Speaker 1>mean by protect your brand is I never lose, then
<v Speaker 1>that that's not the sophisticated marketing exercise.
<v Speaker 2>You think, I know what's your brand? I mean, yeah, exactly,
<v Speaker 2>like it's it's just.
<v Speaker 1>That word, that brand word. We got to retire it.
<v Speaker 1>It's so bad, used for all events, so bad. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>it's always been bad.
<v Speaker 2>I agree with you.
<v Speaker 1>It's it's covered up a lot of sophistry. It's covered
<v Speaker 1>up a lot of you know, self serving things that
<v Speaker 1>people tell themselves to preserve the status quo. It it
<v Speaker 1>excuses a lot of laziness. Oh yes, it wallpapers over
<v Speaker 1>the fact that people are in positions they shouldn't be
<v Speaker 1>in and don't have the skills and talents that you
<v Speaker 1>would need to execute that position.
<v Speaker 4>Brand.
<v Speaker 2>Brand, Brand, we're gonna brand yep, yeah, well we're brand
<v Speaker 2>building building brand.
<v Speaker 1>That's when WWF jump the shark, when they started talking
<v Speaker 1>about how we built this brand. So w CWK can't
<v Speaker 1>beat us in the invasion. That's all brand means. It
<v Speaker 1>means we won't.
<v Speaker 2>Lose it really is what it is. Put anybody over,
<v Speaker 2>you know what, it's an excuse. It's an excuse to
<v Speaker 2>to like to not give something up, right, is what
<v Speaker 2>it is.
<v Speaker 1>It's a status quo, like I said, yep, it's just
<v Speaker 1>it's it's an exercise in preserving the status quo. Because
<v Speaker 1>once you say it's actually your brand, that can never
<v Speaker 1>be that's like, that's unfalsifiable. You know, you can never
<v Speaker 1>like take that off the table. You can never point
<v Speaker 1>to something and say like, well, the brand isn't the
<v Speaker 1>consideration now because the brand is It's like, no, nobody's
<v Speaker 1>gonna that's so subjective by design. Once you say it's
<v Speaker 1>about the brand, you can justify doing just about anything
<v Speaker 1>to prevent change.
<v Speaker 2>You know, right exactly, And you can say.
<v Speaker 1>The brand is whatever you want it to be to
<v Speaker 1>justify what you want to do. You know, it's a
<v Speaker 1>very nebulous and mischievous turn.
<v Speaker 2>And I don't like it. It's so annoying, is what
<v Speaker 2>it is.
<v Speaker 1>But you know, you have to say that in ways
<v Speaker 1>that we wouldn't necessarily see as fans, but they saw
<v Speaker 1>in the back offices and at Turner hulled. Cocain's arrival
<v Speaker 1>was a pivot point for WCW. Ratings were low. Interest
<v Speaker 1>in WCW was at an all time low in nineteen
<v Speaker 1>ninety three, as we know, when Bischoff took the helm.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, just the fact that Bischoff, without any real
<v Speaker 1>booking experience, was given that job tells you all you
<v Speaker 1>need to know about how I know they had thoroughly
<v Speaker 1>drained the pool of anybody who could make representations of
<v Speaker 1>turning around a wrestling territory, and so they needed they
<v Speaker 1>needed to lean in. You know, one thing I did
<v Speaker 1>wonder about that Conrad talked to Eric about, and I
<v Speaker 1>wondered about your opinion, Yeah, would there have been any
<v Speaker 1>value in having Hulk do one or two other programs
<v Speaker 1>before Flair? Or should you go right to the Flair match?
<v Speaker 2>You know, part of me wonders, if you know, as
<v Speaker 2>I mentioned before earlier, that part I was kind of
<v Speaker 2>bummed that, you know, that the whole card felt like
<v Speaker 2>it was a little flat, right, Like, the whole like
<v Speaker 2>it just didn't feel like it was part of a
<v Speaker 2>big show. And part of me wonders if that is
<v Speaker 2>part of it, the fact that it was such a
<v Speaker 2>rushed thing and that Hogan wins the title in his
<v Speaker 2>first fucking match, as opposed to you know, you know,
<v Speaker 2>having somebody else I got, like a preliminary you know,
<v Speaker 2>person like he could have done that. I mean, any
<v Speaker 2>associated Flair would have been something interesting, like come by
<v Speaker 2>and say no, no, no, you can't get him yet. What's
<v Speaker 2>wrong with you? You know, like that's not cool.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you don't just walk in here and get Rick
<v Speaker 1>Flair right at the world title like get back of
<v Speaker 1>the line, pal, you know, kind of right, you know,
<v Speaker 1>And I would have enjoyed that. I'm sure that I
<v Speaker 1>could have made good wrestling television out of that. But
<v Speaker 1>I'm also a big believer in if you've got a
<v Speaker 1>money idea, execute it as soon as humanly possible, because
<v Speaker 1>you're not a shit that can go wrong, and you
<v Speaker 1>can always end up at a situation where something that
<v Speaker 1>was hot, that felt hot, by the time you get
<v Speaker 1>around to it doesn't feel hot anymore. Happens all the time,
<v Speaker 1>of course, yeah in wrestling, and like MMA too, it's like, fuck,
<v Speaker 1>these guys get hurt all the time. You have a
<v Speaker 1>super fight. If these guys are healthy in the same
<v Speaker 1>weight class and it makes sense to match him up,
<v Speaker 1>do it. Don't fucking say, well, he's got to get
<v Speaker 1>three more wins first, and if he loses to him,
<v Speaker 1>then he said, no, do the match, because I never
<v Speaker 1>play out in a clean way like that.
<v Speaker 2>It's it's so.
<v Speaker 1>Unlikely to play out that way that to plan on
<v Speaker 1>that is malpractice. You know, you're you're abdicating your fiduciary
<v Speaker 1>responsibility at that point. And so yeah, I'm all about
<v Speaker 1>going right to Hogan and Flair immediately, even if we
<v Speaker 1>can entertain ideas where we would have enjoyed, you know,
<v Speaker 1>a slower burn for that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I don't. I don't necessarily think it was the
<v Speaker 2>wrong thing. It's a very I don't know. I don't know,
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. You know, I certainly would be intrigued
<v Speaker 2>by that. I also but I see, I would disagree
<v Speaker 2>with you about that. In terms of like Kurt Angle
<v Speaker 2>and TNA. I think that was a big mistake going
<v Speaker 2>right after Joe. I thought that was actually deflated the
<v Speaker 2>whole thing, and it made it feel less special because
<v Speaker 2>deflated Kurt afterwards deflated everything everything like it just didn't
<v Speaker 2>feel special and the same thing, you know, and then
<v Speaker 2>another way they did it too. When remember Jericho comes back,
<v Speaker 2>what does he want? He wants the title, that's his
<v Speaker 2>big goal. He says, I want the title, and then
<v Speaker 2>almost immediately he goes for the title, and it's like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>it kind of means that I know he's not going
<v Speaker 2>to get the title, right, you know, the moment that
<v Speaker 2>he started going for the titles, like, oh, all right,
<v Speaker 2>I guess it's not going to happen because they would
<v Speaker 2>build it, they'd build it up, and you know, it
<v Speaker 2>could be said too that you know, with Hogan and Flair,
<v Speaker 2>it's been built up for yes, you know in fans
<v Speaker 2>mind for ever, it's still like there's still a part
<v Speaker 2>of it that's like nah, you know, still like it's
<v Speaker 2>one thing that it's been built up in our mind
<v Speaker 2>and it's another thing that we've you know, we almost
<v Speaker 2>had it in w w EE. But at the same time,
<v Speaker 2>it's like they they haven't really done it, like in
<v Speaker 2>the same company like this, yes, you know, and to
<v Speaker 2>me that that could have been a good move to
<v Speaker 2>do and to like postpone it a little bit, and
<v Speaker 2>you know, but yeah, I don't.
<v Speaker 1>Know, it's kind of weird. It was the thing, but
<v Speaker 1>it's kind of weird that they actually did do a
<v Speaker 1>slow burn. They were teasing it in March for Christ's sakes.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, but he wasn't really in the company though,
<v Speaker 2>you know, he wasn't in until that, until that clash,
<v Speaker 2>that's when it was, you know, and it's like and
<v Speaker 2>and I just think they could have listen, obviously they
<v Speaker 2>made money on the damn show and whatever, you know,
<v Speaker 2>I just I think they could have done he could
<v Speaker 2>have gone a little bit longer before they did it. Yep,
<v Speaker 2>you know.
<v Speaker 1>Clearly the confidence of Ted Turner was there. As Bishoff
<v Speaker 1>has said, Otherwise you wouldn't have seen Hogan out there
<v Speaker 1>because the kind of you know, mountains they had to
<v Speaker 1>move to get him required Ted to give the nod.
<v Speaker 1>But you know, Eric starts to notice around this time
<v Speaker 1>Turner broadcasting and the executive starting to believe in some
<v Speaker 1>of the stuff he was doing. He was he was
<v Speaker 1>hired to bring an out of the box approach, and
<v Speaker 1>that's you couldn't argue that's what he was doing. But
<v Speaker 1>w CW, as he told, it was an embarrassment to
<v Speaker 1>sell for Turner, you know, they go out there and
<v Speaker 1>sell their audience.
<v Speaker 2>Advertisers, and you know that's so much.
<v Speaker 1>If WCW is a huge part of your weekend cumulative rating,
<v Speaker 1>that that's all well and good to sell the total
<v Speaker 1>audience number. But that doesn't mean that the guy selling
<v Speaker 1>is comfortable putting WCW across the table the advertiser and saying, hey, yeah.
<v Speaker 2>What does that really mean now? I mean, so we
<v Speaker 2>do really are you? Are you really asking us to like, actually,
<v Speaker 2>you know, say that you're part of Turner family, because
<v Speaker 2>that just doesn't work for me. I just don't think
<v Speaker 2>that that, you know, I don't think we're going to
<v Speaker 2>get you know, advertisers with right saying hey, you know
<v Speaker 2>we've got the wrassle and business or a fucking yeah.
<v Speaker 2>I just I just don't think we should mention it.
<v Speaker 2>I think we're better off we just leave it alone.
<v Speaker 2>Exactly right.
<v Speaker 1>That's what it was, And that starts to change because
<v Speaker 1>all of a sudden, those people can mention Hull Cogan
<v Speaker 1>and yeah, to our point about brand, It doesn't mean
<v Speaker 1>that it translates to commercial success, but it does open
<v Speaker 1>doors more than any other person's name, whether those doors
<v Speaker 1>are worth walking into it's a whole other question. Sure,
<v Speaker 1>but here's Eric on his podcast talking about that dynamic.
<v Speaker 3>The challenge for me if you go back in time,
<v Speaker 3>you go back to nineteen ninety four here time, and
<v Speaker 3>even a little earlier, you go back to nineteen ninety three.
<v Speaker 3>Turner ad Sales, which was based in New York, was
<v Speaker 3>responsible for selling the Converse commercial inventory for all of
<v Speaker 3>the content that was on both TBS T and t
<v Speaker 3>Turner Sports, any TBS property, Turner Classic movies, whatever was
<v Speaker 3>out there at the time. There was a large group
<v Speaker 3>in New York and their job was to go out
<v Speaker 3>and sell that commercial inventory. So they literally, if you
<v Speaker 3>can imagine Conrad, you and I as salespeople, you know,
<v Speaker 3>hitting the streets in New York, and you've got your
<v Speaker 3>suitcase full of you know, all of your commercial content,
<v Speaker 3>all of the television programs you represent. Typically salespeople would
<v Speaker 3>reach in their bag and pull out the content that
<v Speaker 3>was the easiest to sell. Of course, one of the
<v Speaker 3>reasons salespeople are great salespeople is they take the path
<v Speaker 3>of least resistance, right. They want to make as much
<v Speaker 3>money as they can with at least resistance as possible,
<v Speaker 3>and as they're reaching into their bag of tricks and
<v Speaker 3>trying to sell their their clients, whether it be eminem
<v Speaker 3>Mars or GM Trucks or Budweiser, whoever it is they're selling.
<v Speaker 3>You know, the last thing in the world that they
<v Speaker 3>wanted to reach into their bag and pull out and
<v Speaker 3>put on a desk was w CW Saturday Night. I mean,
<v Speaker 3>they were humiliated by it. And that's been well documented.
<v Speaker 3>You know, when you when you if if you were
<v Speaker 3>to talk to people who were in the Turner ad
<v Speaker 3>sales department back at that time, or talk to guys
<v Speaker 3>like Bill Burke who used to be running you know,
<v Speaker 3>TBS at the time, or or Brad Siegel, they did
<v Speaker 3>not want wrestling at all, not because necessarily they didn't
<v Speaker 3>like wrestling on a personal level, but because it was
<v Speaker 3>such an embarrassment to try to sell. That was the
<v Speaker 3>challenge that we had to overcome. We had to clean
<v Speaker 3>up the image of w CW, raise the production values.
<v Speaker 3>But as you as you just pointed out very clearly,
<v Speaker 3>we had to we we had to change the perception
<v Speaker 3>of w CW so that we were no longer that
<v Speaker 3>other wrestling company. So when people said wrestling in a
<v Speaker 3>in a in a sales presentation. They didn't automatically think
<v Speaker 3>of the WWF. As you again clearly pointed out, bringing
<v Speaker 3>hul Cogan in helped change the perception, along with other
<v Speaker 3>things that we were doing, including Disney. Now, all of
<v Speaker 3>a sudden, our salespeople could go into a meeting, our
<v Speaker 3>ad salespeople could go into a pitch and they're talking about, Yeah,
<v Speaker 3>here's our here's our company.
<v Speaker 4>You know w CW.
<v Speaker 3>By the way, we produce our shows that at the
<v Speaker 3>Disney MGM studios in Orlando, Florida.
<v Speaker 4>And here's what that looks like.
<v Speaker 3>And see those Mickey Mouse hears and that fly over
<v Speaker 3>no over here, here's here's our number one talent, hul Cogan.
<v Speaker 3>You mean hul Cogan's with w CW. I thought he
<v Speaker 3>was with No, he's with w CW. All of a sudden,
<v Speaker 3>the conversation changed dramatically from from an ad sales perspective.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, growing up, it was stinging enough to get
<v Speaker 1>that guffaw and laugh and smirk when you told someone
<v Speaker 1>you like wrestling. Can you imagine asking someone to spend
<v Speaker 1>millions of dollars on.
<v Speaker 2>That, like to actually be in that, Like oh no, no, no, no,
<v Speaker 2>I mean that I listen, I get it. Listen, I
<v Speaker 2>would not want to be in their position at all,
<v Speaker 2>like that that would be the most horrifying job of
<v Speaker 2>all time to have to sell this shit.
<v Speaker 1>I kind of get it intuitively, but it does surprise
<v Speaker 1>me the degree to which those people's minds would be
<v Speaker 1>changed just because they shoot at Disney and because Hulk
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's involved. Isn't it still pro wrestling?
<v Speaker 2>You know? I think I get the idea that I
<v Speaker 2>mean Hulk Hogan. I feel like, okay, if he's if
<v Speaker 2>that means something to you, okay, fine, I feel like
<v Speaker 2>it wouldn't to be honest.
<v Speaker 1>Because there issue really that Sting is the top guy
<v Speaker 1>and not Hulk.
<v Speaker 2>Right, not Hulk Hogan? Like are they really do they
<v Speaker 2>really care that Hulk Hogan's not part of WWE, but
<v Speaker 2>he's part of ww I don't think so. But I
<v Speaker 2>can see like filming it at Disney could mean something
<v Speaker 2>because like, oh wait a minute, I mean they're if
<v Speaker 2>Disney is willing to welcome that's true, not something that
<v Speaker 2>could be special and I should make money, you know,
<v Speaker 2>because exactly everyone everyone wants to be, you know, giving
<v Speaker 2>head to Disney. Yeah, all right, that is the bottom line.
<v Speaker 1>They feel big brother by Disney all the time. So
<v Speaker 1>they yeah, that's true. Yeah, but but like the Disney
<v Speaker 1>allowed us to pay them right incredible body to shoot
<v Speaker 1>our TV show down like exactly, you know that that
<v Speaker 1>it's it's ironic that that's the case. But nobody, nobody
<v Speaker 1>like why would you like, you know, it's it's embarrassing.
<v Speaker 1>It's embarrassing to have to try to sell wrestling to
<v Speaker 1>legitimate advertisers because you've got to remember what the aura.
<v Speaker 1>It's not even the wrestling in the ring, it's what
<v Speaker 1>it's who they think is in the audience. And it's
<v Speaker 1>probably you know true. I mean, we've been to enough
<v Speaker 1>wrestling shows in our lifetime. Yes, it is not a
<v Speaker 1>cross section of people that you think you can sell
<v Speaker 1>high value products different.
<v Speaker 2>Right, they're not buying our money products, right, all right,
<v Speaker 2>you know or not that our moni fucking advertisers. But
<v Speaker 2>you know they're not they're.
<v Speaker 1>Not buying They're buying hot dogs. They're buying hot dogs
<v Speaker 1>at the arena. They're bringing hot dogs at home. They're
<v Speaker 1>hot dogs at Costco and Walmart and Wonderbread.
<v Speaker 2>All right, that's what they're buying. Where's the Wonderbred sponsorship.
<v Speaker 2>You know, that's exactly right. They should have that spam sponsorship.
<v Speaker 2>I mean they should have like I mean, I assume
<v Speaker 2>that they were actually honestly, you know what they should
<v Speaker 2>have had. They should have had any oil company, any
<v Speaker 2>oil company the way they love no any kind of
<v Speaker 2>oil because they you know, they use their oil to
<v Speaker 2>make themselves shiny. They could have any oil. It could
<v Speaker 2>be gasoline oil, it could be olive oil, it could
<v Speaker 2>be body oil. They should have had every kind of oil,
<v Speaker 2>you know, Yeah, what makes sense.
<v Speaker 1>They used to have Stridex commercials through it. Speaking of oil,
<v Speaker 1>skin oils. I remember that they knew that my pimply
<v Speaker 1>asked face was watching wrestling.
<v Speaker 2>They knew that much. Oh yes, oh yes. But also
<v Speaker 2>keep in mind too, like when did Stridikex come into play,
<v Speaker 2>like kind of not into well, I guess they were
<v Speaker 2>there like in the mid nineties, right, Yeah, I remember
<v Speaker 2>that ninety six. Okay, I'm sure before that, but I
<v Speaker 2>think the stride X blimp and stuff. Yeah, I was
<v Speaker 2>thinking for some reason, I was thinking it was more
<v Speaker 2>of a Attitude era thing that all kind of place,
<v Speaker 2>But I think no, I think a.
<v Speaker 1>Touch earlier, Yeah, I'm sure it was around attitude. They
<v Speaker 1>you know, they get the chef by r D thing
<v Speaker 1>with Mick Foley, they got well, you know, they had
<v Speaker 1>the right guard with Hogan that was kind of cool.
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't all it wasn't all like cringe.
<v Speaker 4>But.
<v Speaker 2>Well, the right guard was cringe. If you look at it,
<v Speaker 2>you know, it absolutely was cringe. It just wasn't cringe
<v Speaker 2>for a wrestling fan because it's like, oh, look it's
<v Speaker 2>our guy. Our guy's a man.
<v Speaker 4>It's pretty fucking cool.
<v Speaker 2>The whole commedia thing.
<v Speaker 1>Brother, it's it's going and it's going to Madison Avenue.
<v Speaker 2>You know he those words came out of his mouth
<v Speaker 2>at some point.
<v Speaker 4>Dude.
<v Speaker 2>You know, I totally understood. You know, I used to
<v Speaker 2>love watching mad Men do It's great chokes. I totally
<v Speaker 2>understood it about that. I totally understood exactly what it
<v Speaker 2>meant like because you know, a humane it was all
<v Speaker 2>about due hul Klemania was about advertising in.
<v Speaker 1>A lot of ways, Brother hul Hogan. As we transition
<v Speaker 1>out of this period that I've been in this I've
<v Speaker 1>been in a lot of ways, Brother hul Hogan's going
<v Speaker 1>from Madison Square Garden to Madison Avenue. Brother, You you sure
<v Speaker 1>that's just going to Madison, Wisconsin, Terry for a double shot?
<v Speaker 2>Are you sure you're just not becoming maddening? So Jesus
<v Speaker 2>tier Bischoff talent.
<v Speaker 1>Not only did it make people, uh you know, more
<v Speaker 1>confident about selling WSW, it put a spring in their
<v Speaker 1>step to even work for WCW when Hogan came around.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, but w CW in terms of morale in the office.
<v Speaker 4>Was so beat down.
<v Speaker 3>It was just so the w c W was a
<v Speaker 3>laughing stock. Yes, it wasn't performing. We couldn't draw in
<v Speaker 3>the arenas. You know, we had some great talent, and yeah,
<v Speaker 3>we had the highest rated show on TBS on Saturday
<v Speaker 3>nights and all that stuff that really doesn't matter at
<v Speaker 3>the end of it all. But compared to w c
<v Speaker 3>wwe were yeah, we were the number two company in
<v Speaker 3>the world, but we were like number two hundred and
<v Speaker 3>twenty two. The difference between number one and number two
<v Speaker 3>was so vast that it was a silly thing to
<v Speaker 3>even say. Right on top of that, to have had
<v Speaker 3>to go through keep in mind, you know, in a
<v Speaker 3>very short period of time, we went through Jim Hurd,
<v Speaker 3>Kid Fry, Bill Watson, now is me. And although people
<v Speaker 3>knew me, and some of the people in the office
<v Speaker 3>had worked with me, and a lot of them were
<v Speaker 3>very supportive, like Tony Shavani being one of them and others.
<v Speaker 3>For the most part, nobody knew if I was going
<v Speaker 3>to be including me by the way, nobody knew if
<v Speaker 3>I was going to be able to turn this thing around.
<v Speaker 3>But by bringing hul Cogan in, there was hope. And
<v Speaker 3>I think that hope just raised everybody's morale, enthusiasm and
<v Speaker 3>work ethlete because people were really excited about it again.
<v Speaker 3>The people that I worked with, because now there's new opportunities,
<v Speaker 3>they you know, they've been trying to you know, when
<v Speaker 3>I talk about licensing, you know, sharing Sidell and Mike Weber,
<v Speaker 3>that whole team. They've been trying to have great conversations
<v Speaker 3>with some of the big toy companies and you know,
<v Speaker 3>licensing companies, but they couldn't. Nobody wanted to talk to us.
<v Speaker 3>You know, home video business was deader than debt in
<v Speaker 3>that period of time. Home video business was kind of important.
<v Speaker 3>We couldn't get any distribution for home video. Our own
<v Speaker 3>distribution at Turner didn't want to distribute our product. They
<v Speaker 3>were embarrassed by so they left it in the bottom
<v Speaker 3>of their bag whenever they went out to pitch anything.
<v Speaker 3>And it was just things were so down. But with
<v Speaker 3>Whole Cogan, now there's hope. Now, maybe we can have
<v Speaker 3>that conversation with those sponsors that really wouldn't return our
<v Speaker 3>phone calls. Now, maybe we could get a meeting with
<v Speaker 3>some of those toy companies that up until that point
<v Speaker 3>wouldn't even return a phone call, or if they did,
<v Speaker 3>it didn't mean anything.
<v Speaker 4>You know.
<v Speaker 3>Maybe now we can have a conversation with Direct TV
<v Speaker 3>about in our air pay per view partners, about our
<v Speaker 3>sixty forty split and making that a little bit more fair.
<v Speaker 3>So there were so many things that Whole Cohen coming
<v Speaker 3>in changed for the better, at least in terms of
<v Speaker 3>hope and potential that I think because of that, the
<v Speaker 3>morale was really really high. General feeling was really negative,
<v Speaker 3>and we all felt like redheaded step children that nobody
<v Speaker 3>really wanted to come to the you know, to the
<v Speaker 3>family picnic. Yeah yeah, ye part of the group, but
<v Speaker 3>you're not a part of the family. So just you know,
<v Speaker 3>I know, you got to eat, but try not to
<v Speaker 3>eat in the ah rum and wear your w CW
<v Speaker 3>bats where everybody can see you. Now, that's how It's
<v Speaker 3>not that that wasn't true, but that's how we felt.
<v Speaker 3>And now with hul Cogan and the hope and the
<v Speaker 3>opportunity that that provides, I did it for people. You know,
<v Speaker 3>Rob Garner is syndication. That's a big opportunity for Rob Garner.
<v Speaker 3>You know, brother, you've been in sales for your life,
<v Speaker 3>all your life, one way, shape or form. When you're
<v Speaker 3>out there banging on doors every single day and you're
<v Speaker 3>getting the same result every single day because nobody really
<v Speaker 3>likes your product or is interested in it. And then
<v Speaker 3>all of a sudden, you've got something that everybody's interested in,
<v Speaker 3>or at least a lot of people are. That changes
<v Speaker 3>the way you feel when you drive to work in
<v Speaker 3>the morning. And that was true for guys like Rob Garner.
<v Speaker 3>It was true for Sharon Sdello, it was true for
<v Speaker 3>Mike Weber, it was true for whoever we had in PR.
<v Speaker 2>At the time.
<v Speaker 3>You know, all of a sudden, people will be answering
<v Speaker 3>your phone calls and that was really an exciting time.
<v Speaker 4>You know, that moment.
<v Speaker 3>It didn't last right everything six months later everybody was
<v Speaker 3>taking it for granted, and they were onto their other challenges.
<v Speaker 3>But for that period right after Hawk got there, man,
<v Speaker 3>it was like one you know, two or three month
<v Speaker 3>old celebration.
<v Speaker 4>You know, it was fun.
<v Speaker 1>It was fun for a little while. I love that
<v Speaker 1>point about how everyone took it for granted within months.
<v Speaker 2>You know, it's like, of course, I mean yeah, because
<v Speaker 2>I mean look at it. I mean of course they did.
<v Speaker 2>There was nothing you know that the the the cool
<v Speaker 2>factor or the newness of it where it wore off
<v Speaker 2>very quickly.
<v Speaker 1>The era of good feelings was overco Yes, that Mike
<v Speaker 1>Weber he mentioned. Do you remember Mike Weber at all?
<v Speaker 2>Do you remember why he came into our sphere at
<v Speaker 2>a certain point the name I don't remember why though.
<v Speaker 1>It star cast one when they were broadcasting and streaming
<v Speaker 1>the whole thing on Fight, Mike Weber ran Fight and
<v Speaker 1>uh after we did the Vince thing. Yeah, he's wre
<v Speaker 1>for WWF in a kind of a spokesperson capacity, and
<v Speaker 1>I never forget he was like, okod show, I don't see.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know why Vince is like that, as if
<v Speaker 1>as if we just went up there with like a
<v Speaker 1>total that's right, a total read on who.
<v Speaker 2>Vince really is as opposed to lampooning him, and like
<v Speaker 2>he didn't even like.
<v Speaker 1>Say, you guys nailed it. He just like said, you know,
<v Speaker 1>we all kind of understand that. It's like as if
<v Speaker 1>we get like a recording of the exactly like we
<v Speaker 1>did a bunch of like interviews with people who were there.
<v Speaker 2>Now.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, when Conrad asks Eric like, well, what's one
<v Speaker 1>advertiser that Hogan brought to the table that wouldn't work
<v Speaker 1>with WW before Eric immediately well, you know, WW didn't
<v Speaker 1>directly sell ads, didn't interface with agencies. Turner Rad sense
<v Speaker 1>did that. Of course, the inhow sponsors like Valveline stuff,
<v Speaker 1>the things you would see on the screen, Surt Nitro,
<v Speaker 1>that's WCW. But he couldn't mention anybody there. But he
<v Speaker 1>did remember one key thing that the split of money
<v Speaker 1>they had to give Direct TV to be carried on
<v Speaker 1>Direct TV, they were able to negotiate that down so
<v Speaker 1>they collected more money more of a split because hul
<v Speaker 1>Cogan was around. He feels like you can attribute that
<v Speaker 1>directly to the ulkstar going from about a sixty forty
<v Speaker 1>or sixty five thirty five to a fifty to fifty
<v Speaker 1>split I remember when we did the Batchel of the
<v Speaker 1>Beach two thousand show and went over his contract, not
<v Speaker 1>only the one everyone knows about from ninety eight, but
<v Speaker 1>the amended contract in two thousand and for him to
<v Speaker 1>come back under Vini ru that remember that detail how
<v Speaker 1>he added and satellite buys and satellite was missing from
<v Speaker 1>the nineteen ninety eight contract. So that's a that's a concern, brother,
<v Speaker 1>because that's my money. And just because I didn't put
<v Speaker 1>satellite in the contract, just cable.
<v Speaker 2>Brother, I'm not dude. I want to think of that. Dude.
<v Speaker 1>But in Bishoff remembers that DirecTV conversation. Uh, you know
<v Speaker 1>why he remembers. It's because he took several meetings with
<v Speaker 1>Direct TV.
<v Speaker 2>In la Oh. Of course. Listen. If there's one thing
<v Speaker 2>we know Eric Bischoff did was he took meetings. Absolutely,
<v Speaker 2>meetings were meetings were.
<v Speaker 1>Took, Meetings were taken. That's exactly right. Do you know
<v Speaker 1>how many financiers and high powered producers have seen his
<v Speaker 1>taxidermy hanging from the wall behind his head in a
<v Speaker 1>zoom call? Do you can you even begin to imagine
<v Speaker 1>the amount of meetings he takes and pitches he give
<v Speaker 1>and heres and decks decks, oh my god.
<v Speaker 2>And you imagine the zoom calls from fucking from fucking Cody,
<v Speaker 2>you know, just sucking just and and not not not
<v Speaker 2>former champion either, but like, uh, you just imagine the
<v Speaker 2>fucking like you know, you see that just there's like
<v Speaker 2>imagine you get to get any room in his house.
<v Speaker 2>You don't know which room he could be. So it
<v Speaker 2>could be in that he could be in that fucking
<v Speaker 2>gaudy office that we've seen on you know, it could
<v Speaker 2>be that it's a gaudy office, or it could have
<v Speaker 2>been you know, he could be down in his in
<v Speaker 2>his in his uh meat cellar, you know where he's
<v Speaker 2>got all fucking like hanging hanging meats. But he's that
<v Speaker 2>he that he that he they hunted in the last
<v Speaker 2>couple of months is sucking animals hanging from fucking way.
<v Speaker 1>So Eric, I thought you were joining us from home.
<v Speaker 1>Are you at Disney's Wilderness Lodge in the lobby?
<v Speaker 2>No, No, I'm curing meat.
<v Speaker 1>I used to sell it in Minneapolis. So one of
<v Speaker 1>the things he did was takeout ads in USA. Today
<v Speaker 1>people remember this very well, I think, as well as
<v Speaker 1>the Wall Street Journal. But there was a big, full
<v Speaker 1>page ad for Hogan versus Flair in the USA Today,
<v Speaker 1>the likes of which we hadn't really seen before. And
<v Speaker 1>remember when USA Today was like a big deal because
<v Speaker 1>it was the national paper. I mean it was in
<v Speaker 1>every McDonald's, It was in every hotel room, and it
<v Speaker 1>was just, you know, such an easy and quick and
<v Speaker 1>cheap way to get news of weird paper.
<v Speaker 2>Weird, so weird right now.
<v Speaker 1>They were like the original experimenters of like, how can
<v Speaker 1>we make it so basic that a whole story fits
<v Speaker 1>in like one corner of the fucking thing. But his
<v Speaker 1>thought was, even if even if the ad was very expensive,
<v Speaker 1>which it was, a full page ad in USA today
<v Speaker 1>was in the one hundreds of thousands of dollars in
<v Speaker 1>like nineteen ninety four, miles.
<v Speaker 2>Would happen.
<v Speaker 1>And he was right about this as far as I remember, Like,
<v Speaker 1>you know, morning drive DJs would like grab the USA
<v Speaker 1>Today to think about something to talk about, you know,
<v Speaker 1>Howard Stern would or whoever would. People would just grab
<v Speaker 1>the USA Today if they were rebroadcasting and commenting on
<v Speaker 1>the news, and so that would that would drive some
<v Speaker 1>discussion and mention that Hulk Hogan was back in wrestling
<v Speaker 1>if that was in there at least that was his
<v Speaker 1>his idea, And then of course they came up with
<v Speaker 1>a nine hundred line game. Echo, Gene is in full
<v Speaker 1>fucking activation.
<v Speaker 2>Vote on Hogan, man. I mean, if you could call
<v Speaker 2>the hot line to find out what color Hulk Hogan's
<v Speaker 2>socks were, you know, yeah, you can find that. You
<v Speaker 2>could call the hot line to find out what Hogan
<v Speaker 2>had for breakfast.
<v Speaker 1>Pick option one, right, right, But they did a deal
<v Speaker 1>where you could pick a match on WCW Saturday Night
<v Speaker 1>by calling the nine hundred line and making a selection
<v Speaker 1>and paying for the privilege. Then Hogan was involved in that.
<v Speaker 1>It was like a live Saturday Night. That's the one
<v Speaker 1>in center stage that Flair talks about where they had
<v Speaker 1>to sweeten the sound where he comes and sits ringside
<v Speaker 1>when Sting faces Flair as selected by the fans via telephone.
<v Speaker 1>That's the one where Sherry comes in and drag They
<v Speaker 1>replay that during the course of the basche of the
<v Speaker 1>Beach broadcast, the pay per of your broadcast, where she
<v Speaker 1>comes in dressed up like a guy in Blindside's Hogan
<v Speaker 1>And that's really the Is that Am I wrong? The
<v Speaker 1>reveal that she's working with Flair or was she already
<v Speaker 1>aligned with Flair before that? I feel like that was like, no, no, no,
<v Speaker 1>she was she aligned with Flair at the at the clash.
<v Speaker 1>At the Clash when when when they unified the belts
<v Speaker 1>with staying there.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so I think that was post clash. I'm not
<v Speaker 2>sure though it was post clash.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>So you know, key thing, like like I've said, is,
<v Speaker 1>you know, this is Bash of the Beach. Is the
<v Speaker 1>first time that a lot of prominent Turner executives are
<v Speaker 1>showing up at ww You know, they probably think it's
<v Speaker 1>kind of funny that, like it's a big deal that
<v Speaker 1>this wrestling company we have is it's doing something that
<v Speaker 1>people are paying attention to, and it feels almost like
<v Speaker 1>the place to be. You know, there are plenty of
<v Speaker 1>celebrities there and here's Eric speaking to that.
<v Speaker 9>When you see that by right number and this is
<v Speaker 9>the preliminary number. Of course the real one would be higher,
<v Speaker 9>but when the preliminary number comes in, you've got to
<v Speaker 9>be feeling like, fuck, yeah, is that fair to say?
<v Speaker 10>Yeah?
<v Speaker 3>Because I just covered the next four pay per views,
<v Speaker 3>of the next three pay per views of Hogan's contract
<v Speaker 3>and one fell swoop. So yeah, it was you know,
<v Speaker 3>we were all and I didn't look at it that way,
<v Speaker 3>that's the smartest comment in retrospect. But we were all
<v Speaker 3>excited for all of the right reasons, again, being in
<v Speaker 3>the arena, the energy, you know, we had celebrities there,
<v Speaker 3>Antonio Andocchi was there. You know a lot of our
<v Speaker 3>top executives from Turner Broadcasting came down to watch that, uh,
<v Speaker 3>and they all kind of got the vibe and the
<v Speaker 3>energy and for the first time, and I think more
<v Speaker 3>importantly for me, it represented the fact that we had
<v Speaker 3>really turned the corner internally at TBS, because again, I know,
<v Speaker 3>I beat this horse to death. But the perception and
<v Speaker 3>the reality, unfortunately amongst a lot of the executives, all
<v Speaker 3>of them except for Ted, was that, you know, WCW
<v Speaker 3>was a huge fucking embarrassment. Nobody wanted anything to do
<v Speaker 3>with it on any level. Everybody was wishing that Ted
<v Speaker 3>would just change his mind and pull the plug on
<v Speaker 3>it from day one, and this was the first time
<v Speaker 3>that we could really see and feel that that was
<v Speaker 3>beginning to change. And that to me was the most
<v Speaker 3>important thing, because I really believe that if I could
<v Speaker 3>change the way TBS, the parent company, looked at the property,
<v Speaker 3>I could create more opportunities for it, and it began
<v Speaker 3>to manifest on this particular pay per view.
<v Speaker 8>The last wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that knows the
<v Speaker 8>boys need their candy.
<v Speaker 4>It's the Lapsed Fan.
<v Speaker 8>He's the Lapsed Fan Wrestling podcast with Jack and Carnacio
<v Speaker 8>and JP Sorrow.
<v Speaker 2>So let's get more to the teases.
<v Speaker 1>As we talked about back in our summer Super Bowl
<v Speaker 1>ninety four episode, Dusty Rhodes had stepped down as senior
<v Speaker 1>consultant slash booker as of January of nineteen ninety four,
<v Speaker 1>and Rick Flair was installed as head of the booking committee. Right,
<v Speaker 1>it's back to nineteen eighty nine, which is the last
<v Speaker 1>time they did anything impressive on pay per.
<v Speaker 2>View on the gate.
<v Speaker 1>By the way, that was one of the great parts
<v Speaker 1>of e Lapsed Funk is. It's like shit, Not only
<v Speaker 1>did he come in to w WN eighty nine and
<v Speaker 1>create incredible memorable moments against Flair, that also did business.
<v Speaker 2>That's what you know.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you can't act like Funk was just some connoisseur
<v Speaker 1>of doing the art of wrestling at a high level,
<v Speaker 1>but couldn't draw money. No, the only reason he did
<v Speaker 1>all that shit was because it actually translated into dollars
<v Speaker 1>for him and for the company he was working for.
<v Speaker 1>So he was like instant you know, momentum at the
<v Speaker 1>box office back then. And Flair was in a position
<v Speaker 1>of booking committee head then as well. So he's back
<v Speaker 1>there and then he starts to Then the first thing
<v Speaker 1>he does is turn himself back heel starts shooting with
<v Speaker 1>the Ricky Steamboat, knowing Hulkogan is a potential potential arrival.
<v Speaker 1>I think the first show that Flair had anything to
<v Speaker 1>do with their in March twelfth of noineteen ninety four
<v Speaker 1>had anything to do with from a booking perspective. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>so you know there's a lot of a people in
<v Speaker 1>that transition, and you know Flair is trying to uh
<v Speaker 1>you know, reassure people and uh w CB Center Night
<v Speaker 1>undergoes the rebrand where they do the factory theme that
<v Speaker 1>that we all remember so well.
<v Speaker 2>Yep? Is that is that with would like in the
<v Speaker 2>robotic arm and ship.
<v Speaker 1>That's right, yep, Like almost a spaceship kind of deal
<v Speaker 1>going on, right right. Aaron talks about you know, Ted
<v Speaker 1>never showed up in WCW until he did the contract signing.
<v Speaker 1>He never put himself in his face on wc television,
<v Speaker 1>and that'sarily not well.
<v Speaker 2>He did, he did.
<v Speaker 1>He did a turner and Fonda appeared bringside at one
<v Speaker 1>of the tapings shortly after Rick took the book before
<v Speaker 1>Hogan came in.
<v Speaker 2>That doesn't mean fucking Jane Fonda did. I didn't. I
<v Speaker 2>don't remember that at all. Yeah, they just sat in
<v Speaker 2>the front.
<v Speaker 4>Wow.
<v Speaker 1>They would They would use that clip a lot when
<v Speaker 1>they would do you know, when w W would do
<v Speaker 1>WCW related documentaries and they needed to b roll of Ted,
<v Speaker 1>they wouldn't always just show the press conference between Hogan
<v Speaker 1>and Flair. They would show that taping as well. He
<v Speaker 1>just sat there and smiled. It's not like he had
<v Speaker 1>a spark world. He doesn't want anything to fucking do
<v Speaker 1>with it, all right, yep, yep. As much as he
<v Speaker 1>as much as he says he loves that, he wants
<v Speaker 1>nothing to do. He understand he understands that that is
<v Speaker 1>like just it's cancer, Yes, all right, that's what that is.
<v Speaker 1>And even before Hogan came in, there was a note
<v Speaker 1>in the Observer. Ww wrestlers have never received as much
<v Speaker 1>mainstream exposure as they have in the past week. He
<v Speaker 1>mentioned in February fifteenth of nineteen ninety four, before Hogan
<v Speaker 1>came in, Sting was on Ourcineo Hall, which apparently was
<v Speaker 1>not something that people expected him to be able to do.
<v Speaker 1>Flair was on Larry King, and as we know, hilariously,
<v Speaker 1>CNN would be more willing to cover WWF than their
<v Speaker 1>own in house wrestling company over the years. So Flair
<v Speaker 1>being on Larry King was kind of a cup So
<v Speaker 1>there was already some momentum in terms of like turning
<v Speaker 1>a positive eye toward ww before even Hogan arrived. And
<v Speaker 1>March ninety four, this is when the teases first start
<v Speaker 1>and we we get Thunder and Paradise sweated jarring on
<v Speaker 1>WCW Television at the NAPTI Convention for Television. Hogan's talking
<v Speaker 1>about returning to wrestling after filming Thunder and Paradise, which
<v Speaker 1>is to debut in late March of nineteen ninety four
<v Speaker 1>in Syndication. And we know that Syndication ended up being
<v Speaker 1>pretty much the last stop for that show. Well, oh yeah,
<v Speaker 1>there wasn't a lot of life in syndication there for him.
<v Speaker 1>There's no way it airs anywhere else, right, he can't
<v Speaker 1>be getting residual still.
<v Speaker 2>No, I mean I can't imagine. I mean, I don't
<v Speaker 2>know where you could possibly get it outside of maybe
<v Speaker 2>some kind of but no, they would they wouldn't be.
<v Speaker 2>It wouldn't be any kind of first run DVD sail. No,
<v Speaker 2>I can't. I mean, I don't know. I don't know,
<v Speaker 2>but I cannot imagine. I should let me check one
<v Speaker 2>thing I wonder. I'm curious if you can, I'll see
<v Speaker 2>if he's if you can buy it on streaming, well,
<v Speaker 2>the co chairman, I'll have to think twice about that. No, No,
<v Speaker 2>like you can't.
<v Speaker 1>It's not there so bad it was so hokey, like
<v Speaker 1>I wanted it to work, like I wanted off was like, wow,
<v Speaker 1>look at this.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I wanted you know. To me, that was at
<v Speaker 2>the time, that was the next best thing to having
<v Speaker 2>Hogan in the ring, and I really wanted to work.
<v Speaker 1>It ended up being more embarrassing than watching him in wrestling. Yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>it really was, so I think it was. March nineteenth
<v Speaker 1>of nineteen ninety four was the first time that hul
<v Speaker 1>Cogan appears on ww television in the form of these
<v Speaker 1>promotional interviews on the beach to plug the upcoming debut
<v Speaker 1>and syndication of Thunder and Paradise.
<v Speaker 2>And here it is. This is it, This is the
<v Speaker 2>first seed planted.
<v Speaker 5>Well, I don't know if we're going to revolutionize the
<v Speaker 5>television industry. I'll handle this conversation, Bobby Heenan. But it
<v Speaker 5>has been a very daring, dynamic and sometimes very interesting.
<v Speaker 5>Oh we're a World Championship wrestling action. Hey what about
<v Speaker 5>that interview I conducted last night with the big Man.
<v Speaker 4>That's the name Holgan ring a bell?
<v Speaker 11>You mean Thunderlips, Yes, sire of Thunderadi, Yes, movie star, yes,
<v Speaker 11>six feet eight.
<v Speaker 4>Let me refresh your memory.
<v Speaker 5>Take a look at this, Bobby heena things.
<v Speaker 4>I don't mean to interrupt. I mean to interrupt.
<v Speaker 6>I I'm gonna ask a questioning your brother why I'm
<v Speaker 6>with him.
<v Speaker 4>I'm gonna ask you a question. I mean, are not
<v Speaker 4>with me?
<v Speaker 5>You've had to get in some other way? Well, I
<v Speaker 5>got a friend at the gate, but that's not important.
<v Speaker 5>But I'm gonna ask you a question. You've done it
<v Speaker 5>all in professional wrestling, so you think now.
<v Speaker 4>You've become a great television star.
<v Speaker 5>You got a real hot hit show, here going now.
<v Speaker 5>But isn't there some unfinished business you've left behind in
<v Speaker 5>your wrestling career?
<v Speaker 4>Hogan?
<v Speaker 6>Well, you know something, There are a lot of people
<v Speaker 6>around here that Sayhulkster, when you're gonna get back in
<v Speaker 6>the ring. All the kids running around the beat say,
<v Speaker 6>Hulk do the greatest river was when you're gonna do
<v Speaker 6>the thing again. But as far as you're concerned, Heenan,
<v Speaker 6>over the last fourteen or fifteen years, every one of
<v Speaker 6>your men you threw in my face, I left them land.
<v Speaker 6>So as far as my business with you goes, you
<v Speaker 6>never had a chance in the first place. What kind
<v Speaker 6>of unfinished business are you talking about?
<v Speaker 4>Any only? Heenan, Well, I'm not now all.
<v Speaker 5>Of a sudden, you're you're well, well, you're talking about specifically,
<v Speaker 5>and I'm specifically talking about You're putting your glasses on
<v Speaker 5>getting it around here right, be talking about it. If
<v Speaker 5>I were the great star that you were, I wouldn't
<v Speaker 5>leave things unfinished.
<v Speaker 4>I would take care of business. And I think you
<v Speaker 4>know what I'm talking about. Do I have to write
<v Speaker 4>in the sand? I think what he's saying, Haul Cogan.
<v Speaker 5>We saw the cover of Pro Wrestling Illustrated on the cover,
<v Speaker 5>there was a shot of erect Is that what you're
<v Speaker 5>talking about?
<v Speaker 6>Well, I don't like to put words in people's mouth,
<v Speaker 6>but I mean, yeah, yeah, I know the Brothers on
<v Speaker 6>top of the world right now, Dude. I know he's
<v Speaker 6>styling and profiling limousines and lyric jets and all that stuff,
<v Speaker 6>and I know I have to live with that every day.
<v Speaker 6>But right now I've got another agenda. Go in here, brother,
<v Speaker 6>I've got Thunder and Paradise. But I can tell you
<v Speaker 6>one thing, Heenan. If something happens I get back in
<v Speaker 6>the ring, I'm gonna go right to the top one
<v Speaker 6>more time. And when I do get back in the ring, brother,
<v Speaker 6>me and Gene is gonna be the first man.
<v Speaker 4>I let know what I'm doing. How about that, heenan,
<v Speaker 4>When do I get the soup? Then you come off
<v Speaker 4>scoop at the end of this. But that's what you'll
<v Speaker 4>get and what you're.
<v Speaker 6>Gonna do, heenan. Hulk Hurricane Hogan.
<v Speaker 4>We're on the air.
<v Speaker 5>Well, well, ladies and gentlemen, you just heard the comment.
<v Speaker 5>You know what they called him on the set of
<v Speaker 5>Thunder in Paradise, Hurricane Hogan because he's a big bag
<v Speaker 5>of Wind by the way, the nature boy Rick Claire.
<v Speaker 4>We expect to hear from him next week.
<v Speaker 5>I'm very curious to get his reaction to what was
<v Speaker 5>just said by mister Hogan.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, that's what the fuck is hul Cogan doing
<v Speaker 2>on ww television exactly out of nowhere? No, and that's
<v Speaker 2>probably that's probably why I I I used to think
<v Speaker 2>it was on TBS. Yeah, that's probably why I used
<v Speaker 2>to think that. I don't know, they didn't carry syndicated television,
<v Speaker 2>did they on TBS.
<v Speaker 1>You're trying to say it's Under Paradise aired on TBS. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>like I saw I would watch on No, that would
<v Speaker 1>be considered that wouldn't be considered syndication. Syndication is the
<v Speaker 1>network affiliates, right, okay.
<v Speaker 4>Right, yeah, right.
<v Speaker 2>Something interesting I just discovered as I was trying to
<v Speaker 2>find out if it it really is not available. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>you can buy DVDs on Amazon, but I do not
<v Speaker 2>believe it's not first run a second you know, it's
<v Speaker 2>it's uh, you know, reselling, and it's not streaming anyway
<v Speaker 2>according to IMDb, like you cannot you can probably you
<v Speaker 2>can probably stream it on YouTube. Someone's probably uploaded it
<v Speaker 2>but it's not a there's no official stream of it.
<v Speaker 2>But what I found out was something interesting. So in
<v Speaker 2>the one of the one of the main cast members
<v Speaker 2>who was enlisted as being in all twenty two episodes,
<v Speaker 2>so he's one of four people who in all twenty
<v Speaker 2>two episodes is an actor named Patrick McNee. Okay, does
<v Speaker 2>that name ring a bell and ane? Yes, Well, he
<v Speaker 2>was the narrator of all those James Bond documentaries like oh, yes, yes,
<v Speaker 2>he's that guy, that little British voice. Oh well that
<v Speaker 2>was all over it. Yeah, so he was he was
<v Speaker 2>working with Hogan, sure was.
<v Speaker 4>It was.
<v Speaker 2>He was thundering in Paradise.
<v Speaker 1>And you heard the reference to the magazine cover, the
<v Speaker 1>magazine that we read. So these little things are seeping
<v Speaker 1>out there under the guise of promoting thunder and Paradise,
<v Speaker 1>and it's bleeding into the wrestling show too. It's not
<v Speaker 1>just like this, this is this segment that that's inserted
<v Speaker 1>and air dropped into the ww television show and they
<v Speaker 1>never mentioned it again. Flair and building up his match
<v Speaker 1>at Spring Stampede nineteen ninty four agains Steamboat is asked
<v Speaker 1>about Hogan right there on Saturday Night on.
<v Speaker 4>This thank God Saturday Night from houl Cogany. Now, I
<v Speaker 4>mean g Rick Claire.
<v Speaker 5>All right, fans, we got more excited actually coming up
<v Speaker 5>here in just a moment or two my guests.
<v Speaker 4>At this time.
<v Speaker 5>And I gotta hardly wait this week to get him
<v Speaker 5>out here, the WCW heavy Wait Champ. That ain't sure, boy,
<v Speaker 5>Rick Clair. In light of those very interesting comments last week,
<v Speaker 5>why the immortal hole, I just had to hear what
<v Speaker 5>you we're gonna say to this week.
<v Speaker 4>Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 12>Well, Jean, as I said to you last week, I'm
<v Speaker 12>flattered that Hunk Hogan has a renewed interests not only
<v Speaker 12>in the greatest sport in the world, professional wrestling, but
<v Speaker 12>obviously a renewed interest in being number one. That's why
<v Speaker 12>my name comes up repeatedly. However, as you know, last week,
<v Speaker 12>Steamboat won a big match over the US champion Steve Austin,
<v Speaker 12>so Steamboat got the title shot in Chicago.
<v Speaker 4>Now back to Hogan, Wait a.
<v Speaker 5>Minute, don't you think we should give Hulgan to rast
<v Speaker 5>and talk about steam Bolts.
<v Speaker 13>I think.
<v Speaker 12>I think, since you, a close friend of mine, have
<v Speaker 12>the audacity week after a week, Jean to refer to Hunk. Hogan,
<v Speaker 12>a great movie star, a guy who's got his own
<v Speaker 12>series as.
<v Speaker 4>The immortal PAULK. Hogan.
<v Speaker 12>In my presence, knowing that Rick Flair, knowing it very well,
<v Speaker 12>is the only eleven time world heavyweight champion, then it
<v Speaker 12>would be my best interest to stead of Eugene, go
<v Speaker 12>back to Orlando, get Bobby Heenan, get Hogan in a
<v Speaker 12>very clothed, secure area, and ask Hunk one more time
<v Speaker 12>just exactly what his intentions are and just exactly what
<v Speaker 12>he sees as a future in w CW Okay, what's
<v Speaker 12>right about that?
<v Speaker 5>I will make a promise to you'll try to get
<v Speaker 5>to Hogan sometime this week down at Disney MGM and
<v Speaker 5>see if I can get something more definitive.
<v Speaker 4>Please do all right?
<v Speaker 5>I think now onto the subject of Ricky Steamboat a
<v Speaker 5>lot of time.
<v Speaker 4>I'm sorry.
<v Speaker 5>He pack with both Saturday Night.
<v Speaker 2>Do you believe that? That's amazing? Jesus Christ, that's amazing,
<v Speaker 2>and so Steamboat feel about that?
<v Speaker 1>And maybe steam was one of those guys Hogan was
<v Speaker 1>afraid of, you know, because that's a nice little fuck
<v Speaker 1>you to Steamboat.
<v Speaker 4>Yep.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if they ever had tension in WWF.
<v Speaker 2>I don't think so. But he didn't stick around very
<v Speaker 2>long after Hogan came in, That's for sure. I wouldn't.
<v Speaker 4>I wouldn't.
<v Speaker 2>I wouldn't want to ask him on cameo, that's for sure. Oh,
<v Speaker 2>I know we're gonna get the basement to another fucking
<v Speaker 2>like fifteen minute fucking cameo. We should ask Tito if
<v Speaker 2>Ricky and k.
<v Speaker 1>That's the new that's the new cameo play is you
<v Speaker 1>know you got you got two wrestlers that are party
<v Speaker 1>to a story, and you ask a third wrestler about it,
<v Speaker 1>not the two that's not one.
<v Speaker 2>Of these, Yeah, exactly. It was like asking asking a guy,
<v Speaker 2>Yeah about paying paying guy to answer a question about
<v Speaker 2>something else, Like, Tito, what did you think of the
<v Speaker 2>Montreal screw job? Well? I didn't really know. Uh uh uh, Tito,
<v Speaker 2>what do you think of the main event of Wrestlania twelve?
<v Speaker 1>Well I was going to come from the rafters, but
<v Speaker 1>then said to me, Tito, we're going to need you
<v Speaker 1>in the a w F.
<v Speaker 6>This is.
<v Speaker 1>W WE Hall of Famer Tito Santana. The way he said, Tito,
<v Speaker 1>what did you think about?
<v Speaker 2>What do you think? Steve Austin was thinking when he
<v Speaker 2>left the w in two thousand and two. Do you, Tito,
<v Speaker 2>do you think Steve took his ball and went home.
<v Speaker 1>I had to google what you're asking me about, Jack,
<v Speaker 1>and after doing that, I have to say, I don't
<v Speaker 1>really have an opinion.
<v Speaker 2>Stuff pal, So gene him, ask him like totally, just
<v Speaker 2>like what other people felt. You know that that's just
<v Speaker 2>gonna be hisarious.
<v Speaker 1>I got a message here to Jack. It says, can
<v Speaker 1>you give your opinion on whether Russia has a right
<v Speaker 1>to invade Ukraine? Oh my god, so Genas's marching orders.
<v Speaker 1>Flaire told him go back and ask Cogan basically ask
<v Speaker 1>him again what his intentions are for WCW. And yeah,
<v Speaker 1>Jeane's more than happy to take the assignment, especially if
<v Speaker 1>the you know, if you can expense the drinks in
<v Speaker 1>the in the airport bar.
<v Speaker 5>Of course, I'm checking on a condition of none other
<v Speaker 5>that whole Cogan on location Thunder and Paradise up and
<v Speaker 5>running worldwide.
<v Speaker 4>Well you know what's about time means to check out
<v Speaker 4>what condition.
<v Speaker 6>I can.
<v Speaker 1>Again, I'm checking on it before I do it. Though,
<v Speaker 1>I did want to remember one of those England promos
<v Speaker 1>from the August ninety three tour, and Jean says he
<v Speaker 1>wants to get get involved playing the bass with Hulk again.
<v Speaker 1>He wants to get back into Can I can I
<v Speaker 1>go to the thing? He asks, if he can go
<v Speaker 1>to the jam session? And the way I think is
<v Speaker 1>so great? He goes, well you figured in man, oh.
<v Speaker 2>Idiot.
<v Speaker 1>It's such a Hogan way of saying yes, you know, yes, Well,
<v Speaker 1>I love when he starts with the well too, that's
<v Speaker 1>always yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Of course, Well, well always means something dangerous is happening.
<v Speaker 5>I'm checking on the condition of none other that whole
<v Speaker 5>Cogan on location Thunder and Paradise up and running worldwide.
<v Speaker 6>Well you know what's about time means, Gene, you came
<v Speaker 6>back to check out what condition my condition is in,
<v Speaker 6>Brother Rogers, Let's see you kind of stirred up a
<v Speaker 6>hornous nest. I ever, yeah, you did, brother, by walking
<v Speaker 6>around here and asking everybody at Thunder can haulk Hogan
<v Speaker 6>beat Rick Flair? Was hal Cogan really the man? Or
<v Speaker 6>is hal Cogan ever gonna get in the ring? Well,
<v Speaker 6>you know, I know you're my friend, brother, but you
<v Speaker 6>kind of stepped over the line last time, because ever
<v Speaker 6>since you were here all the way from Venice Beach,
<v Speaker 6>California to Disneyland. Right here at MGM, they've been asking
<v Speaker 6>the same questions, HAULK Cogan, is it over.
<v Speaker 5>Get in the ring.
<v Speaker 4>When you beat Rick Flair right in the center of
<v Speaker 4>the ring.
<v Speaker 5>Brother, Well, I'm not gonna ask you again, Halk, but
<v Speaker 5>what is your answer.
<v Speaker 6>I'll tell you what my answer is, Dude. Something's the fact.
<v Speaker 6>It's not all the people on the beach. It's not
<v Speaker 6>all the people all over the world from after Asia,
<v Speaker 6>North Pole South, pulling all points in between. It's a
<v Speaker 6>simple fact that just the other night, brother, when I
<v Speaker 6>was tucking Nicholas in bed four years old, Dude, he
<v Speaker 6>looked at me and he says, Daddy, I've watched the
<v Speaker 6>tapes off you wrestle. I saw that you were the
<v Speaker 6>greatest of all time. But Daddy, can you beat the
<v Speaker 6>man Rick Flair? Jean, it was like ice cold water
<v Speaker 6>run up through my veins, Dude. Paning that camera down, Brother,
<v Speaker 6>on the largest arm in the world, it was like
<v Speaker 6>the ice cold veins running up the pythons.
<v Speaker 4>Brother.
<v Speaker 6>My blood turned to ice cold water. As I looked
<v Speaker 6>at Nicholas and I said, I don't know, Son, I.
<v Speaker 4>Don't know, Son, if I'll ever meet him in the ring.
<v Speaker 6>I don't know, son, if I was in the ring,
<v Speaker 6>if I could ever beat him.
<v Speaker 4>But I can tell you.
<v Speaker 6>One thing, me and Jean as Brutus Beefcake stands as
<v Speaker 6>my witness. Dude, if I ever decide to climb in
<v Speaker 6>the ring, you'll be the first one to know. And
<v Speaker 6>Rick Flair, if I get my chance, will feel the
<v Speaker 6>wrath of the twenty four inch pythons.
<v Speaker 14>Dude, you have heard that, lady says, cut him in
<v Speaker 14>from the Only what you're gonna do when the largest
<v Speaker 14>arms in the world run wild on you hold on.
<v Speaker 1>They're just running it back, you know, winding it up
<v Speaker 1>and doing the old stick. The whole band's back together.
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of hilarious, it really is.
<v Speaker 2>I don't even know what to make of fucking Gene there,
<v Speaker 2>Jesus Christ. He's such a nut.
<v Speaker 1>So he calls out a Brutus who is there. Of course,
<v Speaker 1>Brutus was featured on Thunder and Paradise, as we've talked about,
<v Speaker 1>and one of the things it's kind of interesting that
<v Speaker 1>I saw, but I couldn't find much in the way
<v Speaker 1>of backup. You notice he calls him Brutus beefcake there.
<v Speaker 2>On w w TV.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, yes, I read a reference. It must have been
<v Speaker 1>a Reddit thread or something that that they sent a
<v Speaker 1>seasoned assist WWF because you can't call him.
<v Speaker 2>Of course they did so.
<v Speaker 1>By the time he would follow Hogan on into w CW,
<v Speaker 1>there would be many other names on the menu, as
<v Speaker 1>we all know, to a hilarious degree as a matter
<v Speaker 1>of fact.
<v Speaker 2>And you get, you get what a brother brute eye
<v Speaker 2>that one worked. The booty man, that's right, butcher man
<v Speaker 2>with no name, with the man with no face too, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>may have no face, man with no wrestling ability, man
<v Speaker 2>with no personality and with no reason. Actually he really,
<v Speaker 2>he really is the man with no face. Actually, when
<v Speaker 2>you consider the parasailing action, that's kind of why they
<v Speaker 2>said it. Yeah, oh is it really?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah?
<v Speaker 6>I think so.
<v Speaker 2>The man with no reason to be here? Well, Cogan's
<v Speaker 2>friend kind of to the end, but not really a beefer.
<v Speaker 2>Could they could they have called him beefcake Barber. That's
<v Speaker 2>a great question. Actually they brought him tiny list for that.
<v Speaker 2>They did, they did, so I wonder I wonder if
<v Speaker 2>they could have called him beefcake Barber.
<v Speaker 1>When you put zeus, when you put beefcake first instead
<v Speaker 1>a second, it just seems so much more food related.
<v Speaker 4>It really does.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, it's definitely, uh, you know, it's it sounds
<v Speaker 2>like a like like what the fuck is it going Jesus?
<v Speaker 2>Or like a isn't there like a fruit dessert something
<v Speaker 2>like that. That's kind of where you have back like
<v Speaker 2>background like apples something or other fruitcake. I don't know,
<v Speaker 2>not a fruitcake, but it's like it's like it's like
<v Speaker 2>fruit surprise or something like that, something some kind of bullshit.
<v Speaker 1>Fruit surprise, fruit surprise. I'm gonna say, I'm not gonna
<v Speaker 1>walk in there, son.
<v Speaker 2>Or it's it's hold, I gotta look it up now.
<v Speaker 2>I think it's apples. Oh okay something or other apples
<v Speaker 2>or no, is it apples? Are you doing about banana Foster?
<v Speaker 9>Oh?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what. Yeah, Cherry right exactly,
<v Speaker 2>that Foster. That's what beefcake barbarous.
<v Speaker 1>It's like Cherry's man is Foster Cherry's you believe Cherry's right, right,
<v Speaker 1>and then afterwards.
<v Speaker 2>That's what he is.
<v Speaker 1>He said, Well, of course, if Hulk's going to start
<v Speaker 1>intimating that he might come back to the wrestling world,
<v Speaker 1>he's not going to just contain those little hints to
<v Speaker 1>w CW Television.
<v Speaker 2>He's going to work the.
<v Speaker 1>Circuit because there's a lot of people, boy, that want
<v Speaker 1>to talk to Hulk about this new Thunder and Paradise
<v Speaker 1>s indicated television show. There's plenty of opportunities made possible
<v Speaker 1>by this TV show to float the possibility that he
<v Speaker 1>might be interested in wrestling again. How about No less
<v Speaker 1>than Regis and Kathy Lee. Oh boy, I love that.
<v Speaker 1>Nothing like a wrestler in Regis back in the day
<v Speaker 1>man to set your to set your day off right, yep,
<v Speaker 1>on a summer vacation, fucking pay per view coming up
<v Speaker 1>and all of a sudden, Stone Cold or Undertaker.
<v Speaker 2>I used to watch and Kathy Lee during the summertime religiously,
<v Speaker 2>just because I knew wrestlers might be on that pun
<v Speaker 2>pun nonsound.
<v Speaker 5>Huh.
<v Speaker 2>It's Live with Regis and Kathy Lee.
<v Speaker 1>It's such a great job, you know. I'm sure it
<v Speaker 1>was incredibly stressful, but just like Regis shows up and
<v Speaker 1>be there.
<v Speaker 2>It's like five in the morning. I know that's that's
<v Speaker 2>the tough part, but like, no, I mean, listen, it's
<v Speaker 2>gonna be done. It like jobs you've done at ten thirty, right,
<v Speaker 2>the rest of the day ahead of you, and all
<v Speaker 2>you have to do is show up and bullshit. Everybody's
<v Speaker 2>like right, setting it up, and it's just what happened yesterday.
<v Speaker 2>It's just chit chatting, you know, it's it's it's just
<v Speaker 2>bullshit news absolutely, you know, not serious stuff. It's it's
<v Speaker 2>like it's such it's such fluff, you know, like it's great.
<v Speaker 1>One question that's always stumped me is what's my dream job?
<v Speaker 1>You know, always kind of stump by that. But what
<v Speaker 1>I really think about it, it's kind of something like
<v Speaker 1>that like drivetime Radio DJ that just not DJ, but
<v Speaker 1>like you know somebody that you know is the signature
<v Speaker 1>morning voice, not like Howards basically, but you just bullshit.
<v Speaker 1>You can just talk about what people are talking about.
<v Speaker 1>You don't have to put on a front. You don't
<v Speaker 1>have to create a ton of ship.
<v Speaker 2>You can just.
<v Speaker 1>Just say what comes to your mind. And it's money,
<v Speaker 1>you know, right right that sounds that seems to me
<v Speaker 1>like bliss, you know, when you're done with your day
<v Speaker 1>at like ten o'clock, like fuck, yeah, let's go.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, regis just just the idea, you know, my
<v Speaker 2>own I'm just the idea to fucking go to sleep
<v Speaker 2>at like five killed.
<v Speaker 1>I would hate it immediately. I would hate it, of
<v Speaker 1>course I would hate it immediately. But conceptually, yeah, no,
<v Speaker 1>absolutely absolutely. Maybe that's why we're here exactly. There's Hogan
<v Speaker 1>on Regis.
<v Speaker 13>Why come on?
<v Speaker 1>You know what I know there could be a possible
<v Speaker 1>return to the ring.
<v Speaker 2>Hulks to give. Yeah, let me want a hulk wa want?
<v Speaker 2>What do you mean we want to hold you?
<v Speaker 4>We're talking about well, you know something, brother. I was
<v Speaker 4>in the airport.
<v Speaker 2>Oh my god, why here to see Regis?
<v Speaker 6>A little old lady came up to me and she goes, oh,
<v Speaker 6>con do you make me feel eighteen years old?
<v Speaker 4>Are you know? The lady said, I quit watching wrestling
<v Speaker 4>when you were on there. You were the greatest revery
<v Speaker 4>one his greatest ever will be and it's not the
<v Speaker 4>same without you. I've been thinking about coming.
<v Speaker 15>Back for all the right reasons, you know, for all
<v Speaker 15>the right reasons, because I miss it so much.
<v Speaker 4>I love the sport and my son Nicholas.
<v Speaker 16>And my daughter Brooke.
<v Speaker 15>He keeps saying, Dad, when you didn't get in the
<v Speaker 15>ring again. So I've been talking with a few different promotions,
<v Speaker 15>and there's a possibility.
<v Speaker 2>Two different promotions.
<v Speaker 4>Like a tag team partner or of course I'll have
<v Speaker 4>Jimmy Hart with me.
<v Speaker 2>He's a great manager.
<v Speaker 4>Jimmy the both of the South the best.
<v Speaker 15>So I'm getting Shaken TV series right now the priority,
<v Speaker 15>and as sin as that's done, I'm gonna make an
<v Speaker 15>announcement in the next couple of weeks. It's gonna knock
<v Speaker 15>the whole wrestling world on his heel.
<v Speaker 2>The hook I think is coming back. He's ready for
<v Speaker 2>which he'll You're ready for it?
<v Speaker 16>I ready?
<v Speaker 4>Do you have to?
<v Speaker 17>Because I've seen you bigger.
<v Speaker 4>You have to make it bigger. You've seen wow.
<v Speaker 13>When he's just ready for a match.
<v Speaker 16>He yeah, you know.
<v Speaker 15>I've been doing movies and now the TV series and
<v Speaker 15>to be a Navy seal, you know they want to be.
<v Speaker 4>I've been dieting for sixty right in the ring, over
<v Speaker 4>three hundred.
<v Speaker 15>That was when I was a lot younger. Now, I
<v Speaker 15>mean the last couple of years. I waited about two
<v Speaker 15>eighty two eighty five. But I've been dining down and
<v Speaker 15>it's so hard to keep the food out of my mouth.
<v Speaker 15>Last night and went nuts in the hotel. The Empire Hotel.
<v Speaker 11>I ate the hotel of the room is big enough
<v Speaker 11>there for.
<v Speaker 4>The the bathrooms.
<v Speaker 15>I ate two bags of famous amuses and a bag
<v Speaker 15>of Eminem's olks.
<v Speaker 4>Shot you.
<v Speaker 18>For your heart, though, I know, but I love John.
<v Speaker 2>No, but it's like that's true.
<v Speaker 5>You love.
<v Speaker 16>Forty years old and I feel great.
<v Speaker 2>Forty years old. Oh don't even it's like it's it's mortifying.
<v Speaker 2>It's just mortifying.
<v Speaker 19>I know that.
<v Speaker 2>Like I'm older than him now. I can't believe she
<v Speaker 2>called him on not being buff of course, and did
<v Speaker 2>you hear how hurt he was, and how like he
<v Speaker 2>did not know what to say. He did not know
<v Speaker 2>what to say. He did know what to say. He
<v Speaker 2>was ready.
<v Speaker 1>He had the whole thing off, not paradise wanted me
<v Speaker 1>to be lean.
<v Speaker 2>He had that to say. But the way he but
<v Speaker 2>he but he but he stopped for a moment. He
<v Speaker 2>stopped for a moment. He may have had that on
<v Speaker 2>the you know, loaded in the chamber, but he stopped
<v Speaker 2>for a moment. Sure, sure, he took a brief pause.
<v Speaker 2>He had to like let that soak in. That's stung?
<v Speaker 2>Was that that didn't that wasn't Kathy Lee? Who was
<v Speaker 2>that was that his wife? I think so, Yeah, I
<v Speaker 2>know she. I remember seeing her guest host one time.
<v Speaker 2>I was so disappointed because I really wanted Kathy Lee's
<v Speaker 2>opinion on whoever wrestler was.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, she would take the wrestler days off after Rick
<v Speaker 1>Rude basically tried to stick his cock in her mouth
<v Speaker 1>on TV. So uh really, I mean not so much.
<v Speaker 1>But he did the whole strip tease routine and was
<v Speaker 1>like basically thrusting his hips around her, and she she
<v Speaker 1>ran up the little staircase they had in the set,
<v Speaker 1>you know, and she played it for laughs. But yeah,
<v Speaker 1>it was pretty well understood that she was extremely uncomfortable.
<v Speaker 2>Did not expect to be in the position of Rickord
<v Speaker 2>doing that.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Interesting And then interesting thing a lot of people don't
<v Speaker 1>know is she did end up blowing him at the
<v Speaker 1>hotel later that night.
<v Speaker 2>Brother.
<v Speaker 1>But so Jing goes back in May, Okay, this time
<v Speaker 1>the Thunder and Paradise set, and this time he's got
<v Speaker 1>a hotline scheme in mind in addition to getting more
<v Speaker 1>out of the holster. Is this intrigue continues into the spring?
<v Speaker 4>Well is it a hot one today?
<v Speaker 5>My word?
<v Speaker 4>It really just cut baby bread, all.
<v Speaker 5>Right, little tough with all these good looking like very
<v Speaker 5>Haulk Hogan, Halk Cogan, Hankster. I've been reading about it
<v Speaker 5>the newspapers. I've been seeing it in magazines. It's been
<v Speaker 5>a long time since I've heard a buzz like this,
<v Speaker 5>And I've got to ask you what Van's are asking me?
<v Speaker 4>Are you gonna meet Rick Flair?
<v Speaker 6>Who? Let me tell you something, mean, Jean, when you
<v Speaker 6>talk about the buzz, brother, about the fans.
<v Speaker 4>Talking about is Hulk Hogan gonna meet Rick Flair? You're
<v Speaker 4>putting it kind of mody, dude. You know, it's kind
<v Speaker 4>of like a shot that was heard around the world.
<v Speaker 6>And as far as Thundering Paradise goes, Brother, thunder and
<v Speaker 6>Paradise has wings of it on, it'll just about self, dude.
<v Speaker 6>You know, Thundering Paradise in the bathing suits or the
<v Speaker 6>thunder scare up.
<v Speaker 20>Brother.
<v Speaker 6>Everybody wants to know, Hawk Hogan, are you really still
<v Speaker 6>the man, brother, Hank Hogan? Or are you gonna climb
<v Speaker 6>in the ring with Ric Flair? Mean, Jean, do you
<v Speaker 6>feel what I feel?
<v Speaker 4>Brother?
<v Speaker 6>The whole world wants to know, is Haulk Hogan man
<v Speaker 6>enough to get in the ring and defeat eleven times
<v Speaker 6>world w c W Champion, Rick, Oh yeah, twelve times
<v Speaker 6>after you hit the ten mark, doesn't really matter. Well,
<v Speaker 6>you know something, brother, the way I feel right now,
<v Speaker 6>if Rick Flair was on this beach, I'd rub his
<v Speaker 6>face right in the dirt and strip the w c
<v Speaker 6>W title off his waist.
<v Speaker 4>But what I'm doing, me, Gene, is I'm not gonna.
<v Speaker 6>Put the cart from the horse, brother, I'm gonna put
<v Speaker 6>my feelers out. I'm gonna put out the green lights
<v Speaker 6>all the Hulk of Maniacs.
<v Speaker 4>Around the world.
<v Speaker 6>And if they want Hulk Hogan in the ring with
<v Speaker 6>Rick Flair, they better better let me know.
<v Speaker 4>Brother.
<v Speaker 5>Well, they could do that very easily, as you know
<v Speaker 5>the hunks.
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, they can do that very easily. In the way
<v Speaker 6>it goes here, all these Hulk of Maniacs right here
<v Speaker 6>at the Thunderbar, brother, at the skule. But they want
<v Speaker 6>to see me get in the ring. So the word's
<v Speaker 6>going out right now. If you want to go along
<v Speaker 6>for the ride one more time, I'm the man to drive.
<v Speaker 4>Just let me know.
<v Speaker 6>And by the way, brother, what you're gonna do if PAULK.
<v Speaker 6>Hogan and the largest arms in the world run wild
<v Speaker 6>are you lady, you.
<v Speaker 4>Said, gentleman.
<v Speaker 5>One of the kind the immortal Hull Coking fans call
<v Speaker 5>up to number five on a hot line right now.
<v Speaker 5>Pass you if you want to see them. Vote gether
<v Speaker 5>dot vote one.
<v Speaker 8>The last fan wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that knows
<v Speaker 8>the boys need their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan. He's
<v Speaker 8>an lapsed fan wrestling podcast with Jack and Carno and
<v Speaker 8>JP Soorro.
<v Speaker 1>Imagine paying to tell WCW that you want to see
<v Speaker 1>hul Cochin versus Rick Flair. Yes, some bizarre and it's
<v Speaker 1>symbolic that he rips up the Thunder and Paradise script
<v Speaker 1>during the course of that promo because he does leave
<v Speaker 1>it behind. Yeah, it's starting to already hit the skids.
<v Speaker 1>He talks about it in his book, and you mentioned
<v Speaker 1>this when we covered it under the cinemat as well.
<v Speaker 1>We probably talked about it even when we did the
<v Speaker 1>Thunder and Paradise movie so many years ago that there
<v Speaker 1>was some kind of thing where there was questions about
<v Speaker 1>kind of some of how some of the deals were
<v Speaker 1>being made related to the show and the expenses and things. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>they kind of cracked down on that and brought in
<v Speaker 1>a producer from RoboCop who'd been worked on RoboCop. I
<v Speaker 1>think RoboCop the TV series as opposed to the movie.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah yeah, And so they sent the old the old crew,
<v Speaker 1>Michael Burke and Greg Boonen, who I think were the
<v Speaker 1>they watch people, back to LA and this guy's going
<v Speaker 1>to run the show with a guy named Doug Schwartz.
<v Speaker 1>This guy being Keith Samples and Doug Schwartz not going
<v Speaker 1>to run the show. And they weren't going to make
<v Speaker 1>any more deals until the RoboCop guy comes into I
<v Speaker 1>guess the budget was out of whack. I don't know
<v Speaker 1>what it was, but as Hogan writes in his book,
<v Speaker 1>money still kept getting spent unquestionable stuff. Keith told me
<v Speaker 1>the only way we could keep going with Thunder and
<v Speaker 1>Paradise was if I took full responsibility. But by then
<v Speaker 1>I had had enough. I was beat up, burned out,
<v Speaker 1>and tired of Hollywood. All I wanted was to go home.
<v Speaker 1>I said, the hell with it, pull the plug. I
<v Speaker 1>don't care. So the show was canceled. There goes the
<v Speaker 1>torn up contract. Just at the same time, Hogan was
<v Speaker 1>ready for the next uh yeah, the next Frog hop.
<v Speaker 1>You know, he knew exactly what was next. Hulk always
<v Speaker 1>knows what's next.
<v Speaker 2>And he's already he listened. He's always playing on like eight, ten,
<v Speaker 2>twelve moves ahead exactly right. And so we're dialed in.
<v Speaker 4>You know what you know?
<v Speaker 2>You're figured in? Dude, Well you're figured in, dude. Oh.
<v Speaker 1>I just can't get enough of that phraseology. I don't
<v Speaker 1>know why, because it's stupid. It's it's like because it's
<v Speaker 1>so stupid, Like it makes no sense. It's not a
<v Speaker 1>it's not a yes, right, I'm figured in?
<v Speaker 4>What are you?
<v Speaker 2>When we were making the guest list? What is this
<v Speaker 2>a wedding? Figure in? But Hulks made the decision.
<v Speaker 1>We've you know, explained how the entreaties went back and
<v Speaker 1>forth between Flair and Eric and Hogan on the set
<v Speaker 1>of Thunder Paradise on the telephone leading up to these
<v Speaker 1>skits being shot while Hogan's on the road promoting Thunder
<v Speaker 1>and Paradise. So the deal is done, the deal is made,
<v Speaker 1>but the trial is still m it's a trial coming.
<v Speaker 1>Hulk's testimony is landing on the week before Back to
<v Speaker 1>the Beach ninety four.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, it is amazing.
<v Speaker 1>That is insane, and fortunately for us here covering Bash
<v Speaker 1>to the Beach ninety four. We have at our disposal
<v Speaker 1>something some material we didn't have back when we did
<v Speaker 1>the trial of his life in twenty nineteen, and that
<v Speaker 1>is the Vincment Man Netflix multi part documentary series. Oh yeah,
<v Speaker 1>they get some new bites out of people in and
<v Speaker 1>round the steroid trial and what Hulk Hogan's involvement was
<v Speaker 1>like in what it meant. So here's a sampling of
<v Speaker 1>that as we kind of set the backdrop for Hogan's
<v Speaker 1>arrival in World Championship Wrestling.
<v Speaker 15>Now, I'm ture. I left the WWF. The government wanted
<v Speaker 15>me to be their star witness. I was told that
<v Speaker 15>if I didn't say what they wanted to hear, the
<v Speaker 15>target of the investigation would be directed to me and
<v Speaker 15>I might be seventeen years. I was granted immunity and said,
<v Speaker 15>well cool, I got it.
<v Speaker 5>One on one site, the main event in the prosecution's
<v Speaker 5>conspiracy case against McMahon.
<v Speaker 15>It's time for me to go testify. I walked straight
<v Speaker 15>across the courtroom and as I walked by, there was
<v Speaker 15>a Vincry Man sitting there and we were at each
<v Speaker 15>other's grows.
<v Speaker 20>At the time.
<v Speaker 15>The Feds just thought that this is the perfect opportunity
<v Speaker 15>for me to throw dirt on vents and all of
<v Speaker 15>a sudden.
<v Speaker 16>Run wild with the wrestling world when testified, and I
<v Speaker 16>think they were shocked.
<v Speaker 4>No.
<v Speaker 15>One of the last times I talked to Events, and
<v Speaker 15>it had been months and months and months since we talked,
<v Speaker 15>on the last things I said to him, Brother, I said,
<v Speaker 15>we go all the way up together, and we go
<v Speaker 15>all the way down together.
<v Speaker 4>Don't forget that. Wow.
<v Speaker 1>Wow, there's more than I realized there in that. I
<v Speaker 1>never appreciated that Terry actually felt like he might be
<v Speaker 1>charged and thrown in jail if he didn't kind of
<v Speaker 1>walk the straight and narrow visa via the government. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>and what the prosecution was looking for from him. But
<v Speaker 1>there's more detailing that to come. But yeah, the idea
<v Speaker 1>that you know, Hulk was made to testify because they
<v Speaker 1>had a and you can hear them bring it out
<v Speaker 1>in the remember the testimony. You can hear them kind
<v Speaker 1>of hint that we might very well be able to
<v Speaker 1>establish here that you were distributing the steroids or having
<v Speaker 1>steroids distributed to you, that you were, you know, paying
<v Speaker 1>to have them, not not directly but through a third party,
<v Speaker 1>and were you buying them directly?
<v Speaker 2>And hey, I just want to say right now, I
<v Speaker 2>was never involved with steroids.
<v Speaker 6>I was.
<v Speaker 4>Right.
<v Speaker 2>I'm not listening. I am involved with many third parties.
<v Speaker 2>I was not third party steroids. It sounds like that's
<v Speaker 2>a fourth party. But I have been to three parties
<v Speaker 2>in one night. Right.
<v Speaker 1>The last time I was involved with a fourth party,
<v Speaker 1>there was fireworks and hot dogs.
<v Speaker 2>But I still did it. In Mexico my home, I.
<v Speaker 1>Sinko to my old party. I'd have Senora Guitirez come
<v Speaker 1>over and she made some mean Tamali's for me and
<v Speaker 1>the family. And you know, she made homemade tortillas stone ground.
<v Speaker 1>Do you understand how much better the tortilla tastes when
<v Speaker 1>it's stone ground? Do you know anything about that?
<v Speaker 2>You know, cilantro tastes much better in Mexico.
<v Speaker 1>The cilantro we have up in Minnesota, it's hardly cilantro
<v Speaker 1>by the time it gets up there. The level of
<v Speaker 1>refrigeration that you need just to transport it alone. Take
<v Speaker 1>care you much of the flavor?
<v Speaker 2>Hey have you ever eaten avocado in Mexico?
<v Speaker 6>Hey?
<v Speaker 2>Hey, have you ever sliced up an avocado? Straight?
<v Speaker 1>From the farm in Mexico. You know, that's where we
<v Speaker 1>get a lot of our avocados from. Anyway, I figured
<v Speaker 1>i'd just go to the source. And yes, I am
<v Speaker 1>shaking my head left and right really quickly as I
<v Speaker 1>do this, like a marblehead. He always shakes his head
<v Speaker 1>like I'm putting you in your place. I'm making a point, right,
<v Speaker 1>I'm making a point that you can't refude.
<v Speaker 2>Jesse, I dare you. I dare come back at me.
<v Speaker 2>Come back at me and tell me exactly what I'm
<v Speaker 2>saying is wrong. I will prove you wrong. You cannot
<v Speaker 2>talk me back. I dare you go back. I dare you.
<v Speaker 4>I dare you.
<v Speaker 1>And not only was hul Cogan's trial testimony the week
<v Speaker 1>before Bash at the Beach is growing back his private
<v Speaker 1>grand jury testimony, which is where you know, you establish
<v Speaker 1>you know the facts of the case to potentially bring
<v Speaker 1>an indictment, which Vince of course was indicted in November
<v Speaker 1>of ninety three. That took place on June tenth, nineteen
<v Speaker 1>ninety three, so three days before King of the Ring,
<v Speaker 1>three days before King of the Ring losing to Yokazuna
<v Speaker 1>Hulkgin is in a courtroom somewhere testifying before grand jury
<v Speaker 1>as part of the process that would lead to Vince
<v Speaker 1>McMahon being indicted. Did that have something to do with
<v Speaker 1>the call of the finish at King of the Ring
<v Speaker 1>ninety three. I don't know when you don't fucking understand
<v Speaker 1>you of the grand joy today, pal, you went to
<v Speaker 1>the grand jury they told They told me I could
<v Speaker 1>talk about it now, but of course the shoul understand brother,
<v Speaker 1>I couldn't talk about it before, hid.
<v Speaker 4>You know, dude? I was you know, I was.
<v Speaker 2>I was summoned.
<v Speaker 4>Brother.
<v Speaker 2>I didn't volunteer to go. Well, you didn't have to go,
<v Speaker 2>I was my understanding, Dude, I did, dude, Brother, they
<v Speaker 2>had to go, Dude. They said If I didn't go, brother,
<v Speaker 2>they rolled me up from behind. The federal government said
<v Speaker 2>they're gonna roll you up from behind. That's what they said,
<v Speaker 2>Terry brother. Well, they didn't say it like that, do
<v Speaker 2>but they implied. What did they imply exactly? What did
<v Speaker 2>they imply? Did they imply that you will get pinned
<v Speaker 2>by the federal government? Is that what they said? Did
<v Speaker 2>they threaten your torch? Terrence? What did they I says,
<v Speaker 2>what did they imply helps pin down at this point,
<v Speaker 2>pinned down in his seat. How about the grand jury
<v Speaker 2>of McMahon. Right, how about this? How about me? Why
<v Speaker 2>about I?
<v Speaker 21>You?
<v Speaker 2>You suffer my inquisition?
<v Speaker 4>Like what do you do?
<v Speaker 2>How about I?
<v Speaker 21>What?
<v Speaker 6>What?
<v Speaker 3>What?
<v Speaker 6>What?
<v Speaker 2>What did you take offense to? So far? What did
<v Speaker 2>you say in there?
<v Speaker 6>What?
<v Speaker 4>What? I?
<v Speaker 2>What I take offense to is that you went in
<v Speaker 2>see I expect a man like you, a man who
<v Speaker 2>claims to have loyalty, to say, no, I won't go
<v Speaker 2>in there. I'd rather go to jail, then go into
<v Speaker 2>and and and and testifying from mc grand jury. You're
<v Speaker 2>willing to go to jail for me? Pale? Well? What
<v Speaker 2>ean by jail, dude? I mean prison? And fifty years
<v Speaker 2>in a federal penitentiary that wallris, Yes, how about I
<v Speaker 2>put you in fifty years in a federal penitentiary right now?
<v Speaker 4>Right now?
<v Speaker 2>I think he has he has a federal penitentiary downstairs,
<v Speaker 2>you know that he can put him in going to
<v Speaker 2>like there's this like convention hall. It's like but you know,
<v Speaker 2>and it's got like inside they've got they've got like
<v Speaker 2>a prison with with a with a fence around it,
<v Speaker 2>with the fucking barbed wire on top, like he's got
<v Speaker 2>its own titan Titan prison. How about a pal? Did
<v Speaker 2>you tell him I distributed steroids? Pell Did you tell
<v Speaker 2>them that I that I am a drug lord, that
<v Speaker 2>I engaged conspiracy to defraud? Did you say? Did you
<v Speaker 2>tell them that I am the the owner and the
<v Speaker 2>greatest seller of steroids in the history of humankind? Terry?
<v Speaker 2>What did you tell me?
<v Speaker 4>What you said?
<v Speaker 2>And they asked you to describe what we do here
<v Speaker 2>in the world Rustling Federation? What did you tell them?
<v Speaker 2>I said? I said, would you family entertainment?
<v Speaker 4>Brother?
<v Speaker 2>I see so family entertainment? And when they asked you,
<v Speaker 2>is Vince McMahon the greatest drug dealer of all time?
<v Speaker 4>What did you say?
<v Speaker 1>It's no idea what to say, because he knows he
<v Speaker 1>did kind of agree you're a drug dealer, but he
<v Speaker 1>doesn't want to get tricked into admitting that by answering
<v Speaker 1>yes to saying you are the greatest.
<v Speaker 2>I plead the fifth dude, I can't I plead the title?
<v Speaker 4>Brother?
<v Speaker 2>Take tell you what take my fifth title? Take a
<v Speaker 2>five time champion?
<v Speaker 4>Dude?
<v Speaker 2>What did you tell him? I did, Terry? What did
<v Speaker 2>you tell them, Terrence? Did you give them because I've
<v Speaker 2>got plenty I can use against you. Did you testify
<v Speaker 2>against me in the trial of my life? Early stages
<v Speaker 2>of the trial of my life? Not to be melodramatic
<v Speaker 2>about it or any there, I said it was Shane.
<v Speaker 2>I said it was Shane, but Shane didn't. Well, I'm
<v Speaker 2>okay with that. That's fine. He can take the fall.
<v Speaker 2>He's got plenty of years ahead of him.
<v Speaker 4>Pell.
<v Speaker 2>But I don't believe you. I don't believe that's all
<v Speaker 2>you said. What did you say about me?
<v Speaker 16>What I said?
<v Speaker 4>You know that?
<v Speaker 15>I I.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, brother, what I did? Dude? I said, I said,
<v Speaker 2>you know vincefick Man. You know, dude, he's he's an
<v Speaker 2>entrepreneur of entertaining qualities. Dude, that's not bad. Yeah, I'm
<v Speaker 2>really losing it.
<v Speaker 1>He said, what you say about me not you never
<v Speaker 1>gave me steroids or no. I said, you're an entrepreneur
<v Speaker 1>of entertaining qualities. That's what I told them, Like they
<v Speaker 1>need me to confirm that you're an entrepreneur. That's part
<v Speaker 1>of why they're calling.
<v Speaker 2>Me, mister Blake. Can you uh can you please let
<v Speaker 2>us know? Did did Vince McMahon ever distribute steroids to
<v Speaker 2>you or anybody as far as you saw. Well, brother
<v Speaker 2>phick Man is an entrepreneur fountaining qualities, dude, so I'll
<v Speaker 2>think that a yes, Sean O'Shea. Uh so are those
<v Speaker 2>entertaining qualities involving steroids? Is that kind of a Are
<v Speaker 2>you saying he entertains quality steroids?
<v Speaker 5>Proper?
<v Speaker 10>Oh?
<v Speaker 2>Wait, did did we miss your honor? Do we miss
<v Speaker 2>hear him?
<v Speaker 4>Or did he?
<v Speaker 1>Did he say entertaining quantities? I've said steroids?
<v Speaker 2>Did I say that? Brother? I don't know what. I
<v Speaker 2>don't say anything. We'll see, brother, here's a problem. Great
<v Speaker 2>with the fucking stenographer right there. Yeah, that's gonna fly.
<v Speaker 2>Oh Cogan said that, brother, not not terrible a dude.
<v Speaker 1>Immediately play that card light speed, immediately ready to go
<v Speaker 1>with that one.
<v Speaker 2>I'll go terribly. Said that you called whole cove just
<v Speaker 2>showed up.
<v Speaker 22>Brother.
<v Speaker 4>I can't control that, non.
<v Speaker 1>Media, no one can control command. This thing is getting big.
<v Speaker 1>It's beyond, brother, beyond what we have going on. This
<v Speaker 1>thing is off the rails, dude, from from from the
<v Speaker 1>far east to Venice Beach, from the midwest, from Venice
<v Speaker 1>Beach to Disneyland, which is about one hundred miles.
<v Speaker 2>Brother, I can't control whole comania. I can't control Hulk Hogan,
<v Speaker 2>Turrible A has got a mine of his own. It's all.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know where I am. Order of the Court,
<v Speaker 1>miser am I in Tampa. No, you're in contempt, well
<v Speaker 1>one of the my Tampa amidst all this chaos. You know,
<v Speaker 1>he's trying to get centered.
<v Speaker 13>Condemn.
<v Speaker 2>Missler would say some shit like that, thinks the bitles
<v Speaker 2>fucking Ruben. Mister Hugan, you're in contempts in a while,
<v Speaker 2>your honor so dead?
<v Speaker 4>Oh my god?
<v Speaker 2>So what did he say?
<v Speaker 1>Sure, we went through the transcripts and there was this
<v Speaker 1>little snippet between him and Laura Brevetti for mister McMahon,
<v Speaker 1>your honor. And as we sit here today, you are
<v Speaker 1>now under contract with the WCW, that's the rival wrestling organization. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>and there has been publicity about you personally on television
<v Speaker 1>signing a contract with Ted Turner. Yes, and it's Ted Turner,
<v Speaker 1>the owner of the rival company. I don't know who
<v Speaker 1>owns it, but Ted Turner was on television with you
<v Speaker 1>signing a contract with your upcoming event with as the
<v Speaker 1>transcript says, Rick Blair. Because nobody doesn't it doesn't sit,
<v Speaker 1>doesn't matter, no shit. They could have them, they could
<v Speaker 1>point it out and say this needs to be corrected.
<v Speaker 1>It wouldn't be corrected, and no one would care another wrestler.
<v Speaker 2>Is that right? Yes?
<v Speaker 1>And that even on this Sunday, I can't believe this
<v Speaker 1>came up in court, And even on this Sunday we
<v Speaker 1>have the press here this Sunday, you will be performing
<v Speaker 1>on a pay per view for WCW. Yes, Like, what
<v Speaker 1>does this have to do with steroids? I don't the
<v Speaker 1>fact that what is him being on a pay per
<v Speaker 1>view for another company have anything to do with steroids.
<v Speaker 1>I don't remember all the contexts. You can go back
<v Speaker 1>to listen to the episodes, but I'm pretty sure she
<v Speaker 1>was trying to establish that, like this, if Vince McMahon
<v Speaker 1>was involved in such tawdry behavior with you, don't you
<v Speaker 1>think that you wouldn't have a job in wrestling anymore
<v Speaker 1>if it's as bad as they say. And I think
<v Speaker 1>she's also trying to She's also trying to score points
<v Speaker 1>with Vince by kind of spreading out the damage, you know,
<v Speaker 1>so that hulks up there going to the competition. The
<v Speaker 1>least we can do is smear them with this controversy
<v Speaker 1>as well for the working press that's reporting on this trial.
<v Speaker 2>You know what I mean.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, And that's just a personal decision that you were
<v Speaker 1>going to take a new career path, Is that right?
<v Speaker 2>Yes?
<v Speaker 1>And it has nothing a new career path more like
<v Speaker 1>the same career path, Laura. And it has nothing to
<v Speaker 1>do with this trial or your feelings for mister McMahon.
<v Speaker 2>Is that right.
<v Speaker 1>That's right, you're still friends. Yes, thank you very much,
<v Speaker 1>your honor. I have no further question why I object
<v Speaker 1>to that. Goddamn it, I object that. Would the defendant
<v Speaker 1>like to approach, Yeah, I'll approach. Come on forward, sir,
<v Speaker 1>son of a bitch.
<v Speaker 18>We're not friends.
<v Speaker 4>I fired your ass.
<v Speaker 2>You're a piece of shit. You don't want to be
<v Speaker 2>Babe Ruth Powell. You want to work. You don't want
<v Speaker 2>to be Babe Ruth. You want to go to Turner. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>you want to, he said, instead of playing with the
<v Speaker 2>New York Yankees, you want to play with the fucking braves.
<v Speaker 2>Fucking idiot, that's what you want to do. Slams down
<v Speaker 2>the the the thing they see the galley. Well, brother, dude,
<v Speaker 2>I'm not trying to do Shut up. Darry right in
<v Speaker 2>the courtroom, shure.
<v Speaker 1>I think, And if I'm not mistaken, if I've got
<v Speaker 1>my chronology correct, This is about ten minutes after he
<v Speaker 1>looks to the ceiling as the whole thing devolves into
<v Speaker 1>a Da Do esque carnival, and he goes mine, Tampa.
<v Speaker 4>So you know what to so? So what he says?
<v Speaker 2>What he says? You are we friends?
<v Speaker 4>Yes?
<v Speaker 2>I picture Vince coming up like you did in the
<v Speaker 2>two thousand and five rumble. All right, and instead of
<v Speaker 2>throwing down his jacket, he throws down the neck brace.
<v Speaker 2>We're friends. Huh really that's what he objects to, By
<v Speaker 2>the way, Yeah, he fucking stands up to call us friends.
<v Speaker 2>I reject the characterization your honor.
<v Speaker 4>Damn it.
<v Speaker 1>Terry right in the courtroom, slaps him across the face,
<v Speaker 1>tells him the shop and this would appear to be
<v Speaker 1>a normal relationship to the men and women of the
<v Speaker 1>jury as they watched this display.
<v Speaker 2>Am I in Tampa. No, you're in contempt, sir, fucking contempt.
<v Speaker 2>You got fucking warlord who hanging out in the back
<v Speaker 2>off of everywhere.
<v Speaker 1>So good well, you got lawyer climbing a ladder in
<v Speaker 1>an empty room. Remember that awesome guy, that magician. I
<v Speaker 1>think it was Nick that we found that gave us
<v Speaker 1>that interview of gumming in the courtroom every day. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>in the courthouse. God, Yes, such a beautiful thing. The
<v Speaker 1>things we've done for the wrestling fans over ten years.
<v Speaker 4>Man.
<v Speaker 1>And look as the trial, uh you know, is wrapping up,
<v Speaker 1>and as Hulkokan's day of testimony is over, and he
<v Speaker 1>makes his way to the parking garage outside the courthouse
<v Speaker 1>in Uniondale, Long Island, the camera and fans are shouting
<v Speaker 1>things down to him, and he shouts right back, a
<v Speaker 1>very very poignant thing. For our purposes here as we
<v Speaker 1>review Bash at the Beach nineteen ninety four, what does
<v Speaker 1>he tell the assembled masses.
<v Speaker 23>The world's most popular wrestler ever returned to the ring
<v Speaker 23>last night after a three year layoff.
<v Speaker 4>To no one's surprise.
<v Speaker 23>Holy Cold It's real name, Terry Jane Bollia defeated Rick
<v Speaker 23>Clair to win a w c W championship. But the
<v Speaker 23>real fight has been taking place in a courtroom in Uniondale,
<v Speaker 23>Long Island.
<v Speaker 4>This battle could determine the future of professional wrestling. There
<v Speaker 4>it is.
<v Speaker 2>Yep, that's it. Remember that gotta watch the paper Sunday brother.
<v Speaker 2>But again three year hiatus. Oh my god, they fell
<v Speaker 2>for that. One yea three year hiatus? What are you
<v Speaker 2>talking about?
<v Speaker 16>Like, where the.
<v Speaker 1>That's why they would come up with That's why they
<v Speaker 1>would come up with those lies, because they could get
<v Speaker 1>it repeated in the mainstream press, in the media. They
<v Speaker 1>would repeat it. Who gives a fuck if it's all fake?
<v Speaker 1>Who cares if he actually wrestled two years ago or
<v Speaker 1>not or one year ago exactly, And so it fits
<v Speaker 1>their narrative purpose to say he hasn't wrestled in all
<v Speaker 1>this time, and they'll just repeat it.
<v Speaker 2>It's unreal and so uh it's crazy.
<v Speaker 1>That wasn't the only extent of the negative publicity hul
<v Speaker 1>Cogan was grappling with during the course of his negotiations
<v Speaker 1>with WCW and the kind of things WCW had to
<v Speaker 1>take under consideration as to whether it made sense to
<v Speaker 1>engage with hul Cogan. There was also this story about
<v Speaker 1>the the piss test. Do you remember this one where
<v Speaker 1>basically they found that Howard Finkel took a piss test
<v Speaker 1>for Hulkgan for a state.
<v Speaker 2>Athletics Yes, yes, yes, yes.
<v Speaker 1>That came out in April of nineteen ninety four that
<v Speaker 1>came out as the ww negotiations were taking place. It
<v Speaker 1>would not surprise me if the Titan side decided if
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's going there, maybe we ought to find ways to
<v Speaker 1>tell our buddies in the press some of the less
<v Speaker 1>flattering things that may have come out, not in the
<v Speaker 1>courtroom itself, but in you know, documents that were exchanged
<v Speaker 1>between the parties and our thus public record, because there
<v Speaker 1>was like a letter that got circulated to the press
<v Speaker 1>that outlined the circumstances around Howard Finkland. When we read
<v Speaker 1>the transcripts from the trial, it was at sidebar, not
<v Speaker 1>before the audience, that mcdebni talks about this element of
<v Speaker 1>things and how he expected it to come up, and
<v Speaker 1>that they would not dispute that it was in fact
<v Speaker 1>Howard Finkle's signature on some of the things ascribed to
<v Speaker 1>Hulk Hogan, which is just tremendous stuff. We'll get to
<v Speaker 1>a little bit more of that in just a moment,
<v Speaker 1>but eventually, you know, the observer reports there's a lot
<v Speaker 1>of strategy involved in this, because if McMahon were to
<v Speaker 1>believe that Hogan would refuse to come back to Titan,
<v Speaker 1>which would be Hogan's option. He couldn't the offer blocked
<v Speaker 1>WCW from using Hogan, and it wouldn't cost him a cent.
<v Speaker 2>Think about that. You could match the offer and just
<v Speaker 2>not use Hulk. Yeah, you know, Yeah, it's.
<v Speaker 1>True, and there was talk about whether that might make
<v Speaker 1>some sense.
<v Speaker 2>He says. However, Hogan would return.
<v Speaker 1>Obviously, we are talking about a multi million dollar offer
<v Speaker 1>to a company that is taking severe financial hits at
<v Speaker 1>the present time. Not to mention the situation it would
<v Speaker 1>create internally if Hogan were to return to the company
<v Speaker 1>at this point WWF, that is to say, for a
<v Speaker 1>short period of time. That would be a wacky if
<v Speaker 1>after this testimony and after all this he.
<v Speaker 2>Comes back to WWF. Oh, that'd be amazing. That's crazy.
<v Speaker 1>But no, it wasn't to happen. There wasn't to be
<v Speaker 1>a matching offer. May sixteenth, nineteen ninety four, and The
<v Speaker 1>Observer Meltzer reports as for Hogan, it's pretty much a
<v Speaker 1>done deal. Titan Sports informed WCW last week that they
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't be matching Hogan's offer, although at this point nobody
<v Speaker 1>expected anything different. Also wrote according to a source through WWF,
<v Speaker 1>which should know because Vince McMahon has seen the contract
<v Speaker 1>because he had the right to match it, although that
<v Speaker 1>doesn't necessarily mean the info reaches by the time it
<v Speaker 1>reaches here the observer. That is, it's going to one
<v Speaker 1>hundred percent correct for obvious reasons, the real provisions for
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's deal for the WS to be contract expires, it says.
<v Speaker 1>Melts reported that the contract was to inspire December thirty
<v Speaker 1>first of nineteen ninety four, so that Hogan's deal was
<v Speaker 1>only a six month deal to start.
<v Speaker 16>Now.
<v Speaker 1>Bischoff disputes that. Bischeff does dispute that, but Melts said
<v Speaker 1>the deal was just for three clashes and three pay
<v Speaker 1>per view shows three hundred thousand dollars per show. Bischoff
<v Speaker 1>is subsequently said it was for four pay per views
<v Speaker 1>a year, about five hundred thousand dollars per show, with
<v Speaker 1>four TVs leading up to each match, so they could
<v Speaker 1>build it up. And that is pretty much how the
<v Speaker 1>contract that was made public for nineteen ninety eight. Eventually
<v Speaker 1>it was structured. The hope was that they could break
<v Speaker 1>even on two million a year, if that was the
<v Speaker 1>outlay to Hulk and Ted would be happy if they
<v Speaker 1>could do that, but they weren't expecting we're turn on
<v Speaker 1>an investment necessarily just be able to make up the
<v Speaker 1>cost that they were investing in Hulk Hogan and hope
<v Speaker 1>that it would sprout and open new opportunities elsewhere. So
<v Speaker 1>on a recent interview of the Wrestling Shoot Interviews YouTube channel,
<v Speaker 1>Eric talks about Hogan's contract a bit more, and I
<v Speaker 1>think it's good to have Eric's perspective so that you know,
<v Speaker 1>he's talked about it, so it's not like we only
<v Speaker 1>have to rely on the contemporaneous reporting as far as
<v Speaker 1>what's in the deal.
<v Speaker 4>So here he is.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's interesting because Hulk really got paid. He got
<v Speaker 3>paid essentially a flat fee. Like his first contract, he
<v Speaker 3>committed to four pay per views a year, and each
<v Speaker 3>pay per view he would also do I think it
<v Speaker 3>was four television appearances leading up to the because you
<v Speaker 3>got to tell the story on television, you got to
<v Speaker 3>spend a month promoting it, right, So each one of
<v Speaker 3>those pay per views, four of them a year also
<v Speaker 3>included I think it was four TV dates to promote it,
<v Speaker 3>and he was paid a half a million dollars per
<v Speaker 3>pay per view.
<v Speaker 4>Now, one of the other.
<v Speaker 3>Incentives that we built into the contract was we took
<v Speaker 3>the average of WCW pay per views over the course
<v Speaker 3>of two years. Right, So let's say over the course
<v Speaker 3>of two years, each WCW pay per view generated, just
<v Speaker 3>for round numbers, a million dollars in revenue. Hall Covid
<v Speaker 3>got paid half a million dollars, and if the pay
<v Speaker 3>per view did more than two million dollars, in other words,
<v Speaker 3>there's a massive increase because of his participation. He also
<v Speaker 3>received an additional bonus.
<v Speaker 16>It was an incentive program.
<v Speaker 3>And what's interesting is everybody likes to talk about how
<v Speaker 3>much money I paid Hulk Covid, and he had seven
<v Speaker 3>or eight million dollars for doing this or doing that.
<v Speaker 3>What people don't realize is WCW's revenues escalated dramatically because.
<v Speaker 4>Of Hull Covid.
<v Speaker 18>He was underpaid at one point.
<v Speaker 3>Huh, he was underpaid at one point in ninety seven nineteen.
<v Speaker 3>You could argue that because of hulks in luence and
<v Speaker 3>the positive contributions he made as a character part of
<v Speaker 3>the NW story. Obviously, you know the fact that we
<v Speaker 3>paid him according to our success and bonused him according
<v Speaker 3>to his success shouldn't be that bizarre or that complicated.
<v Speaker 4>Of a formula.
<v Speaker 8>It's a lap fan wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that
<v Speaker 8>knows the boys need their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan.
<v Speaker 8>He's an Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast with Jack n Seo
<v Speaker 8>and JP Sorrow.
<v Speaker 1>So that's Bischoff's download on what the contract contained and
<v Speaker 1>how it was drawn up. You know, that ninety eight
<v Speaker 1>deal and the two thousand amendment and stuff. They he
<v Speaker 1>The thing is, he gets these guaranteed million dollar pre
<v Speaker 1>advanced payments almost on these pay per views, where it's
<v Speaker 1>like he's gonna get like one, one and a half.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know what the numbers were, ninety four, but
<v Speaker 1>it's just gonna land in his pocket before any of
<v Speaker 1>these pay per view receipts come in. Right, So, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>if he may over and above a certain amount, but
<v Speaker 1>it's not like he makes zero. If they do zero buys,
<v Speaker 1>he's already way making more than the most bought w
<v Speaker 1>CW pay per view of all time would command him.
<v Speaker 1>And then after that because remember he held on to
<v Speaker 1>We did this during the Greed Show most recently w
<v Speaker 1>W Greed the last pay per view where they played
<v Speaker 1>this game where they sent him a letter saying, you know,
<v Speaker 1>we're exercising our right to make you appear at this show.
<v Speaker 1>And he doesn't show up because, you know, he says
<v Speaker 1>his contract requires him to be the featured performer with
<v Speaker 1>a storyline basis to be there and not just to
<v Speaker 1>say to show up on a given date, which they
<v Speaker 1>were trying to do. But what that allowed is when
<v Speaker 1>he denied that, they felt within their rights to claw
<v Speaker 1>back from him that guaranteed pay out for the pay
<v Speaker 1>per view because he didn't do it, he didn't hold
<v Speaker 1>up that into the show, but the check still went
<v Speaker 1>out and helped cash that motherfucker even though he never
<v Speaker 1>did the show, because he reached your side. So that's
<v Speaker 1>a nuance there that I think gets lost is that
<v Speaker 1>he's you know, he's paid. He's already in the he's
<v Speaker 1>already in the green or the red. No, he's already
<v Speaker 1>in the black. Sorry, no, I went through every color there.
<v Speaker 1>He's already black, regardless of how the shows did. And
<v Speaker 1>and so it's a little disingenuous to say that he
<v Speaker 1>his success was tied to the pay per view success.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, a certain point, he's going to get a
<v Speaker 1>piece of that pie. But it's kind of unlikely that
<v Speaker 1>he would hit that ceiling beyond like a you know,
<v Speaker 1>Star K ninety seven super match or something like that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, right, Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>We talked about how it changed the advertise, the conversation
<v Speaker 1>on advertising within Turner around WCW, but it didn't change
<v Speaker 1>the conversation necessarily around the receptivity of people out there
<v Speaker 1>in marketing world to Hulk hogies.
<v Speaker 2>What Hulk hogies really?
<v Speaker 4>And I said, someday I got to meet Hulk Hogan because.
<v Speaker 3>I lived in Pittsburgh a while, and where I lived
<v Speaker 3>in Pittsburgh, submarine sandwiches were called hogies.
<v Speaker 4>They weren't called submarine sandwiches. I said, Hulk hogies. And
<v Speaker 4>I looked at the.
<v Speaker 3>Glory and I said, can you imagine there's always people
<v Speaker 3>in the arena watching hawk. I said, can you imagine
<v Speaker 3>you have half of those people decided they wanted a
<v Speaker 3>Hulk kogi with their beer instead.
<v Speaker 2>Of a hot dog.
<v Speaker 3>Oh, you could be rich, idiot. That's where Hulk Hogi's
<v Speaker 3>was born. Long about four years before I ever got
<v Speaker 3>into the wrestling business, just because I was a wrestling fan.
<v Speaker 3>And it wasn't until I don't know, nineteen ninety seven,
<v Speaker 3>maybe possibly even nineteen ninety eight Hulk and I actually
<v Speaker 3>went to a big sandwich prepackaged sandwich manufacturing company based
<v Speaker 3>only soda to try to sell them the trademark or
<v Speaker 3>the idea of a Hulk Hogy sandwich. So never give up. No,
<v Speaker 3>we didn't sell it. Ultimately didn't happened. But yeah, that's
<v Speaker 3>where that's that's where that idea started from.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's just I mean, I don't even know
<v Speaker 1>where to fucking start with that ship. Oh it's the
<v Speaker 1>problem he's trying to make a buck. I mean it's
<v Speaker 1>a good idea totally. I mean what I mean, what's
<v Speaker 1>next Postamania? Oh way, exactly right there in Eric's backyard
<v Speaker 1>of Minnesota and r.
<v Speaker 2>HOGI I can't. Well, hey, in Tna.
<v Speaker 1>You know he in that era he was coming out
<v Speaker 1>with like the the microwaveable Hamburgers, remember that with his
<v Speaker 1>face on him.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I do. Hul Cogis isn't too far a departure
<v Speaker 2>from that. There is a there is a hull Kogi's
<v Speaker 2>in Pennsylvania, is there? Yeah? In Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. I
<v Speaker 2>mean it looks hull hogis mean, I mean they have
<v Speaker 2>they He's the fucking font too. That's that's bizarre yah
<v Speaker 2>brew We're gonna get them shut down. I know totally
<v Speaker 2>we are. Sorry guys, welcome brother, What I wonder I mean,
<v Speaker 2>that's what it says. It says, Welcome to the Hulk.
<v Speaker 2>Hogis is our sister company providing premium deli offerings for
<v Speaker 2>our tap room as tap room as well as to
<v Speaker 2>go prem deli offeringss that's one sandwiches, Premium, Premium sliced
<v Speaker 2>cold cuts, premium live sliced cold cuts. We carry the
<v Speaker 2>nostalgic nineties theme what into into our sandwich shop through
<v Speaker 2>classic wrestling icons of the decade. We'll be going Yep,
<v Speaker 2>every great HOGI starts with a Primo roll up. I
<v Speaker 2>got on a roll up? Brother, Well, uh Primo, wasn't
<v Speaker 2>he a tag team champion? Cologne? Is he? We get
<v Speaker 2>fresh baked rolls and in daily from Philadelphia's finest bakery, Liscios.
<v Speaker 2>All right, now, we got to see.
<v Speaker 4>What the menu.
<v Speaker 2>They got the Italian supper they got, I mean for
<v Speaker 2>they got they got head cheese. So we're going back
<v Speaker 2>to fucking talk about w W what is that? That's?
<v Speaker 6>Uh?
<v Speaker 2>Who was that? That was a snow and Al Snow
<v Speaker 2>and Steve Blackman right, so that they have. They have
<v Speaker 2>a welterweight and a heavyweight, sandwich, provolone, cheese, Cooper, sharp cheese,
<v Speaker 2>el lettuce, tomato, well l t o lettuce, tomato, onion, onion,
<v Speaker 2>thank you, olive oil, red wine, vinegar, oregano, black pepper,
<v Speaker 2>sea salt, and mayo. Then we have hogi mania, tavern ham, Cooper,
<v Speaker 2>sharp cheese, l t o, olive oil, red wine, vinegar, oregano,
<v Speaker 2>black pepper and sea salt. There's a real American tailor
<v Speaker 2>ham tailor, egg and cheese. I don't I don't know
<v Speaker 2>what a tavern ham is. I don't know what that is.
<v Speaker 2>Uh real American is braised turkey with the same stuff
<v Speaker 2>and mayo, sweet chin music. Here we go. This is it.
<v Speaker 2>Sweet chin music, is genoa salami, hot supercept, Italian dry salami,
<v Speaker 2>some a gabba gul provolone and uh letus tomato, onion,
<v Speaker 2>sea salt, black black pepper, oregano, olive oil, red redbine,
<v Speaker 2>vinegar and hot pepper relish. Then we have the macho
<v Speaker 2>man gabba goo, genoa, salami, provolone, cheese and the rest
<v Speaker 2>of the stuff. Then the people his elbow tavernham braised turkey, bacon,
<v Speaker 2>provolone cheese, and all the rest, the rock Bottom tavernham
<v Speaker 2>roast beef, braised turkey, bacon, provolone cheese and the rest,
<v Speaker 2>and the Tombstone pile driver choicegus roast beef, provolone cheese,
<v Speaker 2>and all over the side of horseradish too. Can imagine
<v Speaker 2>picking like, that's what you're gonna Shouldn't that be a pizza?
<v Speaker 1>Hulk hogies? Hulk hogies because it's not all about food,
<v Speaker 1>It's not at all. One of the things Hulk says
<v Speaker 1>in his book is, all of a sudden, I have
<v Speaker 1>these Turner people all over me asking me to get
<v Speaker 1>involved with w CW. So I said, if I was
<v Speaker 1>going or talk about this, I wanted to do it
<v Speaker 1>with Ted Turner. So I went up and met with
<v Speaker 1>Ted and a guy named Bill Shaw, who's president w
<v Speaker 1>CW and Ted's right hand man. I came out of
<v Speaker 1>that meaning feeling good about what I was getting into.
<v Speaker 1>I decided WW be a good move for me. What
<v Speaker 1>do you say, Eric, was Hulk basically cutting the deal
<v Speaker 1>with Ted Turner and Bill Shaw.
<v Speaker 3>Not you, sorry, brother, but that's not true. Okay, that's
<v Speaker 3>just not true. I don't know why Hulk would have
<v Speaker 3>said that, because it's just not true. Bill Shaw was
<v Speaker 3>very much involved, certainly, but the conversations, the initial the
<v Speaker 3>follow up, the conversations where we had to work out
<v Speaker 3>issues that were challenging within the agreement, all initiated between
<v Speaker 3>myself and Henry Holmes was representing Terriet or Hull Coogan
<v Speaker 3>at the time, and Bill would get involved, but not
<v Speaker 3>directly with Henry Holmes, and certainly Ted was not negotiating
<v Speaker 3>talent contracts with anybody, including all COVID's.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know where that came from.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know Hulks said that or the guy that
<v Speaker 3>wrote his books said that to make it sound more interesting.
<v Speaker 3>It kind of happens a lot with wrestling books. Go'd
<v Speaker 3>be a little aware of that.
<v Speaker 4>It's not true.
<v Speaker 3>I just love this, Sorry, brother, but that's not true.
<v Speaker 2>Oh. I know, that's fucking great and that's true. Got
<v Speaker 2>E've been around Hulk Hogan way too long.
<v Speaker 5>Ah.
<v Speaker 2>If that's your that's your response.
<v Speaker 1>Further to the point, on the finer points of the contract,
<v Speaker 1>one of the things Meltzer notes is that you know
<v Speaker 1>before Hogan came in that the pay per views that
<v Speaker 1>they were doing. As he notes, the possible exception of
<v Speaker 1>battle Ball has been a money maker. Okay, when you
<v Speaker 1>actually figure the cost, now you can say, how does
<v Speaker 1>Meltzer know what cost go into the show?
<v Speaker 2>Blah blah blah.
<v Speaker 1>But there's this general understanding in the office that if
<v Speaker 1>a pay per view does this many buys were in
<v Speaker 1>the green. I can't stop sucking that up. We're in
<v Speaker 1>the black. So so Hogan comes in and all of
<v Speaker 1>a sudden, it's like, wait a minute, if we're paying
<v Speaker 1>him all this money, no matter what the show does, like,
<v Speaker 1>we have to do a whole hell of a lot
<v Speaker 1>more to actually, yeah, make money after we've paid Hulk.
<v Speaker 1>That's why Bischoff caught himself making that smart ass comment
<v Speaker 1>that we played earlier where one of the key takeaways
<v Speaker 1>for him on how great the Bash of the Beach
<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety four by rate was was that we made
<v Speaker 1>enough money that we can pay Hulk for three more
<v Speaker 1>pay per views out of these proceeds and not have
<v Speaker 1>to sweat I'm putting words in his mouth, but not
<v Speaker 1>have to sweat making all that up on that individual show.
<v Speaker 1>You know, that show doesn't have to be all that
<v Speaker 1>great because we've already made money to cover Hulk, and
<v Speaker 1>then it's all gravy for us beyond just that one
<v Speaker 1>patch of the beach. But that's something that's important to
<v Speaker 1>remember and his Meltzer was thinking about it at the time,
<v Speaker 1>throwing in the guaranteed percentage to earn the same amount
<v Speaker 1>of money on pay per view shows. The WW was
<v Speaker 1>before Hogan came in. The three pay per view shows
<v Speaker 1>Hogan does, we'll have to average a point eight to
<v Speaker 1>seven by rate, and of course it does way better
<v Speaker 1>than that. I think it does a We'll have the
<v Speaker 1>exact number in a second. I think it's one point
<v Speaker 1>zero one point one, which nobody in the industry I've
<v Speaker 1>talked with believes to be a possibility. So that's kind
<v Speaker 1>of the thing is Hogan's coming in and has a
<v Speaker 1>deal structure such that no one can really see these
<v Speaker 1>people talking to Meltzer can't see how they're going to
<v Speaker 1>make money on pay per view if this much goes
<v Speaker 1>to Helkogan automatically at a time when the pay per
<v Speaker 1>views were They're doing okay, But there is a lot
<v Speaker 1>has come out. SAMs Guy Evans has a new terrific
<v Speaker 1>book Beyond Nitro, which is just a lot of kind
<v Speaker 1>of odds and ends that weren't in his first Nitro book.
<v Speaker 1>But it's a huge volume with all kinds of cool
<v Speaker 1>stuff in it. And one of the things that talks
<v Speaker 1>about our records he got his hands on that showed
<v Speaker 1>the level of like up ports of I think it
<v Speaker 1>was like eighteen to twenty million dollars worth of transfers
<v Speaker 1>in and out of ww's budget in nineteen ninety four,
<v Speaker 1>where it's like Turner Home Entertainment is taking money out
<v Speaker 1>of WCW's budget to make up for what they had
<v Speaker 1>to spend to presumably, you know, put cameramen out there.
<v Speaker 1>Like when you watch these pay per views, you see
<v Speaker 1>the cameramen have Turner shirts on, you know, and the
<v Speaker 1>truck belongs to Turner, right, the truck doesn't belong to WW.
<v Speaker 1>It's not their equipment. They don't pay they didn't pay
<v Speaker 1>for it, they don't carry it on their books. But
<v Speaker 1>when Turner uses it to produce a WCP show, they
<v Speaker 1>pull the money for it out of ww's budget. And
<v Speaker 1>so there's a lot of that going back and forth
<v Speaker 1>and a lot being sucked out. So you know, WP's
<v Speaker 1>making whatever money it's making and a lot of it's
<v Speaker 1>going out the door, not to pay if somebody outside
<v Speaker 1>of Turner, but to pay someone inside Turner right across
<v Speaker 1>the hallway. So that makes it super difficult to say
<v Speaker 1>in any particular way that we'd made or didn't make money,
<v Speaker 1>because it's like, well, if Turner, if Turner paid us
<v Speaker 1>for our programming, like every other television show gets paid
<v Speaker 1>for their programming, we would be profitable. But because they
<v Speaker 1>own us, they don't pay us a license fee for
<v Speaker 1>the right, and they did way later, way too late. Actually,
<v Speaker 1>they don't pay us what everybody else would pay us
<v Speaker 1>for these kind of numbers. If we were getting paid
<v Speaker 1>this kind of numbers, we would show a profit, you know.
<v Speaker 1>But it's like, well, you didn't. And then, of course,
<v Speaker 1>towards the end, it becomes such a a prerogative to
<v Speaker 1>get w CW out that even the company officials aren't
<v Speaker 1>afraid to confirm these money lost numbers. Even Brad Siegel,
<v Speaker 1>under oath and deposition in the Vince Russo lawsuit, as
<v Speaker 1>we talked about, enumerted w CW's losses, and in nineteen
<v Speaker 1>ninety nine and two thousand, So we go to another
<v Speaker 1>little glimpse that Hulk himself had given into what the
<v Speaker 1>structure of his initial WCW deal look like. And this
<v Speaker 1>one comes where else but on the airwaves of Hub.
<v Speaker 2>Of the wah.
<v Speaker 17>Oh, what's the biggest one time paid I you ever
<v Speaker 17>got from Turner Is?
<v Speaker 16>How to guarantee?
<v Speaker 3>There?
<v Speaker 4>I was, I was guaranteed.
<v Speaker 2>You heard that right.
<v Speaker 24>Here?
<v Speaker 2>No, it was all muffled. I would like to invite
<v Speaker 2>you to his earner.
<v Speaker 17>What's the biggest one time paid I ever got from
<v Speaker 17>Turner is?
<v Speaker 16>I'd guarantee there.
<v Speaker 15>I was guaranteed minimum seven rand of pay per view and.
<v Speaker 17>You did twelve a year?
<v Speaker 4>No I, But.
<v Speaker 2>The end the clip there, I didn't mean too.
<v Speaker 17>What's the biggest one time paid I you ever got
<v Speaker 17>from Turner?
<v Speaker 16>I didn't guarantee either.
<v Speaker 4>I was.
<v Speaker 15>I was guaranteed eleven on seven hundred grand of pay
<v Speaker 15>per view and you.
<v Speaker 17>Did twelve a year?
<v Speaker 1>No I, but yeah, I accidentally cut it short. But
<v Speaker 1>he didn't say much more beyond that. You know he
<v Speaker 1>did less than twelve, but seven hundred a years the
<v Speaker 1>exact number I think that he had. Yeah, the exact
<v Speaker 1>number that Meltz had in the Observer. So stay mad
<v Speaker 1>about him being read about that, but we go to
<v Speaker 1>that aforementioned bit of negative publicity that HO can dealt
<v Speaker 1>with around pissed tests. Okay, this is just the fact
<v Speaker 1>that this came out during the course of him trying
<v Speaker 1>to negotiate with the Turner organization is just it's too
<v Speaker 1>much for me to handle because you think you think
<v Speaker 1>you've baked in all the bad news by now, you
<v Speaker 1>know Vince is literally on trial. What more can come out?
<v Speaker 1>And then this drops? If you can share this, We've
<v Speaker 1>read it before, but I feel like it belongs here
<v Speaker 1>to New York Deli News. We're going back to April
<v Speaker 1>twenty second, nineteen ninety four. So right around the time
<v Speaker 1>these interviews of Gene Oakerland on the set of Thunder
<v Speaker 1>and Paradise interviewing Hulkgen are making air on TBS, this
<v Speaker 1>hits the papers.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, there we go. Beleaguered pro wrestling and promoter Vince
<v Speaker 2>McMahon ordered an employee to take an HIV blood test
<v Speaker 2>for former champion Hulk Cogan. According to court documents obtained
<v Speaker 2>by the News Pal, McMahon is under federal indictment for
<v Speaker 2>illegal steroid distribution, allegedly had Titan Sports employee Howard Finkel
<v Speaker 2>stand in when Hogan was required in February nineteen ninety
<v Speaker 2>February two ays near February to submit the HIV test
<v Speaker 2>to an unidentified licensing authority. No motive for submitting the
<v Speaker 2>false blood sample uh available from court papers, nor is
<v Speaker 2>there any suggestion that Hogan is HIV positive. Prosecutors plan
<v Speaker 2>to offer evidence of the alleged switch and McMahon's steroid
<v Speaker 2>trials at to begin July fifth and Uniondale, Long Island.
<v Speaker 2>McMahon and Titan Sports are charged with five counts distributing steroids. Hogan,
<v Speaker 2>who allegedly received the drugs, is believed to be the
<v Speaker 2>government star witness against McMahon. Hogan's attorney, Henry Holmes, denied
<v Speaker 2>the test tampering charge, saying, quote, Hulk doesn't know anything
<v Speaker 2>about anyone taking a blood test for him, right, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>Well that that satisfies my curiosity. How about you there,
<v Speaker 2>we listen. If Hulk says no, then it's no. So
<v Speaker 2>that's that's the way it is. There's nothing to be
<v Speaker 2>known as far as I'm concerned, and that's good to hear.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, just.
<v Speaker 1>And then of course that start rumors that Hulk has aids.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, that was a that was a fun one
<v Speaker 1>for a little while. Just what a fucking mess this
<v Speaker 1>guy found himself in. Yes, this guy, Yes, yeah, we
<v Speaker 1>say it all comes crashing down, and we'd use that
<v Speaker 1>as the T and H joke. It came crashing down
<v Speaker 1>three times, four times for this guy. Yes, it just
<v Speaker 1>it's just he builds himself back up and then someone
<v Speaker 1>just pulls the djenga and the whole thing collapses again,
<v Speaker 1>and we're back to building a new mansion somewhere that's
<v Speaker 1>gonna put us underwater.
<v Speaker 2>It's such a fucking nightmare. It's an American story.
<v Speaker 6>It is.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, absolutely, you know what he is? What he's a
<v Speaker 2>real American?
<v Speaker 4>You know what he is.
<v Speaker 2>He's American maid.
<v Speaker 10>Wow.
<v Speaker 1>Can we admit, if we're gonna be back to the
<v Speaker 1>beach ninety four, finally admit that the whole Coogan WCW
<v Speaker 1>theme is actually pretty good? Oh yeah, I mean I've
<v Speaker 1>had trouble coming to terms with that, but I find
<v Speaker 1>myself humming it to myself way too often to act
<v Speaker 1>like it was it was objectly bad, like I thought
<v Speaker 1>it was the first several times I heard it.
<v Speaker 2>No, yeah, I mean it took a while for me
<v Speaker 2>to accept it, because I you know, you want real
<v Speaker 2>American you need that. But it's it's totally fine. It's
<v Speaker 2>it's a it's a it's not bad at all. It's
<v Speaker 2>it's it's pretty darn good. I enjoy it. I mean
<v Speaker 2>it's you know, he's a man.
<v Speaker 13>Mad when you get to run him through his vein. Fine,
<v Speaker 13>he was bull, That's what it's such an.
<v Speaker 1>He's American maid, Oh Meg, he's American.
<v Speaker 13>May is miracanmercan pay?
<v Speaker 1>See I'm telling you, I'm humming. It's so I mean,
<v Speaker 1>I'm going through this and I'm realizing. You know, this
<v Speaker 1>is another example of my book of making up lyrics. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>if you mess with the freedom, you're gonna have to
<v Speaker 1>run pay.
<v Speaker 2>What does that mean? If you mess with the freedom,
<v Speaker 2>gonna have to run pay?
<v Speaker 1>Why they're running there? I mean it doesn't barely make
<v Speaker 1>sense anyway, But why run pay?
<v Speaker 2>Running patrons? Running payroll? HR motivation song? Is that what
<v Speaker 2>this is?
<v Speaker 1>Oh my god, I'm glad we made some time for
<v Speaker 1>that because that's been on my mind and I'm glad
<v Speaker 1>to hear that you agree. Well, you know, one of
<v Speaker 1>the things we have to it's ay it's doozy. The
<v Speaker 1>things we have to do in a journey like this
<v Speaker 1>is sample the mainstream press.
<v Speaker 4>You know.
<v Speaker 1>Oh, of course you make an art of it under
<v Speaker 1>the cinemat. We make an art of it here on
<v Speaker 1>the main show. It's just you can't just take what
<v Speaker 1>the wrestling business and the newsletters are saying and paint
<v Speaker 1>anywhere near a full picture. What you need when something
<v Speaker 1>rises to the level of mainstream attention like Hulkogan debut
<v Speaker 1>and ww IS, you need to read what the people
<v Speaker 1>were reading. You need to read what your dad was reading?
<v Speaker 1>Is what he the articlely just read before he felt
<v Speaker 1>the deep sense of disappointment when you asked him to
<v Speaker 1>order Bash at the Beach nineteen thirty four.
<v Speaker 2>Now what is he reading? What is he reading when
<v Speaker 2>he's taking a shit? Okay, that's the question.
<v Speaker 1>So we began our tour of the archives with this
<v Speaker 1>June seventh, nineteen ninety four article from the aforementioned USA Today.
<v Speaker 1>If you could take it away, boss, oh there it is.
<v Speaker 2>There we go. Ah Wrestling's Incredible Hulk returns again. I
<v Speaker 2>think I'll retired about five or six times. Last Hulk
<v Speaker 2>Hogan announcing that he aims to be back on the
<v Speaker 2>mats in July. If you'd have to call something a comeback,
<v Speaker 2>this would be it. Hogan Forty will wrestle through Ted
<v Speaker 2>Turner's World Championship Wrestling and wants an immediate shot at
<v Speaker 2>current champ Rick Flair. He's ready, he says, even though
<v Speaker 2>he hasn't wrestled regularly for three years. It is into
<v Speaker 2>USA today. They did say regularly at least, yeah, but
<v Speaker 2>he but listen, he did wrestle regularly with Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I mean not only was he right, it
<v Speaker 2>is the same opponent right up until nineteen ninety two,
<v Speaker 2>and then at the same time from like what's how
<v Speaker 2>do they define regularly because from WrestleMania nine until August
<v Speaker 2>of that year he's also wrestling regularly, just not always
<v Speaker 2>on American television. Like what the fuck the three I
<v Speaker 2>just don't understand the three year thing. Like again, I
<v Speaker 2>could actually even I could even have them eliminate the
<v Speaker 2>idea of ninety three. But why are you going back again?
<v Speaker 2>You said it's because of the steroid thing, but like
<v Speaker 2>it's just a weird thing to try to make people believe,
<v Speaker 2>because like it's not hard to figure out that that's
<v Speaker 2>not true. I can't believe that they got it into
<v Speaker 2>USA today.
<v Speaker 4>I know, I know.
<v Speaker 2>At two hundred and sixty five pounds, he's confident. Just
<v Speaker 2>don't call him old timer. Well, let's just say. Let's
<v Speaker 2>just say I'm one of the more mature guys in
<v Speaker 2>the business. He's also ready to face naysayers who will
<v Speaker 2>claim his return is prompted by a dismal movie career.
<v Speaker 2>Remember nineteen ninety one, Suburban Commando, Mister Nanny nineteen ninety three.
<v Speaker 2>I don't either. Yes, Yes, Investors and what he calls
<v Speaker 2>his B list movies have been more happy with their returns.
<v Speaker 2>He says, Oh, well, they're making money that ship. He
<v Speaker 2>may not be creaking out one hundred million dollars plus
<v Speaker 2>Terminator film, but he's more than content with seven to
<v Speaker 2>eight million dollars plus. He stars in a syndicated TV series,
<v Speaker 2>Thunder and Paradise. As far as people saying I couldn't
<v Speaker 2>make it, apparently they haven't seen the whole picture. A
<v Speaker 2>lot of people will be saying a lot of things,
<v Speaker 2>and they'll be watching my smoke because I'll be a
<v Speaker 2>ball fire and running the ring. Fucking piece of that
<v Speaker 2>just is great. Listen, I just appreciate his honesty and
<v Speaker 2>it's you know, clarity, it's just intrepid in these trying times.
<v Speaker 2>He's trying times, just intrepid USA Today journalism. You know,
<v Speaker 2>you know, I think one thing we lose sight of
<v Speaker 2>when we talk about Hulk in this time period is
<v Speaker 2>where the kids are at. You know, how the kids
<v Speaker 2>are feeling. What are the children's disposition towards Hulk after
<v Speaker 2>all of this infamy? And we turned to the Chicago
<v Speaker 2>Sun Times for a beat on that. This article was
<v Speaker 2>published on May twenty second, nineteen ninety four, headline Boss
<v Speaker 2>children help give strength to Hulk Hogan. Can you oh
<v Speaker 2>my god? This is each week people plus I like this.
<v Speaker 2>Each week Jeffreys Aslow talked to a celebrity about life's lessons.
<v Speaker 2>So let's talk to hul Cogan. When when wrestle Mania
<v Speaker 2>legend Terry Hulk Hogan was in the ring, he had
<v Speaker 2>all the confidence of a champion. His opponents would be
<v Speaker 2>lunging at him, the crowd would be roaring for him,
<v Speaker 2>and he'd be grinning happily. He was in control. They
<v Speaker 2>called him the Babe Ruth of wrestling. Yes, now, Hogan
<v Speaker 2>has retired from the ring. He's an actor these days,
<v Speaker 2>shooting his own syndicated TV series, Thunder in Paradise at
<v Speaker 2>Disney MGM Studios in Florida. Though he has appeared in
<v Speaker 2>several movies since his debut in nineteen eighty two's Rocky three,
<v Speaker 2>acting is still is still a great adjustment for him.
<v Speaker 2>He is not yet the Babe Ruth of Hollywood. I'm
<v Speaker 2>too nervous, he says, I'm sucking guessing myself. You're too nervous.
<v Speaker 2>I don't believe it.
<v Speaker 4>But what.
<v Speaker 2>I'll just say that what you've seen it, I'm saying,
<v Speaker 2>you have no reason why be nervous, Terry Brother. Well,
<v Speaker 2>see the fact you're saying I have no reason to
<v Speaker 2>be nervous makes me even more nervous. Dude, Like, where
<v Speaker 2>are you coming from?
<v Speaker 4>Right?
<v Speaker 2>Where you been? What are you doing?
<v Speaker 4>Why?
<v Speaker 2>These are getting challenging now, these questions where have I been? Well?
<v Speaker 2>Where am I going?
<v Speaker 1>That's going to take a half hour at least Answerfe.
<v Speaker 2>And his kids, ages three and five, live on Florida's
<v Speaker 2>West coast and and think what he does is real.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you for that. I thought that was necessary. His
<v Speaker 2>wife and two kids, ages three and five, live on
<v Speaker 2>Florida's West coast, and do not know that he is
<v Speaker 2>a fictitional act athlete, fictitious fictitious athlete, and do not
<v Speaker 2>know that wrestling is predetermined, do not know that he
<v Speaker 2>doesn't have a real job, and do not know that
<v Speaker 2>they pull their punches, and who don't know that they
<v Speaker 2>communicate in the ring to determine what happens next, and
<v Speaker 2>do not know that the winner is decided ahead of
<v Speaker 2>time by the promoters, not by the wrestlers. Who don't
<v Speaker 2>He thought that should be in the article about the kids.
<v Speaker 2>Who don't know that when Hulk Hogan does a suplex,
<v Speaker 2>opponent is doing most of the work.
<v Speaker 4>That was in there.
<v Speaker 2>It's like a hyper specific example exactly. And Hogan gets
<v Speaker 2>through many of his toughest days by counting down the
<v Speaker 2>hours until he he'll see them on the TV show. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>I love the love that he hated doing it Tuesday night.
<v Speaker 2>Oh my god, I was freaking out, he says. At
<v Speaker 2>the end of one day on the set, I'd drive
<v Speaker 2>all the way home to see my wife just to
<v Speaker 2>smell my kid's hair. What just will lay there and
<v Speaker 2>hold them? Why did you say that? What did the
<v Speaker 2>smell her hair for like, that just sounds creepy. That
<v Speaker 2>never comes. I'm not saying that that that's like a
<v Speaker 2>bad thing, but what I'm saying, but when you're a
<v Speaker 2>Hull Hogan, that just sounds weird. Like imagine Hulkogan sniffing
<v Speaker 2>any child's hair. You know the picture of Joan Severan's
<v Speaker 2>getting her hair smelled.
<v Speaker 1>Exactly bare ass, you know, exactly with him fucking and
<v Speaker 1>it turns out to be the heels of his foot.
<v Speaker 1>But right, Yeah, it's funny. I feel like I saw
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's ass in that movie because I know, I know.
<v Speaker 2>It's it's so true, like you really think you did Yep,
<v Speaker 2>like all of us, the six foot six, two hundred
<v Speaker 2>and ninety pounds muscle man has his vulnerabilities and he
<v Speaker 2>has found a way to overcome them. Put simply, he
<v Speaker 2>hugs his kids.
<v Speaker 4>Roller.
<v Speaker 2>That's how over here's vulnerabilities. Yeah, I guess he hears
<v Speaker 2>about their day. He's energized by his love for them
<v Speaker 2>and their love for him. We wonder how he would
<v Speaker 2>be feeling about these situations in twenty twenty five. Would
<v Speaker 2>that still be? Would they still have love for him?
<v Speaker 2>Is the question. He is convinced that This love in
<v Speaker 2>his family helps him quote run right over his fears.
<v Speaker 2>If there's someone in your life when you love whom
<v Speaker 2>you love, love them more. He says. It's like spending
<v Speaker 2>more time in the weight room more. It's like spending
<v Speaker 2>more time in the weight room more. Love makes you stronger.
<v Speaker 2>When Hogan first got into wrestling, into pro wrestling in
<v Speaker 2>nineteen seventy nine, here in one hundred and twenty five
<v Speaker 2>dollars a week and played a bad guy. But in
<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty three promoters let him win his first fight.
<v Speaker 2>Is that when he won his first fighters to let
<v Speaker 2>him win his first fight, I guess and recast him
<v Speaker 2>as a good guy with all. With his new all
<v Speaker 2>American persona and grand theatrics, he changed the face of wrestling.
<v Speaker 2>He also turned it into a family sport. He admitted
<v Speaker 2>that much of wrestling is staged, and he had a
<v Speaker 2>sense of humor about it. He also focused on children.
<v Speaker 2>Nothing could send kids to the refrigerator faster than Hulk
<v Speaker 2>Hogan growling at them to drink their milk. He'd pray
<v Speaker 2>before getting into the ring. He'd read himself elf his
<v Speaker 2>his four demandments. I want to tell you all my
<v Speaker 2>demandments who's gonna read them to myself for a little bit.
<v Speaker 2>Brother takes out his fucking glasses and it's like has
<v Speaker 2>a fucking piece of paper. Train, say your prayers and
<v Speaker 2>believe in yourself. It was a lot of time. Train,
<v Speaker 2>So your prayers, eat your viotamins, believe in yourself. He
<v Speaker 2>had recite mottos, you'll stay alert, don't get hurt. I
<v Speaker 2>don't remember that one. Stay alert sounds on brand. And
<v Speaker 2>what you're gonna do mean geen unless you stay alert
<v Speaker 2>and don't get hurt. Brother, was there you listed some demandments?
<v Speaker 2>Was there a fifth amendment?
<v Speaker 4>There?
<v Speaker 2>There is a fifth demandment, but he doesn't list it. Manman,
<v Speaker 2>of course is you'll believe in Hulk Hogan, your brother,
<v Speaker 2>I'm out a fifth dimandment. That's right, brother, there's five
<v Speaker 2>of them now, he says, this man's right, dud, they're
<v Speaker 2>five of them now. Train, say your prayers, eat your votamins,
<v Speaker 2>believe in yourself, and believe in Hulk Hogan. What what
<v Speaker 2>is he talking about? What a psychopath.
<v Speaker 4>Like you?
<v Speaker 2>Fucking what is that ship? Fucking Believe in Hulk Hogan
<v Speaker 2>means believe in a Yeah, forget what I said in
<v Speaker 2>right exactly, exactly a fraud. He said. What he's saying,
<v Speaker 2>believe in, believe in, you know, believing someone that doesn't
<v Speaker 2>fraudulens exactly by getting involved with children in need Mel Phillips,
<v Speaker 2>It's like Jesus Christ. What immediately went in my brain?
<v Speaker 2>Hogan says he's developed a new outlook. You know, they
<v Speaker 2>helped me turn negatives into positives. He says, I do
<v Speaker 2>so much work with special kids. Well, I think I've
<v Speaker 2>got a problem. I will, I will out of fate. Okay,
<v Speaker 2>run into a kid who's dying. What's wrong with me? Oh, ship, dude,
<v Speaker 2>I'm sorry. I know you're dying again. Tackle, let's just
<v Speaker 2>one again, brother, get it again to dude, Jesus Christ,
<v Speaker 2>what's wrong with me? I don't have any problems? Well,
<v Speaker 2>keep telling yourself that.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, right.
<v Speaker 2>Kids are off and welcomed the under the set of
<v Speaker 2>his TV show. That's why I fucking took so long.
<v Speaker 2>In a long hours keeps in fighting kids on the
<v Speaker 2>damn show. They love it and their hero is inspired
<v Speaker 2>by them. Everybody benefits. Can the rest of us get
<v Speaker 2>stronger by hugging the children in our lives? Absolutely, says Hogan.
<v Speaker 2>They can give you a reason to keep going. More
<v Speaker 2>advice from Hogan. A tip would be a tip for
<v Speaker 2>would be pro wrestlers. I should be in a wheelchair
<v Speaker 2>now does doing the main event every night having out
<v Speaker 2>do you previous matches? I'm lucky. Yeah, when did that happen?
<v Speaker 2>Only in Japan? Did he outdo previous matches? I'm lucky
<v Speaker 2>I get through that era. I did it by outsmarting
<v Speaker 2>the system with a little bit more entertaining than wrestling.
<v Speaker 2>Call yourself a good guy and you can become one.
<v Speaker 2>I was just a wrestler traveling by myself through airports
<v Speaker 2>that I made the character of Hulk Hogan, and all
<v Speaker 2>of a sudden I was a role model. Holy smokes.
<v Speaker 2>I had to I had to mature, become a responsible adult.
<v Speaker 2>I mean no, he did Hulk Hogan before. You were
<v Speaker 2>babyface and stuff and none of your role model. You
<v Speaker 2>were a bad guy. You didn't mature. Ye, that's true.
<v Speaker 1>It didn't become a responsible adult. So as I can
<v Speaker 1>tell you no, no, no, not if you're fucking losing money.
<v Speaker 1>Then at the Sue Goker think about this is it
<v Speaker 1>sort comes out before he's testified in Vince's trial. After
<v Speaker 1>the article came out about someone else taking an HIV
<v Speaker 1>test for him, and then this Puffy comes out. So
<v Speaker 1>this gives you an idea of kind of the battle
<v Speaker 1>for the hearts and minds that's going on, and really
<v Speaker 1>the American mainstream press, because say what you will, our
<v Speaker 1>hole Cogan he had unique access relative to other pro
<v Speaker 1>wrestlers to that forum. They would write about him, they
<v Speaker 1>would quote him, he could get in the papers, and
<v Speaker 1>he also had to deal with the downside of that,
<v Speaker 1>which was that Phil Mushnick over the New York Post,
<v Speaker 1>Oh Boy wants nothing more than to see Vince McMahon
<v Speaker 1>go to prison, and his writing columns and one of
<v Speaker 1>the most widely read newspapers in the world about this
<v Speaker 1>and about all the peripheral effects and characters involved in
<v Speaker 1>This article comes out after Hulk is debuted for WCW
<v Speaker 1>AT bashed at the Beach and as Vince McMahon is
<v Speaker 1>awaiting his fate, or perhaps he'd already learned his fate
<v Speaker 1>in the trial. This runs July twenty fifth, nineteen ninety four,
<v Speaker 1>in the New York Post headline Turner's goodwill shame MMM.
<v Speaker 1>There's a picture of Ted Turner and underneath it it
<v Speaker 1>says Ted Turner selling garbage to kids. If there's one
<v Speaker 1>thing we can all get behind, it's goodwill toward humankind. Right,
<v Speaker 1>Ted Turner has the spirit sort of. He is a
<v Speaker 1>peculiar brand of goodwill, the kind found in a three
<v Speaker 1>card monte game. This week, what a great columns this week.
<v Speaker 1>Turner's in the business of foster and international goodwill through
<v Speaker 1>sports competition, as his third made for TV goodwill games
<v Speaker 1>kicked off over the weekend. That's nice because last week
<v Speaker 1>Turner was in the business of doing unconscionable dirt to
<v Speaker 1>American children. Turner's a Grade A phony on one hand,
<v Speaker 1>with these goodwill games in Saint Petersburg, Russia serving as
<v Speaker 1>his vehicle, He's puffing himself up as a purveyor of
<v Speaker 1>international understanding and harmony, a real nobleman, but as good
<v Speaker 1>hearted deeds real or imagined, as men infested do. The
<v Speaker 1>Goodwill games are what they call in pro wrestling, a work.
<v Speaker 1>It's a put on. If Turner's a goodwill salesman, he
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't be pumping millions of dollars into World Championship Wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>The Twisted Ongoing kiddie show he owns and he wouldn't
<v Speaker 1>have signed Hult Cogan too a two million dollar contract
<v Speaker 1>to become the WCW's main attraction.
<v Speaker 2>For the next six months. This is the kind of
<v Speaker 2>press they get reciting all the Cogan I mean, it's unbelievable. God,
<v Speaker 2>he's such a he's going, he's such a little bit.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you know, like I I just don't remember I
<v Speaker 1>turned the dark sid episode. Do you mean you're not
<v Speaker 1>an entertainment lawyer? No, no, he says, He says, his
<v Speaker 1>brother's you mean not a sixteen minutes producer.
<v Speaker 2>That's what it was. I fucked that one up. I
<v Speaker 2>just don't understand. Like his his his vendetta.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean he thought that Vince was fucking kids
<v Speaker 1>heads up and you should go to jail for him.
<v Speaker 2>So that's a point.
<v Speaker 1>It's by pumping wrestlers up with things that are illegal
<v Speaker 1>to have and making them want to look like that.
<v Speaker 2>Thus, but but I guess, but but but again, but okay, fine,
<v Speaker 2>you know what, I I understand, I can I can
<v Speaker 2>totally understand. I don't know, ass I know if if
<v Speaker 2>you know, uh, but what about other form of entertainment
<v Speaker 2>that do the same thing. Well, you know, he doesn't
<v Speaker 2>have to go after everybody. He can just pick one.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yes, you know, yes, that's that's always That's always
<v Speaker 1>a big fallacy to me, this idea that like what
<v Speaker 1>about that guy? It's like, yeah, well I'm focused on
<v Speaker 1>this one. You have to focus on both. But if
<v Speaker 1>I just want to focus on this one, does that
<v Speaker 1>make it less worthy just because I don't But I
<v Speaker 1>don't like wrestling, so I want that one to fare,
<v Speaker 1>That's right. I like football. The Ultimate Labs editor, Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>he can't get over the fact that people buy this stuff,
<v Speaker 1>but he but the thing is he started to get
<v Speaker 1>dime drops on the mel Phillips stuff. That's people always
<v Speaker 1>associate him with Vincent steroids. And yes he wanted to
<v Speaker 1>see Vince Burne for steroids. He he would love if
<v Speaker 1>you know. That was the that was the law that
<v Speaker 1>did it. But it was the the fact that he
<v Speaker 1>was getting all these anonymous tips on the ring boy stuff.
<v Speaker 1>That really and he wrote a ton about that too.
<v Speaker 2>That really that that's definitely worthy of O vincemim going
<v Speaker 2>down that. I agree.
<v Speaker 1>It was much more kind of like at that rotten
<v Speaker 1>moral core and then everything else was kind of like,
<v Speaker 1>you know, if you could get him on it, you
<v Speaker 1>get him on it, but it was that was the
<v Speaker 1>core of it, was the ring boy stuff and all
<v Speaker 1>the other shots he took at them, I think were
<v Speaker 1>kind of like half hard, not half hearted, but like
<v Speaker 1>it kind of masked the real driving force behind it,
<v Speaker 1>which was you know, the Tom Coles and stuff calling
<v Speaker 1>him up and giving him you know, all the wrestlers
<v Speaker 1>that had been propositioned by like allegedly by Terry Garvin
<v Speaker 1>and Pat Patterson over the years and all that shit,
<v Speaker 1>you know, stuff he couldn't always substantiate to the point
<v Speaker 1>that he could put everything he heard in the papers.
<v Speaker 1>But you know, he was a columnist, he was a polemicist.
<v Speaker 2>He was you know, supposed to.
<v Speaker 1>He had a gimmick of like you know, the paper
<v Speaker 1>was conservative, of course, the Post was a kind of
<v Speaker 1>a write leaning paper. This is the moral majority days.
<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of hate to be made about how
<v Speaker 1>you know, the people who run entertainment are liberalizing things,
<v Speaker 1>you know a little bit too much in exposing kids
<v Speaker 1>to things that you know, back in my day they
<v Speaker 1>would never be exposed to that kind of thing. So
<v Speaker 1>it all works for his brand too, of where he
<v Speaker 1>fits and where his paper fits in the media landscape,
<v Speaker 1>but not to say he's not coming from a place
<v Speaker 1>of true conviction. I'm not questioning that. I'm just saying
<v Speaker 1>that it very much fit what the post was about
<v Speaker 1>to to go at it this way, to pick these
<v Speaker 1>targets and to harp on them, and in the form
<v Speaker 1>of a column where yeah, he's doing some original reporting.
<v Speaker 1>I'm not saying he's not. But he also doesn't have
<v Speaker 1>to to just go off on the non events.
<v Speaker 2>He could just go off on him.
<v Speaker 1>He can call him right, he can call him Hannibal
<v Speaker 1>Lecter or as he did, you know, and not have
<v Speaker 1>to worry about getting sued because he's not writing an
<v Speaker 1>article that's passing passing itself off is exclusively fact. You know,
<v Speaker 1>he's he's giving perspective, he's giving commentary, and he's going
<v Speaker 1>fucking scorched earth. Yes, and even Ted Turner can't escape
<v Speaker 1>it because he associated Hogan with so much of the rot.
<v Speaker 1>As far as selling to kids, I think for him
<v Speaker 1>it was the fact that with all of this gross
<v Speaker 1>shit under the hood, they're marketing to kids almost exclusively,
<v Speaker 1>like that's their lifeblood. Is it's not only being this dirty,
<v Speaker 1>But you don't even have adult customers, or at least
<v Speaker 1>you're not even chasing adult customers. You're putting toys on
<v Speaker 1>the shelf. It'd be like a porn company selling action figures,
<v Speaker 1>you know.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, But also, but I mean, thinking about it like this,
<v Speaker 2>there are R rated movies that sell toys to kids too, Yes,
<v Speaker 2>there are, that's right, and he would rail against that too.
<v Speaker 4>I bet.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know for sure, but that would be the
<v Speaker 2>kind of thing I could se him.
<v Speaker 21>Right.
<v Speaker 1>He's didn't write only about wrestling, but I can see
<v Speaker 1>him going to the toy store for his nephew and
<v Speaker 1>getting all fired up and writing an article about how
<v Speaker 1>we're selling you know, fucking guns and shit toy guns.
<v Speaker 1>Turner's WCW takes every conceivable, negative, violent, and unsportsmanlike image
<v Speaker 1>and feeds it to American children via TV. Turner's WCW
<v Speaker 1>bay roll now includes Hogan, a man whose kitty loving
<v Speaker 1>character is indisputedly built on years of steroid abuse and
<v Speaker 1>a series of outrageous public lies about how he got
<v Speaker 1>the kinds of muscles so many admiring children adolescents on
<v Speaker 1>the come would die for. Turner signed Hogan at a
<v Speaker 1>time when considerable public court filled evidence existed. Court filed
<v Speaker 1>evidence existed to prove the Hogan character was a marketing
<v Speaker 1>ploy aimed at kids and rooted in dangerous drugs that
<v Speaker 1>were illegally obtained and administered. As early as nineteen ninety one,
<v Speaker 1>the name Terry boleya Hogan's real name, appeared several times
<v Speaker 1>in federal express shipment documents that were used to convict
<v Speaker 1>and jail doctor Georgezaharian, the ex World Wrestling Federation doctor who,
<v Speaker 1>at a time when pro wrestling's emphasis changed from action
<v Speaker 1>to muscle mass, sold pro wrestlers whatever drugs they wanted,
<v Speaker 1>no examination nor legit medical reason needed. Hogan exposed then
<v Speaker 1>began to try to lie his way out, first an
<v Speaker 1>appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, where he set the
<v Speaker 1>record straight he used steroids just two or three times
<v Speaker 1>in his career, all for legiti medical purposes, and all
<v Speaker 1>under a physician's care. When that lie was met with
<v Speaker 1>howls of derision from former colleagues, Hogan set the record
<v Speaker 1>straight again he used steroids somewhat more frequently than he'd
<v Speaker 1>originally admitted. Finally, two weeks ago, in a federal drug
<v Speaker 1>trial of his former employer, and close friend WWF boss
<v Speaker 1>Vince McMahon Hogan, testifying in exchange for immunity from prosecution
<v Speaker 1>set the record straight for a third time.
<v Speaker 2>That's good. Oh my god.
<v Speaker 1>That's the kind of snarky writing that you really can
<v Speaker 1>do as a columnist. That really brings it home. He
<v Speaker 1>can't put that in a news article, you know. Right
<v Speaker 1>in that way, he admitted to at least thirteen years
<v Speaker 1>of steroid use. Don't ever forget that about the trial
<v Speaker 1>of his life. Well, it didn't put Vince away. You
<v Speaker 1>can't forget how they would have denied every single thing
<v Speaker 1>that that trial proved about how many people were routing
<v Speaker 1>in WWF. That's the takeaway is that all the things
<v Speaker 1>that they were denying were a problem in their company
<v Speaker 1>were all doubly as bad as you could have ever imagined. Yep,
<v Speaker 1>everyone went up there and said I roided and I
<v Speaker 1>roid it hard while working for WWF. If Turner was
<v Speaker 1>upset to learn this American kitty superstar was built on
<v Speaker 1>steroids and not on prayer, plenty of sleep and hulk
<v Speaker 1>Cochin vitamins, as Hogan would tell kids, he had a
<v Speaker 1>strange way of showing it. Turner had Hogan headline a
<v Speaker 1>few days later in a WCW pay per view event,
<v Speaker 1>with Hogan winning the WCW's m World title. That's right,
<v Speaker 1>moms and dads, it makes no difference to Ted Goodwill
<v Speaker 1>Turner held. Turner even appeared with anabolic Hulk capital a
<v Speaker 1>by the way, anabolic Hulk in tving angles designed for
<v Speaker 1>Junior to beg mom and dad to purchase Turner's WCW
<v Speaker 1>pay per view events starring Hogan. Yes, by minimal standards
<v Speaker 1>of common decency and goodwill, Hulk Hogan has lied and
<v Speaker 1>drugged his way out of the children's entertainment racket. He
<v Speaker 1>didn't do drugs on the side, He did drugs for
<v Speaker 1>a living, but hulks in and in big arm in
<v Speaker 1>arm with Ted Goodwill Turner.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Ted Turner is so steeped in goodwill he doesn't care
<v Speaker 1>who or what he's selling to American kids, just as
<v Speaker 1>long as they buy it. Earlier this month, WCW announcer
<v Speaker 1>Bobby the Brain heenan in between staged kicks to the groin,
<v Speaker 1>head smashed against ring aprons and sucker punches, entertained the
<v Speaker 1>kiddies by making an O. J. Simpson crack on the air.
<v Speaker 1>How's that for goodwill?
<v Speaker 4>Ted?
<v Speaker 1>But nothing seems to stick to tefron Ted he can
<v Speaker 1>simultaneously sell the goodwill games and.
<v Speaker 2>Hulk Hogan such a bitch going hard.
<v Speaker 1>Ah, what a time to be alive. That's that's what
<v Speaker 1>Ted Turner gets from signing all Cogan right there?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly.
<v Speaker 1>And Vince's on the attack too. He's gonna from both sides.
<v Speaker 1>Vince is out there now that he's a free man,
<v Speaker 1>he's been acquitted, he does This is something that hadn't
<v Speaker 1>been on YouTube when we did the trial of his life,
<v Speaker 1>so I'm really happy to have a reason to surface
<v Speaker 1>it here. This is an appearance Vince made on Chicago
<v Speaker 1>sports talk show called check Copic something. Oh yeah, you know,
<v Speaker 1>check Copic October ninety four, recapping everything that had happened
<v Speaker 1>to trial and inevitably, of course, this being October and
<v Speaker 1>Hogan having not only made his debut, but heading into
<v Speaker 1>Halloween havoc and stuff, Hulk Hogan is naturally going to
<v Speaker 1>come up. And this is some of the first public
<v Speaker 1>comments I think we get from Vince about what Hulk
<v Speaker 1>in WCW is meaning to him or not meaning to him.
<v Speaker 1>And of course he goes in art.
<v Speaker 11>Hulk Hogan, who obviously put a very major role in
<v Speaker 11>the growth of the World Wrestling Federation in Titan Sports
<v Speaker 11>in the nineteen eighties, in the nineteen nineties, would he
<v Speaker 11>have been as appealing as he was had he not
<v Speaker 11>been utilizing steroids and had that magnificently sculpted body.
<v Speaker 25>Well, I don't think he ever had a magnificently sculpted body. Certainly,
<v Speaker 25>bodybuilder them a bodybuilder type at all.
<v Speaker 4>I mean, I've never.
<v Speaker 25>Seen a dominant night dominant people that bought tickets.
<v Speaker 4>There were people who bought tickets.
<v Speaker 25>But again, if you take a look at traditional bodybuilding
<v Speaker 25>in terms of posing and take a look at what
<v Speaker 25>Hulk Cogan did in his heyday.
<v Speaker 4>I mean we're talking now, I am taking a.
<v Speaker 11>Look at those people who simply buy tickets to go
<v Speaker 11>to your shows.
<v Speaker 4>And in my opinion, the.
<v Speaker 11>Lure of this sun tanned baby oil professional wrestler at
<v Speaker 11>three hundred pounds with the twenty four inch pythons.
<v Speaker 4>Was a site to behold.
<v Speaker 11>And he obviously had a body that was constructed at
<v Speaker 11>least in part with steroids.
<v Speaker 25>Oh, I think there's no question about that. Certainly, he's
<v Speaker 25>admitted that finally, but nonetheless, aside from that, whether or
<v Speaker 25>not he would have been the success that he was,
<v Speaker 25>I don't have that answer because we're not We're not
<v Speaker 25>in the posing business.
<v Speaker 4>We're not in the body building business where you go out.
<v Speaker 25>And you pose and you're judged in terms of Actually,
<v Speaker 25>we're all about charisma. We're all about action in the ring,
<v Speaker 25>the athleticism, the glitz, the glamour, the storylines, all of
<v Speaker 25>that combined.
<v Speaker 4>That's what the WWF is really about.
<v Speaker 25>Clearly, Hulk Hogan and his heyday had all of those qualities.
<v Speaker 25>So there's no question he would have been a success
<v Speaker 25>in the World Wrestling Federation as he was. The only
<v Speaker 25>question is whether or not he would have been as
<v Speaker 25>much of a success.
<v Speaker 11>Hulk Hogan of Courus is now a member of the
<v Speaker 11>Ted Turner Operation for a World Championship Wrestling. You're a
<v Speaker 11>primary competitor. Do you look upon them as a legitimate
<v Speaker 11>threat in anyway to the World Wrestling Federation or are
<v Speaker 11>they at.
<v Speaker 4>This time a minor annoyance.
<v Speaker 25>I would suggest more a minor annoyance than anything.
<v Speaker 4>I'm surprised that hul.
<v Speaker 25>Cogan elected to join the Ted Turner sort of a
<v Speaker 25>minor league operation because do it.
<v Speaker 11>Feel sold out personally because Halkgan joined Ted Turner.
<v Speaker 25>Hulk Hogan, Terry Boleya and I were very close friends
<v Speaker 25>at one time. One of the things that the Terry
<v Speaker 25>always said is, Vince, you know one thing you'll never
<v Speaker 25>have to worry about, is you know me working for
<v Speaker 25>a competitive organization. That happened for whatever the reason, and
<v Speaker 25>one of the reasons it happened is because.
<v Speaker 4>With where he wanted to go in his career and where.
<v Speaker 25>I thought he should go in his career in terms
<v Speaker 25>of believability and credibility are.
<v Speaker 4>Two different directions.
<v Speaker 25>He thought that this Hulkomania thing was only beginning to
<v Speaker 25>take off and he was going to really catapult it
<v Speaker 25>at the Turner organization. My point of view was that
<v Speaker 25>Hulk Hogan, who obviously is not the.
<v Speaker 4>Hulk of old. I mean, we all get older, we
<v Speaker 4>all slow up a.
<v Speaker 16>Little bit athletically.
<v Speaker 25>My point of view was there was a great position
<v Speaker 25>here in the WWF A is a fantastic goodwill ambassador,
<v Speaker 25>notwithstanding steroids or lack of steroids, and it was a
<v Speaker 25>Babe Ruth type thing where he always had that one
<v Speaker 25>great match left no matter where it would be, no
<v Speaker 25>matter if it was a paper or in Chicago or
<v Speaker 25>in New York or whatever the case may be. It
<v Speaker 25>was a wonderful position from my standpoint in terms of
<v Speaker 25>that Babe Ruth living on and on and on in
<v Speaker 25>the World Wrestling Federation.
<v Speaker 4>But you know, this is a wonderful country we live in.
<v Speaker 25>It's a free country, and you have choices, and they
<v Speaker 25>unfortunately chose to go with Ted Turner.
<v Speaker 8>It's the lab Fan wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that
<v Speaker 8>knows the boys need their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan.
<v Speaker 8>He's a Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast with Jack and Carnacio
<v Speaker 8>and JP Sorrow.
<v Speaker 2>What do you hear there? I mean, I, first of all,
<v Speaker 2>I think that that's probably one of the most coherent
<v Speaker 2>interviews I've ever heard him, do you know, Like I
<v Speaker 2>I've never heard him make that much kind of sense.
<v Speaker 2>But post post acquittal clarity, I think they call it. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I think you're you're damn right.
<v Speaker 4>But he is.
<v Speaker 2>So angry, Yes, he's so vindictive, Yes, you know, like
<v Speaker 2>and he's not doing it in like a mean, mean way,
<v Speaker 2>but like he's doing it like in a business way,
<v Speaker 2>like he's trying to be a matter of fact, but man,
<v Speaker 2>you can tell he has fucking butt hurt so much.
<v Speaker 1>Well, you gotta think like he he built his whole
<v Speaker 1>idea of how he's going to be successful in wrestling
<v Speaker 1>around his relationship with Hogan. Yep, he probably told himself that, like,
<v Speaker 1>my unique gift is being able to make a bond
<v Speaker 1>with this guy, that we're going to ride this thing,
<v Speaker 1>and that he basically is going to trust me after
<v Speaker 1>ten years of making him a multi millionaire, that this
<v Speaker 1>is the next move for you, and this is what's
<v Speaker 1>best for you, and this is I've earned the right
<v Speaker 1>or I've earned your trust such that you'll take my
<v Speaker 1>counsel on this instead of just run to the next
<v Speaker 1>guy who dangles a check.
<v Speaker 4>Right.
<v Speaker 2>You know, I bet he talked.
<v Speaker 1>He talked himself into thinking because he did so many
<v Speaker 1>transformed things with all Cogan, the Hulk wasn't a anymore.
<v Speaker 2>It's just a weird thing that he fucking fired him exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Well, he fired him because you know, Hulk was trying
<v Speaker 1>to stay on top and Vince just didn't think it
<v Speaker 1>was gonna work. I mean, Vince could see what happened
<v Speaker 1>in WCW in the next two years. It's not like
<v Speaker 1>Hulk and Hulk fucked around and found out on that
<v Speaker 1>on the Red and Yellow. You know, he really did,
<v Speaker 1>and that could have happened in WWF, But he wanted
<v Speaker 1>to not allow Hulk to be around so much and
<v Speaker 1>just sort of have him be somebody that's drawing a
<v Speaker 1>full time salary, going on the road doing promotional things.
<v Speaker 1>Not unlike what they had certain Slaughter.
<v Speaker 2>Do for years.
<v Speaker 1>But you know, once a year, six times six every
<v Speaker 1>six months, he comes up off the bench because somebody
<v Speaker 1>talks shit and he's got to, you know, he's got
<v Speaker 1>to stick it to him. That that's the Babe Ruth
<v Speaker 1>role that he had in mind, a guy who you
<v Speaker 1>know is there and everybody remembers this Babe Ruth, but
<v Speaker 1>is actually still every now and then capable of being
<v Speaker 1>taken off the shelf and put back into action. But
<v Speaker 1>that's not a full time guy. And that's certainly not
<v Speaker 1>the WWF champion I think we saw with Hulk when
<v Speaker 1>he went ww like. He wants to be the World Champion.
<v Speaker 1>He wants to rerun the whole eighties playbook again. He
<v Speaker 1>wants to read he wants eighty four ninety four. It's
<v Speaker 1>what he wants, and Vince is not about to do
<v Speaker 1>that he's done, especially after all this negative publicity. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>for God's sakes, he had to watch all of that
<v Speaker 1>investment in Hulk. Hogan just gets so severely diminished and
<v Speaker 1>damaged to where, you know, all people could talk about
<v Speaker 1>was how Hogan was full of shit and he didn't
<v Speaker 1>want Hulk to do our sineo. That was why he
<v Speaker 1>was so mad. It wasn't that he was mad that
<v Speaker 1>Hulk did it what Hulk said on our sineo. He
<v Speaker 1>was mad that he did it at all. You know,
<v Speaker 1>he counseled him not to do it, and he did
<v Speaker 1>it because he thought he was fucking mister Carney and
<v Speaker 1>he's gonna work an answer that's gonna, you know, somehow
<v Speaker 1>carve a little neutrality space for himself and Nope, it's
<v Speaker 1>not gonna happen. And you know what else, probably put
<v Speaker 1>a bug up Vince's as boss. At a King of
<v Speaker 1>the Ring ninety four, they asked the governor of Maryland
<v Speaker 1>who his favorite wrestling was.
<v Speaker 4>Poor time on old Hulk Hogan.
<v Speaker 23>You want the great one?
<v Speaker 17>Enjoy yourself here today.
<v Speaker 2>Want to remind everybody that this is wrapping up. Governor.
<v Speaker 1>Thanks, you get out the actually and go edit that
<v Speaker 1>out of the Hull Colseum release and edit that out
<v Speaker 1>or the version of King of the Ring ninety four
<v Speaker 1>that's on the network. Our second ever episode, by the way,
<v Speaker 1>yes right June twenty sixth, nineteen ninety four, Miami, Harold
<v Speaker 1>Politics helps the Hulkster. The first round of the battle
<v Speaker 1>between Hulk Cogan and the World Wrestling Federation goes to
<v Speaker 1>the Holkster thanks to an assist from Maryland Governor William
<v Speaker 1>Donald Schaeffer, with Hogan jumping the arrival World Championship Wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>The WBF is trying to paint the Holkster is passe. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>if you watch King of the Ring, you see those videos, man, they.
<v Speaker 2>Show, yeah, the old model T car Federation, yep out
<v Speaker 2>the old generation and then you get fucking Roddy Piper
<v Speaker 2>and and Jerry Lawler in the fucking main event.
<v Speaker 1>Right, He's trying to paint the Holster's passe. The WBF
<v Speaker 1>film vignette titled New Generation, which paints Thehulster has been
<v Speaker 1>part of the old generation of wrestlers. Footage of Hogan
<v Speaker 1>is shown next to that. I'm under the Giant, Who's Dead,
<v Speaker 1>the Iron Chic, and Avian Putski. The WWF spent two
<v Speaker 1>and a half hours plugging the new Generation theme last
<v Speaker 1>Sunday and it's King of the Ring pay per view
<v Speaker 1>show before connecting a live interview with Shaeffer, a longtime
<v Speaker 1>wrestling fan who attended the show because it was held
<v Speaker 1>in Baltimore. Schaeffer was asked to predict the winner of
<v Speaker 1>the Jerry Lawler Ruddy Piper main event. Shaeffer picked Piper,
<v Speaker 1>but added he was a Hulk Hogan man. The comment
<v Speaker 1>prompted a w fIF announced Todd, Patt and Gilt to
<v Speaker 1>end the interview quickly. In an undermined the WWF's entire
<v Speaker 1>New Generation campaign. Lawler tried to save face for the
<v Speaker 1>WWF before his match, grabbing the microphone and calling Schaffer
<v Speaker 1>Governor Budweiser. He also said Schaeffer was living in the past. Still,
<v Speaker 1>the damage was done. Paige Bonist, Shaeffer's press secretary, so
<v Speaker 1>the governor was unaware he was getting involved in the
<v Speaker 1>Hogan WWF war, but Boenist said Budweiser Er Schaeffer was
<v Speaker 1>adamant and insisting Hogan is the Babe Ruth of wrestling,
<v Speaker 1>So this.
<v Speaker 2>Governor was a wild doubled down.
<v Speaker 1>The WS New Generation campaign is like ironic considering the
<v Speaker 1>group continues rehiring stale talent Typhoon, Virgil, Nikolai Volkov, and
<v Speaker 1>Teddy Biassi. The latest retread is Sergeant's slaughter, who was
<v Speaker 1>being exhumed to feud with Piero Lucobecker's And that's not
<v Speaker 1>I don't know what that is. That didn't that Wow, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>that not happened and I don't remember it. I don't
<v Speaker 1>remember that at Allso was a house show thing.
<v Speaker 2>But it's wild and here we are.
<v Speaker 1>And what else did WWF do to try to impugne
<v Speaker 1>the Hulkster? What else did WWF do with I don't
<v Speaker 1>know their own magazine? Oh fuck yes, talk about your
<v Speaker 1>memories before I make.
<v Speaker 2>You read it. My god, that that issue of the magazine.
<v Speaker 2>I remember seeing it, I remember being mortified, I remember
<v Speaker 2>being sad, and that was kind of that was kind
<v Speaker 2>of the final mail in the coffin for me. Yeah, August, Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>because you know it's you know, I remember reading you know,
<v Speaker 2>anytime that we've talked about the idea of Hulk Hogan
<v Speaker 2>coming back to WWE in like the late nineties or
<v Speaker 2>Meltzer saying, you know, he'll be back at it, you know,
<v Speaker 2>I just never It's like that was never in my mind,
<v Speaker 2>like he was done, he was gone, he was never
<v Speaker 2>coming back to w W. That was never going to happen.
<v Speaker 2>He was WCW now.
<v Speaker 4>You know one.
<v Speaker 2>And this article definitely, if it wasn't the final nail,
<v Speaker 2>it definitely was one of the final nails because it
<v Speaker 2>was such and I was so angry. I was so
<v Speaker 2>angry at that because it was it was like this,
<v Speaker 2>it just because it was full of you know, like
<v Speaker 2>stuff I consider to be lies. I don't really remember
<v Speaker 2>the article one hundred percent, but it was I just
<v Speaker 2>was like I didn't believe any of that shit, like
<v Speaker 2>I knew like they I felt. I felt the the
<v Speaker 2>pettiness of it. Yes, that's it. Even even at the
<v Speaker 2>age of thirteen, I felt the age I felt that
<v Speaker 2>that that it was just very petty like they were.
<v Speaker 2>They were acting like bitches doing.
<v Speaker 1>That they were they were they were so butter that
<v Speaker 1>Hulk was in w W and you know, doing the
<v Speaker 1>damn thing that they took their own magazine over and
<v Speaker 1>reminded us. A full year plus after Yokuzhna defeated Hull
<v Speaker 1>Cocin and King of the Ring. That Yokozuna defeated Hull
<v Speaker 1>Cocin and King of the Ring all of a sudden,
<v Speaker 1>it's relevant again. Uh the first issue, I guess after
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's Bash of the Beach debut, So please take it away.
<v Speaker 2>This is it wouldn't have been though it would have been,
<v Speaker 2>it would have come out when was Batch of the
<v Speaker 2>Beach July August issue? Oh, I don't know August, as
<v Speaker 2>you came out in July. They were definitely always a
<v Speaker 2>month in advance, right, So yeah, so it came out
<v Speaker 2>around the same time first issue. Maybe it was before
<v Speaker 2>at Batch of the Beach by a week. But that's
<v Speaker 2>the thing. I wonder if it came out before because
<v Speaker 2>they might want to try to get people to not
<v Speaker 2>you know, not read it, I mean, not watching after
<v Speaker 2>the show. Yeah, well just watch it with the jaundiced eye,
<v Speaker 2>you know, right right, with their perspective in mind. But
<v Speaker 2>uh yeah, yeah, Yoko rules.
<v Speaker 1>They get animated picture of him stomping and you know,
<v Speaker 1>over a city scott skyline.
<v Speaker 2>And he's a Godzilla type thing.
<v Speaker 1>And they found pictures of Hogan making this terrified face
<v Speaker 1>that they had in the archives. Oh, the old hu
<v Speaker 1>Comanian band on his head and they just made him
<v Speaker 1>look like an.
<v Speaker 2>Idiot where that's from?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah?
<v Speaker 1>Why would yeah, why would they have occasion to shoot
<v Speaker 1>him making that face? It's kind of weird, right, And
<v Speaker 1>they declare Hulkaman they put it. They put a tombstone
<v Speaker 1>behind him and they write mea January twenty third, nineteen
<v Speaker 1>eighty four to June thirteenth, nineteen ninety three. Man, So petty,
<v Speaker 1>let's read it. Somebody has to say it. Yeah, so
<v Speaker 1>I might as well be the one. Yoko Zuna was
<v Speaker 1>the greatest champion in the history of the Wilson Entertainment.
<v Speaker 2>It's a great start. Okay, case closed. You can argue
<v Speaker 2>till the cows come home. But like it or not,
<v Speaker 2>the fact remain. The facts remain. He beat Hulk Hogan,
<v Speaker 2>was virtually ending, ending the phenomenon we knew was hul Camania,
<v Speaker 2>and he defeated the future of the Federation Brett Hart.
<v Speaker 2>Two champions, two victories. No man in the Worldssing entertainment
<v Speaker 2>has ever been able to accomplish that before. In my opinion,
<v Speaker 2>no man will ever accomplish that again. Yokozuma. Yokozuna is
<v Speaker 2>the true immortal one. It feels like an eternity since
<v Speaker 2>Yokozuniverse came to North America. However, in reality, it's been
<v Speaker 2>less than two years. I remember when I first saw
<v Speaker 2>him in the Worldlessing Entertainment. I think it was sometime
<v Speaker 2>in September of nineteen ninety two. He stopped the life
<v Speaker 2>out of a preliminary wrestler, literally walking all over him.
<v Speaker 2>It was reminiscent of Godzilla taking out a small town
<v Speaker 2>in Japan. I don't think I was allowed every out
<v Speaker 2>a small town. It was always a big city. I
<v Speaker 2>think it was always a big city. I don't think anything. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I don't think it was ever a small town. Courtesy
<v Speaker 2>of an afternoon stroll. My first thought was that there
<v Speaker 2>was no mortal live who could beat this monster, But
<v Speaker 2>surprisingly enough, the vast majority of the fans paid no attention.
<v Speaker 2>At the time, they were gaga over rumors that a
<v Speaker 2>so called immortal wrestler was coming back to the Federation.
<v Speaker 2>That supposed immortal was Hulk Hogan. While everybody was hoping
<v Speaker 2>hopping on the red and Yellow Hulk Wagon, nobody was
<v Speaker 2>noticing the unstoppable force from the land of the Rising Sun.
<v Speaker 2>I noticed. I stopped everything to notice. Yes, Yokozuna was
<v Speaker 2>truly on a rampage. He notched one victory after another
<v Speaker 2>without even breaking into a sweat. Hell, he didn't even
<v Speaker 2>must up his own hair, which was neatly collected in
<v Speaker 2>a buton atop of his gargantuan head. Yokozuna was the
<v Speaker 2>future of professional wrestling, and nobody was noticing. Cut to
<v Speaker 2>Venice Beach, California, with babes, beaches and B rated movies,
<v Speaker 2>Hulk Hogan was on top of the world. Movie star
<v Speaker 2>without a warrior in the world. His biggest nemesis now
<v Speaker 2>were His biggest nemeses now were Siskel and Ebert Yep.
<v Speaker 2>Even though these two critics constantly chided his movies, Hulk
<v Speaker 2>didn't care. He was secure for life and nothing was
<v Speaker 2>going to get him back into the war zone called
<v Speaker 2>the Square Circle, or so he thought. Just as quickly
<v Speaker 2>as you could say. James Dean, Hogan's friend produced the
<v Speaker 2>Bubble Beefcake, was attacked on Monday Night Raw by the
<v Speaker 2>million Dollar Man, Teddy Biassi and Eranard Schuster. Hogan was
<v Speaker 2>on the first plane back to New York and was
<v Speaker 2>ready to rumble once again, and Yokozuna kept winning, Yes,
<v Speaker 2>and still no one noticed. Yet it was payback time
<v Speaker 2>for Money Incorporated when Beefcake and Hogan attempted to even
<v Speaker 2>up the score WrestleMania nine. Even though the Mega Maniacs
<v Speaker 2>the name of the Hogan Beefcake team lost the match
<v Speaker 2>due to a disqualification, they felt that justice had been
<v Speaker 2>served as they beat the Money Incorporated team from ringside
<v Speaker 2>to ring post. It was also later wrestling in nine
<v Speaker 2>that Yokozuna beat Brett Hart to become Worldless Entertainment Champion.
<v Speaker 2>People noticed, being a fair journalist, I must give credit
<v Speaker 2>where credit is due. Brett Hart fought a hell of
<v Speaker 2>a a hell of a fight. He went toe to
<v Speaker 2>toe with a Japanese beast for what seemed like an eternity.
<v Speaker 2>It was seven minutes if it had been If it
<v Speaker 2>hadn't been for a handful of salt thrown in the
<v Speaker 2>eyes of the hit and courtesy of Yoko's manager, Master Fuji,
<v Speaker 2>Hart might have scored the upset, but he didn't. With
<v Speaker 2>all being fair and love and wrestling, Yokozuna was the
<v Speaker 2>new champion. Enter Hulk Hogan reeking Egomania. Wow. Hulk challenged
<v Speaker 2>the new champ, who had just gone over thirty minutes
<v Speaker 2>with the hit Man thirty minutes, no, seven minutes, calling
<v Speaker 2>the WrestleMania nine match thirty minutes long. Yes, yes, he's
<v Speaker 2>saying he wrestled at har for thirty minutes. Okay, it's
<v Speaker 2>a seven maybe eight minute match. It is so fucking short.
<v Speaker 2>It might be one of the shortest main events ever. Absolutely,
<v Speaker 2>it is, if not the shortest main events. Like the
<v Speaker 2>prime thing about it is it's short. That's like, well
<v Speaker 2>most people remember about it, right, and it's like definitely
<v Speaker 2>not thirty minutes. Being the man that he is, Yoko
<v Speaker 2>accepted this time. However, Fuji salt gag backfired and Yoko
<v Speaker 2>Zuna was the recipient again. All being fair in love
<v Speaker 2>and wrestling, Hogan pinned Yokozuna and became the new champion.
<v Speaker 2>It didn't last long. Even though Hogan wasn't familiar with
<v Speaker 2>the word sequel in the movie business, there would be
<v Speaker 2>a part two to this feud just too. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>he also knew the return matches for all his guys
<v Speaker 2>and had fucking eight thousand matches with like Nikolai Volkar
<v Speaker 2>Just two months later, Yokozuna humiliated a now forty plus
<v Speaker 2>year old Hulk Hogan, this thus becoming a two time
<v Speaker 2>Worldersing Entertainment champion. True Hogan will tell you that a
<v Speaker 2>photographer's flash bulb went off in his eyes. But with
<v Speaker 2>all fair and love and wrestling, Yokozuna was champion again.
<v Speaker 2>The Yoko Bonzi splash at the end of that war
<v Speaker 2>defeated Hulkamania forever. Many had tried to kill the legend,
<v Speaker 2>but many couldn't. However, however, Yoko Suona did. Yes, yes
<v Speaker 2>you will see Hulk Hogan wrestle again, and yes he
<v Speaker 2>will win again. But the hulkstures we once knew him
<v Speaker 2>as gone, break out the bugle and start playing taps.
<v Speaker 2>The last we heard of Hulk Hoogan, he had popped
<v Speaker 2>up in another wrestling federation in which the talent was
<v Speaker 2>a far cry from out of the worldressing entertainment. Hogan
<v Speaker 2>decided to sign with a federation that is composed of
<v Speaker 2>a slew of ex worldressing entertainment athletes, or, to put
<v Speaker 2>it more bluntly, aging wrestlers in the twilight of their careers.
<v Speaker 2>It was evident that Hulk could no longer compete with
<v Speaker 2>the mighty Yokozuna or with the majority of the young
<v Speaker 2>talent the Federation had to offer. As a matter of fact,
<v Speaker 2>during his brief two month reign as champion, Hulk repeatedly
<v Speaker 2>refused to give a hungry Brett Heart breath the hit
<v Speaker 2>Man Heart a shot at the world title. Right, but
<v Speaker 2>what about the Hitman bredtheart? You ask? What about him?
<v Speaker 2>Granted he did beat yokozunad wrestling he had ten with
<v Speaker 2>the help of a faulty ring rope, And granted he
<v Speaker 2>does match up to Godzilla Zuna better than Hulk ever did.
<v Speaker 2>But when the time comes and will can he defeat
<v Speaker 2>yo Kazuna again? Let me put it to you this way.
<v Speaker 2>Will the Academy be recognizing mister Nanny when presenting its
<v Speaker 2>annual awards? Somehow? I don't think so. It's exactly right.
<v Speaker 2>God made me so angry. Why fucking because I again,
<v Speaker 2>it was just like I just I didn't I didn't
<v Speaker 2>want to believe any of that shit, and I kind
<v Speaker 2>of didn't believe any of that shit. But it's like
<v Speaker 2>it just stung. It's still stung. God. It's a brutal article.
<v Speaker 2>I wonder put him up to it.
<v Speaker 4>JP, Man, how you doing it?
<v Speaker 24>Is Vince Russo and I remember that issue well, yeah,
<v Speaker 24>I'm nineteen ninety four because it was one of the
<v Speaker 24>first magazines that I did when I got there, and man,
<v Speaker 24>looking back, I was even really taking chances back then
<v Speaker 24>because that cover was my idea and as a fan
<v Speaker 24>BRO and now working at the WWEE, my mindset was
<v Speaker 24>F Hulk Hogan, F wc W, and let's make Cogan
<v Speaker 24>look bad on the cover of the WWF magazine. I remember, Bro,
<v Speaker 24>I had to go up and pitch it to Vince.
<v Speaker 24>That in itself was taking a chance, man, because I
<v Speaker 24>didn't know what his response was gonna be, but he
<v Speaker 24>was absolutely cool with it. No, no, no, no pulling punches.
<v Speaker 4>Bro.
<v Speaker 24>It was a shot at Hulk Hogan, and no, there
<v Speaker 24>was no response from WCW. I hope that answers your question.
<v Speaker 16>JP.
<v Speaker 24>Thank you, my friend, God bless.
<v Speaker 1>So there go the spirit you think is behind it
<v Speaker 1>is behind it, And it was. There's Vince Russo saying
<v Speaker 1>it was his idea, pitched to Vince, not handed down
<v Speaker 1>to him.
<v Speaker 2>Why does he gotta yell all the time? Why can't
<v Speaker 2>he talk normal?
<v Speaker 1>I don't think he trusts the mic his voice when
<v Speaker 1>he's not talking to it. Well, even when he is
<v Speaker 1>talking to a microphone, he screams his head off, So yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I shouldn't say that. There you have it a little
<v Speaker 1>bit extra color on an unfraile WWF magazine article because
<v Speaker 1>it came.
<v Speaker 2>Out absolutely so long after Yo. That was the thing,
<v Speaker 2>it was exactly and the best part being that Yokozuna
<v Speaker 2>wasn't even champion anymore. But I don't by that point
<v Speaker 2>out of nowhere, you know. Yep. In August ninety four
<v Speaker 2>issue they have him covering Hulk on cover and the
<v Speaker 2>best thing is too you know what that that cover
<v Speaker 2>is not even the winning pin, No, it is he's
<v Speaker 2>about to kick out. Yeah, that's when. That's when he
<v Speaker 2>kicks out of the h and Hulk's up. That's amazing
<v Speaker 2>at that moment, well as the year's turn. As we know.
<v Speaker 1>Eventually, Hulk comes back to the WWF in two thousand
<v Speaker 1>and two after the collapse of WCW, and then come
<v Speaker 1>up with the DVD series called Hulk Still Rules, which
<v Speaker 1>features yes, a compendium of some of his best matches
<v Speaker 1>across companies and a kind of a mini documentary as
<v Speaker 1>well and taking the temperature of Hulk's mindset in psychology
<v Speaker 1>around jumping at the time. Here's what he said, at
<v Speaker 1>the moment.
<v Speaker 15>The thing ran wild until the early nineties, and all
<v Speaker 15>of a sudden, you know, I was getting older and
<v Speaker 15>I didn't stop.
<v Speaker 16>I kept going.
<v Speaker 15>I was tired, I had a bad attitude, I was hurt, I.
<v Speaker 16>Was beat up.
<v Speaker 15>And then scat Man knew that, and he came to
<v Speaker 15>me and says, you know, I think it's time to
<v Speaker 15>wind this thing down. That's hard to take when somebody
<v Speaker 15>tells you that I understood it. But still when youre
<v Speaker 15>getting on and run off the treadmill, it takes a
<v Speaker 15>off your heart to quit pounding.
<v Speaker 16>But on the on the business side, that was hard.
<v Speaker 15>For me to take because I still, even though I
<v Speaker 15>was getting older, I still had that eye of the
<v Speaker 15>tiger thing going. You know, it's never supposed to end.
<v Speaker 15>It's not supposed to end with a knockout punch, or
<v Speaker 15>that you're too old to jump the hurdle, or that
<v Speaker 15>you know nobody wants to see anymore. But all of
<v Speaker 15>a sudden, people are getting tired of seeing the shirt
<v Speaker 15>torn off, They're tired of seeing the leg drop and
<v Speaker 15>we kind of ended it, you know, before it totally
<v Speaker 15>faded away, and probably the best thing that we ever
<v Speaker 15>did was given half of Mania break for over ten years.
<v Speaker 10>Hogan left the company to pursue acting and take time off,
<v Speaker 10>but soon he was lured back to sports entertainment and
<v Speaker 10>joined the WCW down in Atlanta, Georgia.
<v Speaker 15>This Haultamenia thing had never been in that Southern Belt,
<v Speaker 15>Southern Swing territory of Ted Turner Rassle company, you know.
<v Speaker 16>Smaller version of the WWF.
<v Speaker 15>All of a sudden, this big main event type wrestler
<v Speaker 15>from the WWF came down and they opened the doors
<v Speaker 15>to me.
<v Speaker 16>Haultamenia ran wild.
<v Speaker 15>We threw numbers, We got real competitive with the WWF,
<v Speaker 15>and we started inching up on the ratings charts.
<v Speaker 10>Superstars began coming down to w CW, lured by more
<v Speaker 10>money and easier work schedules, among them. An individual with
<v Speaker 10>a complicated history.
<v Speaker 15>With Hogan, Macho Man, called me one day and said, hey, man,
<v Speaker 15>I need to talk to you. And so we went
<v Speaker 15>to the World's gym at midnight ahead a key, he
<v Speaker 15>brought a case, s obmariently talked he wanted to go
<v Speaker 15>to work.
<v Speaker 4>For the w c W. We talked.
<v Speaker 15>In the back, ye you know, marriage to a part
<v Speaker 15>and he went crazy and I said, I understand. So
<v Speaker 15>the next thing I know, I went Eric Bischoff, brought
<v Speaker 15>him in, hooked him up with fell other William Gorgeous
<v Speaker 15>George exotic dancer. The next thing you know, Georgeous George
<v Speaker 15>decided to take a walk on a while side and left.
<v Speaker 15>And guess what it was my fault? How what winter why?
<v Speaker 15>I don't know, but I guess in my opinion, he
<v Speaker 15>thought I sabotaged his career and he still hates me
<v Speaker 15>to this day.
<v Speaker 1>Wow, I remember him. I'm uh blaming Hogan for Gorgeous
<v Speaker 1>George leaving him that that was a new one.
<v Speaker 2>I remember. I remember that. I remember the him because
<v Speaker 2>that's the article that I always I mean, the documentary
<v Speaker 2>that I always remember him. Hogan that going to the
<v Speaker 2>back of this gym that apparently he has a key
<v Speaker 2>to and fucking open it up, and then having a
<v Speaker 2>six pack in the back talking things over, and I
<v Speaker 2>remember Hogan saying pretty much whatever any bad thing that
<v Speaker 2>happened to him, Uh, Savage blamed him, Yes, blamed Hogan.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, yeahps, that would come what November ninety four, right,
<v Speaker 1>Savage comes in?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
<v Speaker 1>That is remarkable when you consider that radio WWF transcript
<v Speaker 1>we read earlier months after that, you know a little
<v Speaker 1>bit over a year after that, Hulk is opening the
<v Speaker 1>door to ready Savage to walk into ww and we
<v Speaker 1>know how much of a tail spin that sent Vince on. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>but here from the Netflix Vince documentary is Vince speaking.
<v Speaker 1>Probably the most current commentary you'll find it has to
<v Speaker 1>be from Vince on Hulk Cogan's departure and looking back
<v Speaker 1>on it.
<v Speaker 3>I had been following the steroid trials and all of
<v Speaker 3>the controversy and everything that went out as a result
<v Speaker 3>of that. I was very well aware that Hull could
<v Speaker 3>left WWE and was going to pursue television and movies.
<v Speaker 3>And coincidentally, I was down at Disney MGM Studios shooting
<v Speaker 3>my show for WCW, while Hulk Hogan was at Disney
<v Speaker 3>MGM Studios shooting a show called Thunder in Paradise.
<v Speaker 15>Konzeric Mishoff wandering over to the set and he said,
<v Speaker 15>we really would love to have you, you know, consider
<v Speaker 15>coming back to Rustling. We know you're filming the TV series,
<v Speaker 15>even if part Thomas was talk, you know, let's talk.
<v Speaker 15>I was not happy with acting and being locked up
<v Speaker 15>in a trailer most of the day just wasn't me.
<v Speaker 3>Hulk was torn because he loved wrestling. He missed it,
<v Speaker 3>but he also had two very very young kids at
<v Speaker 3>home and it was really important to him to not
<v Speaker 3>be on the road three hundred days a year, and
<v Speaker 3>WCW provided Hall an opportunity to do both. The nature
<v Speaker 3>of our contract was you may have a total of
<v Speaker 3>thirty appearances a year as opposed to three hundred.
<v Speaker 4>Ted Turner was given these guarantees. We're going to give
<v Speaker 4>you a million dollars a year. How many days do
<v Speaker 4>you work, well, how many days you want to work?
<v Speaker 4>I want to work one hundred days. Okay, you got it.
<v Speaker 5>We're wwe I know when we were there it was
<v Speaker 5>seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year.
<v Speaker 3>I just looked at it as well, I have this
<v Speaker 3>amazing opportunity. I'm going to put my salesman hat on.
<v Speaker 3>I'm going to get this guy to join WCW. Oh
<v Speaker 3>I left.
<v Speaker 15>I had the meeting with Thence and it was a
<v Speaker 15>real emotional me. I actually told Vince I will never
<v Speaker 15>run against you because that was a concern.
<v Speaker 20>You said it com off do movies and do things
<v Speaker 20>like that. But I don't want my release, but you're
<v Speaker 20>not going to compete, you know, I really no, absolutely not.
<v Speaker 20>So it was one of those things where I did
<v Speaker 20>misrelease it. Next thing, you know, these were the other guys.
<v Speaker 10>W c W is about to dominate the globe in
<v Speaker 10>professional wrestling.
<v Speaker 26>That's why we're here today to sign the contact for
<v Speaker 26>a match two of wrestling's biggest superstars, all Cogan and
<v Speaker 26>Ric Flair.
<v Speaker 20>We had a very close personal relationship. Took him and
<v Speaker 20>of course made a huge store out him, and then
<v Speaker 20>from there he decides he wants to flip to our
<v Speaker 20>competition and no longer be associated with you.
<v Speaker 4>So sure, emotionally it hurts.
<v Speaker 20>It broke my heart, you know what I mean.
<v Speaker 25>Damn hul Cogan's defection to w CW right there in
<v Speaker 25>the middle of the trial.
<v Speaker 4>That was an enormous slap in the face even to
<v Speaker 4>this day. That was tab build light book.
<v Speaker 3>Vince viewed home is a lifer, but Ulk was offered
<v Speaker 3>a better deal with Ted Turner. Offered guaranteed money with
<v Speaker 3>Ted Turner.
<v Speaker 20>Money talks to his expression goes, I guess.
<v Speaker 3>Hulk's looking at it also like, man, I don't know
<v Speaker 3>Vince is going to be there after the trial.
<v Speaker 4>I don't know if there's even going to be a
<v Speaker 4>company there to work for.
<v Speaker 2>That's an underplayed part of it all.
<v Speaker 8>The La Fan Wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that knows
<v Speaker 8>the boys need their candy, it's the Lapsed Fan. He's
<v Speaker 8>the Lapsed Fan Wrestling podcast with Jack and Corneo, m
<v Speaker 8>JP Soorro.
<v Speaker 1>Holsts looking around and he's like, not only does Vince
<v Speaker 1>nothing I'm worth keeping on top and the money that
<v Speaker 1>comes with that, but he's about to go on trial. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>and if he goes to jail like and the federal
<v Speaker 1>government sees his Titan towers like it sought to like,
<v Speaker 1>it might make a lot of sense now for me
<v Speaker 1>to actually signed with another company that doesn't have this
<v Speaker 1>existential risk to it.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that doesn't get talked about enough, I don't think.
<v Speaker 1>But that's the uh, that's the pulse from the tower
<v Speaker 1>right there. You heard from Shane, you heard from Bruce Pritchard,
<v Speaker 1>you heard from Eric Bischoff as well as Vince McMahon
<v Speaker 1>on the whole thing and what they were thinking, and yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that was a promise made. Hulk acknowledges it. Vince says it.
<v Speaker 2>You know, I'm not going to run against you, and
<v Speaker 2>that's exactly what he did. And that's pro wrestling. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>damn well, saying you'll never do something is just the
<v Speaker 2>beginning of the road to doing it.
<v Speaker 4>Yes.
<v Speaker 1>June sixth, nineteen ninety four, This hits the business wire.
<v Speaker 1>Hul Cogan puts a hold on retirement, charges back into
<v Speaker 1>the ring. Legend signs packed with World Championship Wrestling WOW.
<v Speaker 1>Ringside excitement hit a fever pitch this weekend when long
<v Speaker 1>standing rumors were confirmed Hulk Hogan has returned to wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>The world renowned Hogan signed a deal with World Championship
<v Speaker 1>Wrestling wc W that would bring him back into the
<v Speaker 1>ring by early this summer. The historic signing, the biggest
<v Speaker 1>acquisition in the history of the wrestling industry, was announced
<v Speaker 1>on WCW Saturday night seene weekly on TBS superstation. Wrestling
<v Speaker 1>fans all over the world can celebrate now that the
<v Speaker 1>most exciting presence in the sport has returned to do
<v Speaker 1>battles that Eric Bischoff, Senior Vice President and executive pducer
<v Speaker 1>of ww programs, who is instrumental in negotiating the whole deal.
<v Speaker 1>Having Hulk in our corner not only confirms the fact
<v Speaker 1>that WCW is the premier wrestling organization of the nineties
<v Speaker 1>only confirms the fact that WCW is the premier wrestling
<v Speaker 1>organization of the nineties. WCW president Bill Shaw added, Hulk
<v Speaker 1>is the crowning jewel to a glittering array of talent
<v Speaker 1>such as Rick Flair, Sting, the Nasty Boys, menin g
<v Speaker 1>and Oakerland and Bobby the Brain Heenan, a group who
<v Speaker 1>is truly escalated to superstar status this year. I have
<v Speaker 1>enjoyed following Hulk's career and look forward to a long
<v Speaker 1>and happy partnership. So he's saying that the Nasties, Sting,
<v Speaker 1>Oakerland Heenan escalated to superstar status that year. No, you
<v Speaker 1>brought them in because they are already superstars, right. No
<v Speaker 1>one would argue that they were on the same perch
<v Speaker 1>with you that they were with Vins. Hogan has always
<v Speaker 1>impacted wrestling in a big way. The six seven, two
<v Speaker 1>hundred and seventy five pound giant exploded into American pop
<v Speaker 1>culture with a phenomenon known as Hulkamania, which propelled the
<v Speaker 1>industry to tremendous popularity in the late eighties. During his career,
<v Speaker 1>Hogan captured five world titles, packed arenas and stadiums around
<v Speaker 1>the world, and generated some of the largest pay per
<v Speaker 1>view numbers ever. His most memorable bout occurred in nineten
<v Speaker 1>eighty seven when he body slams seven four to five
<v Speaker 1>hundred pound out of the giant Oh God, make sure
<v Speaker 1>to get that in the press release, of course, on
<v Speaker 1>his way to victory at the Pontiac Silver Dome, that
<v Speaker 1>events are passed all indoor tendance records.
<v Speaker 2>To say, on his way to the Pontiac Silbrig Silverdome. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>on his way to victory, Oh honestly, to victory at
<v Speaker 2>the Pontiac Silverdome, that events are bay. He slammed him
<v Speaker 2>on his way there that morning. Ohbody, what the fun?
<v Speaker 1>Before one o'clock call time, he slamm an Oni and
<v Speaker 1>fucking Pontiac that events are passed all indoor tenants records.
<v Speaker 1>With over ninety three thousand fans on hands, that even makes.
<v Speaker 2>It into WCW press releases.
<v Speaker 4>Wow.
<v Speaker 1>Hulk created an intense excitement and brought in a whole
<v Speaker 1>new cachet of fans to wrestling with his signature bandana, bloods,
<v Speaker 1>blonde mustache, ripping biceps, and his shredded yellow T shirts.
<v Speaker 1>He parlayed his incomparable physique and persona to a motion
<v Speaker 1>picture and television career. He currently starts a career that
<v Speaker 1>you're actually signing with WCW signals the end of that career.
<v Speaker 1>I hope you guys realize.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>He currently stars in the syndicated hit Thunder and Paradise.
<v Speaker 1>Now that Hulk has broken the shackles of retirement, he
<v Speaker 1>is I know that's such a hick generous, but that's Hulk,
<v Speaker 1>you know.
<v Speaker 2>To him, it's a hit.
<v Speaker 1>Now that Hulk has broken the shackles of retirement, he
<v Speaker 1>is ready for action. What you're going to do, WCW
<v Speaker 1>when these twenty four inch pythons run wild on you?
<v Speaker 1>Actually it's his pythons. And in a parenthesis, it says
<v Speaker 1>biceps for those now, for those wandering reading this press release,
<v Speaker 1>what he means by pythons. Hulk Hogan challenges, it's going
<v Speaker 1>to be great to strap on those boots and get
<v Speaker 1>back to the square circle. Get ready Hulka Maniacs because
<v Speaker 1>the fund begins soon on wc Hogan's agreement with WW
<v Speaker 1>includes participation select TBS and syndicated television programming, select pay
<v Speaker 1>per view events, and merchandising. Its first appearance for WCW
<v Speaker 1>could be at the live Clash of the Champions June
<v Speaker 1>twenty third to eight o five Eastern. The event will
<v Speaker 1>take place in Charleston, South Carolina, and will be broadcast
<v Speaker 1>on TBS superstation. Helk It' is also expected to participate
<v Speaker 1>in the upcoming pay per view telecast WCW's Bash at
<v Speaker 1>the Beach, which will air live on July seventeenth at
<v Speaker 1>seven pm Eastern time. That telecast will originate from Orlando, Florida,
<v Speaker 1>and it's being distributed by Viewers Choice Request Television, Viewers
<v Speaker 1>Choice Canada and Premier Satellite. The Hulkster can also be
<v Speaker 1>seen weekly on such TBS and syndicated television programming in
<v Speaker 1>WCW Worldwide, WCW Saturday Night, WCW Main Event, and WCW
<v Speaker 1>Pro Wrestling. World Championship. Wrestling is a subsidiary of Turner
<v Speaker 1>Broadcasting Systems, Inc. Big thumbs Up, which produces and markets
<v Speaker 1>television programs featuring wrestlers and live events. Yes, that's the
<v Speaker 1>press release. There's no turning back now. And what better
<v Speaker 1>way to celebrate Boss then a ticker tape parade through
<v Speaker 1>of course, the Disney MGM studios lot too far from
<v Speaker 1>where Hogan shot his show and where WW shot. It's
<v Speaker 1>indicated programming, So we're gonna do a quick watch along
<v Speaker 1>here just a bit from WW Television. I have sent
<v Speaker 1>you a link. You may have to deal with some ads,
<v Speaker 1>so be ready to communicate as much. It's on YouTube
<v Speaker 1>hult Cogan's arrival to WCW nineteen ninety four. This is
<v Speaker 1>uploaded by a channel by the name of Wade Solomon,
<v Speaker 1>and it's you know, it's what they came up with.
<v Speaker 1>They weren't, you know, they necessarily, as Bishoff was talked
<v Speaker 1>about to have the budget to fly to do to
<v Speaker 1>the Hollywood Sign, they were already going down there. It
<v Speaker 1>was you know, it was a place that could look huge.
<v Speaker 1>You know that the studio a lot with the false
<v Speaker 1>buildings that could look huge, that they could pack out
<v Speaker 1>with just one hundred people and make it look like
<v Speaker 1>thousands of people just based on the architectures set. They
<v Speaker 1>would kind of revealed that same idea when they did
<v Speaker 1>the Nitro open with the explosions on a similar closed
<v Speaker 1>set it concept. So here we go, Hulk Cogan is
<v Speaker 1>coming to w c W. All right, if you're ready,
<v Speaker 1>I'm ready.
<v Speaker 2>I'm ready. Three to one play and we wait.
<v Speaker 1>This was on Saturday night. They just showed the live Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>imagine summer ninety four. It's been crazy hustling to the
<v Speaker 1>TV to see this thing.
<v Speaker 4>We've been waiting for fans.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, it comes in the corvette, red and yellow, Jimmy
<v Speaker 1>throwing gimmicks to the parade gellers and Hogan contract sticking
<v Speaker 1>out the top of the convertible flexing the bict.
<v Speaker 2>Quick the right yellow stream has ever seen Indiana Bishops
<v Speaker 2>doing their best like the.
<v Speaker 5>World Championship Wrestling five time World Wrestling Federation champ.
<v Speaker 2>Oh he said, we're watching one of the royal premieres.
<v Speaker 2>It does feel a few people are actually there, but
<v Speaker 2>it doesn't.
<v Speaker 5>Pack speculate nobody one thing from being on one.
<v Speaker 2>Coming down.
<v Speaker 21>It is going yellow vehicles, Betty coming down from the
<v Speaker 21>top of the school.
<v Speaker 5>We've got sirens and Hault Cogan without a doubt.
<v Speaker 4>As we've said before, the on the mon professional.
<v Speaker 21>Wrestling for a long, long time, and this is a
<v Speaker 21>day that I know millions of time.
<v Speaker 2>The shirts already c W.
<v Speaker 21>Set to dominate the globe when it comes to professional wrestling.
<v Speaker 5>Well, as you know, a lot of fans here at Disney,
<v Speaker 5>MGM and Orlando from throughout the world.
<v Speaker 4>I talked to some folks. We have friends of ours
<v Speaker 4>from Germany.
<v Speaker 5>They're here from the Pacific, rim countries including Australia in Singapore,
<v Speaker 5>every place.
<v Speaker 4>The World Championship walking.
<v Speaker 2>So you didn't watch this live.
<v Speaker 5>Possibility Paul Cochan is common. It is gonna be appearing
<v Speaker 5>throughout the world, of course, a lot.
<v Speaker 21>Of people and ever since then, of course, we know
<v Speaker 21>that the unification match is coming up at the Clash
<v Speaker 21>of the Champions, that of course taking place June twenty third,
<v Speaker 21>between none other than the Nature Boy himself, Rick Flair
<v Speaker 21>and sing And certainly Paul Cogan is gonna be watching
<v Speaker 21>that one very closely.
<v Speaker 5>Well, Hulk is gonna be on hand.
<v Speaker 4>Slowly and uh and the Holster.
<v Speaker 2>Is gonna be allowing everybody in.
<v Speaker 4>The really so very long.
<v Speaker 5>And it's gonna give it a great feel more.
<v Speaker 4>Importance by.
<v Speaker 5>The traditional still wal title shot down the Road.
<v Speaker 4>Make no mistake about it. Look at these fans.
<v Speaker 21>I mean, here, you got a guy, you gotta you
<v Speaker 21>got an eight quarter back there on stilts.
<v Speaker 4>He's having a ball.
<v Speaker 21>And that's one of the greatest things about Paul Cogan.
<v Speaker 4>And having you, you know, coming here to w W.
<v Speaker 21>That's what they wanted. They wanted to see Holkogan get
<v Speaker 21>back in the ring, and that's what they've got.
<v Speaker 5>Well, there's one face on this particular rebeat, and that
<v Speaker 5>belongs to not other than Bobby the Brain Heenan. Heenan
<v Speaker 5>is sick about the the fact, the reality of sad
<v Speaker 5>and that Hogan is here. He's arrived, He's gonna be.
<v Speaker 2>And I don't think we have the proof. Tell you what,
<v Speaker 2>now that Haul Cogan is here.
<v Speaker 5>In w c W.
<v Speaker 21>But if you think about it, you look at the
<v Speaker 21>toughest competition.
<v Speaker 4>Anywhere in the world. Where are they They're right here in.
<v Speaker 2>W c W.
<v Speaker 21>With the likes of Rick Flair Sting certainly one of
<v Speaker 21>the most dangerous men ever to step inside of a
<v Speaker 21>wrestling ring.
<v Speaker 4>Of course, we're talking about Vader and many many more.
<v Speaker 4>The competition here is the best in the world.
<v Speaker 21>And now we've got probably without question, the single most
<v Speaker 21>popular wrestling star in the history of this sport here
<v Speaker 21>and I gotta keep saying it.
<v Speaker 2>I can't wait.
<v Speaker 5>We'll take a look at these fans. They say that
<v Speaker 5>a picture is worth a thousand words.
<v Speaker 4>This is like a sicker tape parade like.
<v Speaker 2>Henry Aaron is supposed to be.
<v Speaker 5>It's celebrating arismon of this dynamic and eventual just shows
<v Speaker 5>through and he likes to get in and touch to something.
<v Speaker 2>He likes to watch Bill watch the paperworld, Gary, Bill,
<v Speaker 2>watch his successful.
<v Speaker 4>Make no mistake about it.
<v Speaker 2>This is without a dude, the commercial when they come back, A.
<v Speaker 4>Gentlemen, welcome back.
<v Speaker 5>We are live at Disney and Orlando, Florida, a press
<v Speaker 5>conference and thousands of fans.
<v Speaker 4>Are here to see one man.
<v Speaker 23>Welcome honk hold good.
<v Speaker 2>Now my Tabinin brother, you remember the Pirate?
<v Speaker 6>You know something to mej We're on nationwide TV, brother,
<v Speaker 6>w c W and Hult Hogan, all my whole comaniacs
<v Speaker 6>are on TV with us right now. And I've told
<v Speaker 6>you a little dude, that whul comedy is gonna run wild.
<v Speaker 6>Check this out, brother, check it out?
<v Speaker 2>How surreal man, Jimmy Hart, you how surreal? This is
<v Speaker 2>Hulk on w Stebby talk. That's just fucking bizarre. Doing
<v Speaker 2>the whole voice, my.
<v Speaker 4>Host der before you do anything else.
<v Speaker 5>I've been asked by World Championship Wrestling officials to make
<v Speaker 5>it official. Right here. I've got the contract. I'm gonna
<v Speaker 5>have you with your John Henry brother, and.
<v Speaker 2>Do it that.
<v Speaker 5>This signature is the contract and sar it because history
<v Speaker 5>is being made right before your.
<v Speaker 2>Very better look quickly does right here we go, hold
<v Speaker 2>up the contract.
<v Speaker 5>Ready for the variety of your life ladies and gentlemen,
<v Speaker 5>hank stare this kind of a reception, this great city,
<v Speaker 5>what does it be a life?
<v Speaker 26>Well?
<v Speaker 6>You know something, mean, Gene, this has got to be
<v Speaker 6>the greatest day in hal Cogan's wrestling career. I mean,
<v Speaker 6>you dudes have been hal comaniacs since you were about
<v Speaker 6>this high. If you can dig what I'm.
<v Speaker 2>Saying, brother, you know.
<v Speaker 6>And the thing is the thing is you see me
<v Speaker 6>take on all comers. You see me be a champion
<v Speaker 6>as many times as I get fingers on my hand. Brother,
<v Speaker 6>I've body slammed on during the giant God bless his soul, man,
<v Speaker 6>I beat all the best right in the center of
<v Speaker 6>the ring and The one thing that I've always dreamed
<v Speaker 6>about the one thing that I've always dreamed is to
<v Speaker 6>make not only.
<v Speaker 4>Halke amania, because hul.
<v Speaker 6>Comania, the training, the prayers and the vitamins that's instilled
<v Speaker 6>in this generation, that's gonna be a mortal. But I
<v Speaker 6>want myself, Haul Hogan to go down as a mortal.
<v Speaker 6>And the only way to become amoral in the w
<v Speaker 6>c W is to beat the man. And you all
<v Speaker 6>know whoa to beat the man? You gotta beat the man.
<v Speaker 6>So my goal in the w CW is to go
<v Speaker 6>all the way to the top. And when I get
<v Speaker 6>ted Turner by his arm, We're gonna find out who're
<v Speaker 6>the most powerful man in the WCW is Because that's
<v Speaker 6>not been him down all the way.
<v Speaker 4>To the table.
<v Speaker 6>That Turner someday will say, yes, hul Cogan, you've got
<v Speaker 6>the match with Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 5>How about that? All right, ladies and gentlemen, we have
<v Speaker 5>members of the press. Obviously they've got some questions to ask.
<v Speaker 5>Let's start out to write it.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, sir, what have you been told?
<v Speaker 27>I've enjoyed great success, the national wrestler.
<v Speaker 2>Winning five that guy behind him, the fake, the front
<v Speaker 2>hope to accomplish the brother.
<v Speaker 6>Women five world titles is one thing, but there's always
<v Speaker 6>been a lot of controversy on who really is the champion.
<v Speaker 15>Right now in the WCW gonna have a unification match
<v Speaker 15>Rick Flair versus Sting and the great champion that Luthes.
<v Speaker 4>Was and gorgeous George and Harley Race.
<v Speaker 6>And now Rick Flair held one belt, the other belt
<v Speaker 6>is being held by Sting, and the deal is now
<v Speaker 6>we're gonna find out who the man really.
<v Speaker 4>Is between Rick Flair and Sting.
<v Speaker 6>And we're also gonna you got that right, brother Ryan
<v Speaker 6>the man, and you're also gonna have one belt one champion.
<v Speaker 11>Terry.
<v Speaker 2>Whether it's his comfort zone, no question.
<v Speaker 6>I'm gonna get in the ring with one of those
<v Speaker 6>guys someday and I'm gonna prove that Hall Comania is
<v Speaker 6>the strongest force in the universe.
<v Speaker 1>Brother, I'm still kind of leaving open the possibility that
<v Speaker 1>it would be Sting, not not Flaiir.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, now I got a commercial here, Okay, two part.
<v Speaker 1>Question for a pause. I'm at a eight thirty three.
<v Speaker 1>Yere almost done with it anyway, But that was always
<v Speaker 1>interesting how he left open the possibility that it could
<v Speaker 1>be sting.
<v Speaker 2>You know, yes, yes, that is that is true. It
<v Speaker 2>would have been quite a decision. There we go three
<v Speaker 2>two one. What do you miss most, what your last
<v Speaker 2>most and.
<v Speaker 28>What do you most look forward to when you step.
<v Speaker 1>Back into the ring.
<v Speaker 6>Well, the thing I miss most about professional wrestling is
<v Speaker 6>all those haulk of maniacs out there. Brother, right, the
<v Speaker 6>thousands and thousands of hostlers that believe in me stand
<v Speaker 6>behind me too, thick and thin.
<v Speaker 4>It won't the only part of that.
<v Speaker 2>Questions look forward and when you step.
<v Speaker 4>Back in the ring, Well, I think I've already answered that.
<v Speaker 6>What I most look forward to is stepping into the
<v Speaker 6>ring with that w c W logo in the background in.
<v Speaker 4>Until I get my hands on Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 6>That is gonna be the pinnacle of success, to get
<v Speaker 6>Rick Flair in the ring.
<v Speaker 4>All right, sir? Question from you? Yeah, Hull, you move
<v Speaker 4>from the WWF to the w c W. It's a
<v Speaker 4>big move.
<v Speaker 6>People comparing this move to Joe Montanna's move from the
<v Speaker 6>forty nine Ers to the Chiefs.
<v Speaker 4>God, what do you think about that comparison?
<v Speaker 15>How?
<v Speaker 6>Well, you know something, brother, the big man upstairs, he
<v Speaker 6>moves mountains, dude, and in seven days and seven nights
<v Speaker 6>he created heaven in the Earth, brother, And on the
<v Speaker 6>eighth day, dude, he created whull comedians.
<v Speaker 4>Coming with a W and showing what the strongest force
<v Speaker 4>is all about.
<v Speaker 5>Here's the genesis.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, young lady, God must be front office people.
<v Speaker 5>What w c W wrestlers would you most like to
<v Speaker 5>see in the ring?
<v Speaker 6>Well, you know something, I'm gonna throw that out to
<v Speaker 6>the crowd. I think you dudes can answer that question.
<v Speaker 4>What w c W own?
<v Speaker 5>All right? We had a telephone Paul recently, and we've
<v Speaker 5>got time for one more question, sir.
<v Speaker 21>One of your previous interviews that your son Nicholas asked
<v Speaker 21>you if you could beat Rick Flair?
<v Speaker 4>Do you really let me tell you something.
<v Speaker 6>If you were standing up here and you saw the
<v Speaker 6>look at all these hull comaniacs, siyes. If Rick Flair
<v Speaker 6>was right here right now, I'm letting him put that figure,
<v Speaker 6>poor leglock right on my legs, I'd break the whole
<v Speaker 6>then I'd break him.
<v Speaker 4>Brother, all right, God.
<v Speaker 5>Very very quickly, very quickly.
<v Speaker 4>Oh can you show us those twenty four inch pythons?
<v Speaker 2>Oh my god, I got that.
<v Speaker 5>This man wants to see the twenty four inch pythons.
<v Speaker 5>How about it.
<v Speaker 2>It's gonna rip the shirt.
<v Speaker 5>Get the fuck out, good Gean, look at it, baby,
<v Speaker 5>give me.
<v Speaker 4>Pray, look at him?
<v Speaker 2>Go full pos.
<v Speaker 4>What you're gonna do me, Jean.
<v Speaker 6>When Hulk Hogan Jimmy Hart in My Maniacs run wild
<v Speaker 6>on the WCW, brother, I.
<v Speaker 4>Got a pretty good idea.
<v Speaker 5>These fans are pretty good sampling of what they expect
<v Speaker 5>for this van.
<v Speaker 4>He has arrived.
<v Speaker 5>We made an official the Holsters here, Jimmy Hart is here.
<v Speaker 5>You fans have got what you wanted. This fan part
<v Speaker 5>of the greatest wrestling organization in the world. Hulk, I
<v Speaker 5>gotta tell you it is great to have you back
<v Speaker 5>where you belong.
<v Speaker 4>Let me tell you something.
<v Speaker 6>Me, Gi, I'm gonna get you a ringside seat the
<v Speaker 6>very first time I stepped in the ring of a
<v Speaker 6>the WCW, because it's gonna give you a boost energy.
<v Speaker 4>I might even get you a tag team partner someday.
<v Speaker 13>Brothers, I'd like to do that again.
<v Speaker 4>Ladies and gentlemen.
<v Speaker 5>At Disney MGM in Atlanto, Alright, for the incomparable and
<v Speaker 5>Eric Fishoff and our retired crew, Let's send you back
<v Speaker 5>to Atlanta.
<v Speaker 4>Georgia.
<v Speaker 5>As we take a look at this fantastic crowd on hand,
<v Speaker 5>Ladies and gentlemen, you're the and your nuts all right,
<v Speaker 5>So there it is fans our thanks himself.
<v Speaker 4>I've got at Disney MGM the press Coverridge.
<v Speaker 13>It is final.
<v Speaker 4>Honk Hogan is here.
<v Speaker 22>He is part of World Championship Wrestlings and he will
<v Speaker 22>be live or the Clash of the Champions here on
<v Speaker 22>TBS Thursday, June twenty third. In addition that unification match
<v Speaker 22>we've all been talking about Rick Clarence King to finally
<v Speaker 22>un to buy the titles into one.
<v Speaker 21>What a big night is gonna be live here on
<v Speaker 21>TBS break Well, Hulk Hogan is going to be there.
<v Speaker 4>Well, thank you, mister Hogan. I'm gonna check with our
<v Speaker 4>producers and see if I can.
<v Speaker 12>Get in the ring and introduce interview Halk Hogan and
<v Speaker 12>interview Claire at the same time.
<v Speaker 4>Let him confront them in front of me. Let Hogan
<v Speaker 4>do that. Who what a great night this could be
<v Speaker 4>for Claire.
<v Speaker 6>He can walk out of there with two belts, turn
<v Speaker 6>it into one, walk over the busted carcass and stings
<v Speaker 6>and chase Hogan's yellow tail out.
<v Speaker 4>Of the building. Yes, mister Hogan, it is wonderful to
<v Speaker 4>have you back, certainly, yes, and speaking of.
<v Speaker 22>We will see you next week here on Saturday night.
<v Speaker 1>He waves it off, He just walks off. He's fucking fantasmic,
<v Speaker 1>isn't he great?
<v Speaker 2>Like, what a gift to have him working for you? Oh,
<v Speaker 2>I know, bring him in, end up having play against
<v Speaker 2>playoff of Hulk Hogan too. Like it's just brilliant, really
<v Speaker 2>just brilliant.
<v Speaker 1>Kind of you know, from a TV rating standpoint, as
<v Speaker 1>we watched TBS there did not knock it out of
<v Speaker 1>the park. That's something you can't argue. June ninety two
<v Speaker 1>average two point no cable rating for w W June
<v Speaker 1>ninety three, two point zero average cable television rating June
<v Speaker 1>ninety four, including the ticker tape raide we just saw
<v Speaker 1>and a lot of other teases two point zero. So
<v Speaker 1>it's yeah, it didn't have much of a significant spike.
<v Speaker 1>But the clash on June twenty third that was referenced
<v Speaker 1>there featured Hulk coke and arriving in a big motorcade.
<v Speaker 1>This is his first in arena appearance with World Championship Wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>Did you be sure to watch this boss, or was
<v Speaker 1>this something.
<v Speaker 2>You heard about? After which I'm sorry say the champions
<v Speaker 2>were hold. I watched the class Oh god, yeah, no, no, no,
<v Speaker 2>I watched this clash. It was it was wonderful and
<v Speaker 2>the poles up you were feeling it, yep, yep.
<v Speaker 27>Hi Hulkster houns a feel this kind of a reception
<v Speaker 27>here on TBS and.
<v Speaker 2>All these signs that they something do you share like
<v Speaker 2>a montage or signs we're.
<v Speaker 4>Going to be excited.
<v Speaker 6>When I signed on the dotted line with a w
<v Speaker 6>c W, and as a momentum built, mean Jean, the
<v Speaker 6>pythons kept getting pumped and more pump.
<v Speaker 24>Brother.
<v Speaker 6>But now that I've actually stepped out here with a
<v Speaker 6>w CW, now that I'm here in Charleston, Brother, I've gotta.
<v Speaker 2>Say, Charleston, South Carolina is not a charitable market.
<v Speaker 4>Andre the Giant, God bless his soul. That was one thing.
<v Speaker 6>But listen to all my hull of aniacs, Brother, listen
<v Speaker 6>to him, me Jean never because his whole comania ran
<v Speaker 6>as wild as it's running right now. Brother, in as
<v Speaker 6>far as Jimmy Hart and myself and all my hulk
<v Speaker 6>of Aniacs go, Brother, this without a doubt.
<v Speaker 4>Is the greatest day of my life. Can you feel it? Brothers.
<v Speaker 4>But there's one other thing. What about this big unification
<v Speaker 4>match tonight, Well, let.
<v Speaker 6>Me tell you something, mean, Jane, I've had those hull Comaniacs.
<v Speaker 6>They're going crazy, brother. But as far as a unification, Dude,
<v Speaker 6>I've been on the top of the mountain for so long.
<v Speaker 6>I didn't think Paul Cookan career could get any higher.
<v Speaker 6>But now that I'm in the WCW, the two greatest
<v Speaker 6>wrestlers of the nineties, Sting and Rick Flair, two great
<v Speaker 6>heavyweight champions. Brother, They're gonna get it on tonight, Brother,
<v Speaker 6>for the unification match.
<v Speaker 4>And as far as I'm concerned, the.
<v Speaker 6>Only way haul Comania can live forever is if my
<v Speaker 6>clean up my legacy, dude, And that means I gotta
<v Speaker 6>look in the mirror each and every day, Brother, And
<v Speaker 6>I got ask myself, was I the greatest of all times?
<v Speaker 6>But now with a unification match, one belt, one man,
<v Speaker 6>one champion, and we all know how I feel about
<v Speaker 6>Rick Flair. Whoever wins this match, whether it's Flair or
<v Speaker 6>whether it's Sting, that's who I'm gonna set my sights on, Brother,
<v Speaker 6>And that's who I'm going after.
<v Speaker 14>There we go.
<v Speaker 2>Hey, that's what they want to see.
<v Speaker 7>Oh yeah, you're talking to You're talking about Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 4>Hell, what I've been looking for you for a lifetime.
<v Speaker 28>You have a.
<v Speaker 7>Ringside Saints because I'm gonna show you first time why
<v Speaker 7>I have the greatest love all dive.
<v Speaker 4>Wooo. Well, let me tell you something, Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 6>I've been watching you reach in every move for the
<v Speaker 6>last fifteen years. Brother, and I knew someday means Jean
<v Speaker 6>and it would come to this. This is what the
<v Speaker 6>whole world's talking about. Everywhere I go, Brother, from Venis Beach, California,
<v Speaker 6>to New York City, North Pole, South Pole, Japan, and
<v Speaker 6>all points in between, they all say, Hault Cogan, to
<v Speaker 6>beat the man. Brother, you gotta beat the man. Haul Cogan.
<v Speaker 6>Will you have a wrestle for Rick Flair? Well, right
<v Speaker 6>now my prayers have been answered by hook or by crook. Someday,
<v Speaker 6>Rick Flair, I'm gonna show you whoo what she gonna do? Brother,
<v Speaker 6>when the host destroys you.
<v Speaker 5>Oh right, ladies, her tournament hunk Kongan his hair and
<v Speaker 5>Royal Tampionship.
<v Speaker 4>Breuth Wayne, We're gonna be done.
<v Speaker 13>Class the Champions five?
<v Speaker 4>Who are tbs? Oh yeah, I'm gonna get.
<v Speaker 2>Listening back to it now you can hear how subdued
<v Speaker 2>and underwhelm the crowd is in some ways. Oh man,
<v Speaker 2>did you feel that when you watched?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah?
<v Speaker 2>I did, absolutely I did.
<v Speaker 11>I was.
<v Speaker 2>You know, it gave me the same feeling of the
<v Speaker 2>Shawn Michaels and MSG thing you know at first Survivors
<v Speaker 2>series ninety six, like what are they doing? Why are
<v Speaker 2>they like? Why are they booing? Why are they booing?
<v Speaker 2>The the hero? You know, yep, And it definitely was
<v Speaker 2>not I was not happy about that.
<v Speaker 1>They later on do it vignette with Shack which they
<v Speaker 1>shot at Shack's home with him calling it the Hulk
<v Speaker 1>Amania is running wild. And don't forget Shacked not only
<v Speaker 1>was a huge basketball star with the Orlando Magic and
<v Speaker 1>his rookie year, he was a complete sensation. Shoe deals,
<v Speaker 1>candy advertising, all kinds of deals around this guy. For
<v Speaker 1>the very beginning. He was also in Blue Chips, Blue
<v Speaker 1>Chips with Nick Nolty. Oh yeah, oh yep, yep, yeah yeah,
<v Speaker 1>built a fucking movie franchise around the guy before he
<v Speaker 1>even really got going in the NBA so that was
<v Speaker 1>a great get for them. Shack huge wrestling fan, as
<v Speaker 1>we found out years later, as he's participated in a
<v Speaker 1>number of WrestleMania's even did an aw match once, and
<v Speaker 1>a guy who you know had a proclivity for Hogan
<v Speaker 1>even during T and H remember how random On one
<v Speaker 1>episode of Impact Hogan runs in a Shack backstage of
<v Speaker 1>the Impact Zone. Yep, and it goes nowhere. It's like
<v Speaker 1>fifty second cameo from the guy. So there's that was
<v Speaker 1>another thing, as we said that Hulk cokened up with
<v Speaker 1>very easy access to celebrities in terms of getting them
<v Speaker 1>to agree to appear on ww television, whereas it might
<v Speaker 1>have taken a lot more money and prodding and begging
<v Speaker 1>before Hogan came along. And Bash at the Beach serves
<v Speaker 1>us as proof points of that. They also have the
<v Speaker 1>Sting Flair match and Flair gets the one to the
<v Speaker 1>roll up. During the course of the bout, Sherry comes
<v Speaker 1>out and makes her her debut like we talked about
<v Speaker 1>as Rick Flair's second and takes a vicious cross body
<v Speaker 1>to the floor from staying where she seems to really
<v Speaker 1>get knocked out, but gets back into the ring and
<v Speaker 1>puts it together an attack Sting.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I mean, I'm gonna tell you too. Sherry
<v Speaker 2>in Rick Flair's Corner is one of the best things ever.
<v Speaker 2>She has so much to do with why this was
<v Speaker 2>a successful debut for Hull Cogan. Yep, yep, she's so
<v Speaker 2>awesome like her. I mean, we know how awesome she is,
<v Speaker 2>but it's just watching her and watching how she acts
<v Speaker 2>towards Hogan is so fucking muss so money.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, she was a critical part of it, and I
<v Speaker 1>think he knew that he needed as many bells and
<v Speaker 1>whistles as this first match she could get not just
<v Speaker 1>you know, one on one exchanges with his opponents, but
<v Speaker 1>with his opponent, but outside interference and all the high jinks.
<v Speaker 1>And she did a wonderful job, but she always did.
<v Speaker 1>And Flair gets the one with the roll up, defeating
<v Speaker 1>Sting to unify the championships. In the main event of
<v Speaker 1>this episode, Clash the Champions, Cherry makes the debut attack
<v Speaker 1>Sting's a big attack on the Stinger and then Hulkkin
<v Speaker 1>makes the save to try to baby face him to
<v Speaker 1>the w's w audience. He does get a pop for that,
<v Speaker 1>but it's still kind of like, you know, you have
<v Speaker 1>to get used to this. You know he hulks like
<v Speaker 1>a hulks like mom's second husband. You know, yes, Like, Oh,
<v Speaker 1>he's here, he's saying the right things. He seems like
<v Speaker 1>he wants to be here, but we're not ready to
<v Speaker 1>embrace him yet his belonging and he's still not Dad.
<v Speaker 1>And here are the words Hogan delivers upon the conclusion
<v Speaker 1>of his final his first rather w W live television appearance.
<v Speaker 6>What I gotta do, brother, Now I know what all
<v Speaker 6>the whole commediacs I have to do. Just like I
<v Speaker 6>tore this T shirt apart, Brother, I'm gonna set my
<v Speaker 6>sights on Rick Flair and I'm gonna tear him one
<v Speaker 6>from him.
<v Speaker 4>Let me tell you something, Flair.
<v Speaker 6>In two days, brother, on Saturday, Brother, bring Ted Turner.
<v Speaker 4>Even if I gotta send this arm, I'm gonna bring
<v Speaker 4>a contract and I challenge you. I dare you, Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 6>Let's end the myth. Let's find out who the legend is.
<v Speaker 6>Let's find out who the real heavyweight champions is. I
<v Speaker 6>challenge you, Rick Flair, if you've got the guts, Turner
<v Speaker 6>will be there. I have a contract and what you're
<v Speaker 6>gonna do brother, when the Holster and all my mediacs
<v Speaker 6>destroy you.
<v Speaker 5>All right, ladies and channa man, I got hardly wait
<v Speaker 5>this Sunday Night six a time.
<v Speaker 18>May do his.
<v Speaker 2>And so Ted Turner.
<v Speaker 1>That's your June twenty fourth, nineteen ninety four edition of
<v Speaker 1>WCW Saturday Night. We're gonna watch it along. Here it's
<v Speaker 1>the contract signing. Oh boy, Hulk versus Flair is about
<v Speaker 1>to become official.
<v Speaker 2>Are you ready? Hold on here, let me get the link. Here,
<v Speaker 2>there we go.
<v Speaker 22>I am.
<v Speaker 2>Ready in that case three two one plays that.
<v Speaker 22>Back with you on Saturday Night, meaning you dog Grilynd
<v Speaker 22>has made his way to the CNN Center. History is
<v Speaker 22>about to be made brain hunk Hogan Rick Player the
<v Speaker 22>contract to.
<v Speaker 5>Be signed by Kid Turner.
<v Speaker 4>Well, I'll tell you something.
<v Speaker 5>He better look very carefully at the signature of Hawk
<v Speaker 5>Hogan because.
<v Speaker 4>Hop Hogan is not an honest man.
<v Speaker 6>You're probably use invisible in Let's take you to the
<v Speaker 6>CNN Center and this historic signing for Banks at the Beach.
<v Speaker 6>Welcome to Atlanta, Georgia, home of a cable news network.
<v Speaker 4>Oh my god, the Turner Netward.
<v Speaker 5>World Championship Wrestling for the contract signing for the match
<v Speaker 5>of a century.
<v Speaker 4>Between the challenger Holk Hogan and.
<v Speaker 7>Contract identified world heavyweight from Orlando.
<v Speaker 2>He would write things your host mean party agreed to whatever,
<v Speaker 2>Neil Perlitz says.
<v Speaker 5>Welcome, Ladies and gentlemen, dignitaries, members of the press, and
<v Speaker 5>of course World Championship Wrestling officials in booting present and Bill.
<v Speaker 2>Shaw, portraits of Flair and hope.
<v Speaker 4>To have you here.
<v Speaker 5>World Championship Wrestling longtime manager, the Moth of the South,
<v Speaker 5>Jimmy Hart. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here on this
<v Speaker 5>momentous occasion for the official signing of the contract for
<v Speaker 5>the main event for the biggest pay per view in
<v Speaker 5>the history of professional wrestling, coming up Sunday, July the seventeenth,
<v Speaker 5>live from Orlando, Florida and the Orlando Arena. It's not
<v Speaker 5>going to be just another day at the Beach. It's
<v Speaker 5>going to be the Bash at the Beach. And of
<v Speaker 5>that gigantic main event, Paul Covid is going to be
<v Speaker 5>challenging as justin for me, indeed is here at the
<v Speaker 5>building and he will be.
<v Speaker 4>Joining us in just a moment.
<v Speaker 5>With that, I would like to introduce to you a
<v Speaker 5>five time World heavyweight champion, undoubtedly the most charismatic athlete
<v Speaker 5>in the world today at a remarkable human being. I
<v Speaker 5>could ruminate on the virtues of this man for a
<v Speaker 5>long long time. Please welcome the Great Paul Cogan.
<v Speaker 2>Unbelievable. This is like the no holds Barred contract signing.
<v Speaker 4>It is yeah, and has promised his opponent.
<v Speaker 5>He newly crowned unified wc W Heavyweight Champ, the stranger
<v Speaker 5>the fans worldwide.
<v Speaker 4>He is the nature boy Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 2>There's Flair looking fully suited with the sunshine.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, we have both of the principles for the gigantic
<v Speaker 5>main event at the Bash of the Beach. And with that,
<v Speaker 5>it's my pleasure to introduce a man who is here
<v Speaker 5>for the signing. He is the chairman of the board
<v Speaker 5>of Turner Broadcast Systems Incorporated. Ladies and gentlemen, mister Ted Turner.
<v Speaker 2>Amazing.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I think it's wild And as we talked about
<v Speaker 1>after the Starcade tour, they should have been he should
<v Speaker 1>have come back to end the nWo.
<v Speaker 5>And with that, yes, let's turn the meeting over to
<v Speaker 5>mister Turner.
<v Speaker 26>Thanks Jeane, it's exciting to be here today for this announcement.
<v Speaker 26>Rest on Turner Network many years ago. It's been exciting
<v Speaker 26>entertainment programming for all our viewers. World Championship Wrestling has
<v Speaker 26>always been one of our most popular programs. The Braves
<v Speaker 26>of a coming wing team in Bay Fall CNN as
<v Speaker 26>the leader in and now w c W is about
<v Speaker 26>to dominate the globe and professional wrestling. That's why we're
<v Speaker 26>here today to sign the contact for a match between
<v Speaker 26>two of wrestling's biggest superstars, Ault Cogan and with Flair.
<v Speaker 26>I joined millions of wrestling fans everywhere looking forward to
<v Speaker 26>this great showdown. Now, w c W Commissioner Nick Bockwinkle,
<v Speaker 26>let's get this contract signed.
<v Speaker 1>Sitting at the the table, rule conduct yourself, the man tremendous.
<v Speaker 5>It is expected of both of you, as the professionals
<v Speaker 5>that you are.
<v Speaker 1>Thank you excuse me as they signed the contract here
<v Speaker 1>immediately and said, you know, it's funny Flair never signs.
<v Speaker 4>I guess you'd like that, wouldn't you. Huh?
<v Speaker 28>You know, with all due respect to you, mister Turner,
<v Speaker 28>set it by me and to Cogan. Let's be realistic
<v Speaker 28>for a minute. You know I'm the one who should
<v Speaker 28>be so honored today. I'm sitting with a man it's
<v Speaker 28>made me a millionaire many times over. And I'm sitting
<v Speaker 28>with the man who I've been told for the past
<v Speaker 28>ten years at the standard Bearer, it's the man that
<v Speaker 28>made professional wrestling with it is thee the man that's
<v Speaker 28>responsible for the millions of dollars that the wrestlers make,
<v Speaker 28>that makes the industry put it to a new.
<v Speaker 4>Dimension, to go to a new heights. I guess I'm
<v Speaker 4>the honored one.
<v Speaker 7>Yet you pose the question, would the world champion be here?
<v Speaker 6>And you asked the question, No, mister Floyer, let me
<v Speaker 6>tell you the way it really is. You don't have
<v Speaker 6>a choice. You're gonna have to sign that contract, brother,
<v Speaker 6>simply because you couldn't even leave CNN Tower right now.
<v Speaker 4>The maniacs are out in the parking lot waiting on you.
<v Speaker 16>Brother.
<v Speaker 4>You know, it could have very well been staying sitting
<v Speaker 4>across me after what happened last the other night.
<v Speaker 6>But you're gonna have to sign the contract because you're
<v Speaker 6>gonna have to look at your family, yourself every day
<v Speaker 6>for the rest of your life and the mirror, brother,
<v Speaker 6>And as far as I'm concerned, we can do this
<v Speaker 6>thing right now.
<v Speaker 4>And he's mister turnerus. Oh, let's not do anything, do
<v Speaker 4>it make history.
<v Speaker 7>Don't think for one second out with him playing that,
<v Speaker 7>I wasn't gonna sign this.
<v Speaker 4>The main reason I'm here is that when they play
<v Speaker 4>this back on the big.
<v Speaker 7>Screen one hundred years from now, they're gonna say they're
<v Speaker 7>gonna rule out any dope as to who was the best.
<v Speaker 7>Rick Blair or Haulk Cogan, whatever you've been, whatever you are,
<v Speaker 7>movie star, whatever it.
<v Speaker 4>Is, you can't beat Rick Blair.
<v Speaker 7>And I'm not things sitting across from you.
<v Speaker 5>I'm the man pal, the world.
<v Speaker 7>Champion, the new unified world champion.
<v Speaker 29>It's your mind.
<v Speaker 6>Letna tell you something, mister par I'll admit this is
<v Speaker 6>the highest point in Halk Cogan's career, but five times
<v Speaker 6>I've also been the champion. And now that you were
<v Speaker 6>the old the real world's heavyweight champion, my friend, you
<v Speaker 6>talk about making history.
<v Speaker 4>After the Bash at the Beach.
<v Speaker 6>In Orlando, Brother, July seventeenth, they're gonna be history.
<v Speaker 4>And I'm gonna prove the.
<v Speaker 6>Whole w c W and all the whull Cammaniacs, that
<v Speaker 6>whole Comania is the strongest force in the universe.
<v Speaker 4>And I will be the only heavyweight champion.
<v Speaker 2>Of the world, stands up, stand out cut right.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, why don't you take it out of the only
<v Speaker 4>fashion work to the lifetime.
<v Speaker 7>And you're looking at a greatness in Orlando.
<v Speaker 3>Bash at the beach, that's where that's all.
<v Speaker 7>Let me tell you the whey and the next time
<v Speaker 7>they're gonna be solid profiling is on your ways on
<v Speaker 7>the way out of there, and I'm gonna have around
<v Speaker 7>my waist, you know, as far as I'm concerned me
<v Speaker 7>I was, mister Turner would facing this.
<v Speaker 4>Thing right now.
<v Speaker 6>Brother, I'd like to get you down right here and
<v Speaker 6>teach a whole world of lesson.
<v Speaker 4>That's why seventeen. Yeah, I can wait. But what you're
<v Speaker 4>gonna do, Rick Flaire, one Champion, What you're gonna do?
<v Speaker 4>Whoa you?
<v Speaker 16>What I'm gonna do.
<v Speaker 4>I'm gonna make sure the deck, the deck is so
<v Speaker 4>stacked in Orlando. When you get that custom made.
<v Speaker 7>Viper years and drive that long drive back to Tampa,
<v Speaker 7>Florida and to that castle you have built down the island,
<v Speaker 7>it will be the low list.
<v Speaker 4>Night of your life.
<v Speaker 7>All the prayers, all the vitamins, everything that you and Orlando,
<v Speaker 7>you would Orlando, my friends a.
<v Speaker 5>P the best thing go to that sets the scene
<v Speaker 5>for the Big One in Orlando on Sunday the seventeenth.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you very much.
<v Speaker 5>Paul Cogan has now exited the room. Say, ladies and gentleman,
<v Speaker 5>I strongly suggest you call your local cable company right
<v Speaker 5>now as World Championship Wrestling presents the Big One, the
<v Speaker 5>Fash at the Beach live from Orlando, July seventeenth.
<v Speaker 4>Thank you.
<v Speaker 8>It's the lab Fan wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that
<v Speaker 8>knows the boys need their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan.
<v Speaker 8>He's an Lapsed fan wrestling podcast with Jack and for Seo,
<v Speaker 8>MJP Soorro.
<v Speaker 1>Wow, it's pretty good stuff. Yeah, it's pretty good stuff.
<v Speaker 1>The way escalated and they cut promise, but again Flair
<v Speaker 1>never signs the contract. He forgets to do it, he goes,
<v Speaker 1>Hogan storms out of the room. We can assume he
<v Speaker 1>does it after Hogan leaves. But it's funny. Neil pro
<v Speaker 1>recounting and Guy Evans Beyond Nitro book about getting this
<v Speaker 1>whole thing together. I rounded up Ted, Bill Sean, a
<v Speaker 1>couple of other people that were really important, and I
<v Speaker 1>told them how he wanted to make this thing go down.
<v Speaker 1>Ted was all fine with everything. I mean, he was
<v Speaker 1>like that every time I ever dealt with him. When
<v Speaker 1>I wrote a script for him, I was thinking that
<v Speaker 1>when I sent to his assistant it would be sent
<v Speaker 1>back in a couple of hours with a bunch of
<v Speaker 1>changes or something like that. But I think I got
<v Speaker 1>that thing back in about half an hour. Yeah, okay,
<v Speaker 1>Ted'll do it.
<v Speaker 2>Wow, no problem, I'm fine to me. So read best
<v Speaker 2>script I ever read.
<v Speaker 1>The greatest matches and old Championship wrestling. We're happy to
<v Speaker 1>have our Championship Wrestling on TVs Superstation for many years.
<v Speaker 1>It's been great entertainment for our fans. And as far
<v Speaker 1>as directing, Ted goes Neil says, I don't know if
<v Speaker 1>i'd call it directing so much as suggesting the pattern
<v Speaker 1>of which we were going to do things. But it
<v Speaker 1>was the biggest shoot in my wrestling career without question.
<v Speaker 1>The Hull Coke and Rick Clair confrontation at the negotiating
<v Speaker 1>table with Ted Turner at the head of it. Ted
<v Speaker 1>wanted to sign the match on TV and we wanted
<v Speaker 1>it to look like a live press conference. So there
<v Speaker 1>you go, Ted Turner, Wow. Putting his impromad on the
<v Speaker 1>whole deal wrestling fans with oblivion wrestling with Oblivion rather
<v Speaker 1>Hogan and Flair get in the ring. This is none
<v Speaker 1>other than future WCW television commentator Mark Madden taking to
<v Speaker 1>the pages of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette to get a
<v Speaker 1>set for Baschel at the Beach nineteen ninety four. As
<v Speaker 1>we wrap up our look through some of the mainstream
<v Speaker 1>coverage of this thing, and this is where we go
<v Speaker 1>back to the fact, I think that we won't get
<v Speaker 1>there quite yet, but this is an interview that Madden
<v Speaker 1>did with Flair. Of course, Madden for short pen of time,
<v Speaker 1>but even co host a podcast with Rick Flair and
<v Speaker 1>have a good relationship with Rick. I was able to
<v Speaker 1>get him get quotes from him throughout the course of
<v Speaker 1>Flair's career. So let's convey to the Solar System boss
<v Speaker 1>what was in the pages of the Pittsburgh Post gazettehead
<v Speaker 1>of the Big One.
<v Speaker 2>Oh Okay. Enthusiasm about pro wrestling is at an all
<v Speaker 2>time low, which is a pity since one of its
<v Speaker 2>all time most interesting matches occurs Sunday. World Championship Wrestling's
<v Speaker 2>Rick Flair is hoping his Bash at the Beach main
<v Speaker 2>event match with Hulk Hogan will jumpstart interest in pro wrestling.
<v Speaker 2>The Bash Card, which will be held in Orlando, Florida,
<v Speaker 2>will be shown live on pay per view Sunday. Flair,
<v Speaker 2>ww's World champion has never wrestled former World Wrestling Entertainment
<v Speaker 2>champ Hulk Hogan on pay per view. The wrestlers, both
<v Speaker 2>in their forties, are generally regarded as the United States
<v Speaker 2>Pro Wrestling's top drawing cards. Ever, this is the.
<v Speaker 4>Biggest match ever.
<v Speaker 29>It brings the two biggest names of the modern era
<v Speaker 29>of wrestling together, and it means WCW have finally has
<v Speaker 29>in Hulk Hogan, the vehicle it needs to take it
<v Speaker 29>to the level of notoriety in perfect I can tell
<v Speaker 29>you just heard Rick go Off.
<v Speaker 2>I can tell you just hearn Rick go Off. I
<v Speaker 2>think this match has something going for it. It's the
<v Speaker 2>only match people have talked about about for the past
<v Speaker 2>three years. Flayer's an eleven time world champ. He was
<v Speaker 2>in the WWE and held its title twice a few
<v Speaker 2>years back. At forty five, he is still regarded as
<v Speaker 2>US wrestling's best in ring performer. Hogan, a five time
<v Speaker 2>world champion, was almost single handedly responsible for the wrestling
<v Speaker 2>boom in the eighties. He has recently spent much of
<v Speaker 2>his time taping and promoting his syndicated TV series Thunder
<v Speaker 2>in Paradise. He was a cornerstone of Vince McMahon's w
<v Speaker 2>W from nineteen eighty four into leaving the promotion last year.
<v Speaker 2>Hogan signed with Ted Turner own WCW. A few weeks ago.
<v Speaker 2>WWEE owner Vince McMahon is on trial in New York
<v Speaker 2>for distributing, distributing, and conspiring to distribute anabolic steroids. Hogan
<v Speaker 2>testified at the trial yesterday, saying that he had used
<v Speaker 2>steroids for thirteen years and that wrestlers routinely used and
<v Speaker 2>shared steroids. Hogan, while saying that he often ordered steroids
<v Speaker 2>through McMahon's personal secretary, testified that McMahon never told him
<v Speaker 2>to use steroids. Hogan, ironically has long said his physique
<v Speaker 2>in arms, his twenty twenty inch pythons are the results
<v Speaker 2>of quote training, prayers and vitamin He's having fun.
<v Speaker 4>Yes he is.
<v Speaker 2>The flair Hogan match would have been who would have
<v Speaker 2>done gargantuan business during wrestling's peak period in the mid eighties.
<v Speaker 2>But it is nothing if not historic. I say we're
<v Speaker 2>the biggest names and the modern era, but I think
<v Speaker 2>we're probably the biggest names ever. I'm making an effort
<v Speaker 2>to be somewhat modest. The result of this, like all
<v Speaker 2>wrestling matches, is predetermined, but this result is well guarded.
<v Speaker 2>Our pic Flair the bad guy who Who? That definitely
<v Speaker 2>says who with an age Yeah not woo.
<v Speaker 1>Same paper, Pittsburgh Post Becazet July seventeenth and ninety four.
<v Speaker 1>They caught up with Eric Bischoff because he has the
<v Speaker 1>Pittsburgh connection and it's not just around hogies. Eric Bischoff
<v Speaker 1>moved from Detroit to Pennhill aged twelve in nineteen sixty seven.
<v Speaker 1>It was like a dream come true. I was miserable
<v Speaker 1>in Detroit, Bischoff said. When my family moved to Pennhills,
<v Speaker 1>it was like I died gone to heaven tonight. Thanks
<v Speaker 1>to Bischoff, a lot of pro wrestling fans will think
<v Speaker 1>they've died and gone to heaven. Bischoff, the executive producer
<v Speaker 1>for Ted turn Around. World Championship Wrestling, is put together
<v Speaker 1>PROG Wrestling's dream match legendary WCW champion Nature Boy Rick
<v Speaker 1>Flair against former World Wrestling Federation standard bearer Holkogen. The match,
<v Speaker 1>which takes place in Orlando, Florida, will be broadcast across
<v Speaker 1>the country at seven pm on on pay per view television. Bischoff,
<v Speaker 1>thirty nine, is in charge of all wrestling operations and
<v Speaker 1>television production for the company. He also serves as an
<v Speaker 1>on air personality, doing play by play on the syndicated
<v Speaker 1>w W Worldwide TV show. Eric's the most innovative guy
<v Speaker 1>in the wrestling business right now, said Flair, who coordinates
<v Speaker 1>ww's wrestling talent in addition to serving as its world champion.
<v Speaker 1>He has a dream he sees where wrestling can be
<v Speaker 1>in five years and is involving us with Disney MGM.
<v Speaker 1>Was tremendous for our company. WW tapes much of its
<v Speaker 1>TV at the Disney MGM studios in Orlando. Bischoff lives
<v Speaker 1>in Penn Hills for only a few years, moving to
<v Speaker 1>Minneapolis with his family in nineteen seventy, but Bischoff has
<v Speaker 1>fond memories of the community. Some of the most fun
<v Speaker 1>I had as a kid I had in Pennhills, he said.
<v Speaker 1>I went to Lincoln Intermediate, Seneca Junior High. I still
<v Speaker 1>keep in touch. Okay, no one cares about this now
<v Speaker 1>he hangs out with Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair. Bischoff
<v Speaker 1>first got involved with wrestling in nine eighty seven with
<v Speaker 1>the now defunct American Wrestling Association in Minneapolis. I was
<v Speaker 1>involved with the marketing and syndication, and then I became
<v Speaker 1>a TV announcer, basically by accident, Bischoff said. One day
<v Speaker 1>a regular TV announcer was unavailable for whatever reason. I
<v Speaker 1>was the only one in the building in the suit
<v Speaker 1>and tie, so I was forced into it.
<v Speaker 2>I was horrible. He got better.
<v Speaker 1>Bischoff moved to WW at nineteen ninety one as a
<v Speaker 1>TV announcer. I really don't know how I got in
<v Speaker 1>an administration, said Bischoff. WW was really in a state
<v Speaker 1>of disarray the last few months previous management ran the company.
<v Speaker 1>WW decided to hire an executive producer. I applied, I interviewed,
<v Speaker 1>and I got it. Bischoff was appointed executive producer in
<v Speaker 1>late nineteen ninety two. At mid nineteen ninety three, Bischoff's
<v Speaker 1>job was expanded to put him in charge of the
<v Speaker 1>majority of administrative aspects of WCW. In the long run,
<v Speaker 1>Bischoff may be best remembered for the lining WW with
<v Speaker 1>Disney MGM. But right now he's the man who revived Hulkmania.
<v Speaker 1>Hogan left the WWF last year. He's taping episodes of
<v Speaker 1>his syndicated TV series Thunder and Paradise. When Bischoff first
<v Speaker 1>contacted him. Hogan's wtw contract is the most lucrative per
<v Speaker 1>performance deal in wrestling history. We were talking with Hulk
<v Speaker 1>for a year. Bischoff said, Now I'm pretty much a
<v Speaker 1>year really a year?
<v Speaker 4>Wow?
<v Speaker 2>Does that sound right to you?
<v Speaker 4>A year?
<v Speaker 2>That does not sound right at all.
<v Speaker 1>Now I'm pretty much wrapped up in the excitement of
<v Speaker 1>the match, which has two of the most famous wrestlers
<v Speaker 1>of our time finally meeting on pay per view. There's
<v Speaker 1>some anxiety like, gosh, what if it doesn't work.
<v Speaker 2>I mean that means you were talking from the moment
<v Speaker 2>he left King of the Ring.
<v Speaker 1>That doesn't sound right to me. He said all that
<v Speaker 1>Japan stuff and he did all the European tour for WWF. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>there's some anxiety like gosh, what if it doesn't work?
<v Speaker 1>But if you look at all the excitement that's been
<v Speaker 1>generated already, you can already see it has wrestling's popularity
<v Speaker 1>peaked in the mid eighties, interests down now, Bischoff hopes
<v Speaker 1>Hogan's comeback and pick things up. The goal today is
<v Speaker 1>not to make a huge amount of money, although we
<v Speaker 1>like a big payday, he said. The goal is to
<v Speaker 1>move in the right direction. It's all about building momentum
<v Speaker 1>the event. This event will do that with Hulk Hogan,
<v Speaker 1>It's pretty obvious that we are the number one organization
<v Speaker 1>in pro wrestling today. We have the best talent and
<v Speaker 1>the most exciting wrestling. TV stations are clearing time for us.
<v Speaker 1>Now that we have Hulk, Cable systems that never considered
<v Speaker 1>carrying our paper views are carrying this one. We've created
<v Speaker 1>a lot of awareness. Hulk was on the Regions and
<v Speaker 1>Kathy Lee show Monday and he said that all of
<v Speaker 1>a sudden wrestling school again. I hope he's right, Bischoff said.
<v Speaker 6>So.
<v Speaker 1>The business was tremendous. If you compare ninety four Bash
<v Speaker 1>at the Beach to July ninety three Beach Blast WCW
<v Speaker 1>saw a fifty one percent increase in the buy rate
<v Speaker 1>WOW and a fifty five point five percent increase in
<v Speaker 1>overall pay per view event revenue. According to Dave Meltzer,
<v Speaker 1>it's fourteen thousand fans for the ninety four bash compared
<v Speaker 1>to eight thousand, six hundred for ninety three. Nine hundred
<v Speaker 1>eleven of those paid for a one hundred and forty
<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars gate compared to a paltry thirty three thousand
<v Speaker 1>dollars gate.
<v Speaker 2>You the nineteen ninety three Beach.
<v Speaker 1>Blast, that's an estimated one point two by rate. Again
<v Speaker 1>has discussed. Point eight was thought to be like the
<v Speaker 1>watermark they'd have to meet to be able to afford Hogan.
<v Speaker 1>So Hogan more than paid for himself in the beginning
<v Speaker 1>estimated two point five to eight million grossed and pay
<v Speaker 1>per view revenue compared to just one point one eight
<v Speaker 1>million the year before. It was an absolute smashing success,
<v Speaker 1>and the next year went way down. Ninety five Bash
<v Speaker 1>at the Beach went back down to nine thousand fans,
<v Speaker 1>but those that was free admission with no livegate two
<v Speaker 1>point three to seven million pay per viewgate gross compared
<v Speaker 1>to two point five and ninety four, so a drop
<v Speaker 1>of nineteen point six and by rate, and a drop
<v Speaker 1>of twelve in event revenue. So this was this was
<v Speaker 1>the flashpoint YEP Orlando Sentinel, they went pretty hard covering
<v Speaker 1>this thing because has mentioned Hulkokein had a ton of
<v Speaker 1>poll in the Orlando market. He's kind of also like
<v Speaker 1>a local guy, you know, to the press Downer and
<v Speaker 1>the fact that the event is the big event is
<v Speaker 1>taking place in Orlando led to a ton of coverage.
<v Speaker 1>So his quick sample of it, Boss, if you could
<v Speaker 1>share with us with the Orlando Sentinel published on July
<v Speaker 1>eighteenth and ninteen ninety four entitled Wrestling Fever has hold
<v Speaker 1>on Hulk Fans.
<v Speaker 2>Ten year old Matthew Anderson and his pal Kevin Jenkins
<v Speaker 2>and Tyler Brewer arrived at the Orlando Arena Sunday, armed
<v Speaker 2>with megaphones and ready to jeer. Now we're a hull
<v Speaker 2>Hogan fans, said Matthew, whose father drove the boys from
<v Speaker 2>Jacksonville to see what wrestling promoters were billing as the
<v Speaker 2>quote match of the century, and the crowd of more
<v Speaker 2>than ten thousand came to boo. Ringside interviews were drowned
<v Speaker 2>out by booze, and by the time fireworks signaled the
<v Speaker 2>beginning of the pay per view of vend to seven PM,
<v Speaker 2>the crowd was frenzied. They booed wrestler's Lord Stephen regal
<v Speaker 2>four hundred and fifty pounds Vader and the Bad Attitude
<v Speaker 2>tag team, but they saved their lustiest booze for Rick
<v Speaker 2>Flair World Championship Wrestling's bad Boy Champion. By the end
<v Speaker 2>of the evening, however, Hogan pinned Flare to the mat
<v Speaker 2>to win the title. Orlando Magic Center Shaquille O'Neal, on
<v Speaker 2>hand to present the winner with the championship belt, jumped
<v Speaker 2>into the ring to congratulate Hogan, and the crowd erupted.
<v Speaker 2>It was a clearly partisan crowd, packed with children and
<v Speaker 2>adults wearing Hulk Hogan bandanas and T shirts and carrying
<v Speaker 2>homemade Hulk banners and signs, and no wonder. Hogan's television
<v Speaker 2>series Tunder in Paradise is filmed in Central Florida, and
<v Speaker 2>the Hulkster, as he is known by his fans, grew
<v Speaker 2>up in Tampa. Hogan's gonna win, fourteen year old John
<v Speaker 2>Zedek of Orlando, promised hours before the match. Although most
<v Speaker 2>fans acknowledge that the matches are choreographed and the endings
<v Speaker 2>are predetermined, they love to watch a good show. That's
<v Speaker 2>further down in the article than we usually get That yes, indeed, Yes,
<v Speaker 2>it's that good versus evil script that keeps the thirty
<v Speaker 2>million wrestling fans in the country turning in each week,
<v Speaker 2>tuning in each week, said George O'Brien, a University of
<v Speaker 2>Minnesota professor who has written a book on wrestling. Perhaps,
<v Speaker 2>you know, people like it because it is predictable, O'Brien said,
<v Speaker 2>much the way they tuned in to watch westerns or
<v Speaker 2>on television. Even though the white hatted good guys nearly
<v Speaker 2>always defeated the black Cats, for many fans, it was
<v Speaker 2>the lure of Hogan that brought them to Orlando. Sixty
<v Speaker 2>three year old Luena Smith drove from Crescent City to
<v Speaker 2>watch Hogan with the hope of getting her two foot
<v Speaker 2>tall Hulk Hogan doll Audio grabbed. I have followed him
<v Speaker 2>since he started wrestling, Smith said. Hulk, she said, would
<v Speaker 2>definitely win the evening's final bout. But if he didn't,
<v Speaker 2>I've got my Nitri glistern with me, she said. Not
<v Speaker 2>everyone at the arena was a certain a Hogan victory
<v Speaker 2>was assured. Yeah, you know, I want Hogan to win,
<v Speaker 2>said twenty four year old Tom Keenel of Orlando. My
<v Speaker 2>prediction is that Flare o'll win, and when then the
<v Speaker 2>Jaquille O'Neal and Flair are gonna go at it all. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>you know, fuck it yeah, spoken like a true like
<v Speaker 2>sports authority type douchebag, you know. Yeah, yeah, I'll tell
<v Speaker 2>you I've seen a lot of these. I know exactly
<v Speaker 2>what's going to happen. Yeah, the the you know, I've
<v Speaker 2>I've actually, you know, I've actually I've talked to some
<v Speaker 2>whole wrestling bookers, you know. He says, bookers here and there, bookers,
<v Speaker 2>you know, and so I kind of know how the
<v Speaker 2>whole thing works. And I can guarantee you Ric Flair
<v Speaker 2>is going to win this match.
<v Speaker 1>Well, I think I know boss where he gets the
<v Speaker 1>idea that Shaquille O'Neil is going to get physically involved.
<v Speaker 1>He probably watched this on Saturday.
<v Speaker 4>Night, Orlando.
<v Speaker 30>July seventeenth. Haulcomania is back w C w Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 30>How can you beat the man when you ain't beat
<v Speaker 30>the man? Hulcomania is back July seventeenth, Baby Toly seventeen.
<v Speaker 30>Be there because I'll be there giving the championship belt
<v Speaker 30>to the winner.
<v Speaker 2>Shaquilla Terrible, Uh, please continue. It wasn't to happen for
<v Speaker 2>much of the thirty minute match, Hogan man handled Flair.
<v Speaker 2>Flair fought back thanks to a few dirty tricks, but
<v Speaker 2>the evening, perhaps predictably, belonged to Hogan. Fans gave Hogan
<v Speaker 2>a standing ovation at the conclusion, and then streamed out
<v Speaker 2>to the souvenir stands, where the only merchandise on sale
<v Speaker 2>was Hulk Hogan paraphernalia. Hey said, one salesman broke, Flair
<v Speaker 2>doesn't sell. Not true at all. He sells pretty damn well. Actually,
<v Speaker 2>Flair doesn't sell. That's the first time I've ever heard
<v Speaker 2>that one. Yep, exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Well, that's the mania created around Bash at the Beach
<v Speaker 1>ninety four. As part of the charm offensive, try to
<v Speaker 1>get people to buy and to see Hulk Cogan in
<v Speaker 1>a different light. He hits of all circuits, the Jay
<v Speaker 1>Leno circuit and goes face to face with his future
<v Speaker 1>Roade Wild opponent.
<v Speaker 5>The last time you were here, like mister Counton, you
<v Speaker 5>had a suitain tie.
<v Speaker 19>Well, you know what's kind of time to put the
<v Speaker 19>Superman clothes on. Time for the Red and Yellow. Because
<v Speaker 19>just like Jay said, this Sunday.
<v Speaker 6>Night, Oh I know a chance in the world heavyweight
<v Speaker 6>Champions six time, and.
<v Speaker 4>So why are you coming? Tell us why you're coming
<v Speaker 4>out of her time?
<v Speaker 19>Well, there's a lot of reasons. Yeah, that's why I
<v Speaker 19>love to do. That's what I love to do. And
<v Speaker 19>I've got two small kids, Nicholas and Brook. And Brook
<v Speaker 19>is six years old and she kind of caught the
<v Speaker 19>tail end of hul Comnia.
<v Speaker 4>Now my son Nicholas is going to be for July
<v Speaker 4>twenty seventh, and he's all the time on side.
<v Speaker 19>Of these autographs. While I'm doing Thunder and Paradise STI
<v Speaker 19>in Disney, He's going, Dad, why are you signed at
<v Speaker 19>hul Cogan? I thought you were Hurricane Spencer. That's the
<v Speaker 19>Navy seal name.
<v Speaker 4>Oh, I say, that's in the TV show.
<v Speaker 16>Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>And so now all of a sudden, Nicholas is going, Dad,
<v Speaker 4>I want you to wrestle them.
<v Speaker 19>So when I take him to McDonald's wherever Nicholas goes,
<v Speaker 19>gals dude.
<v Speaker 4>And then my daughter Brooke is going like this all
<v Speaker 4>the time.
<v Speaker 12>Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>So that's where I see a woman going like that's
<v Speaker 4>one good reason. Yeah. So they don't know you was
<v Speaker 4>so they know you was the thespian huh oh actor? Yeah,
<v Speaker 4>right now, Are you wrestling with your kids? You teach
<v Speaker 4>them to rest?
<v Speaker 19>Yeah, we've got a thing, well even before the Lion
<v Speaker 19>King came out, we've got a thing we do called
<v Speaker 19>playing lion, you know, playing lion, and my wife when
<v Speaker 19>I do that, well, I keep underwrock anyway, you know.
<v Speaker 2>Are you playing lion or you justly kids?
<v Speaker 19>But I crawled around and my kids get on my back,
<v Speaker 19>you know, and I try to buck them off, and
<v Speaker 19>finally when I buck them up, then they get down
<v Speaker 19>after they get tired of being thrown around, and they
<v Speaker 19>play little Lion.
<v Speaker 4>He was kind of like a rustling for the kids. Well, man,
<v Speaker 4>they've been marrying how long years? Seven years? Okay?
<v Speaker 5>Now, now obviously were you was your wife or wrestling
<v Speaker 5>fan when you met?
<v Speaker 4>Did you see you in the ring? And that's how
<v Speaker 4>you know she wasn't? She was a manicurist.
<v Speaker 19>Lley and I just finished a Rocky three movie and
<v Speaker 19>all of a sudden I was in a place called
<v Speaker 19>the Red Onion and I was standing there, Yeah.
<v Speaker 5>A place, so you were like, babe, I believe that
<v Speaker 5>actually cruising for babe, not looking for a wife, cruising
<v Speaker 5>cruising for babe.
<v Speaker 19>And I saw Linda and I said, oh my god,
<v Speaker 19>that could be championship material there and then and the
<v Speaker 19>next thing I knew, you know, I kind of watched
<v Speaker 19>her and I reached out and grabbed her when she
<v Speaker 19>walked by, and.
<v Speaker 4>Said, reach out and grabbed her once you walked by,
<v Speaker 4>And I said, how'd you like to have a drink?
<v Speaker 4>And she says no, And then I grabbed her again
<v Speaker 4>when she came out of the doctor. I don't know,
<v Speaker 4>you know, it's just and she goes, weren't you weren't
<v Speaker 4>you in that movie? I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, I
<v Speaker 4>was in the movie.
<v Speaker 19>And so, to make a long story short, I called
<v Speaker 19>her the next day and her mother answered the phone.
<v Speaker 5>When her mom, come let me, I went back up
<v Speaker 5>a minute now, I didn't she said, weren't you in
<v Speaker 5>Rocky three?
<v Speaker 4>Or did you say?
<v Speaker 5>You know? I come on, come on, I.
<v Speaker 4>Know guys, she said it.
<v Speaker 17>She said it.
<v Speaker 4>You didn't say it.
<v Speaker 2>She said it.
<v Speaker 19>And the next day when I called her, mom kind
<v Speaker 19>of put her hand over the phone and uh, one
<v Speaker 19>of this other guys called from the Rocky movie said
<v Speaker 19>mister t you know, and I kind of could hear
<v Speaker 19>it through her hand and she goes, ask Hima's name.
<v Speaker 19>She forgot my name. So you know we've been what
<v Speaker 19>do you say, Hope the time I did he said,
<v Speaker 19>this is Hope the rice and say Hope. Sure, no,
<v Speaker 19>it doesn't it says Terry, Terry, Terry Paul Covin. Still surprise,
<v Speaker 19>they know that?
<v Speaker 6>Is it?
<v Speaker 28>Like this?
<v Speaker 5>Is it?
<v Speaker 4>Excuse me when you sign it? Sign it Terry with
<v Speaker 4>a y, not an eye, the eye with a little circle.
<v Speaker 4>Does your family worry about injuries? Is that a bit
<v Speaker 4>like the kids, Oh, Daddy's going to get hurt and
<v Speaker 4>allsta Well, they.
<v Speaker 19>Do, because you know, whenever we go out there, that's
<v Speaker 19>one of the things that people don't realize about wrestling.
<v Speaker 19>You know, even though it's a controlled situation.
<v Speaker 16>We're out there to entertain.
<v Speaker 4>There's people the control like man, because if it's fake,
<v Speaker 4>that means you didn't get hurt, and you get hurt. Control. Yeah,
<v Speaker 4>And we go out there and we work as hard
<v Speaker 4>as we can to have good masters. I'm going to
<v Speaker 4>give you. Do you as you ever think you'll see
<v Speaker 4>that you'll have no get knocked out by a woman.
<v Speaker 4>One time the red oneon about dolls and was.
<v Speaker 19>In Madison Square Garden and this is the bad guy.
<v Speaker 19>His manager was a woman, and when she jumped up
<v Speaker 19>on the apron, I pointed my finger out of the
<v Speaker 19>teller to get down in her seat, and when she
<v Speaker 19>slapped me, she kind of cupped her hand and hit
<v Speaker 19>my ear like like that, and it kind of knocked
<v Speaker 19>me out.
<v Speaker 4>On my feet.
<v Speaker 19>And the first thing that happens when you get knocked out,
<v Speaker 19>you straighten your legs out, but usually you're laying on
<v Speaker 19>your back. But I was looking with the bounce off
<v Speaker 19>my knees.
<v Speaker 4>I was walking around the ring and knocked out from
<v Speaker 4>the lady, you know.
<v Speaker 16>Like a box.
<v Speaker 4>Have you done that? You're rocky? Well, you guys saw it.
<v Speaker 16>I did a Rocky Balboa and.
<v Speaker 4>Not the movies, but I mean in in a in
<v Speaker 4>a real match.
<v Speaker 19>Uh No, I'd never got in there and boxed a box.
<v Speaker 19>So I was in the ring two weeks ago. George Foreman,
<v Speaker 19>Oh yeah, it was sparring. I just well, he was
<v Speaker 19>helping me out with the promotion, working out with me,
<v Speaker 19>you know, because this guy in rustling, Rick Flair, he
<v Speaker 19>throws these punches on the brake, you know, kind of
<v Speaker 19>over the for his shoulder, So George.
<v Speaker 4>Gotta watch out for that. Punch. I've been washing.
<v Speaker 19>So we went out there and worked out at the
<v Speaker 19>center there in Houston, the at the airport, and it's
<v Speaker 19>a good reality check.
<v Speaker 4>George. It's pretty hard. Unbelievable, isn't He had me so hard.
<v Speaker 4>I have my hands of like this doing the rope
<v Speaker 4>a dope.
<v Speaker 19>George hit me so hard in my arm my body
<v Speaker 19>went numb. He's unbelievable.
<v Speaker 4>Do you think he's like a fat guy or something.
<v Speaker 2>He's not.
<v Speaker 19>It's like this, he's not by hitting the cattle and
<v Speaker 19>he's so big you think he's sloped, but he's so
<v Speaker 19>fast you can't even see him.
<v Speaker 4>It's like he's all over the place.
<v Speaker 3>Oh, he's unbelievable.
<v Speaker 4>It's great. Okay, So the big matches, uh Cogan Lady gum.
<v Speaker 2>Hice, so immediate hit for the Hulk strike. Guess all
<v Speaker 2>of a sudden, w W wrestlers are on Leno. What
<v Speaker 2>a wor world. And like I said, Leno.
<v Speaker 1>Would eventually be in a w CW ring. Even more
<v Speaker 1>insane for someone who's laughing in Hulk's.
<v Speaker 2>Face about being really true.
<v Speaker 1>So this is the big one, and we're gonna close
<v Speaker 1>with this article from the Orlando Sentinel that sets it nicely.
<v Speaker 1>July sixteenth is the date. Cheers jeers, wrestlers are primed,
<v Speaker 1>fans are pumped for Sunday's epic fight. Yes, the Showdown
<v Speaker 1>of Good versus Evil, a grappling match of gargantuan proportion,
<v Speaker 1>and it will be staged right here in Central Florida's lab.
<v Speaker 2>You're damn right it will be.
<v Speaker 1>If you haven't heard or been pelted by radio and
<v Speaker 1>TV ads for this huge pay per view event, take note.
<v Speaker 1>On Sunday night, the Orlando Arena will be the site
<v Speaker 1>of pro wrestling's biggest match in gears, as the wrestler
<v Speaker 1>turned TV star Hulcogan takes on Big Mouth's bad Boy
<v Speaker 1>Rick Flair, the eleven time champion of World Championship Wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>The Bash at the Beach, as the event is being dubbed,
<v Speaker 1>will bring thousands of rabbit wrestling hungry fans to downtown
<v Speaker 1>Orlando for the comeback of hul Cogan, the good guy
<v Speaker 1>phenomenon of the nineteen eighties who propelled professional wrestling into
<v Speaker 1>the mainstream. The match is attracting big names, including wrestling
<v Speaker 1>fan Shiquil O'Neal will be on hand to present the
<v Speaker 1>championship belt to the winner, and across the country, fans
<v Speaker 1>are eagerly plunking down the twenty four to ninety five
<v Speaker 1>pay per view fee for the chance to watch Hogan
<v Speaker 1>return to the squared Circle. That's the ring for those
<v Speaker 1>unfamiliar with wrestling vernacular. We're billing it as the match
<v Speaker 1>of the century between two of the greatest superstars of
<v Speaker 1>wrestling ever, said Alan Sharp at w W spokesman. When
<v Speaker 1>you ask anybody on the street to name two wrestlers,
<v Speaker 1>Hulk Cogan is going to be one of them. The
<v Speaker 1>other guy who's right up there is Rick Flair. For fans,
<v Speaker 1>the match is history and the making. This wrestling event
<v Speaker 1>is like of epic proportions, said Chuck Tias, a twenty
<v Speaker 1>five year old salesman at Enterprise seventeen oh one, an
<v Speaker 1>Orlando comic book and game store. It's like Superman versus
<v Speaker 1>Spider Man. When tickets went on sale, Tias was quick
<v Speaker 1>to snap up good seats and over to Orlando Arena
<v Speaker 1>management is preparing for a full scale invasion of wrestlers
<v Speaker 1>and fans. It really is more than just a wrestling event,
<v Speaker 1>said Steve Cox, event's manager for the area. It's a
<v Speaker 1>television extravaganza that we fireworks and we're bringing in sixty
<v Speaker 1>three tons of sand so we can set up a
<v Speaker 1>whole beach at one end of the areas.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, got to bury me under it, Bron, What do
<v Speaker 2>you doing? What do you move sand?
<v Speaker 1>The signs of time or passing hul Coogan by I
<v Speaker 1>mean it's that symbolic, dude, I mean what. Although the
<v Speaker 1>hosts of the action will occur in the ring, the
<v Speaker 1>wrestlers will be introduced in the beach area, surrounded by
<v Speaker 1>surfboards and sailboats. Arena officials also plan to beef up
<v Speaker 1>security along the alleyway where the wrestlers will make their entrances.
<v Speaker 1>To wrestling fans, these people are their stars. It's going
<v Speaker 1>to be it's like going to the Academy Awards. Cock said,
<v Speaker 1>we do have security lining the area where the wrestlers
<v Speaker 1>come in and make sure that the fans don't grab
<v Speaker 1>the wrestlers and hang on to them. In addition to O'Neil,
<v Speaker 1>who are bortally as a big Hulkogan fan, patrons also
<v Speaker 1>will get to see former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman.
<v Speaker 2>That's not true.
<v Speaker 1>He did not show Up, who will serve as Hogan's
<v Speaker 1>trainer for the event. Mister Ta, former wrestler and star
<v Speaker 1>of TV's A Team, will also be there, and fans
<v Speaker 1>who attend should be able to spot baseball great Hank Aaron,
<v Speaker 1>who has one of the one hundred dollars seats near
<v Speaker 1>the ring. Fans have been snatching up tickets as close
<v Speaker 1>to the action as possible. Most of the seats in
<v Speaker 1>the arena's lower bowl, which are priced at one hundred
<v Speaker 1>and fifty, thirty five and eighteen dollars, have been sold,
<v Speaker 1>but tickets in the upper bowl are still available for
<v Speaker 1>fifteen day ten dollars. The seats in the upper bowl
<v Speaker 1>are going to sell at the last minute. That's the
<v Speaker 1>walk up crowd. Cock said the people who were buying
<v Speaker 1>in the lower bowl were the ones who were excited
<v Speaker 1>who bought their tickets early. The Rick Flair Hulk Cogan
<v Speaker 1>match is the main event, but fans will see five
<v Speaker 1>matches beforehand. The pro wrestlers are set to start at
<v Speaker 1>seven pm. Our Ready managers expect the twelve thousand, five
<v Speaker 1>hundred tickets for the match may sell out based on
<v Speaker 1>previous two wrestling shows. The match marks Hogan's returned to
<v Speaker 1>wrestling after almost two years. Now it's two years.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, okay, I'll take almost two years. That's fine.
<v Speaker 1>Tampa native whose real name is Terry Jean Blea Hogan
<v Speaker 1>retired from wrestling to spend more time with his family. Recently,
<v Speaker 1>he has spent most of his time working on his
<v Speaker 1>syndicated television show Thunder and Paradise, which is filmed at
<v Speaker 1>Disney MGM Studios. His bout in or Landel will be
<v Speaker 1>his first appearance in the ring since he testified in
<v Speaker 1>a New York court Thursday that he used steroids when
<v Speaker 1>he was with the World Wrestling Federation. Hogann earned immunity
<v Speaker 1>by testifying against his former boss WWF motor Vince McMahon,
<v Speaker 1>whom Hogan accused of supplying him with steroids in the past.
<v Speaker 1>Hogan has vigorously denied using steroids. Despite that controversy, Hogan's
<v Speaker 1>returned to wrestling could help revive a business that needs him.
<v Speaker 1>Although pro wrestling is an industry worth more than three
<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty million a year, and it's in this country,
<v Speaker 1>wherever the fuck they got that number from, it has
<v Speaker 1>been stressed a bunch of bullshit, I mean anything it
<v Speaker 1>has been struggling lately to keep the fans interested. Fans
<v Speaker 1>have gotten so accustomed to watching it on television, said
<v Speaker 1>Eric Ditchoff, senior vice president of World Championship Wrestling. They
<v Speaker 1>called Eric Bischoff ditch off with a diceit that was.
<v Speaker 2>That wasn't okay. I was wondering if that was a
<v Speaker 2>mistake on your part, if that was a legit fucking
<v Speaker 2>ditch off.
<v Speaker 1>That's spectacular that promoters are having trouble selling tickets to
<v Speaker 1>live matches. The only exceptions he sat or blockbuster events
<v Speaker 1>such as the Flair Hogan match to excite the fans,
<v Speaker 1>the WCW, the Atlanta arrival of the WWF Wood Hogan
<v Speaker 1>back into the ring. Without question, he is the most
<v Speaker 1>widely recognized and popular wrestler in the history of our business.
<v Speaker 1>At Bischoff, I felt he was the one star that
<v Speaker 1>we could put at the top of our organization, that
<v Speaker 1>could put WCW on top, or that would rather put
<v Speaker 1>WCW on On June fourth, Hogan signed a contract for
<v Speaker 1>with the WCW for an undisclosed demount. The contract didn't
<v Speaker 1>stipulate how often Hogan would wrestle, but that he would
<v Speaker 1>make what Bischoff called consistent and regular appearances for the WCW.
<v Speaker 1>But the producers at WCW are confident that the addition
<v Speaker 1>of Hogan will mean more publicity and more money, and
<v Speaker 1>Saturday's matchup Sunday's matchup brother should be a blockbuster money maker,
<v Speaker 1>especially when it comes to pay per view dollars. From
<v Speaker 1>a bottom line type of number, this will probably double
<v Speaker 1>anything that we've ever done, said Bischoff, but he declined
<v Speaker 1>to be more specific. The appeal of professional wrestling is
<v Speaker 1>lost on most Many people vitally begin to this point. Why,
<v Speaker 1>for instance, would anyone regularly tune in and watch matches
<v Speaker 1>in which the outcome has been predetermined? What is it
<v Speaker 1>about wrestling which has been labeled a junk sport, not
<v Speaker 1>unlike junk food that keeps fans coming back. People like
<v Speaker 1>it because it is predictable with a certain number of
<v Speaker 1>variations on a theme, said George O'Brien, a University of
<v Speaker 1>Minnesota professor Let's Go and co author of Wrestling to
<v Speaker 1>Wrestle an ancient sport to American spectacle like the old Westerns,
<v Speaker 1>in which the white hats were good guys and the
<v Speaker 1>black hats were bad guys is that is satisfying. Added
<v Speaker 1>to that list is the cartoon like to mention of
<v Speaker 1>pro wrestling fans yell and scream and hate the bad guys.
<v Speaker 1>The bad guys hit the good guys with chairs, and
<v Speaker 1>the good guys retaliate, but amazingly no one gets hurt
<v Speaker 1>or should we say seriously hurt. The audience plays along
<v Speaker 1>and everyone says it's all in good fun. Fans recognize
<v Speaker 1>that the action is faked, O'Brien said, but they don't care.
<v Speaker 1>It's much like the theater or the movies. I don't
<v Speaker 1>expect that murder victim on stage to actually be dead,
<v Speaker 1>and I know that my hero will come back in
<v Speaker 1>another film, he said. I simply want to see a
<v Speaker 1>good performance. Once found primarily at backwoods county fairs and circuses,
<v Speaker 1>pro wrestling today stages its glitzy pay per view events
<v Speaker 1>in an upscale, big city arenas. The ticket prices, which
<v Speaker 1>in go upwards of one hundred dollars for ringside seats,
<v Speaker 1>reflect the changing demographics of today's wrestling audience. The crowd
<v Speaker 1>is everyone from five year old kids to eighty year
<v Speaker 1>old men and women's At twenty four year old Tom Jacob,
<v Speaker 1>an avid wrestling fan from Orlando who cannot attend the
<v Speaker 1>Hogan Flair match because he has to work no good
<v Speaker 1>stuff what wow, Just don't have to mention that that
<v Speaker 1>he can't go. I know, I've seen people pull up
<v Speaker 1>their old beat up pickup trucks, and I've seen people
<v Speaker 1>pull up in their Mercedes. But the core audience for wrestling,
<v Speaker 1>says author O'Brien, miss kids, most of whom are under
<v Speaker 1>the age of fifteen, and blue collar adults. The primary
<v Speaker 1>fans are people whose own lives are not associated with grandeur.
<v Speaker 2>And dress up glits. That's funny.
<v Speaker 1>You can tell that by the chatter of the wrestlers
<v Speaker 1>who say things like I'm just a poor boy who
<v Speaker 1>made it. They try to identify with a blue collar,
<v Speaker 1>the down and out, But the fans say what they
<v Speaker 1>want is a little goofy, hammed up entertainment. It's live
<v Speaker 1>comic books, said Tias, wrestling fan and comic book Salesman's
<v Speaker 1>good versus Evil. It's like watching Superman fight the bad guys.
<v Speaker 1>Tias and Jacob find wrestling and it's soap opera week
<v Speaker 1>to week hygiens entertaining. You can become good to bad overnight.
<v Speaker 1>If you don't work out as a good guy, brother,
<v Speaker 1>you can become a bad guy. If you're not getting
<v Speaker 1>enough people in the gate. Is a good guy brother,
<v Speaker 1>then to become a bad guy. Tayas said, we laugh
<v Speaker 1>about that because people forget overnight. Fans clamor to sit
<v Speaker 1>near the ring or the entryway with the wrestlers march
<v Speaker 1>into the arena. I like to send along the alleyway
<v Speaker 1>where they come in or near the ring. That way
<v Speaker 1>you get to yell or boom when they come by.
<v Speaker 1>Jacob said, that's the whole fun.
<v Speaker 2>You can do that anyway, the yelling and booing. You're
<v Speaker 2>just having fun. Mm hm, And so were we as
<v Speaker 2>we prepare to deep dive Bash at the Beach presenting
<v Speaker 2>the final go home promos from the Nature Boy and
<v Speaker 2>then of course, the man of the Hour hul.
<v Speaker 4>Cocin at the Bash.
<v Speaker 5>Back to the most exciting match in world Championship Wrestling history,
<v Speaker 5>the main event at the Bash at the Beach tonight,
<v Speaker 5>The phenomenon Knowing is hul Cocin with mister T in
<v Speaker 5>his corner, his longtime friend meets World Heavyweight Champion The
<v Speaker 5>Nature Boy, Rick Blair, who has guaranteed us that sensuous
<v Speaker 5>Sherry will be in his corner now. Later on, I'm
<v Speaker 5>going to be talking to the hoster. But right now,
<v Speaker 5>let's hear from the champ, the nature boy, Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 4>Hey, Sherry, he's.
<v Speaker 7>Got basketball player, he's got boxers, he's got actors from Hollywood.
<v Speaker 7>What does that mean to the great Rustle alive? Nothing
<v Speaker 7>that gave us over that Chayer's up Tonight you gotta
<v Speaker 7>Rustle and you gotta produce, and tonight you.
<v Speaker 6>Gotta face Flair and the sensuous to.
<v Speaker 4>One, and baby, we're gonna.
<v Speaker 6>Be back to back and side to side, right, Cherry,
<v Speaker 6>that's right, Hogan, bring all your little friends there.
<v Speaker 7>You got a little thun trouble with thunder and paradise,
<v Speaker 7>but that's okay.
<v Speaker 13>Come into this world.
<v Speaker 17>Come in with everything you got, because.
<v Speaker 7>Nothing you look got is going to bring the next
<v Speaker 7>boy down.
<v Speaker 13>He is the man Tonight, tomorrow.
<v Speaker 4>Night, every night, every day, every year.
<v Speaker 7>What a doll over, Hogan, You're gonna stay there, So what.
<v Speaker 13>Called and all this whooo.
<v Speaker 5>You're gonna be re emphasized. Rick Blair has guaranteed us
<v Speaker 5>that censure with Sherry tonight will be in his corner
<v Speaker 5>when he meets Hulk Cogan at the Bash of the
<v Speaker 5>Beach now has promised standing by. Let's get comments from
<v Speaker 5>Hull Cogan.
<v Speaker 4>Wall to nice to night, to nice to night, baby
<v Speaker 4>Pash of the beach Land. Well you know something, Jimmy Hart,
<v Speaker 4>You squeaking a mouse. The hawk of.
<v Speaker 6>Phone is not the only thing that's going to be ringing,
<v Speaker 6>brother in just a few short hours in the Orlando Arena. Brother,
<v Speaker 6>the greatest match in the history of wrestling is.
<v Speaker 4>Gonna be going down, man. And when hal Cogan comes
<v Speaker 4>through that curtain.
<v Speaker 6>When hal Cogan hits that ring, Brother, the thousands upon
<v Speaker 6>thousands of hawk of maniacs in the Orlando Arena, Brother,
<v Speaker 6>the thousands upon thousands the hawk of maniacs outside the
<v Speaker 6>arena that can't get in, that are trying to carve
<v Speaker 6>the walls and take get a glimpse of Hawk Cogin,
<v Speaker 6>and the thousands upon thousands of.
<v Speaker 4>Hawk of maniacs all over the world that are.
<v Speaker 6>Watching their TV's, Brother, their ears are gonna be ringing
<v Speaker 6>your little mouse when I hit that ring, when I
<v Speaker 6>tear the shirt off, when hawk Imania runs wild, and
<v Speaker 6>when the one two three of Vitory comes my way, Brother, everybody's.
<v Speaker 16>Ears are gonna be ragging.
<v Speaker 6>You know, Rick Flair, as slick as you may be,
<v Speaker 6>the dirtiest player in the game.
<v Speaker 4>Brother, you finally met your match.
<v Speaker 6>I'll scratch fighting Paul to make sure that hawk Comedia
<v Speaker 6>lives forever. They're training the player with the vitamins and
<v Speaker 6>the believing in the little generational hostress.
<v Speaker 16>Brother.
<v Speaker 4>But you talk about stack in the deck, you talk about.
<v Speaker 6>Having sneaky Sherry and all your friends. Brother, I've got
<v Speaker 6>that shock, my sir, right there in Orlando, hanging on
<v Speaker 6>to the belt and giving it to the winner of
<v Speaker 6>the match, which will be me. I've got George Foreman,
<v Speaker 6>who I've trained night and day with with the loaded gloves,
<v Speaker 6>watching my side at all times. And I've got Hammer
<v Speaker 6>and Hank who trusted me and said going in stays
<v Speaker 6>a long Brother, And this will be the home.
<v Speaker 4>Run of a high time.
<v Speaker 6>And I've also cut the maniac mugger cruise in the arena, brother,
<v Speaker 6>just in case you have any more down cards up
<v Speaker 6>your skinny alarm. And on top of that, my mom,
<v Speaker 6>my dad, my son, and my daughter are gonna be
<v Speaker 6>that a witness the fact that whole Comania is the
<v Speaker 6>strongest force in the universe, and how Comania will let forever.
<v Speaker 2>And Jimmy Hart, you squeaky.
<v Speaker 6>Will good Mouse, one of your family members is gonna
<v Speaker 6>be there also.
<v Speaker 4>Do you know who that is?
<v Speaker 6>It's not your age, it's not your uncle, it's your
<v Speaker 6>younger brother man, that little mouse, Mickey Mouse. Oh, it's
<v Speaker 6>gonna be there. But you're not gonna recognize your own
<v Speaker 6>brother because when he sees Hawk Comania, when he feels
<v Speaker 6>the power of the pythons, those big long ears are
<v Speaker 6>gonna cover his eyes until it's safe, brother, until the
<v Speaker 6>belt it's secure. We at hal Coagan's hands, but my
<v Speaker 6>down card is standing right destiny. When it got tough,
<v Speaker 6>when we got down to our final hours, the final week,
<v Speaker 6>got training, training through the straddle of the night, brother
<v Speaker 6>riding the hally Davison's and the brick walls, blushing up
<v Speaker 6>mothers in Shytown.
<v Speaker 3>I know it.
<v Speaker 4>I knew there was only one man. He's been with
<v Speaker 4>me since hal Comania.
<v Speaker 6>Was born in nineteen eighty four, and in nineteen ninety
<v Speaker 6>four he's back for more. And you know something, brother,
<v Speaker 6>We've got a special surprise for you dudes. Team in
<v Speaker 6>tell him about the knife, the spoon, the fork and
<v Speaker 6>the golden gombling. All right, go the glad.
<v Speaker 7>You asked me that you're not punishing up my goal
<v Speaker 7>because I don't want to see we weighing gold dirty
<v Speaker 7>gold at the specially emit. I just say you don't
<v Speaker 7>replay at first, I say you might be the main course,
<v Speaker 7>but I don't think you're tough enough. You only got
<v Speaker 7>a few appetizer buddy, and the gold cup. If we
<v Speaker 7>cogan taking drink the toes after you beat your buddy,
<v Speaker 7>the ring back he's the king. See w whatever you
<v Speaker 7>got it not get out of here, but where it goes.
<v Speaker 7>For Flair, you're the final supper.
<v Speaker 6>Flair out of the mood sneaky Sherry, a body me
<v Speaker 6>or whatever you want to call it your mind in
<v Speaker 6>the center of the ring.
<v Speaker 4>It's just an a while.
<v Speaker 6>It's the greatest match of all times. One fult one man,
<v Speaker 6>one champion, Brother Hawk cousin. What's gonna two When the
<v Speaker 6>largest arms in the world and.
<v Speaker 4>The team man run wild on you?
<v Speaker 16>A pity.
<v Speaker 4>Who question?
<v Speaker 5>Hul Hoggan and Comedy Ready for Rick Flair tonight out
<v Speaker 5>of the biggest single match in wrestling history. Bobby he else,
<v Speaker 5>who's Hug Hogan arrived here at w CW. I've done nothing,
<v Speaker 5>but it's turned everything upside it has and everybody knows
<v Speaker 5>how I feel about the man.
<v Speaker 2>It has nothing to do with Rick Flair.
<v Speaker 4>It goes way back me and Hogan. You humanoids think
<v Speaker 4>you're so smart. You like to call me weel. You
<v Speaker 4>don't think I'm a brain. Here's your phone at home.
<v Speaker 4>You pick it up and you calling, you order, and.
<v Speaker 5>You watch what happens, and when it's over and done with,
<v Speaker 5>you're gonna say I was right? Can I get on?
<v Speaker 5>Hogan's gonna win the title night. He's not gonna make
<v Speaker 5>Flair give up. He's not gonna pin Flair. But when
<v Speaker 5>all his little cronies around there, something's gonna happen.
<v Speaker 4>It smells ben and it stinks.
<v Speaker 5>So you order, you call, and you watch, and you
<v Speaker 5>don't see if I'm right.
<v Speaker 4>Yes, I'm right.
<v Speaker 5>Lane back, Bobby Heenan. We've got three hours to work
<v Speaker 5>to noon, Ladies and gentlemen, again, one more time, I repeat,
<v Speaker 5>you can still be part of all of the live
<v Speaker 5>don stop action from here in Orlando, the bash at
<v Speaker 5>the Beach. Call your cable comedy we'll see up for
<v Speaker 5>the Bash at the.
<v Speaker 3>Beach on b Review, Sunday, August third, at noon, The
<v Speaker 3>Lapsed Fan takes on Times Square tickets at Comedy village
<v Speaker 3>dot com.
<v Speaker 17>There goes the neighborhood, you fucking bitch,