Lukazan Saw on youtube earlier a video posted as a tribute to Hogan. Hulk, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage and Big Van Vader all in this match they were airing. All dead.
Makes me wonder about the Rock... where as most wrestlers will retire in their late forties or early 50s and come off the juice, he's been doing it solidly since the 90s and has continued to do so since retiring as a wrestler as his hollywood roles have relied on his physique. Hell, he's bigger now than he was in his physical prime. Surely he croaks in his 70s or even before..
A lot of these guys were mixing drugs, pain killers, cocaine, Steroids + alcohol on top over years. Eventually their bodies just give in. Especially when you consider the brutal schedule the old school guys had, 300 shows a year.
Rock was only a full time wrestler for like 7/8 years, I think their schedules got lighter but during his wrestling days he was noway near as big as he is now.
Lukazan As for Hogan himself, I never really been a fan aside from when I remember being a very young boy and being upset that Ultimate Warrior beat him at Wrestlemania 6... but never felt any connection to him since that time. He did a promo when he returned to the WWE in the early 2000s (hilarious if you haven't seen by the way, Hogan cannot get his lines right despite trying twice, and also refers to himself as gay..) where Vince basically said he made him and that he was simply the right guy in the right place - kinda feel there's truth in that to be honest. I think his dinstict look with the handle bar bleached moustache was an important factor in his popularity more than anything else - certainly wasn't a great wrestler. Bit of an arsehole as a person if you believe the stories, too.
Still though, kinda jarring when these people that were a part of your childhood in whatever way start dying.
That last line is spot on, watching your childhood stars just go one by one is horrible. For a lot of us who grew up watching him he was the main man, a larger than life figure.
This guy made pro wrestling what it is today. Saw a great quote the other day, talking about the Mount Rushmore of Wrestlers, someone said he isn't on the mountain but probably is the mountain! I think he main evented 7 of the first eight Wrestlemanias! I only started watching wrestling around 91/92 and by then his babyface star was starting to fade but this guy kept himself around the main event scene for over 20 years, that is crazy. Firstly the Hulk Hogan run with WWF which made it a massive multinational corporation and put pro wrestling on the map but then reinvented himself and as Hollywood Hogan and ignited the Monday night wars, probably the best most exciting era ever in wrestling.
You can see from the Wrestling world the reaction. He was a bit of a shitty person and said some horrible things but he paved the way for a lot of Wrestlers. I've seen some black wrestlers who took offence to his comments but worked with him and said he was good to them.
