Expository Essay: Hulk Hogan's Life

Expository Essay “I woke up and realized life is great and people are awesome and life is worth living.” (Source 3)Terry Bollea or as his fans knew him as Hulk Hogan was a beloved figure in the World Wrestling Federation in the 1980’s, this was due to his ability to perform and his ever growing fan base of the sensation Hulkamania. Terry Gene Bollea was born on August 11, 1953.(Source 1) Terry Bollea wrestling career began when The Brisco Brothers saw him frequently ringside at wrestling matches so they had him trained to be a wrestler by Hiro Matsuda. Terry had his first match in 1977 going by the alter ego of the Super Destroyer, but also went by the stage names of Sterling Golden or Terry Boulder. His wrestling career really took off
when in 1979, Vince McMahon senior took interest in the amatur wrestler and gave him the opportunity to join the World Wrestling Federation. (Source 2)Because Terry stood at 6 feet 8 inches and weighed 303 pounds, McMahon saw that the young wrestler resembled the superhero The Hulk and from then on Terry Boulder was known as Hulk Hogan.(Source 1) Hulk Hogan left a lasting impact on the WWF. He was the first to introduce the concept of the intro to the business and became a sensation from the moment that he stepped in the ring. Hogan career in both the WWF and the WWE was what led up to him being one of the greatest superstars of all time, and started the sensation that became Hulkamania. Before Hogan was introduced to the WWF, wrestlers didn't have entrances or entrances.
There were no sensations such as Hulkamania. Hulk Hogan started all of that. In 1982 Hogan bribed a worker backstage of an event five hundred dollars to play the song “Eye of the Tiger” when he walked out to the ring. This was the first time in history any wrestler had done this. Hogan had originally asked Vince McMahon senior if he could play entrance music when he walked out to the ring and he said that he would consider. McMahon eventually agreed to letting Hulk do this meaning he had wasted five hundred dollars on bribing the worker but Hogan didn’t see the need to ask for the money back. When Hogan walked out to the ring with the song “Eye of the Tiger” playing in the background there was an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the crowd in regards to the music. So from then on entrance music became a regular occurrence in the WWF and even continued to this day in the WWE. Hogans run in the WWF and WWE was an influential one that didn’t just involve him being the founder of the entrance music. Hogan was also the first superstar to not only be a professional wrestler but also the first to be a moviestar. Hulk Hogan appeared in films such as “Rocky III” and “No Hold Bars”. The events in the movie tied in to Hogan's actual storyline in the WWF. In the movie the main protagonist is a man named Zeus who Hogan has to fight to prove himself. But the fighting was not limited to the film. For several weeks Hogan and Zeus had a heated rivalry. Since Hogan had been the first superstar to ever do this, the idea of a rivalry storyline got fairly positive reactions from the fans. Rivalry storylines are also a common phenomenon that continue to this day, Hogan's being the first left a lasting impact on the WWF and
WWE. Hulk Hogan was not afraid to go against the grain when it came to wrestling. His techniques were unconventional for the time and some of them even shocked the world. But even after all that, Hogan’s career was one of the most influential in the wrestling industry and to this day is still one of the most recognizable characters in the business. Despite an interview that got Hogan wiped from all WWE recent history, Hulk Hogan was still one of the greatest super stars of all time.