“He put his heart and soul into the business and it ate him up,” said American pro wrestler Kurt Angle about Hulk Hogan, a superstar of the game. Terry Gene Bollea, 69, better known by his wrestling name, has undergone at least three back surgeries over the course of his storied career. “Hogan had his back surgery again. He had the nerves cut from his lower body … He uses a cane to walk around. I thought he was using a cane ‘cause he has pain in his back. He doesn’t have any pain, he has nothing at all. He can’t feel anything. So now he can’t feel his legs so he has to walk with a cane,” Kurt Angle said. There have been few individuals who have had the kind of impact in their respective fields as Hulk Hogan had on pro wrestling. The art form piggybacked on his popularity to become the multi-billion dollar business it is today. We take a look at Hulk Hogan’s career and how his most iconic move is likely behind his sorry physical state today. A changing pro wrestling landscape in the early 1980s At the beginning of the 1980s, pro wrestling was organised into little fiefdoms across the US, with no wrestling promotion having a national audience. However, by the end of the 1980s, World Wrestling Federation (today, World Wrestling Entertainment) was king, not only acquiring various regional promotions but also growing wrestling’s popularity far beyond its traditional audience. There were two people behind this revolution: Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan. Vince McMahon acquired his father’s New York-based wrestling promotion WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Foundation) in 1980. Soon, he began making a push to expand the company, vying for national TV spots. This angered other companies who resisted McMahon’s push but McMahon had an ace up his sleeve – Hulk Hogan. Hulkamania: making pro wrestling “mainstream” McMahon had always been a fan of Hogan’s 6 foot 6 inch muscular physique and while Hogan was not technically the most proficient, he was a born performer. As he was given a push as the biggest babyface in WWF, his popularity skyrocketed, ushering in WWF’s “Golden Era”. “Hulkamania” began when Hogan won his first WWF World Heavyweight Championship after defeating the Iron Sheikh. He escaped the clutches of the Sheikh’s indomitable “camel clutch” and won an unlikely victory. “Hulkamania is here!” the ringside commentator exclaimed. Over the next decade, Hulk Hogan became the face of professional wrestling. He was a part of many memorable storylines, feuding with the likes of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Rick Flair, The Undertaker, and The Ultimate Warrior. He was billed as this great American symbol, a gimmick that would allow him to transcend pro wrestling to become a pop-cultural icon. Almost always the baby-faced underdog fighting the unstoppable evil heel, Hogan stood for American resilience and a “never-say-die” attitude. Referring to his fans as "Hulkamaniacs", he introduced his four "demandments": training, saying prayers, eating vitamins and believing in oneself. The “Leg Drop” Pro wrestlers are often defined by their “signature move” or “finisher” – a move that would inflict a lot of damage, often getting the wrestler a win. For Hulk Hogan, this move was the “Leg Drop”. In and of itself, it was a simple move. Hogan would hit the ropes and drop his leg on the opponent, seemingly smashing onto their face However, Hogan’s talents as a live performer made this move. Used at most only once during a match, Hogan would build it up, playing the crowd like a fiddle. Often, Hogan would cup his ears for the crowd’s reaction before the move, sending the audience into a mad frenzy. He defeated the likes of Andre the Giant, Randy Savage and Yokozuna with this move, with very few wrestlers ever kicking out after it. Repeated Leg Drops ruined Hogan’s back However, his iconic move proved to be a bane to his health. Over a period of time, as he repeatedly performed leg drop, his hip and back felt its impact. In a 2019 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Hogan said that the state of his back was due to him having to deliver the leg drop “over 300 times a year”. In fact, in the interview, he said that he would have “never used the leg drop” if he had known what it would do to him. “All the back surgeries I’ve had are because of that (expletive) leg drop… Dropping that leg for 35 years did me in.” Discussion regarding the health and safety of pro wrestlers has been going on for years, alongside related conversations on payments and health insurance. While every wrestling programme begins with a disclaimer telling viewers the risks that pro wrestlers undertake for their entertainment, asking fans “not to try it at home”. Crucially, the risks do not just include acute injuries (muscle tears, fractures, etc.). Many wrestlers have suffered from chronic back issues as well as early onset dementia, with studies attributing both to “repeated trauma over the course of years”. Studies have also identified wrestlers having a “very high premature mortality rate”. One study released in 2014 and looking at data spanning 26 years claimed that “professional wrestlers are more likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular disease compared to the general population and morbidly obese wrestlers are especially at risk.” Hogan’s predicament has brought renewed focus on the health risks of pro wrestling.
