RIP Mr Hogan ,, We're getting to the age that when all our teens to 20+ heros or favorite personalities start passing ,, ya know we're not far behind .
That's true, let's hope we're around for a while to come. I got such a kick from Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Savage, Miss Elizabeth, Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect, Mean Gene Okerlund (all gone now, except for Nature Boy Flair) and the others on WWF. Big time wrestling today just sucks. Not saying that because I'm getting older, but the business just isn't the same with all the PC, wokeness, boring predictable storylines, boring characters. I stopped watching WWE a few years ago because it got so bad, and AEW is about the same. About all I can watch now is TNA Impact and WOW.
We moved to Portland in 1980, there was a really awesome place in North Portland near the Columbia River called "The Sandy Barr Flee Market", which had amongst many things, they had Saturday Wrasslin (long before the WWF or whatever they call it now, long before it went big time and moved to the east coast!), which was where ALL the big names started, Including Hulk Hogan! Growing up there, I got to see them all, got everyone's autograph and lots of photos with all our favorites! Each and every one of them were amazing with the fans, with out exception, they ALL took whatever time to meet and greet all the kids and Dads and sign autographs and take photos after the show! I was fortunate enough to grow up in that area, and actually knew a couple of those guys personally, Billy Jack Hains, Rowdy Roddy Piper ( Was a neighbor) and a few others! I remember the day Hulk first appeared in public, his first bout, and it was epic, and it didn't take that long for him to establish his trademark tee-shirt ripping and his loud and proud speaking, hell, all those guys were like that, but the Hulk was different, there was just something about him that made you want to join him for a good bash fest!
Growing up just north of Charlotte, NC, we always watched the NWA on Saturdays followed by Mid-Atlantic with Gordon Soley. Dad and Uncle Jake always took us kids to the old Ovens Auditorium on Thanksgiving for the big matches. We never had much exposure to Hulk Hogan until I moved out and got cable. It was Flair, the Andersons, Black Jack Mulligan, Harley Race, the Mighty Igor, Dusty Rhodes, and later on Ricky Steamboat and Magnum TA. Nelson Royals retired and opened his western wear store outside of Mooresville, Steamboat and Nikita Koloff opened gyms. We would see them all around on occasion (Magnum TA used to always be at the Auto Fair in Charlotte every year buying Mustang parts) and they all were mostly humble good guys who would take a minute to talk. I don't watch the new stuff as it has become a soap opera, and I think Hogan played a big part in the transition to these corny story lines, along with WWE. When McMahon bought TNA and shut it down I think that was the end of anything resembling old school wrestling shows. Still, I hate to see a legend like Hogan pass on. Just a reminder that none of us gets out alive.
Unfortunately, the good ol’ days of entertainment and all the various types of personalities that made that era of entertainment great are long gone and are not coming back. Heck, it has been 25 years since a major rock act has been signed to any major label, most movies are complete garbage that tries to rehash, rewash, and repackage the same storylines and plots with CGI or with a totally bent political/woke bullsh!t that has caused Hollywood to loose hundreds of millions. TV series today are basically in the same boat. A few start out great, keep the momentum going till the last seasons, then completely go of a cliff(Game Of Thrones/Yellowstone) are the two of the best examples, and let’s look at the state of broadcast tv. Late nite is on its deathbed with the recent cancellation of The Late Show, but the host of all late nite has no one but themselves to blame.
You forgot this guy whose ads practically financed the whole thing! RE Billy Jack Haines - He opened a gym next to the grocery store where I was managing the produce department. The owner of the store was aso leasing him the building and so we were providing a lot of food for the grans opening at cost. I got a call from him to order what he wanted. People assume that wrestlers aren't very smart due to their stage personas, but I have to tell you he was a sharp as a freaking tack and was also well spoken.
I lived in Oregon as a kid for a couple of years in the mid-70s and I watched Portland Wrestling, too! I remember Tom Peterson's Stereo World and the way Johnny Boyd would always insult him--and everyone else since he was the main heel. And I liked commentator Frank Bonema because he always said any wrestler who got clobbered and knocked on the mat or the concrete floor was "groggy" or "both men are very groggy" if it was two of them. No, rasslin' isn't like that anymore.
Mr Tempstar,, we've kicked some of the same ground over the years. I grew up in the Charlotte area in the 60s and 70s,,, I delivered the Charlotte Observer paper for about 3 yrs ,,, I delivered to an apartment complex on my route. I always had extra papers ,, and folks would ask me if I had an extra paper,, and they would give me 15 cents to a dollar for a paper . That was good side money back then . I carried papers on 3 routes ,, for about 3 yrs ... One day , I was delivering in a apartment complex ,, this dude came out and asked me if I had an extra paper,, he was a big dude , , I said yes sir ,,, I think he gave me 50 cent for a 15 cent paper . After finishing my deliveries walking back thru the complex , went back by this guys apartment,, ,,, the guy asked me if I had another paper,, I said yes sir ,, was something wrong with the paper I gave him ,, he said no ,, that his picture was in the paper,, I said cool ,, who are you ,, he said Ric Flair ,,,, I watched all them wrestling shows in the 70s ,,, but I did not recognize him. But he gave me 5 dollars for that next paper. But that was when Ric Flair was wrestling with the Anderson brothers ,, the 4 horseman ,,, ,, and they had been In a plane crash on the way back from a wrestling match in Tennessee,,, . Just reminecceing about the good Ole days ,,,
I forgot to mention that Gene and Ole Anderson was in that apartment with him ,, that was back in the 4 horseman days ,,,
Ran into a few of the old timer wrestlers going to school in Hotlanta. Okie Shakina, lived by us, drank a lot and always got his butt kicked. The Black Widows girl tag team, Denise passed away, Judy I call her about once a year. Met a few others but that's another lifetime ago. RIP Hulkster!
My Dad delivered a safe to Ric's home in Charlotte in the early 80's but Ric wasn't there. Ric tapped me on the shoulder in 1992 as I was working on an AC unit across the street from his beach house and scheduled us to service his systems. This was on the end point of Garden City beach SC. Nice guy but wasn't there the next week when we went back. Yeah, no doubt we have walked on some of the same dirt!
