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Hulkamania was a global phenomenon in the 1980s and for a period of time, Hulk Hogan was the entire industry personified. Terry Bollea was hand-picked by Vince McMahon to carry the company as he had the look, and the stature, and he was sufficiently popular due to his cameo in Rocky III. Hogan won the title from the Iron Shiek in MSG on 23rd January 1984, and he never looked back.
Hogan headlined the first nine installments of WrestleMania and once he was done rising to the top in WWE, he ventured over to enemy territory, WCW, and added to his already boated resume.
In 1996, Hogan traded his signature red and yellow for all black and his heel-start at Bash at the Beach 1996 ignited a second wrestling boom and for a period of time, Hogan was the man in WCW, just like he was in WWE. His contract itself was ridiculous and served as further evidence that Bollea was in a league of his own.
Hulk Hogan Appeared On The Thanksgiving 1998 Episode Of The Tonight Show
Hogan’s second career peak last for a few years but in 1998, on the Thanksgiving episode of the Jay Leno show, Hogan shook up the wrestling world and the real world. Hogan had been coming off of a horrendous rematch program with the Ultimate Warrior and while his morale was understandably low, nobody expected the Hulkster to say what he did.
Hulk Hogan announced his retirement from professional wrestling. The WCW superstar said that he had accomplished everything there was to accomplish in the business and now that his family was secured for decades to come, he was stepping away from the squared circle as he had much bigger plans in mind.
Out of nowhere, Hogan announced that he was going to be running for President. Not the WCW, the actual President of the United States of America. Even the host was a bit lost for words at this revelation. Jay Leno then inquired whether Hogan had any actual experience in politics and Hogan gave the most profound answer: He was used to making big decisions. Yes, Hogan had clearly done his homework.
Jay Leno then asked Hogan to expand on his past and whether he had any secrets to divulge, but Hogan skipped the question and called out Clinton for going through a midlife crisis. That question did not work out well for Hogan, brother.
In the end, Hogan said that the country needed a real American to make all decisions that come across the desk and to think of America first. His political ambitions even got mainstream attention as his appearance on the Jay Leno show was covered by CBS, demonstrating that many people thought his jump to politics was indeed legitimate.
Eric Bischoff Helped Hulk Hogan's Presidental Charade
In his bid for the presidency, Hogan was flanked by Eric Bischoff and Easy E took the idea a step further when he held a press conference with Hogan right after his bizarre appearance on the Jay Leno show. This big revelation ultimately culminated in Hogan showing up on WCW and winning the world title from Kevin Nash with a poke to the chest.
After talking all that, Hogan came back to the company and basically sank it with just a flick of his fingers. Turns out, Hogan’s arch-nemesis, Jesse Ventura was running for the governorship for the state of Minnesota and Hogan just could not help himself. The whole thing was a publicity stunt, and it amounted to absolutely nothing in the real world.
The Whole Thing Was A Publicity Stunt
Despite this, Hogan hinted at running for President once again in June 1999. The Hulkster made a guest appearance on the Larry King show and revealed that the executives at Time Warner had been urging him to run for president.
On the very same show, Hogan once again claimed that the country needed someone who thought of America first. He went on to take a dig at Ventura, announcing that he had beat Ventura at everything in life and so if his nemesis could win the governorship then he was certainly capable of becoming president.
Nothing came out of this either and later on, Hogan himself admitted that it was all a big farce, a publicity stunt as in the fall of 1998, his second peak was coming to an end and his drawing power was pretty much dead in the water. Hogan needed something big to stir up interest for his return and in the end, this got him another world title reign, so maybe it was out for the Hulkster.