Hulk Hogan was a megastar in the 1980s and 1990s in both WWE and WCW. He’s arguably the most iconic performer professional wrestling has ever produced, so much that his look and mannerisms have not only influenced the sport, but pop culture at large.
Being a wrestler from the pre-Attitude Era of WWE also means Hulk Hogan is super corny, but corny in a way that is totally acceptable, because he’s Hulk Hogan. There’s so much goofy stuff that society lets Hogan get away with (in kayfabe), but here’s ten of the corniest things about Hulk Hogan that only the Hulkster can pull off.
10 Prayers & Vitamins
As the top babyface of the ‘80s and (most of) the ‘90s, Hulk Hogan was a hero to the people -- especially children -- and at his peak Hogan’s character really leaned into his status as a role model.
So whenever he’d cut promos he’d tell the kids to say their prayers and eat your vitamins, which is incredibly corny, especially for a guy whose move set regularly includes eye gouges and face biting.
9 The Leg Drop
Throughout most of his career as a top star, Hogan’s finisher was the Leg Drop, where he’d bounce off the ropes and drop his thigh onto a dude’s neck.
It’s very simple, but extremely corny considering, at the time, Randy Savage was jumping off the turnbuckle elbow-first into dude’s hearts, and Ultimate Warrior was channeling the energy of his home dimension into a destructive power previously unseen by human eyeballs. Plus, when he’d wrestle in Japan, Hogan hogan had a much cooler finisher -- a Lariat called the AXE BOMBER.
8 Fighting Foreign/Monster Heels
Many of Hulk Hogan’s most memorable enemies were foreigners, great big guys, or some combination of the two. It’s what made him such a star -- not only could Hogan overcome the odds and defeat away men with their own gravitational pulls who couldn’t speak English too good, but he did it for America.
It may sound jingoistic and cheesy -- it is -- but if you go back and watch those matches, the energy is amazing. Hulk Hogan was just the right guy to do it. For a modern comparison, when John Cena took on Rusev in a similar style at WrestleMania, it just felt corny.
7 Novelty Records
As far as goofy outside-of-wrestling projects go, fans love to make fun of Macho Man Randy Savage’s goofy rap album Be a Man, but for some reason, let Hulk Rules slide.
Recorded by Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band -- a.k.a. Hogan, his wife, Jimmy Hart, and one other guy -- the album features (among other things) kid-friendly rap and a ballad about a dead Make-A-Wish kid. Maybe it avoids the same mockery because, out of all of Hogan’s extracurricular endeavors, a novelty record pales in comparison to Hulk Hogan’s Pastamania.
6 Saying “Brother”
If there’s one thing Hulk Hogan made popular (besides pro wrestling in general) it’s punctuating every other sentence with “Brother.” It’s a go-to tic for anyone doing an impression of a generic wrestler, and it’s totally Hulk Hogan’s thing.
Nobody these days can pull it off (or should try), and it’s so a thing only Hogan can do that most other wrestlers who say “Brother” just come off as spectacularly corny, even when they’re specifically trying to make fun of the Hulkster.
5 “Real American”
Hulk Hogan’s classic entrance theme slaps, but boy is it corny in a cheeseball ‘80s power rock sort of way, with its extremely of-its-time production, complete with synthesizer and lyrics about patriotism and doing the right thing.
Hilariously, the entrance music wasn’t even meant for him -- it was used by the U.S. Express before Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham jumped ship to the NWA. The only thing cornier than “Real American” was that before that, Hogan used “Eye of the Tiger” because he was in Rocky III.
4 Hulking Up
Recoveries are a common babyface move -- get the crowd to Tinkerbell you out of danger, do a set of signature moves, get a big cheer -- but Hogan’s recovery was special because it had a name. Hogan didn’t just recover; he’d Hulk Up. Suddenly any damage incurred during the match would go away, Hogan would resist any move, point at the guy, Irish Whip, Big boot, Leg Drop, 1-2-3, and the match was over.
It was all very goofy, and made goofier by the fact that it always felt like Hogan suddenly decided to win the match. Sure, the idea was he was overcoming obstacles and converting the love of children across the world into pro wrestling energy, but it’s also just a signal that the match is about to end in five seconds.
3 The Finger Wag
This is an aspect of Hogan’s Hulk Up process that deserves its own section, as the flat-out corniest part of that whole thing is when he does the exaggerated finger wag at his opponent.
Sure, it’s hyperbolic so the fans in the cheap seats can feel it, but it’s still just a finger wag, and finger wags are what parents and teachers do in music videos when they don’t approve of Twisted Sister. Just deeply uncool.
2 The Skullet
No disrespect to the follically challenged, but it needs to be stated that one of the biggest wrestling stars of all time sported the least cool hairstyle of all time -- a skullet.
Sure, he’d cut promos and show up on the posters with a bandana, but when it came time to throw down in the ring, whammo -- party in the back, out of business in the front. What’s especially wild is that nobody ever mentioned it. Hulkamania is powerful stuff.
1 Doing Most of This Stuff into the 21st Century
Hulk Hogan spent the late 1990s as a heel in WCW, but when he returned to the WWE, he managed to get a hero’s welcome from fans despite the promotion indoctrinating them into loving Steve Austin and The Rock and thinking Hogan was lame.
But still, he came back in the early 2000s and fans ate up all his tics and go-to moves, so much that when he took on The Rock, they booed Rocky and cheered for Hogan’s dusty old Hulk Up shtick. Imagine if John Cena came back and started doing his five moves of doom against Drew McIntyre. Crowds would eat him alive.