NEW YORK, NY — “Hulk Hogan was the greatest WWE Superstar of all time, someone who was loved and admired around the world,” stated Vince McMahon in a social media post last week after reports began to surface of Hulk Hogan passing away at the age of 71.
Although there were recent rumors of Hogan (real name: Terry Bollea) suffering ill-health, it was nonetheless shocking to learn of his passing last Thursday from cardiac arrest. While he is most famous for being a professional wrestler, Hogan was an American pop culture icon well-known to even those who never tuned in to a World Wrestling Entertainment telecast.
Image Credit: WWE
Hogan’s legacy is complicated. He admitted to steroid use; cheating with the wife of a close friend; and was caught on tape making a racist slur. Though he was a longtime WWE champion, few of his peers were impressed with his in-ring technical skills. Longtime rival Bret Hart was asked a few months ago to grade Hogan as a wrestler. “He gets a 10 for microphone skills and promotion, and a 3 for wrestling skills,” he dryly replied.
Hogan’s wrestling skills may have left a lot to be desired, but it was his charisma which made him a revenue generator. Sylvester Stallone hired him to play a heel wrestler named Thunderlips in “Rocky III.” That performance attracted the attention of NBC Entertainment president Dick Ebersol who booked him to both host a memorable 1985 episode “Saturday Night Live,” and to establish the first primetime pro wrestling TV show since the Eisenhower administration, “Saturday Night’s Main Event.”
Wrestling legend Ted DiBiase, who brilliantly lampooned the 1980s greed mentality with his Million Dollar Man character even better than Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko character from the 1987 film, “Wall Street,” did. He paid tribute by writing on social media how Hulk Hogan became the most popular action figure in the toy industry since GI Joe.
Image Credit: WWE
I met Hogan at the New York Toy Fair at the Javits Center in the late 1990s. His career was slumping at the time, and he was playing a villainous character named “Hollywood Hogan” for Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling promotion at the time, which was a major rival to Vince McMahon’s WWE. Miffed that his top draw had switched employers, McMahon called Hogan’s good guy “eat your vitamins, and say your prayers, kids” shtick “a relic of the Reagan administration.”
I asked Hogan if that was a character he would like to play again. “I would love to!” he wistfully and candidly replied.
Hogan’s last major non-wrestling appearance was at the 2024 Republican National Convention. He delivered a lively speech which got the RNC delegates pumped up for their party’s nominee, Jamaica Estates native, Donald Trump.
Image Credit: WWE
His last televised WWE appearance was in late April in LA at the Intuit Dome. The occasion was to mark Netflix becoming the new television home for “Monday Night Raw.” The anti-Trump crowd loudly booed Hogan. He was quite unnerved by that reaction.
He sadly learned Hulkamania could not pin a politically divided nation.
Hulk Hogan was also a talented bass player and was friendly with guitarist/rock star Rick Derringer. It was that comradery which led to Derringer writing “I Am A Real American,” as a theme song for him. In a cruel irony, Derringer passed away at the age of 77 two months before Hogan’s passing.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns meets with media ahead of Trade Deadline
Mets president of baseball operations, David Stearns, held his monthly briefing with the media last Monday. With the trade deadline ten days away then, I asked him if the general managers of bad teams were calling him and doing a variation of Henny Youngman’s famous one-liner, “Take my wife, please,” by beseeching him “to take their players, please.” Stearns’ facial expression told me he was clearly not familiar with the legendary Borscht Belt comedian.
Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
Stearns normally answers reporters’ questions with the confidence of a power hitter knowing a fastball is coming right down the middle of the plate. That was not the case with my query, however. “Uh no, they haven’t called,” he stammered and repeated.
His response did not pass the smell test. Four days later, the Mets acquired lefty reliever Gregory Soto from the Baltimore Orioles four days later. He told Mets SNY field reporter Steve Gelbs he had been working on this trade for a couple of weeks. I am mystified as to why Stearns could not simply have replied, “I talk with other teams’ executives all the time,” instead of the untrue statement he gave.
Joe Torre visits Citi Field to promote his foundation “Safe at Home”
Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre, who managed the Mets during one of their worst periods in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before finding greater success with the Yankees fifteen years later, followed David Stearns into the Citi Field press conference room. He was there to promote his foundation, “Safe at Home,” whose mission is to protect children from domestic violence. Torre recalled harrowing memories of his Brooklyn childhood with his abusive father.
Image Credit: Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation
The Safe at Home Foundation will hold its annual gala on November 13 at Manhattan’s Gotham Hall.
Torre was asked if he had any David Wright memories. He said he enjoyed having him as his third baseman when he managed Team USA during the World Baseball Classic. He also joked how his Hall of Fame closer, Mariano Rivera, was upset that Torre ordered him to intentionally walk Carlos Delgado to pitch to Wright with the bases loaded and the game on the line. Wright delivered a walk-off double. “Mr. Torre, please don’t ever have me do that again!” Joe claimed Rivera told him after the game.
November Baseball in Queens
There will be November baseball at Citi Field this year. All-Star teams from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will square off in a game on Saturday, November 15.
Image Credit: Asociación de Peloteros Profesionales de Puerto Rico/Fenapepro
Expect to see many MLB household names to take part.
Kentucky Oaks set to be on on NBC
Title IX equality will finally be coming to horse racing in May 2026. NBC, the longtime broadcast home of the Kentucky Derby, will televise the Kentucky Oaks, the big race for fillies, in primetime on Friday, May 1, the day before the Derby.
CW Network’s plans to televise Professional Bull Riders during August and September weekends
The CW Network will be televising the Professional Bull Riders team competitions on weekends during August and September. The PBR will be at the UBS Arena from September 18-20, with the last day of the competition being televised on Channel 11.
The 1% Club on FOX
I was flipping through television channels the other day and came across a show called “The 1% Club” on FOX which is hosted by the irrepressible Joel McHale. It is a quiz show which starts out with 100 contestants who get winnowed down as the questions get increasingly more difficult.
Image Credit: FOX
The game itself is tedious but watching the snarky McHale ad-lib put-downs with the contestants who just lost is guilty fun.
Music World mourns the passing of Ozzy Osbourne and Connie Francis
While I am not an expert on heavy metal music, I was glad to vote for Ozzy Osbourne for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He was synonymous with the genre. He was also a very caring man as he raised millions for various charities. Osbourne quietly fought a lengthy battle against Parkinson’s Disease before succumbing to its complications last week at the age of 76.
Speaking of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it is an absolute tragedy that Connie Francis, who passed away two weeks ago at the age of 87, was never inducted into it. The same can be said for her fellow New Jersey ‘60s pop star, the late Lesley Gore. They were pioneers in every sense of the term. It would be nice if these oversights were to be corrected, but I am not holding my breath.
You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.
