Hulk Hogan Talks Wrestling Being His Base, Separating His On-Screen Persona From Reality
Forbes has an interview up with Hulk Hogan. Not surprisingly, TNA isn't mentioned once in the interview, not even in the opening paragraph summarizing Hogan's accomplishments. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On he kept his brand strong and pushed it forward: "Well I see guys who get a minute of fame in the wrestling business and they'll work 20 years in the business. Everything's called a "run" in the wrestling business whether you're in the business for 2 months or 30 years. Everyone is trying to get their time in the spotlight, and what I've done to have a 30 year run is that I've always reinvented myself. The wrestling business was my foundation so I never walked away from it to do movies. I did 16 or 17 kids movies or cameos, such as starring in a 3 Ninja's movie. I always went back to basics with my wrestling. Because when I was wrestling it was the 70?s 80?s and 90?s and the financial return on wrestling was huge. You could make much more money wrestling than doing movies. I always went back to my base, but then I'd do Right Guard commercials, cartoons and merchandising that reinforced my brand and I did a lot of TV appearances.
"When I started getting older and I could do wrestling three or four hundred times a year, twice on the weekends and Wednesdays, I did the transition where I could do a reality TV. I was trying to keep my family together and on a personal level, my marriage was completely dysfunctional and way out of whack. I was praying to God that maybe the reality show would give my marriage more net worth and make my partner feel like she had a purpose in life."
On separating his wrestling persona from his real-life identity: "For me it's not. It's like running hot water under your feet. When I step out the door, I'm Hulk Hogan and that hot water is on.
"People always expect Hulk Hogan to be standing up straight, or to have the bandanna on, or to not have my arms covered up. If I have an extra large shirt on people go 'oh yeah you look small.' It kind of ruins the mystique. So to just go with the flow, I go be as much 'Hulk Hogan' as I can. I don't personalize it like I'm in character, but I'm aware the hot waters on.
"The moment I get into the house I'm Terry and it's a relief for me to be myself. When I'm with my wife Jennifer or my kids, and someone says hello, I don't have to say 'oh hey brother how ya doin!' It's just a relief not to be 'on.' I can separate the two really easy.
"Some people try not to separate the two because when they go back to being Jen or Bob there's not much going on. For me, there's so much going on when I'm hulk Hogan 24 hours a day that I love being home and being able to be Terry; to get the hot water off my feet and just be me."
Much more is contained in the interview, including how Hogan came up with his name, how he wants to be remembered, privacy and more. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.
Source: Forbes