WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has died at age 71

Brian Campbell joins CBS Sports HQ to discuss the life and legacy of WWE Hall of Famer, Hulk Hogan.

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And breaking news into CBS Sports HQ where wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has died at the age of 71. He started a whirlwind of a career often credited with lifting pro wrestling into mainstream pop culture. His theatrical style in the ring spawned millions of fans in what became known as Hulkamania in the 80s and 90s. Now his life was not w without controversy. was involved in scandals involving racist comments caught on tape as well as a high-profile lawsuit over a sex tape. But in the ring, he was a 12-time champion and a Hall of Famer. His charisma in the wrestling ring also caught Hollywood’s attention. Appeared in several mainstream films, most often as versions of just himself because it was enough, most notably in Rocky 3. Hulk Hogan was 71 years old. Let’s welcome in our expert here, Brian Campbell. uh as you said, hero of your youth did not come without controversy, but talk to us about how he was able to lift pro wrestling into what it is today. Yeah, you can certainly make uh two very large claims here that I think would be true. One, that Hulk Hogan is the most popular name in the history of the pro wrestling business. I think there’s even very little argument against that. And number two, we really wouldn’t be here right now with WWE’se’s success over four decades with WrestleMania without Hulk Hogan and of course the the the leader behind the scenes, Vince McMahon when they took wrestling on a national level in 1985, kicking off WrestleMania 1 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which of course Hulk Hogan main evented in a tag team match with his friend and actor Mr. T. From there on, you really saw somebody that was larger in life, larger than life. Main eventing the first nine Wrestlemania among the most, let’s say, uh, endearing, inspiring baby faces, if you will, good guy characters that this sport has ever seen. And oh, what did he do later in his career in 1996? turned heel, turned bad guy in maybe the most memorable turn when he when he kicked off the nWo after joining forces with rival company WCW. A resume, a legacy that isn’t without, like many of our great heroes, uh, some dark turns along the way and maybe even deeper, a lack of separation in his post- wrestling career between the character that he played inside the ring and the true human born Terry Bollea in Florida in the 1950s. But when you’re talking about the business of pro wrestling, you have to talk about Hulk Hogan almost first and foremost, a Mount Rushmore face, a Mount Rushmore name, and anyone my age was really raised to say their prayers and eat their vitamins. Uh Hulk Hogan was a one of one when it comes to this industry. I was about to say, look, there is the legacy, but for so many people and then maybe you growing up as a child, you think of you see Hulk Hogan and then, you know, I I had my brother trying to bodys slam me or something like that. What do you think? I mean, as people who grew up as a fan of his, their fondest memories are going to be of him because that’s what it seems like his legacy is going to be uh within the hearts of people who are a fan of his. Yes. to to people who grew up with him, even with a lot of the setbacks he’s had in his personal life, you think of that prime 1980s run where he really was the all-American image. He was a replacement for a lot of people who didn’t have fathers. He was I, you know, I looked up to him in the 80s as much as I looked up to my own. He was that everywhere. He was in front of you in all ways, not just in pro wrestling, but obviously extending across pop culture. You mentioned his movie careers. He was a reality TV star in the 2000s. But when you look back at the 1980s and the character that he played inside the ring for WWF, which is now, of course, known as World Wrestling Entertainment, it was the ultimate good guy. Somebody who maybe we would go to learn took many steroids outside the ring. But what he preached in terms of his character was clean living, respecting God, respecting the people across from you. But if anybody crossed you and the 1980s pro wrestling storyline scene certainly had a lot of us against them when it comes to the big American star Hulk Hogan taking on one foreign villain after another. He represented freedom. He represented taking care of yourself and doing the right thing. That was a key element in Vince McMahon’s WWF becoming as mainstream as it did. Before that time, pro wrestling was a uh a territory system of smaller mom and pop organizations. But like I mentioned earlier, Vince McMahon doesn’t take this thing global without Hulkcomdia, without that same charisma, natural attention seeking ability. Oh, and it just so happened that he was 6’7, had 24in biceps. I mean, we’re talking about somebody that was always larger than life. But he doesn’t show up on WWF TV back then if it wasn’t for that star turn in 1982 being chosen as the villain Thunder Lips, the pro wrestler in the movie Rocky 3. And ever since then, you can’t say pro wrestling without saying his name. And at least for the character he played in the 80s, it was all about wholesomeness. And that’s what set up so perfectly as I mentioned when he did play the bad guy role in the mid90s kicking off maybe one of the best storylines we’ve ever seen with the launch of the nWo and suddenly becoming everybody’s favorite bad guy all over again. Do you think there is I mean is it even possible to pin it down to one moment uh that you think is the most memorable for him in the ring? Yeah, without question we’re talking about 1987 Wrestlemania 3, the former Pontiac Silver Dome in Michigan and that main event heavyweight championship bout against the indomitable Andre the Giant. uh you really don’t realize or remember how big that matchup was, how big that matchup made pro wrestling in the mid80s where you know you would have the equivalent of Super Bowl parties and maybe that was a time where people still weren’t 100% sure or maybe didn’t want to believe it whether this was real or not. But when Hulk Hogan went in there against the larger than life, more than seven feet tall, approaching 500 pounds, Andre the Giant under the storyline that he had been undefeated in history. As a child, you feared for his health. That was a storyline that was built so perfectly with Andre ripping the the cross necklace off of Hogan’s chest and causing him to bleed. So when Hogan picked him up and slammed him to close out that match, I’m really not sure the business ever got higher than that moment. Maybe you can compare times where TV ratings were better, particularly in the late 1990s during the famed Monday Night Wars. But Hogan slamming Andre in 1987 at Wrestlemania 3 might be the most in enduring moment image of that entire important era that launched the success that WWE would go on to have decades later. Yeah. Now, I mean, it’s almost, you know, you feel like you see it every day of the week now uh on TV and and those arenas are sold out. Uh somewhat unexpected, but BC, thank you so much for talking to us about the death of Hulk Hogan now at the age of 71.