For any kid growing up in the 80s, you knew who Hulk Hogan was. He was the guy that made wrestling popular. He made wrestling cool. He made you believe taking your vitamins and saying your prayers was the success to life. He was an icon.

As a kid, I did the poses and would often say “watcha going do to when Hulkamania runs wild on you brother!”. He was an idol of mine and I loved watching him wrestle or I should say entertain.

Whenever he got “injured”, I was sad. My hero was hurt and wouldn’t wrestle. I was a kid then I didn’t realize wrestling was scripted. I thought it was real. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

As the years went on, I would continue to watch wrestling off and on. Wrestling was still kind of cool but it got cooler when Hogan turned heel or bad guy and formed the NWO. That’s when the WCW vs WWE wars started happening. Wrestling was going to get hotter and it was a great time to be a wrestling fan.

You wanted to hate Hogan and the NWO but they were just so cool. Who doesn’t love the bad guys right? Plus on the WWE side, you had Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, etc. It was fun to watch and flip channels because you never knew what was going to happen.

As the years went on, I was watching wrestling less and Hogan wasn’t on TV as much. I began reading wrestling autobiographies and reading more about the wrestling business. I was learning more about Hogan and how he did “business” off camera.

One of the autobiographies I read was Bret Hart’s book “Wrestling with Shadows”. He talked about wrestling Hogan and how Hogan didn’t want to drop the title or do “business” which is wrestler’s speak. My respect level for Hogan started to diminish.

In reading stories on wrestling sites and watching many different biography shows on wrestling or wrestlers, I was seeing a more negative side to Hogan his business savvy. Was the childhood hero I adored a selfish and egotistical prick? Maybe that’s the way the shows wanted to present and I’m just too naive.

Yet with his passing, I see these tributes from his fellow wrestlers saying thank you for what he did to their career or helping them with a personal situation. Were the shows wrong and trying to make him look bad?

I never met Hulk Hogan so I don’t know what type of person he really was. I’m conflicted though. He did a lot for kids in his wrestling career but his post wrestling career has had controversy. He didn’t have much of a relationship with his daughter, if TMZ is to be believed. He was recorded on audio saying the n word and didn’t seem to be remorseful for saying it or trying to make things right. Then there is his involvement with President Trump which speaks for itself.

I want to remember Hulk Hogan as the guy who made my childhood fun and make wrestling cool twice in his career. Those are the things I want to remember.

Should he be on the Mount Rushmore of wrestling? Absolutely. He was an entertainer and put wrestling on the map. Without him, I don’t think wrestling would be what it is today. He needs to be respected for that at least.

Thank you Hulk for making wrestling cool and for all the memories.