The following are highlights of a new Miami Herald interview with Hulk
Hogan:
Hulk Hogan on his recent birthday segment on RAW:
“I got rattled when they played the package because I didn’t know what they were
going to do. Vince [McMahon] likes to do the sneaky stuff without telling me. I
was rattled when I saw the package and really fell apart reflecting on that
time. Everybody from Flair to Piper to Orndorff was supposed to come out and say
stuff. Nobody got to say anything. When Hall and Nash got to the ring WWE was
saying no promos. No promos? I thought you had to have Hall’s ‘Hey Yo.’ Then
there had to be the transition to sing the birthday song to lead to [Brock]
Lesnar coming out. The whole thing wasn’t going down the way we thought it was,
but we had some old pros in there to pull it off. It was very emotional.”
Hogan on Vince McMahon making an appearance after RAW went off
the air: “I didn’t expect that. Nobody told me that was going to
happen. I thought Vince was for sure going to throw the cake at me, and I was
going to dive into the cake, but he was cool. He gave me a big hug. It was just
a great night. It really was.”
Hogan on the older WWF games: “They were
pretty rough brother. It didn’t even look or move like I did. I actually have
Hogan’s Beach Shop where I have all the memorabilia. We have the old school
stuff, brand new T-shirts and other things we sell. We also have the old Sega
games, the original games. It’s almost barbaric. It’s almost like the old
Pac-Man games. It was so animated and weird. To see where it has come now, I
watch the live events, and I’m the biggest wrestling fan in the world. I record
everything. To see the stuff recorded when I get home, from Raw to SmackDown to
the pay-per-views at my disposal on the WWE Network, of course for $9.99.”
Hogan on how his life changed since he came back to
WWE: “My life changed before I came back to WWE. I met an
amazing person, my wife, Jennifer. She kind of saved me, when I was going down
the wrong path. I was crashing and burning and all the craziness with the
divorce and problems of my body shutting down on me and a ton of surgeries. I
wasn’t doing well. Then I met her. I was never around anybody who explained to
me how beautiful the world is and how nice people really are. Life is tough, but
life is for living and not for getting into debates and confrontation. I was in
situations before filled with drama and negativity 24 hours a day. So my life
changed before I came here. It’s just kind of like everything kind of rolled out
the right way. The opportunity to come home and the opportunity to end my career
here in WWE, it just rolled out exactly like it was supposed to. It was a great
turn.”
Hogan on a current WWE Superstar needing to step
up: “I’m just praying for someone to reach out and grab that
brass ring. That’s what Vince McMahon and Triple H are looking for. They want
someone to step up. I would love to see the larger-than-life characters develop
again like the old days. I don’t get to talk much to the guys. Cena is my man,
but this Roman Reigns kid has really stepped up. There is potential in him. He
has what it takes.”
Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.
