On a recent edition of his “The ARN Show” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson discussed his initial impression of Hulk Hogan, The Hulkster’s arrival to WCW in 1994, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Hogan looking different when he joined WCW: “Well, now you’re talking about it as a fan. Not as a co-host of, where we’re looking at the inside stuff. You’re looking at this as a fan. Because you have to look at it differently, you know what I mean? He was not the 300-pound Hulk Hogan. He was not the guy that you saw in the Rocky movie. And sometimes when you’re so, I guess — you know, the thing with Vince was, all of his guys were superheroes, you know? And when your body changes drastically like that, you’re not a superhero anymore. You’re still Hulk Hogan, but you’re not this 300-pound guy who just steamrolled every monster heel that you had, because that was the way the structure was. You would bring a heel in, a monster, a One Man Gang, whoever it was, these monster heels. And Hogan would get rid of them, squash them, and dream ’em, they were done. Walking in the door 40 pounds lighter, or 50 pounds lighter; I don’t know what it was. Even though he’s still in shape, still tanned, still had all the charisma and he’s still Hulk Hogan, somewhere in the back of your mind, you gotta be going, ‘What’s different?’”
On whether Hogan coming in derailed Dustin Rhodes’ push to potentially become a World Champion: “Well, I just think it tipped the structure of the business and where they were heading. Dustin was a guy who was very easily built, because he was talented. But now you stack that up against, ‘Okay, Hulk Hogan’s coming in.’ You had to go, ‘Well, wait a minute. I thought they were going to the youth movement.’ Just like Vince was doing; new guys, new champions, you know. And all of a sudden, ennh. So I don’t know, I was just kind of laying in the weeds and watching things develop.”
On his first impression of Hogan: “He was treated like a megastar with Vince. He had his own locker room, he didn’t just dress with the boys or walk around and all that. His whole — everything about him, he was treated like Elvis. And he should have. He should have been. You know, at that point where our business was concerned he was — you know, this was pre-Rock, pre-Austin, those guys. He was the biggest star in the business and he was treated that way.”
