Speaking recently to Busted Open Radio, Greg Gagne relayed a story about Hulk Hogan’s AWA days. Greg is the son of the late promoter and AWA founder Verne Gagne.
During the podcast, Greg told a story about Hogan no-showing an AWA event, and then recalled Hogan’s resignation from the territory. According to Greg, Verne believed Hogan’s resignation letter to be a rib by Eddie Graham. He said,
“Verne got a letter on December 21 from Tampa, Florida. It said, ‘I’m not coming back. Signed Hulk Hogan.’ Verne saw it, and he said, ‘Tampa, Florida… that damn Eddie Graham!’ Eddie and him used to play ribs on each other all the time. So Verne thought it was a rib, and he threw it away. So Christmas night comes, St. Paul’s sold out. Hogan doesn’t show up. I called him [Hogan] on the phone, I said, ‘Hey, big man, what are you doing? We’ve got matches down here.’ He says, ‘I’m gonna go with the WWE.'”
Even though Hogan had completed his interviews through the holiday period for the Minneapolis-based promotion, Verne Gagne hoped Hogan would honor his commitments to the company before joining WWE in 1984. However, Greg would go on to say that the Gagne family learned that Hogan was getting more money from Vince McMahon “to stay at home.”
Hogan would return to WWE in 1984, defeating the Iron Sheik for the championship in January, kicking off the Hulkamania Era.
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