The Hulk is Dead, and I Don’t Feel so Well Myself

    Hulk Hogan  has been a figure who has been hard to avoid over the years. He has been on the wrestling circuit for decades, starred in movies, stumped for politicians, and generally has been a force to be reckoned with.

    Not being a wresting fan myself, the first encounter I had with his image was not a good one: he was being interviewed and the interviewer asked the question that many people were asking: “Isn’t this all just fake?” By way of an answer Hulk reached out with is right hand and slapped the interviewer on the left side of his head, and asked his own question: “That was an open-hand slap. Did that feel ‘fake’ to you?”

    The interviewer was nearly knocked over and understandably backed away. 

    Before you start laughing at this, I saw that, and immediately said to myself, “That was undeserved.” Turns out Hulk had broken the interviewer’s eardrum, and the man ended up losing about thirty percent of his hearing in that ear. 

    Now I know that that question had been floating around for years, and I’m sure the Wrestlemania folks had gotten tired of the question, or assumption, that they just faked stuff for the camera. And Hulk Hogan was probably tired of hearing about it. But that moment, he lost any respect I might have had for him.

    Over the years my feelings mellowed. In one movie 'Mr. Nanny', he was babysitting an unruly family of kids and got the usual 'Davids beating Goliath' treatment, including buckets of water, slippery surfaces, and a bowling ball on the high shelf in the closet rolling onto his head. 

    It showed that he could take a joke for the camera.

    Good Times.

    I tend not to take celebrity endorsements seriously, so when this actor or that sports figure says they’re voting this way or that, I usually tune them out. But I do occasionally get a kick out of their antics.

    For those who don’t know, Hulk Hogan’s signature front-of-camera move is to rip off his t-shirt (sorta like the Big Green Marvel character), while yelling his defiance to any challenger.

    It's fun to watch.

    The last time I saw Hulk Hogan rip off his shirt, it was to reveal a ‘Make America Great Again!’ shirt underneath.

    Whatever your politics, you should admit that that was cool!

 Sail on, Sailor.