10 Misconceptions About Hulk Hogan You Probably Believe
4. “He Was Old When He Joined WCW.”
In 1994, after a hiatus from wrestling in North America, Hulk Hogan signed with the WWF’s top rival, World Championship Wrestling. Vince McMahon responded that summer with the “New Generation” campaign, first lumping Hogan in with the wrestlers of the “old days” like Ivan Putski, in contrast with the young, dynamic, athletic superstars of the modern World Wrestling Federation.
The pettiness escalated in 1996, when the WWF hosted a “Geriatric Match” on the WrestleMania XII pre-show between Hogan parody, “The Huckster” and “The Nacho Man”. The elderly wrestlers needed oxygen masks during the bout, which ended when both men dropped dead.
The truth is, Hogan was only 40 years old when he signed with WCW. To put that in perspective, both The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were 53 when they crawled out for WWE's Crown Jewel. Kane and Triple H weren't fat behind. Even regular top stars AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar are 41 apiece. Neither is headed for the retirement home any time soon.
Bret Hart, the WWF Champion at the time and part of the youthful “New Generation”, turned 37 the summer that old man Hogan started working for the competition.
And, in the biggest irony of all, the King of the Ring pay-per-view that launched the Federation’s “New Generation” theme (and kicked off years of age-based Hogan-bashing) was headlined by the 40-year-old Roddy Piper and the 44-year-old Jerry Lawler.