10 Secrets To Vince McMahon's Success
7. Hulk Hogan
Vince McMahon, on the Road to WrestleMania XIX, described Hulk Hogan perfectly as a "slice of Americana".
Hogan embedded himself into the bedrock of American culture because he was the greatest worker in the history of the business. He benefitted from the WWF's production bells and whistles, for sure. His trademark red and yellow colour scheme was as iconic as it was marketable. His theme, Real American, was the aural translation of a fist pump - a triumphant anthem in which the hysterical backing vocals echoed the crazed reactions the magnetic Hogan was able to generate just by ripping his shirt off.
'Real American', to this day, erases the pitted dread generated by Hogan's dark later years, and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to undivided attention. It's fitting; Hogan was himself able to instantly transmit hope and euphoria with his G.O.A.T. crowd manipulation.
McMahon saw in Hogan what his old boss, the traditionalist Verne Gagne, could not bring himself to: Hogan, technically limited, was the new face of professional wrestling.
With expertly protective booking, Hogan genuinely felt Immortal in his '80s pomp.