10 Times Wrestlers Were Broken In The Hard Way

8. Hulk Hogan

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WWE.com

Much like "I was asked to play bass for Metallica", "My body slam killed André the Giant" and "I apologised for my racist tirade", this reads like another of Hulk Hogan's fantastical lies, but in fact, Hulk Hogan's leg was broken by Hiro Matsuda on his first day of wrestling training.

Wrote Hogan in his autobiography, in addition to claiming that Elvis Presley's corpse came to cheer him on in Memphis, and that Mike Tyson was "too scared" to take him on in WCW:

"Matsuda was p*ssed off just having to be there that day. I was basically taking him away from his day off...Everything was turning white and my knees felt like rubber. Before I knew it, Matsuda was sitting down between my legs and putting his elbow in the middle of my shin. Then he grabbed the end of my toe and twisted my foot until - crack! - my shinbone broke in half."

Matsuda did this in order to protect the business. To him, and the various other men who stretched and snapped the young recruits in that bygone era, you couldn't simply walk into training and become a pro wrestler. Though long since exposed as a sham, back then, wrestling was steadfast in its presentation as a legitimate enterprise. Wrestling wasn't something you could just do. If it were, what would that make the wrestlers, their craft?

Given the word Hogan used to describe Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX, we dread to think what was muttered on the car ride home.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!