Of course Hulk Hogan was successful in Japan, but the Hulk Hogan we all know and love (or hate) today is a different beast to the one that wowed Japanese audiences between 1980 and 1985. His wrestling style was, dare I say it, more technical when out east. He didnt use the legdrop as a finish, going with a cross arm lariat instead, and there even exists a gif of him performing a step-over cross arm-breaker a la Alberto Del Rio/El Patron. Seriously. Japanese audiences nicknamed Hogan Ichiban, which translates as Number One (and also happens to be a pretty awful Japanese beer). As with everywhere else in the 1980s Hogan was immensely popular, and would be the very first winner of the IWGP Grand Prix in 1983 defeating Antonio Inoki by knockout in the final. The prize for this victory was the IWGP Heavyweight Title, although at this point it wasnt an official belt to be defended by the top star in the company. All of Hulks NJPW success was a precursor to his business-defining run with the WWF, as the worlds eyes opened up to this megastar in the making. According to Wikipedia, Hogan also recorded an album whilst in Japan. Have you heard it? I certainly havent, and Im not sure if I want to.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
