13 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Ludvig Borga
5. His Crazy Return To Finland In 1999
Halme was deported from the United States in 1999 for possession of a firearm and for smuggling illegal substances. When he returned to Finland, Tony instantly gained fame for appearing on a local version of Gladiators using his old viking persona. He also recorded a song that became a hit single in the country and led to an entire album. Who could resist such gentle, crooning lyrics as: "The fuel is raw testosterone"?
Mikko Marttinen said “everything Tony touched turned to gold” around that time, and he quickly became one of the most famous people in Finland. His fellow countrymen and women fondly remembered seeing Halme score a role in Die Hard With A Vengeance years earlier, so they viewed him as a homegrown success story who'd broken into America. The truth was somewhat different.
Tony's influence started to grow and grow to the point politics came up in the conversation. Others around Halme began to view him as an inspirational figure who commanded a ton of respect from the local population. He was cherished for his role on Gladiators (which gave Tony another excuse to use his viking character as a vehicle for bullying and violence), and people thought his short musical career was a blast.
Clips of the song that became a smash hit in Finland must be seen/heard to be believed.
There was nothing normal about Tony's return home. Here was a guy who'd been the most modest of success in the US (chiefly for being part of the WWF/WWE roster), then got deported for breaking the law. Hardly any of that was acknowledged back in Finland. He was a made man.