https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76DEmG2DCLY Nothing else could top this list; it's basically everything the "Macho Man" Slim Jim endorsement was not. It's no less iconic, however, but for all the wrong reasons. When one thinks of brilliant endorsements for a product using a wrestler, Slim Jim tops the list. When one thinks of how silly such a prospect can be and how wrong it can go, you think of Pastamania. Featured on the inaugural edition of WCW Monday Nitro on TNT (but, in keeping with the list, not featuring the branding of WCW itself), live from the heart of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, Pastamania was the creation of Hogan himself, and featured such brilliant menu items as "Hulk's Power Pasta" and "Hulkaroni & Cheese" among other more mundane "international pastas from around the world." One can only hope/assume that these shapes were exclusive to the Hulkaroni & Cheese, though it's been said "all the pasta was about as good as Chef Boyardee canned pasta." In any case, as one might expect, the venture didn't last long- not even with the support of the new hotness that was WCW's flagship Monday night program or opening appearances by "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Eric Bischoff, and "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart (who "mended his evil ways"), accompanied by music with more cheese than all the Hulkaroni and Hulkster Cheeseburgers in the world combined: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk80JqRIjGc Less than a year after opening, Pastamania was no longer running wild... on you, or anyone else. Interestingly enough, the Pastamania mantle would be picked up by a Singapore company only a few years later, and is still in operation today. Meanwhile, Hogan himself is still trying to make it in the food biz, now with "Hogan's Beach" in Tampa, Florida, but after the things we've seen on this list? Well, that one was just too "normal" to make the cut. And there we have it: 20 of the weirdest ventures endorsed by wrestlers when they were allowed to roam free and ink their own deals not signed off on by the home office of whichever company they were working for. Truth be told, we think we might have exhausted all of the most outrageous options when making this list, but perhaps you know better? If so, tell us in the comments below. Heck, even better: If you actually bought some of the items on this list (and it's totally cool; Sgt. Slaughter came with that nifty tank, after all), tell us all about it!
Former Nintendo Power writer, current Nintendo Force writer. Wrote the book on Mega Man (The Robot Master Field Guide). Was once fired by Vince McMahon. Dabbles in video games, comic books, toys, and fast food curiosities. Once had a new species of exotic bird named after him. It died.
You can find more of his writings, musings, and other such things on his websites at Nyteworks.net.
