8 Things We Learned From Hulk Hogan On Talk Is Jericho

4. "Superstar" Billy Graham & Dusty Rhodes Were Huge Influences

"Superstar" Billy Graham is easily one of, if not the absolute most influential wrestlers of all-time in terms of promos and appearance. Many top talents from Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Scott Steiner and even Chael Sonnen have all borrowed liberally from Graham's act. He was a man ahead of his time and had he come along a decade later he would have likely been an even bigger star. Dusty Rhodes is another transcendent worker whose impact on the business can hardly be measured as one of the most charismatic and popular stars to grace the industry. -Hulk Hogan cites both of these men as big influences on his career, and speaks about what a gigantic "American Dream" fan he was, saying that "Dusty Rhodes...if he wasn't on TV every week, we'd get p*ssed". Hulk says he attended shows at the armory in Tampa at a young age and was hooked from the onset. Hogan reminisces about seeing Rhodes wrestle when he was "about 9 or 10" but in reality he would have had to have been much older. seeing as how he was born in 1953 and Dusty didn't even break into wrestling until 1968. Regardless, you can definitely see a bit of both men in Hogan's work, particularly Graham, and it was nice to hear Hogan speak as just an enthusiastic wrestling fan for a change.