Hulk Hogan's 10 Worst Acting Performances

9. No Holds Barred

Another soft spot for us - we actually saw No Holds Barred in theatres when it was released. It's not a great movie, but it did have a decent budget for its day, and was designed as a vehicle to get the wrestling star over in Hollywood. Think of it as a predecessor to the current WWE Films you seeing come out now. Hogan at that point had really only had Rocky III when it came to acting, although his IMDB page will tell you that he also appeared in the TV movie Goldie and the Bears and on Dolly Parton's variety show. Regardless, it was wrestling and Rocky that Hogan was known for then, and his iconic look, so the then-WWF looked to boost his image in tinsel town. No Holds Barred was produced by Vince McMahon and Hogan himself, and distributed by New Line Cinema... and when it was set to come out, to a ten year old boy who grew up with pro wrestling, it looked awesome. It was going to be like, the best action movie ever man. Or should we say brother. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJrOzjhP30g Well, we think we can safely assume that it wasn't. It tried - it was by no means low budget (eight million stretched a fairly long way in 1989, especially with no big names), and it had a couple of legit actors in Mark Pellegrino and Kurt Fuller (an "I know that guy, but I don't know his name" actor if there ever was one). Hogan's acting as Rip, World Wrestling Federation Champion, wasn't even that terrible in context, because he was playing, you know, a wrestler - something he knew a thing or two about. When it came to the non-wrestling scenes, however, he hit mediocre at best. While not great, it wasn't Hogan's acting that was the issue - it was the story. We know, we know, it's not like there was a magic ticket into the movies (magic ticket our ass, McBain!), but there was this terrible idea to have Hogan face an ex-convict wrestler brought in by the evil television network - in other words, basically a bad eighties wrestling storyline. Really, what was the point of the movie? If it was to be a starring vehicle to get Hogan over in Hollywood, why focus on the wrestling business? Imagine if the Rock had gone off to Hollywood, fighting to be known as good ol' Dwayne Johnson instead of his more established moniker, then immediately starred in a wrestling movie. It never would have worked, and it didn't work for Hogan, who on top of that lacked the legit acting ability of his eventual heir. In retrospect, though quite bad, you can consider No Holds Barred a career highlight of sorts for Hogan on the acting side, and appreciate it for what it is - pure cheese, and as much a commercial as it is an action movie.