WWE legend Hulk Hogan reveals when he initially wanted to turn heel
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan experienced both beloved babyface and despised heel turns during his illustrious pro wrestling career. Recently, The Hulkster revealed when he originally aspired to adopt a villainous persona.
The former WWE Champion officially became Hollywood Hulk Hogan in 1996 when he joined the New World Order (nWo) stable in WCW. Hogan's character underwent a dramatic shift from the patriotic, all-American hero he had been for years to a villainous, Hollywood-obsessed heel.
In an interview with Brandon Walker on the Rasslin' show, The Hulkster revealed that he wanted to turn heel after losing to The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI (1990) because he wanted to know the future direction of his character.
"I wanted to turn into a bad guy after The Ultimate Warrior beat me [at WrestleMania 6] because the reason I did was I always like to know where we were going with things," he said.
The WWE Hall of Famer further said that he had approached Vince McMahon about turning heel and becoming a "Triple H–Hollywood Hulk Hogan" type character, but the 79-year-old rejected the idea.
"I like to work backward the year, and so at the end of the day, I went to Vince [McMahon] and said, 'Well, I don't mind putting Warrior over, but what's next?' and Vince goes, 'I really don't know.' I said, 'What do you mean?' He goes, 'I think your red and yellow run is over.' I said, 'Number one, I disagree, but number two, if you feel that way and you're the boss, let me do something different. Let me turn on him [The Ultimate Warrior]. Let me be Triple H–Hollywood Hulk Hogan,' and he said, 'It wouldn't work,'" Hogan added. [23:10-23:38]
You can watch the full episode below:
Hulk Hogan comments on steroid intake at the peak of his WWE run
The Hulkster appeared in the recent Netflix documentary series, Mr. McMahon, which chronicles the rise and fall of the former WWE CEO, Vince McMahon.
In the second episode of the docuseries, Hulk Hogan revealed that steroid use was prevalent in the industry during his time in it. The 71-year-old legend explained that the pressure to have a perfect physique led to the normalization of steroid use among athletes and actors.
"At that time, steroids were part of the culture because all the stars during that time period had the perfect bodies, and so it was the norm, you know, like people go to Starbucks in the morning before they go to work; people take steroids because they're wrestlers or actors or baseball players, or hockey players, or football players," Hulk Hogan said.
Meanwhile, Hogan made a pre-taped appearance on the January 22, 2024, episode of Monday Night RAW, as the promotion commemorated the 40th anniversary of ''Hulkamania!'' It will be interesting to see if the legendary star returns to WWE TV in the future.
While using any quotes from this article, please credit Rasslin' and provide an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.