Hollywood Hulk Hogan

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Bio ¿ Brother
Review: "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" is the autobiography or wrestling icon Hulk Hogan. The distinguishing trait I find that separates this bio from a lot of the other wrestler biographies of recent years is that it is the most "biographical" of the other bios, meaning that you not only get Hogan's wrestling career in review but also his real life story in review.

THE BOOK

The book will definitely appeal to wrestling fans as well as fans of Hulk Hogan. Hogan tells a very comprehensive story of his career and his life, both in wrestling and in Hollywood. Among the things you learn about are:

- His trauma's growing up as a fat kid

- His family background

- How he met his wife

- His lifelong love affair with wrestling (Dusty Rhodes was his idol)

- His careers as a musician, dock worker and gym/bar owner

- His time spent as a wrestling groupie

- His breaking into the business in Florida and throughout the South

- His friendship with Andre the Giant

- His time in the AWA

- Making Rocky III

- Leading the way for the WWF in the 80's including his status as the
most requested Make A Wish celebrity

- The lowdown on Mr. T, John Stossel, Richard Belzer, Dennis Rodman and Jay Leno

- His feuds with Savage and the Warrior

- The steroid trials and his opinion on steroid use

- Making of No Holds Barred, Mr. Nanny, Suburban Commando,
Thunder in Paradise and his other B Movies

- His boating accident with Ed Leslie

- Signing with WCW

- His problems with the New World Order

- The story of his problems with Vince Russo

- His knee problems

- His rebuttal to his critiques

- His return to the WWE

THE COOL STUFF

Overall, Hogan writes a very comprehensive story leaving almost no stone unturned. Not only is this a great history of the wrestling business for the past 20 years or so but it's just a fascinating story to read. Hogan comes across as a person who's just very surprised at his own success. It's pretty inspiring to see how a former fat kid who got teased growing up grew up into one of the most famous athletes in wrestling history and how someone of "limited wrestling ability" became the person who put wrestling on the pop culture map. In all if you're a wrestling fan you'll love a lot of the road stories Hogan has to share including his tales of Andre the Giant and the time of WWF's expansion in the 80's. You'll also love the stories of his work with the other celebrities like Mr. T, Dennis Rodman and Jay Leno as you'll find things weren't as chummy as they seemed on-screen. For wrestling fans you get the benefit of seeing the industry through Hogan's eyes. This is important because Hogan, for the better part of 15 years, was at the top of the industry and his a unique viewpoint of it. His thoughts on the major promoters, wrestlers and angles are just fascinating to read if you're a wrestling fan. Overall, his is just fascinating story.

THE VERDICT

Love him or hate him, you can't deny Hogan's influence on wrestling and pop culture and you cannot say that he's had a boring life. "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" is a fascinating memoir of one man's life in the entertainment industry and man does he have some stories to share.

Total Pages: 343
Total Read Time: 8 hours over three nights

Highest Recommendation

Rating:
Summary: Hogan is full of himself, but this was very interesting
Review: After reading several reviews on this book by former wrestlers and by people in the know of the events described in this book, I was skeptical. The reviews state that Hogan embellished and flat out made up some events described in the book. While Hulk Hogan has indeed been in the forefront of the biggest movements in professional wrestling, he also takes credit for nearly every major idea that has come out of those movements (the concept of merchandising, Hulkamania, the NWO, building up certain wrestlers, etc). Just about the only thing Hogan didn't take credit for was the invention of the internet, and that's probably because Al Gore already grabbed that one.

While there are embellishments in the autobiography, I think that it does give a pretty good picture of who Terry Bollea is. We know the impact that Hulk Hogan had on the wrestling world. He, with Vince McMahon Jr, helped bring wrestling to the mainstream of popular culture. There is not much detail in Hogan's book, but we get to see a nice overview of his life, especially when he was first starting out in the business. I knew that Brutus the Barber Beefcake was Hogan's friend, but I didn't know how far back they went. Hogan addresses controversies surrounding his career and he has a fairly interesting take on much of his life. The format of the book is short chapters on various subjects. Not too much detail, perhaps some inaccuracy, but highly entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Not the Hulkamania you grew up with, brother!
Review: Growing up in the '80's, I loved to watch Hulk Hogan wrestle. So I was eager to read this autobiography. While it was an enjoyable read, it was not at all what I expected. The Terry Bollea who wrote this book is not at all like the "Hulk Hogan" image that became a role model for children years ago. Other amazon reviewers have already questioned how factual some of the content is, and also pointed out how Hogan presents himself in such an overly-positive light. I was disappointed with how many *negative* things he had to say about other media stars or their actions (e.g., Mr. T, Dennis Rodman, Sylvester Stallone), especially when Hogan himself was involved in some of the escapades he disapproves about with them. There are also several admissions throughout the book about how important the money of professional wrestling was to him -- and this was while he was already pulling in a six-figure annual income, and did not need to worry about finances.

Perhaps most disturbing was the profanity in the book. Hogan laces practically every page (not an exaggeration) with four-letter words and curses, almost none of which serve any literary purpose. I don't know if previous wrestling autobiographies have been written this way (e.g., by Bill Goldberg or Mick Foley), whether Hogan wrote this way in an attempt to sound "tough," or whether he really speaks this way in real life. But the effect was to disract and demean the quality of the book, and also my impression of Hulk Hogan as a person. The *real* Hulk Hogan (away from the cameras) comes off as a swearing, cursing, money-loving, beer-drinking strong-man who alternately takes credit for most of what makes wrestling popular today and dismissing critics by saying he only did what his bosses told him to do.

Despite these shortcomings, the book was still interesting. It gives some insight into Hulk Hogan's childhood and early career that is not often talked about. He admits that the last thing he ever expected to happen to his career was to become a role model for children, but he took that public perception seriously when it developed. Also, it's interesting to hear his take on some of his own greatest matches (e.g., against Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, and The Rock in WM III, IV, X8), as well as some other events in the recent history of wrestling. (One chapter describes the infamous John Stossel 20/20 interview, in which another wrestler -- not Hogan -- beat up the interviewer on camera. Another chapter talks about the death in the ring of Owen Hart.) It was also mildly entertaining to see Hogan address the reader (and practically anyone else who appears more than 2 times in the book) as "brother."

All in all, this is an interesting look into the life of the most popular wrestler in history. (He wasn't the most talented, but he definitely put professional wrestling on the map, and his longevity has been incredible.) However, reader be warned: the real Hulk Hogan bears very little resemblance to the public image of the '80's.

Rating:
Summary: Hulkamania is still running wild! Yeah it really is!
Review: Hulk Hogan is wrestling. Ask any fan since the 1980's to name the most famous wrestler ever and Hulk Hogan name HAS to be on top of that list. Hulkamania was not just a thing in the past but it was a movement in and out of the wrestling world. Growing up, everyone and I do mean everyone loved Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania was something we could get behind. Without Hulk Hogan the WWE would have never reached the level it has today.

With that being said, Hulk Hogan's autobiography is a well written and very informative book for wrestling fans. The most important apsect about this book is its revelation of how Hulk Hogan lives, eats, and breathes wrestling. Wrestling is not his job, its his life. The guy has worked so many years and has taken such a beating, while on top, that you have to admire the man even if you're not a fan. His stories on Andre the Giant and other wrestling legends are classics. His views on Vince Mcmahon and the different directions the WWE has taken are priceless. Sure, we'll never get Hogan's complete story on the wrestling world but I think if you read this book, you will become more knowledeable on wrestling itself. Hulkamania may not appear on our TV sets ever again but it will never die with this generation. Hulk Hogan was more than a wrestler, he was a hero to millions of wrestling fans around the world.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: I won't go into detail about what is inculded in this book, simply because other reviewers have already done that. I will say that this book is an excellent read, and it never gets slow or boring. Hogan's story is very interesting from the beginning. I found myself unable to put it down once I started it. I would recommend this book to any wrestling fan.

Rating:
Summary: Good Light Reading But Some Half Truths Indeed
Review: The bio of wrestler Hulk Hogan was undoubtedly a good easy read. The Hulkster definitely presents himself in an overly positive light where he could do no wrong and revolutionized the industry from many aspects. I doubt that it was totally Hulk's idea to form the NWO as well as that he brought the Undertaker into the WWE. Nonetheless, the stories about Andre The Giant were indeed both heartfelt and amusing. Andre never weighed more than 500 lbs. Certainly not the 700 Hogan exaggerates.

The book is fairly well-balanced between Hulk's appearances in movies, wrestling, childhood stories, wife stories, intimate details about some wrestlers, and publicity stunts. He admits his own vulnerability with helecopters and his general wrestling abilities. His charisma certainly overshadowed his general ability to perform high risk maneuvers in the ring.

In conclusion, its good to get Hulk Hogan's perspective on the wrestling scene. He undoubtedly was a major force in revolutionizing this form of sports entertainment and his views are duly noted. However there are numerous anecdotes where Hogan runs off at the mouth too much. However, its all worth an amusing chuckle especially when the reader can distinguish between fact and fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Hogan certainly can tell some Tall Tales!
Review: The book starts out with a truly emotional story of a chubby Terry Bollea (Hogan), then it gets truly ridiculous. I do not mean to insult this book or the man Hulk Hogan himself, but this book has so many untrue stories and things that never happened - even a casual fan of wrestling can know that some of these things never happened. It is a definite must read for any fan of wrestling (love him or hate him), simply to chuckle at Hogan's tall tales, such as Hogan meeting a "Make a Wish" kid before he was to wrestle at Summer Slam 1992. Hogan wrestled his match, but was unable to find the kid sitting in the crowd. When he returned backstage he discovered the child had died before seeing Hogan's match; Hogan was so touched, he wrote a song about it and released it on the Hulk Rules album. Too bad the entire story is false (Hogan never even wrestled at SS92). In the book Hogan talks about steroid usage, his feud with Andre the Giant (10 years before WM3), how he got the role in Rocky 3, his match with the Rock at WMX8, beating up Ricky Choshu in Japan, the end of his WCW career, why he became a villain and much more. It is extremely enjoyable to read because of the tall tales and you can indeed finish the book in a matter of hours with the book's huge pictures and large text. The entire book should be filed under fiction or comedy.