How the mighty has fallen

I remember growing up in the 1980's, tuning into Saturday Night's Main Event, seeing this huge wrestler wrestler who wore red and yellow.  He would talk about training, say your prayers, taking your vitamins, and believing in yourself.  He'd take on monsters like Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, and the One Man Gang, and defeat them one, two, three in the center of the ring.  He would take on smaller but quicker stars like Randy Savage, Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig, and Ted DiBiase, and he would defeated them one by one!  Then we find out how this man named Hulk Hogan wasn't superhuman after all.  

 

I'm not going to be a prude on here and say, "He cheated, he was on steroids!"  The last time I checked, Hulk Hogan didn't attempt to break the home run record.  He is in the entertainment business that allowed Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger to use and be celebrated for their appearances in movies.  So I don't blame him for steroid use, I blame him for lying about it!  He went on the Arsenio Hall show in 1992 and denied using steroids to enhance his look.  He later came clean and admitted that he lied!

Years later, he decides to put both him and his whole family on TV on a show called Hogan's Knows Best.  The show gave us the inside look to how messed up his whole family was.  Like most reality shows that feature family, Osbournes not withstanding, the marriage fell apart....granted that Nick Bollea's car accident led Linda to get out while there was still money to be had.  During the whole Nick Bollea court case, she even tried to emancipate herself from the family just to save her ass.  In the end, after spending millions on lawyers, both his and hers, Hogan gave up 80% of his earnings to her to be done with the whole mess.

 

Finally, the whole Hulk Hogan sex tape scandal broke.  During his separation time, Hogan leaned on his buddy, Bubba the Love Sponge.  Bubba, a Tampa DJ who, at the time, was employed by Sirius Radio and was a part of the Howard Stern family, offered his airwaves to let Hogan talk about the whole Nick car crash and Linda filing for divorce ordeal.  During that time, Bubba and his wife Heather Clem, offered Hogan and opportunity to have sex with Heather.  Unbeknownst to Hogan, their little sexual escapade was recorded and sold to Gawker.com.  While Bubba pleaded ignorance to the taping and eventual selling of the video, Hogan attempted to get in front of this (probably learned it from the whole Arsenio incident) and admitted that it was Heather Clem but had no clue that he was being recorded.  Hogan would soon after sue Bubba, Heather, and Gawker.com over the matter, but later dropped Bubba from the suit.  Hogan and Bubba are no longer on speaking terms.

Hulk Hogan will always be a polarizing figure, whether it's in the wrestling world or the real world.  I find it hard to believe how a man who has made millions of dollars could have fallen so hard!