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Bret Hart's Hulk Hogan tribute from 2002....huh?

5K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  Jets4Life 
#1 ·
STARDOM HAS NEVER SPOILED GOOD OL' TERRY BOLLEA

Hulk Hogan.
He hasn't changed a whole heck of a lot from the way he was the first time I met him back in 1979.

The first time I met Terry Bollea, we were both working for Georgia Championship Wrestling, which eventually evolved into the WCW.

Back then, he was known as Sterling Golden. He was very green. And very impressive. On the day I left Atlanta to come home, I knocked on his door to say goodbye and told him if he ever wanted to learn to wrestle, he was welcome to come up and work for my dad any time.

He thanked me and meant it, saying he'd keep it in mind.

The next time I saw him was in Japan. He'd just shot his cameo for Rocky III and was on the verge of mega-stardom that nobody could have even begun to imagine.

Still, the same guy.

When I started with the WWF, in August of '84, he was on his way to being the biggest name in the history of wrestling.

I can remember, even during the glory days of Hulkamania, how Terry would come into the dressing room and say 'hi' to every single wrestler. Every night he headlined, there was a sellout and, throughout the night, all the wrestlers would come up to him and thank them both for the house, for putting food on their tables and making wrestling something worth respecting.

Hulk Hogan was not only a hero to millions of Hulkamaniacs but to all the wrestlers, too.

If Vince McMahon was Julius Caesar, then Hulk Hogan was Alexander the Great.

I remember one time at an airport, in about 1987, when Hulk signed one autograph after another to the point where it took him 45 minutes to get to the gate.

They were closing the doors as he was boarding the plane and this one fan asked him for his autograph. He said apologetically: "I'm sorry, I can't, I'm gonna miss my flight ..." and he got on the plane.

I was right behind him and I heard a bystander flippantly remark, "Just like I figured. I always thought he was a jerk."

I thought to myself, that person has no idea how many autographs he just signed. Being a hero like Hulk Hogan, it's hard to make everybody happy but for a guy who's been wrestling as long as he has, he's certainly done a heck of a job.

Hulk was especially considerate of me when I joined him in the WCW.

I saw him a few days ago at Davey's funeral and, despite the sad backdrop, it was nice to catch up on things.

So then I opened up my paper and saw a picture of Hulk, taken in Calgary, with a 15-year-old girl named Amanda Marqniq, who dreams of being a pro wrestler but needed a heart transplant.

It brought back what I remember most about Hulk Hogan, even more than his feats as a great wrestler. The countless times the office came to get him from the dressing room to make the wish of a sick or dying child come true.

Despite the fact he was pulled in too many different directions and had little time for himself or his family, Hulk always had all the time in the world for kids who needed him to be their hero.

He somehow knew just the right things to say. It was never a burden to him.

If anything, it gave him a sense of real purpose. I've always tried to follow his example.

In yesterday's paper I read how Amanda has now gotten her new heart.

I thought I might just give Hulk a call and let him know.

He'd be happy to hear that.

Some things in wrestling have always been real and Hulk Hogan is one of them.
http://slam.canoe.com/SlamWrestlingBretHart/020601-sun.html

I came across this recently and reading it was quite odd to say the least. I've always known Bret as a straight shooter but in recent years his tone regarding Hogan is a complete 180 from this and he contradicts himself with what he wrote here. Here's an example

"I can remember, even during the glory days of Hulkamania, how Terry would come into the dressing room and say 'hi' to every single wrestler. Every night he headlined, there was a sellout and, throughout the night, all the wrestlers would come up to him and thank them both for the house, for putting food on their tables and making wrestling something worth respecting. Hulk Hogan was not only a hero to millions of Hulkamaniacs but to all the wrestlers, too.
Bret Hart, 2002

"No matter how old he is, or what kind of shape he's in, Hogan believes in his heart that he's the star of the show and he is wrestling. I don't think he gives a damn about anyone else.
"He never thought to help any other wrestler because he wasn't capable of doing it."
Bret Hart, 2011

The part about Hogan being "especially considerate" of him in WCW also was odd to me, considering Bret usually blames Hogan and Bischoff for his run there. Hogan is obviously a known bullshitter, but it makes me believe that what happened at WM9 and the aftermath might not have happened exactly as Bret tells it. You'd think the two were best friends forever from this piece. Is there any context on this? What made Bret change his tone and why?

Apologies if this is the wrong section, figured it should go here because most of their feud comes from things that happened in the 90s.
 
#5 ·
Exactly. I'm of the same belief that Bret just needs to sit and talk to these guys. Words can heal wounds as much as they can cause them. My only critique of Bret is that his ego can cloud his judgement and skew events in his life to make him come across as a hero but as I've said above, talks with those he has thrown stones at during the years seem to have deflated his ego to levels of a respectable man.
 
#4 ·
I will always defend Bret to the end, I always believe his words. And in this case, I think he believed his own words in 2002, but as his bitterness has set in even more in recent times, he's come to the realisation that Hogan refused to put him over in 93 (to be fair, Hogan refused to put many people over) and then again during their time together in WCW, it's eaten away at him and obviously the two of them have never sat down and talked it through. So Bret will continue to bitch about him until he does. He was bitching about Flair for a while until they sorted it out. Bret just needs closure on all his previous adversaries.
 
#11 ·
This was before Bret realized that Hogan was burying him behind his back and refused to keep the peace with Bret. Before they made the Bret Hart DVD, they were planning to make a burial DVD on Bret much like the abortion they did on the Ultimate Warrior. Hulk Hogan was one among the cronies who was more than thrilled to say disrespectful, malicious, and fabricated stuff about Bret.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Basically when Hart went to WCW, he buried the hatchet with Hogan (despite him still playing politics). Everything was cool until Hogan's book came out in 2002 (after Bret's article) where he dissed Bret and flat out lied about being the reason Bret found out Owen had passed.

The final straw was when Bret saw the footage of Hogan trashing him further for the original smear piece documentary from WWE. Everything to Bret about Hogan was phony and has no more respect for him. Rightfully so.

- Vic
 
#16 ·
When it comes to Hogan, nearly every Wrestler has had some praise for him when working with the same company at the same time for him. Now that Hogan has no real power in wrestling, you would be hard pressed to find many people that speak positively about him. He held a lot of wrestlers down during his glory years, and made many enemies. As for Bret Hart, he spoke highly of Hogan, but after his wrestling career ended he is somewhat justified for his bitterness towards Hogan.

-1993 Hogan refused to put Bret over as a legitimate champion and pass the torch to him, while he was on his way out of the company. It was a selfish move, and considering the steroid scandale was beginning, the WWF had chosen to go with smaller wrestlers as champions
-1998 Hogan is mainly responsible for Bret not getting any kind of push in the WCW, despite accepting an offer of $3,000,000/year, which at the time was only second to what Hogan was making. Hogan feared that Bret would steal his spotlight, and Bret did not get any kind of real push until Russo took over in late 99
-2010 Hogan announces his return to wrestling, and his debut on TNA, which happens shortly after Bret Hart announces his return to WWE for the first time in over 12 years. So Hogan once again tires to steal the spotlight from Bret in January 2010. However, by this time Hogan didn't make much of a difference as the ratings remained steady.

I find it hilarious that every time Hogan speaks about Bret Hart, usually in response to Hart badmouthing Hogan, he always says "I love Bret. He is a friend of mine, and I wish him all the best." Problem is he does the same thing with other wrestlers he screwed over at one time or another like Scott Steiner and Randy Savage. Hogan just cannot be trusted, as actions speak louder than words.
 
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