Will Hulkamania run wild again?
Hulk thinks about a WWE return
Even at 60, Hulk Hogan wants to win one more time in the ring.
For a generation of Hulkamaniacs, his return to wrestling is certainly more appetizing than Hogan’s latest foray into pop culture: His parody of Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball video, that features the former champ swinging on a ball in his red-and-yellow shirt, bandana, feathered boa, boots — and a black thong that puts a sports entertainment twist on cheeky humour.
Hogan laughs, looks at the camera, and simply says, “Brother!”
Let’s just say, not even Hogan’s personal life was ever this exposed on his former reality show.
Hogan ditched the wrestling tights to promote Hostamania, his latest business venture that aims to break into website hosting, much like GoDaddy. He’s turned Hogan’s Beach into a Tampa, Florida, hot spot.
Almost 30 years after it was launched, Hulkamania is still running wild. Just not in the ring. Hogan just might be one of the hottest free agents in sports entertainment after his contract with TNA Wrestling recently expired.
He could re-sign with the second-tier TNA promotion — or return to deliver one more yellow boot to the face in a final match for Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment.
“Let me put it to you this way, brother,” Hogan said. “With the right guy, the right situation, with a big enough event, big enough storyline, you’re damn right I have one more left in me.”
Slowed by age and injuries, Hogan has made sporadic appearances in the ring the last few years.
Hogan last appeared on WWE’s flagship show RAW in 2007 and he signed with TNA in 2009. He wrestled a few times with TNA but served mostly as the onscreen general manager.
The Hulkster “quit” TNA as part of a televised angle last week, written out of storylines because his contract expired Thursday.
He hasn’t ruled out a return to the promotion, especially with TNA’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view set for Oct. 20 in San Diego.
“We couldn’t figure things out,” Hogan said. “We’re talking, but I’m wide open right now.”
The other option is a return to the WWE, the promotion that shot him to movie roles, cartoons, and a Sports Illustrated cover in the 1980s.
In his absence, WWE certainly hasn’t forgotten about Hogan, putting him on the cover of its recent DVD release The Best of WWE at Madison Square Garden.
He’s also a playable character in six classic WrestleMania matches in 2K Sports’ WWE2K14 video game, out Oct. 29.
Hogan felt warmly received at a recent charity event with wrestler Triple H — McMahon’s son-in-law, who also serves as a real life WWE executive.
“He just welcomed me with open arms. He said if ever I decide I get the itch to come back home,” the door’s open, Hogan said.
Hogan was already the biggest name in wrestling when he body slammed Andre the Giant at 1987’s WrestleMania, and he remained as beloved as ever when he faced The Rock at 2002’s WrestleMania.
Led by John Cena and Randy Orton, a new generation of stars eventually put Hogan on WWE’s back burner, and eventually out of the company.
“Maybe my ego was in the way. I felt like, man I can still do this,” Hogan said.
“Listen to the crowd. Don’t you guys hear what I hear? Even though I passed the torch to The Rock, I kept feeling there was more gas in the tank. Maybe I couldn’t see what everybody else saw. Maybe I was going out there and embarrassing myself when I wrestled The Rock, I don’t know. I just wanted something different for the