Hollywood Hulk Hogan
Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Michael Jan Friendman
Published: 2002
Pages: 343
Synopsis: The life and times of wrestling's biggest star.
I see now that I should have taken all of the bullets out of Arsenio's gun and said "Yes, I used steroids to bulk up." I should have come clean. It probably would have hurt my career but not as badly or for as long a time. So I screwed myself.
It was the biggest mistake I've ever made. I should have just been man enough to fess up, and if it ruined me then it ruined me. As it was, I almost ruined everything I had accomplished, and that was more important to me by far.
This was the first of Hogan's two autobiographies, the one written before the divorce and his family falling apart. After reading this one, the hope was that he would be a little more honest with his Hulkamaniacs going forward.
To begin with, given this is a biography of arguably the biggest name in wrestling history... any serious student of the industry kind of has to read it. But what would Hulk Hogan have to say when he told his life story?
Unfortunately the answer ended up being, quite a bit of bullshit. Hogan exaggerates and creates tall tales about his life, his family and his career and once you've read through even a few chapters, you're left feeling as though the story truly isn't genuine.
That's not to say it isn't without its moments. You get to hear interesting details of Hogan growing up as a child, some of the wilder moments inside and outside the ring, and even larger-than-life anecdotes about wrestlers including Randy Savage, Andre The Giant and yes, even Iron Mike Sharpe. Heck, some of his stories may even have a kernel of truth to them!
But once you wade past that, you quickly learn that there isn't much substance to this book. And the chapters are all brief, so you really just get a bite-sized story every couple of pages.
OVERALL RATING: Bowling-shoe ugly. There's really not much substance here and especially given who Hulk Hogan is... you're left wanting a lot more meat on the bone, brother.