[Must Read Interview] Hulk Hogan: "I'll defeat desperate Vince"

From thesun.co.uk:

Part One - The Story - August 5, 2007

Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has lashed out at the industry which made him a megastar. And he has demanded an end to the decades-long cover-up of steroid abuse in the sport. Hogan, 54, took the muscle-enhancing drugs almost daily for 16 years during his career and says he can spot a user a mile off.

With more than 100 grapplers dying before the age of 50 in the last decade, he is begging others to face up to the crisis. The Sun has been leading an anti-steroid abuse campaign since wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his wife and seven-year-old son before committing suicide in June.

A handful of former stars have already spoken out and prompted US politicians to start investigating the industry. But many in the WWE, the world's biggest fight franchise, deny there is a problem and have blasted their ex-colleagues as bitter failures who haven't wrestled in years.

They cannot same the same about Hogan, wrestling's equivalent of Pele or Muhammad Ali who was fighting for them just 12 months ago.

In an exclusive Sun interview, he said: "Are steroids a problem in wrestling? Oh God yeah. They have always been a part of the business. It's prevalent. But there's not some big mystery to it. Just open your eyes and it's there. You can look at a wrestler and pretty much tell. They will be above their weight range, with these big veins. My body weight is around 285lb, depending on how much junk I eat. Even if I was 25 and clean, I could probably only carry 300lb. Yet when I was wrestling I weighed anywhere between 320 and 340lb, because my body was full of water weight. My face was puffy, my arms were so bulky I couldn't touch my shoulders. You could take one look at me and know I was on something.

"Steroids have been around for ever in other sports too, but if we have to pick on somebody now then let's pick on wrestling. I'm glad the business is in the spotlight because they're probably the only ones smart enough, after being able to dodge it for so long, to know how to fix it."

The Hulkster added: "I remember up until the early 1990s any wrestler could walk into a doctor and they'd write you a prescription for steroids. Then there was a huge trial where WWE boss Vince McMahon was unfairly accused and rightly acquitted of distributing the drugs to his workers. This ushered in the era of wrestlers playing 'hide and seek'. If they can get away with things then they will. But now I think we're at the 11th hour. We can't have hide and seek being played any more. The WWE say they are drug testing, but if they are then it's not good enough. Because these guys have to stop dying."

Despite going on TV at the time to deny it, Hogan has since confessed he regularly used steroids between 1975 and 1991. In that period he helped turn the WWE, then known as the WWF, from a New York-based wrestling group into a global entertainment brand.

In 1984 he won their world heavyweight championship, holding it on and off for the best part of the next seven years and starring in the main event at six of their first seven WrestleMania extravaganzas. But behind his superhero mystique lay a dirty secret.

In his 2003 autobiography Hogan admitted: "I would tell kids to train, say their prayers and take their vitamins. But it wasn't just vitamins I was taking. But at that time every wrestler I knew was on steroids. They were part of my generation. I'm not making excuses but they were everywhere. And a lot of that had to do with what we knew about them, which obviously wasn't enough. The most commonly prescribed were testosterone, Deca-Durabolin and Dianabol. I never had a question about whether I would take them. It was part of my daily regimen. Did you take a shower? Yeah. Did you brush your teeth? Yeah. Did you take your steroids? Yeah. That was the deal. It was how I lived."

Alongside steroids, experts also blame painkillers and recreational drug abuse for the high number of deaths among young wrestlers. Again it is something Hogan witnessed and he is pleased to say the industry has made progress on the latter.

He said: "There's definitely much less of a party scene and cocaine use today. When I went back to the WWE, I'd go down to the Marriott bar after the show - and all you would see is Ric Flair there with a Jack Daniels and Hulk Hogan drinking a beer. In the old days EVERY wrestler would be in the bar and then they'd go out and stay out all night. But now they are all upstairs on their computers. Maybe they're not playing games up there, but it certainly seems a lot better.

"As for painkillers, like steroids, they have always been around. I was naïve when I first entered wrestling and didn't even know what they were. But there was a point later on where I got hurt and found out… pretty quickly! I used them but not to the point of abusing and to the levels of the horror stories I've heard. I always knew my limitations and had regular blood tests and physicals.

"During the years when I would hear of these massive doses of pills some guys would take, I remember thinking they would laugh at me if they knew what I was involved in. I would be a big joke."

Hogan is currently in talks to start his own promotion, in which the focus will be firmly taken off those with superhuman physiques. He said: "I don't know what the other federations can do, but I do know what I can do and it's all part of my plan for a new wrestling idea. It came from another person and when they told it to me it was the smartest thing I'd ever heard.

"I have been speaking to people from the American television networks and other important people in LA. In the first two weeks they raised $40million (£20million). I need about $80-100million to start it up. If me and my partners pull it off then the wrestlers will have a more natural look and an easier schedule - all of the things people are saying the business needs. And then Vince McMahon and everyone else in the business will have to follow suit."

Hogan is fully aware that his stance opens him up to charges of hypocrisy. Critics argue he was the "poster boy" for steroids throughout much of his career and other wrestlers emulated him to get the same "main event" physique. So isn't Hulk Hogan's plea to get steroids out of wrestling like George Bush calling for troops to leave Iraq?

The Hulkster replies: "I'm not trying to repent but I am being honest about my failings. I want youngsters to be educated. If I was 25 right now, coming into this business, I don't know what I'd be like in that locker room. But I know one thing. Wrestling needs to make sure everything is above board. So is it hypocritical of me? Yes. But is it hypocritical of me now in 2007? No. I think it's more like poetic justice. I've learned from being around, surviving and watching the many mistakes I and others made. I thank God I'm still alive!"

Part Two - The Interview - August 10, ,2007

Last week Hulk Hogan shocked the grappling world when he called for an end to steroid use in the sport and lashed out at the number of stars dying young. The Hulkster also stoked interest by revealing he has raised $40million of the $80-100 million he needs to start his own wrestling federation and take on Vince McMahon's all-powerful WWE.

Now, in part two of our exclusive interview, wrestling's biggest ever name turns his guns on his former friend and boss. Hogan slams the "compromised" McMahon and his "robot" roster, then reveals exactly how their relationship broke down. He also has harsh words for fellow legend Steve Austin and those who he saw wrestling to "silence" at last year's SummerSlam.

SUN: People are going to be very excited when they hear your plans to start your own wrestling promotion. Can you tell us any more?

HULK: If I can do what I want to do in the next few months then this will be bigger than anything ever done before in wrestling. You've seen WrestleMania, the nWo, UFC, steel cages, PPV - but this is something completely different again. Someone else gave me the idea and I said go ahead go and do this crazy thing. It is something I would have never dreamed of. It would be like inventing an engine that runs on air that kind of an idea.

Wrestling needs to be about the art form again. It needs to be about painting a picture and having a really good match. Whether the guy can dropkick off the top of the cage or, like me, his boots never leave the ground - it's about understanding what this business is about. The best wrestlers, whether it's a Hulk Hogan or a Rey Mysterio, are the ones who have psychology and can understand this business.

SUN: Do you think anyone can challenge the WWE's dominance of wrestling?

HULK: Definitely. If you look at the numbers when I was in WCW, we used to beat them every week. We had three times the audience of Vince. He was facing bankruptcy. Then AOL merged with Time Warner and said we do not want wrestling on our stations, and that was the end of WCW.

Right now, Vince's stuff has been compromised. With all respect to TNA, the WWE is the only option people really have - but it is not at the level of the quality of programming that Vince usually puts out.

SUN: What don't you like about the WWE product at the moment?

HULK: Well, I never said I didn't like it.

SUN: Sorry, what do you think it lacks then?

HULK: It lacks stars, it lacks consistency, it lacks quality story lines and it lacks anybody that understands the art form. Everybody's out there wrestling like a robot.

SUN: At WrestleMania, you were rumoured to be part of the Vince McMahon v Donald Trump match. Is that true?

HULK: I don't know anything about that. I know I was supposed to be the main event at WrestleMania either against Austin, Big Show or Khali. It is something they had talked about for a year, as it was the 20th anniversary of me slamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania III.

The year before at the Hall Of Fame, Vince even told me: "Make sure you're ready for WrestleMania 23 because it is 20 years since the attendance record was set in Detroit and we want you back in there as the main event."

SUN: But you ended up not being on the show at all. What happened?

HULK: Last year, at SummerSlam, I fought Randy Orton - and me and Vince had some problems with the money. Before SummerSlam, I was a little worried because instead of being a main event match I was on fourth against Randy Orton. When I heard about the first three matches at the Fleet Centre in Boston and it sounded like a funeral. And when I listened to the crowd reactions to those matches, it did sound like a funeral. Then when my music came on it was like the old days people were stood up. It was electric. Randy is a great hard working wrestler and we fought an old school style match. That was the most exciting match I've ever had in the Fleet Centre.

I wrestled Sting in a cage - which was a great match in my opinion at least - but this one was better as after second-guessing I was like "oh my god, it still works".

Then Vince went out with his son and wrestled Triple H and Shawn Michaels and it was dead against. Cena went on for the main event, and people started leaving. I felt bad when the night ended, as they should have put me on later, but it was the money that really got to me.

I swore I would never talk about the money again with Vince because that's what we always argue about but when I saw the amount, it I was like that like one of my driver's pay cheques so I had to say something.

He replied: "Well you're not the only big guy any more, there are now 12 big guys."

I said: "Well if that's the case let me explain something to you, I heard the first three matches and nothing. I wrestled and I heard what happened.

"And then I heard your match Vince and nothing and I saw Cena and people were leaving. I had a hard time getting out the building because of all the people marching through.

"So who are the other 11 big guys you're splitting my money with?"

SUN: Was that your last conversation with him?

HULK: No, we tried to get back on track for WrestleMania. Vince called me up a few months later wanting me to wrestle his son Shane. He was raving: "It'll be exciting. Shane can bounce around for you. You can do anything. We really want to re-create WrestleMania 3."

But I said: "How come not Big Show? How come not Stone Cold? Nothing against your son, but why Shane?

"You can re-create everything about WrestleMania III except the magic and probably my pay check right?"

And that was the last time I talked to him.

SUN: Recently Vince McMahon has had a female wrestler called Jillian Hall play the character of an awful blonde singer - which is obviously a dig your daughter Brooke. What did you think when you saw that?

HULK: I haven't seen it myself but people have told me about it. It's the lowest thing you can do. Like talking bad about someone in high school. If I have a problem with someone I talk about them. I don't pick on their kids. So if that's what he's doing then he's desperate and defeatable.

SUN: Would you ever go back to the WWE?

HULK: Never say never, but I think it would be highly unlikely.

SUN: A lot of people are calling John Cena the new Hulk Hogan. He's got the charisma, looks and he has held the title for a long time now. Do you think he could emulate your huge success?

HULK: If anybody can do it, he can. I've talked to John and he's got a real big head on his shoulders. He's not jaded. He definitely has the opportunity, simply because he keeps his options open. He is not falling into that replaceable robotic cookie kind of character. He's definitely the one guy that is smart enough to rise and has the talent to move on.

SUN: There are two dream matches that are always talked about. You against Cena and you against Austin. Any chance of either of those happening?

HULK: Somewhere down the road, Hulk Hogan v John Cena could definitely happen. But Austin? Well his claim to fame - rather than slamming Andre The Giant or beating Vince every week in the ratings - is that Austin v Hogan is something he'll never let happen.

SUN: If Steve turned round tomorrow and said "I've changed my mind and I'd really like the fight to go ahead" - would you do it?

HULK: I don't know. It depends if I was available. I'm very right busy now.