The 80s saw a meteoric rise in the professional wrestling business. With all the promotions running smoothly, WWE went to the next level because of Hulk Hogan’s run with the company.

However, did you know Hogan left WWE in 1980 after just one year in his first run with the company? He left WWE in 1980 after filming his scene for Rocky III as an on-screen character ‘Thunderlips’ against the elder McMahon’s wishes. 

He wrestled in AWA for the next three years till 1983, simultaneously appearing on New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Bret Hart recalls an incident of Hulk Hogan from 1983 that led him back to WWE

In his 2007 autobiography, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hary shared how a 30-year-old Hulk Hogan choked Verne Gagne while working in AWA. The wrestling universe knows the real-life heat between Hogan and Gagne.

Hitman wrote, “He had been doing huge business with Dr. D. for Verne Gagne and the AWA in Minneapolis. Then, at the TV studio where they did their tapings, Verne, who still believed he was as tough as he’d been in his old shooting days, lost his temper and dove at Hogan. Hulk snatched him in a front face lock and choked the sixty-one-year-old promoter out on the floor. Verne was humiliated,” 

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Verne Gagne had formed his own promotion, the American Wrestling Alliance later it became Association in 1960. Everyone knew him for putting on an old-school show in AWA. He promoted wrestlers with amateur backgrounds over bulky wrestlers. This led to a problem with Hulk Hogan joining AWA, as Gagne never thought ‘The Hulkster’ was world champion material.

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However, Hogan had entered the company as a heel and had a great feud with the AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel. Surprisingly, Gagne, after a successful feud with Bockwinkel, agreed to make Hogan his champion.

However, he kept only one condition: that Gagne would receive the bulk of Hogan’s revenues from both merchandise sales and his matches in Japan, which Hogan refused. This led The Hulkster to sign with WWE.

How did Vince McMahon sign Hogan?

Hulk Hogan entered as a heel in AWA but turned into a babyface as the crowd chanted for him during matches. Vince McMahon, who had recently brought WWWF from his father turning into WWF, thought Hogan was a great asset and can become the next big star.

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Bret Hart, in his book, wrote how Mr. McMahon offered more money and signed Hogan into WWE while he had problems with Verne Gagne. Hart wrote, “Vince McMahon Jr., ever poised to strike, swooped in and financially lured both Hulk and Schultz over to the WWF, even taking Verne’s announcer, Mean Gene Okerlund. The war was on.”

McMahon had made his move by signing Hulk Hogan along with legendary announcer Mene Gene Okerlund. This second run made ‘The Hulkster’ a star worldwide. He partly wrestled in NJPW till 1985 while he was having matches in WWE.

Hogan signing with WWE was a colossal move in pro-wrestling history and the rest, as they say is history.