During his time in WWE, Hulk Hogan was a through-and-through hero. With legions of children looking up to the performer, and his popularity helping lift up the entire industry, the decision was made to keep things that way. However, when Hogan moved over to WCW in the 1990s, he would eventually turn heel and help spark another new era for wrestling with the formation of the NWO. Speaking on a recent episode of “Lex Expressed,” former WWE and WCW star Lex Luger offered his perspective on Hogan becoming a villain deep into his career.
“It blew my mind,” Luger said. “I thought that he was so set with the red and yellow, and ‘Take your vitamins and say your prayers.’ I thought he was going to ride and die with that. … The Hulkster is a really sharp businessman, and I think he could sense that [he’d] run [that] thing out.”
Luger compared the situation to what would later happen with John Cena in WWE, where he became so popular that a sizable segment of the fans turned on him. Rather than avoiding the issue, Hogan decided to lean into it.
“I was like, ‘Gosh, is he really going to do this?'” Luger continued. “I knew he had creative control. I was in a couple [of] meetings when the Hulkster … [would] go, ‘Ah, I don’t think that’s going to work for me.’ … He didn’t do that very often. Hulkster’s all business.”
The point Luger was emphasizing is that Hogan could have shut down the idea of turning heel at any moment. However, the former Mega Powers member decided it was the right move, and it paid off.
“The feeling was: wow, this is big,” Luger said. “This is going to be wild.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Lex Expressed” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
