Hulk Hogan

He was born on 11 August 1953, in Augusta, Georgia, to Pietro Bollea, a construction foreman, and Ruth V, a dance teacher. The family moved to Port Tampa, Florida when he was quite young.

He pitched in the Little League Baseball in his childhood, but an injury ended a probable baseball career. He also played the fretless bass guitar for nearly a decade for Florida-based rock bands.

He attended the Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida, which he dropped out of to focus on music. He formed the band Ruckus in 1976 with a couple of other musicians.

A lot of wrestling competitions were organized in Florida region; hence numerous wrestlers would head to bars to relax where Ruckus performed. Jack and Gerald Brisco, brothers and tag team mates, noticed Hogan and were impressed by his physique.

Motivated by the Brisco brothers, Hogan started training under Hiro Matsuda, known for training wrestlers for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF).

After training for a year with Matsuda, Hogan fought Brian Blair on August 10, 1977. When things didn’t work out with Matsuda, he left him and CWF.

Hogan decided to partner up with his friend Ed Leslie (Brutus Beefcake) in a tag-team and joined Louie Tillet’s Alabama Territory. In Alabama they wrestled as the Boulder Brothers.

They quit Tillet’s territory for the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) in Memphis as the promoter, Jerry Jarrett, offered them $800 a week.

Hogan won his first wrestling championship after defeating Bob Roop for the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship in 1979.

In 1979, Vincent McMahon gave him an opportunity to join WWF and in his first match he defeated Harry Valdez. His first big feud with Andre the Giant happened in 1980 in which Hogan was defeated.

Hulk Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.