Evening. Play this first:
Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. Two of wrestling's biggest franchises. Two of the largest names in the sport. Two men who helped the profession to new heights and made millions of dollars in the process.
They are now wrestling's two saddest casualties.
Non wrestling fans will look at the photo above and remember both men and how they used to fight back "when I were a wee nipper" and would assume that this is a photograph from one of their colossal battles during wrestling's heyday. But you would be wrong. This photograph was taken March 8th, 2010...this past Monday. Hogan and Flair, 56 and 61 respectively, are still competing today. Many put this down to an undying love for the sport that made them, they simply cannot bring themselves to hang it up, kick back on the rocking chairs outside and bask in the peace of their twilight years. Whilst there is an inkling of that ideal about them, I believe that the story isn't just of two guys who simply cannot get rid of that itch to perform.
The past few years for both Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair have been marred with appalling personal problems that may have confined them to spend the rest of their days forcing their ageing bodies to keep on fighting because that's all they can do to make money. As somebody who is self-employed, the prospect of work drying up is one that hangs over my head constantly. With no contact and guaranteed wages it means that every day off I have is essentially a day of unemployment. I know however that I'm fortunate... sure, I have bills to pay, but my girlfriend and I make just enough money to keep a roof over our heads and live comfortably as well. For "The Hulkster" and "The Nature Boy" I don't think they have that peace of mind.
Hulk Hogan was a wrestling superstar in the 1990s. He was THE household name. His moniker summoned up images of a tall, muscle-bound man who could pick up and throw down men TWICE his size, and the best part of all was he was on our side. He was a "goody" so to speak and he was made into a millionaire over the two decades he dominated the wrestling world thanks to people like me who paid good money to wear T-shirts with his face on, go to sleep next to action figures bearing his likeness and - of course - buy tickets and pay-per-view events when he would show some evil-doer what for (truth be told, my mum and dad paid for all of these things...but I was ten years old, what can you do?) Hogan continued to make a shedload of money all the way up until 2006, amazingly! He found gainful employment in WCW in the mid 90s where he stayed until popping back to the WWE and doing a handful of matches for nice pots of money. Hulk Hogan could have retired in the late 90s and EASILY lived off the interest he made as the top superstar. But it was ego that kept him going and spending way beyond his means...and when his wife Linda filed for divorce all of that work seemed to come undone. Hogan is now paying a large amount of money per month to keep Linda Bollea in the means she wishes to be kept. After all those years being touted as wrestling's biggest star and the entertainment world's highest earner, "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan was skint.
Ric Flair was always wrestling "baddy". He boasted about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on suits, personal limousines, personal jets and big houses. This was hyperbole either...Flair conducted an inteview where he talked about how much money he blew during his payday. But that was why people hated him, because he was all about money and expensive things, boasting about how he's the richest and the best wrestler in the world. Flair earned money in the binary opposite way to Hulk Hogan...people paid not to watch him win the day, but to get his comeuppance. Ric Flair made people hate him so much that fans would spend their hard-earned dollar to watch "the goody" give him a shoeing. And that's how Flair rolled, and that's how Flair became another massive earner in the wrestling world. In his prime, Flair was the best. But sadly, he never went away.
Between 2002 and 2008 Ric Flair was back in the WWE as an active wrestler and despite the occasional flash of brilliance, it was a sad sight to see. An old, balding, uncomfortable looking Ric Flair bounced around the wrestling ring on a weekly basis and generally sullied his reputation to new wrestling fans. But WWE sensed that his time was coming and because they respected Flair so much they were ready to help him kick back and enjoy a lengthy retirement. WWE signed Ric Flair to a Legends contract (basically, Ric would get paid a guaranteed monthly downside and do additional work for the company - make guest appearances on TV shows, do autograph signings, help promote the company but outside of the ring) and had him bow out at Wrestlemania in one last, graceful burst of glory. It was the perfect way to end the man's storied career.
But Ric Flair wanted to wrestle. Despite the fact that he simply couldn't work that well in the ring anymore, he wanted to put his tights back on and get into action. He tried to get back into wrestling, but the WWE office denied it, saying as long as he was under contract he would not be wrestling anymore. Ric Flair was on guaranteed money, which was timed perfectly as he was facing his second divorce (and consequently, his second Direct Debit if you know what I mean) so at least he would be settled for life. But Flair, making - what I believe - a horrible business decision, severed his contract with WWE and announced he was taking independent bookings.
Flair, hitting his 60s when regular people start to contemplate retirement, was self-employed once more and really needed the money! He had another brief marriage between leaving WWE and today which has once again gone the way of divorce. Another Direct Debit on the list for Flair. With no guaranteed money and his little remaining funds from his short-lived WWE contract dwindling, Ric Flair was staring down the barrel of bankruptcy.
Enter Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a sports-entertainment company based out of Orlando, Florida. Since the demise of World Championship Wrestling TNA is considered the "number two" wrestling company in the world and despite the fact the company had never turned a profit they
extended an offer to Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan to come and work for them at the end of 2009. This week, during their big TV debut at the same timeslot as WWE, they got back into the ring to face one another.
And that's where we are today.
I watched the match in which the two biggest stars of wrestling's glory days locked horns once again. It made me really really sad. To know the path that both these men have taken in their lives to this point, and to watch how timid and slow they are as they fight, it was actually so distressing I couldn't watch it all. Hulk Hogan's body is so bashed up that he can no longer perform his signature Legdrop Of Doom, that should give you an indication as to how sorry this state of affairs is.
These are two greats who should currently be sat on a patio somewhere with a case of beers talking up a storm about the days of yore. Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, with a combined age of 117, should have saved up, slowed down and chilled out by the time we reached the 21st Century so not only THEY, but WE can look back and smile at all they brought this wacky sport of ours.
They shouldn't be doing this.
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Posts
While I was never much of a fan of wrestling as such, I used to enjoy the "performance" that would take place between the dressing room and the ring.
ReplyDeleteMy Nan used to watch Gorgeous George, this in the 1950s when the telly was new and, apparently, shows from America were run or re-run. Nan also watched Liberace, who had a look, a style, that owed something to GG. She'd not have known Little Richard, or, eventually, James Brown, but might have liked them as they had the GG look and feel.
Perhaps Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair are just guilty of taking themselves too seriously? Perhaps they cannot escape their alter-egos? They are no longer what one might call "attractive".
Perhaps the ring is the only place when there has been no other? what a shame the audience (quite rightly) is left saying "I remember back when ..."
It might be time for Hulk and Ric to copy ABBA with their interactive ABBA-WORLD. Hulk & Ric without being there and somewhat spoiling the picture.
R