All language subtitles for Evil - EP-01 - Hulk Hogan

- Oh, no.
- Hollywood Hogan

made me act vicious,
he was arrogant.

I was the most evil
grease ball

that ever showed up
in the wrestling business.

The character Hulk Hogan

used to be the ultimate tan,
all-American hero.

Totally two different animals.

So it was just that
complete 180 transition

to being
the most evil villain.

Yes, you can say
the ultimate bad guy.

[dramatic music]

* *

[crowd booing]

- The dirtiest player
in the game,

Hollywood Hulk Hogan,

will prove you gotta take
what you want.

- Hollywood Hulk Hogan was
the most diabolical villain

in sports entertainment
history.

But Hogan's inglorious
brand of evil

derived from rather innocent
beginnings.

[National Anthem playing
on electric guitar]

- It's the '80s.
Simpler times.

* *

Hulk Hogan is the
larger-than-life

personification of everything
you want in a hero.

Be good, say your prayers,
eat your vitamins,

and you too could be like
Hulk Hogan someday.

[bell ringing]

- This is the main event!

- Hulk Hogan was larger
than life.

Big, 300 and some odd pounds,

built like
a brick [bleep]house.

and had
an ungodly amount of charisma.

- Hulk Hogan!
[crowd cheering]

[bell ringing]

- The 1980s
were a wonderful era

for real-life superheroes.

- Hulk now has
the Sheik's robe,

and he clotheslined him
with it!

- We were looking for heroes

that were really idealized
versions of ourselves.

And Hulk Hogan
was one of those.

- One, two!
He's got Iron Sheik!

Hulkamania is here.

- In early '80s,
I started Hulkamania.

I had a lot to do with it,
but so did the promotion.

I'm in training
and I'm saying my prayers

and eating my vitamins.

And everywhere where I go,
man,

the people are training
in the parking lots,

closing in the gym.

Hulkamania is running wild
all over the world.

- Hulkamania was a phenomenon
that grabbed hold of

not just the wrestling world,
but the entire world.

- It just blew him up huge.

I mean, this guy couldn't go
anywhere and not be recognized.

- All of a sudden you started
seeing Hulk more and more

on different shows.

Johnny Carson.

- Professional wrestling
kinda turns me

into a stark raving maniac.

- Jay Leno.

- We came
to "Saturday Night Live"

for one reason, brother.

'Cause this is the best darn
show in the whole wild world.

- "Hulk," I said,
"Hulk, you can't go wrong

with the red and yellow."
He goes, "Why?"

"McDonald's!
McDonald's is red and yellow

and they're all over America."

- They were putting me on the
cover of "Sports Illustrated,"

all the major magazines,

you know, I was doing
commercials for Right Guard.

And there was this
crazy momentum.

- There he is, the greatest
professional athlete

in the world today,
Hulk Hogan.

- Hulk Hogan came into my life

when I was very impressionable
in my formative years.

I loved everything about him.

He was big. He was tall.
He was tan.

He had 24-inch pythons.

The way he talked.
The way he ripped his shirt.

When he was Thunderlips
in "Rocky III."

We gotta remember we were
in the middle of a Cold War.

There was a lot of propaganda
as far as, you know,

the Russians or whatever
the case may be.

- We got Nikolai Volkoff

singing
the Soviet National Anthem.

It was not necessarily a time
for nuanced storytelling.

- I can't stand to see
our enemy's flag in the ring.

- Mr. All-American
versus the rest of the world.

Throw in the American flag?
You got a hero.

- Hulk Hogan with Old Glory
flying high above.

- Coming out of the '80s,

the '90s is defined
by grunge...

and gangster rap.

Counterculture
was everything in the '90s.

- When the '90s came along,
everything changed, you know.

It was about being more
the bad guy,

the more in your face,
the more, "Yeah. Who said so?

"Well, try to knock this chip
off my shoulder

and I'll show you
what's gonna happen, buddy."

- It was the same red
and yellow for a long time.

Very successful long time
I might add,

but there was a point

where the audience
started looking at Hulk

and going, "Okay, what's new?"

- All of a sudden,
I felt things changing.

But I could feel the momentum.
It wasn't as powerful.

I'd come out
and my music would hit,

it wasn't the same.

I'd drop the leg,
do the posedown.

It wasn't the same.

- We could notice each night,

we were getting
a few more boos.

Each night,
I'd go and check the sales

on our merchandise, you know.

And I could see where it was
starting to dip a little bit.

- This Hulk Hogan thing
got so big

and it was so powerful.

But there were certain times

where, you know,
when I kind of felt

Hulkamania might not be going
in the right direction.

I thought there might be a time
for a change.

- [yells]
- Going up?

- For the next few years,

Hulk focused on
his Hollywood ambitions.

- So is he a Box Office champ?

Well, not yet.

- I'm getting better.

The transition is a tough one.

- By 1994,
it became clear.

Hulkamania was
not running wild in Hollywood.

- I kinda, like, was really
on shaky ground for a while.

I wasn't making any money.

And when I left the WWE,

Vince thought my run was over.

You know, so I was just kinda
like, stumbling along

on a hope and a prayer.

I was so lucky that WCW

had a sound stage right next
to "Thunder in Paradise."

And Eric Bischoff approached me
with Ric Flair and said,

"Hey, we'd like you to put
lightning in a bottle again."

I said, "Brother, I'm in."

- Eric Bischoff was
a chief executive

tasked with leading WCW,
a wrestling promotion

with the objective
to overtake WWE

as the industry standard.

Bischoff's
first plan of action

was to entice former WWE
superstars into the fold

to jumpstart the company.

[intense music]

And there was still
no bigger name out there...

[cheers and applause]

Than Hulk Hogan.

- WCW was at a point in time

where we were
positioning for growth.

Hulk Hogan was still
a bankable star

in the eyes of advertisers.

Knowing that Hulk
was no longer with WWE,

it became apparent to me
that being able to sign Hulk

and get him to come to WCW
would create an awareness

that no amount
of advertising or marketing

probably could have achieved.

- I never, ever in my life

thought that I would
run against Vince McMahon.

But you know,
I talked to Eric Bischoff.

And he said, "What's it gonna
take to light this company up?"

I said, "Well, I need to come
back as Hulk Hogan for a while

"and get the feel of things,

and then we can figure
it out really quick."

- Hulk Hogan, five times--

- The initial reaction
when Hulk left WWE

and went to WCW was

going to a smaller
organization at the time

would help that organization,
definitely,

but wasn't anything that said,

"Oh, well this is gonna
make a difference.

Not with the same thing
that he had been doing here."

- We're gonna find out

who the most powerful man
in the WCW is because--

- You know, when we first
brought Hulk Hogan in,

it was a big damn deal.

It made a lot of news.

It served its purpose.

But after about
a year and a half,

the audience viewed
Hulk Hogan differently.

I knew that, going
head-to-head with the WWE,

we had to be different
and had to be a lot edgier.

So it was Hulk Hogan
joining the dark side.

- Oh, what is this?
Come on!

* *

- So I flew myself down
to Clearwater

and had a conversation
with Hulk.

"What do you think
about turning heel?

Going from good
to the bad guy?"

- Eric came up with this idea
and, you know,

I knew I needed to do
something, but I wasn't sold.

- I think Hulk knew that
the red and yellow Hulk Hogan

was still generating
a lot of revenue

and would be turning
his back on the fans.

And I just don't think
he was interested

in taking the risk
associated with turning heel.

Because Hulk had made
it clear to me

he had no interest
in turning heel at all,

so I had to have a plan B.

* *

- WCW president Eric Bischoff
hatched a real life plot

to put WWE out of business.

- Scott and I had taken on
the perception

of two of the WWE's top guys

doing basically,
a hostile takeover

of another corporation,

so we were always perceived
as the WWE.

- Get security out here
and get them outta here.

- The perception was implied

that they were being sent
from us at the WWE

and it was an invasion
of WWE talent going to WCW.

[tires squealing]
- See you, buddy!

Whoo!

- Scott Hall and Kevin Nash,

they killed everyone.

- Stop take, get security.

- They didn't have
anything to lose

and they were willing
to take risks.

- Oh, my God.
- Hey, get him outta here.

- We picked up a lot
of momentum right off the bat.

Certainly got
people's attention,

but I needed to make
as big a splash as I could,

so we built an entire storyline
around a third man.

What made it tricky for me is

I had to find a third man
in that story.

- Bischoff wanted the promise
of a mysterious third man,

the baddest of the bad guys,

a true heel of a human being.

But who could possibly
fill those boots?

- Everyone wanted that spot.

These two guys
had lit up the world.

I'm talking about number one
spot on cable television.

- We wanna know
who your three guys are.

- And then he cut that promo
about "Bring your best three,

we're bringing our best three."

- The big man
and the medium size man

and our surprise buddy--

- "And next week,
I'm bringing the big man in."

The really crazy part is

no one knew

who the third guy was

because there wasn't one yet.

- I remember the day
that I got a call from Hulk.

And he said, "Hey, man,
I'd like to talk to you

"about what's going on.

Can you make it out to LA?"
So I did.

I think I got to Hulk's
trailer around midnight.

After we had a beer or two
and lit up a Cuban cigar,

Hulk said to me, "So...

Who's gonna be the third man?"

And I didn't wanna tell him.

I already had Sting lined up.

- I said,
"You can't ask Sting."

I needed major, major change,

really, really bad.

I was starting to get
to the point

where I was second-guessing
everything about myself.

Was the Hulkamania ride
a fluke?

Was the reason Hulkamania
got so big,

was it just
Vince McMahon's promotion?

When this whole
three guys thing came along

and I decided to jump on it,

I needed it more than
life itself, at that point.

I didn't want Sting to get it.

And I wanted to prove to people
that I knew this business.

And not only could I be
the greatest good guy ever.

I knew this business
well enough

that I could be
the greatest bad guy ever.

So I said, "I'm in.
I'm in. Let's do it."

- I was like, "Wow.
Didn't see that one coming."

[dramatic music]

Boy, have I got butteries.

Luger's here. Sting's here.
Savage is here.

I only see two of them.

- We were told there would be
three of these interlopers.

And as you can see,
there are only two.

- There's just two of them.

They're fighting three guys.

Savage and Luger and Sting.

- Where is he?

It's your partner telling me

that your third man
is in the building?

- Oh, he's here
all right, Gene.

- What made it tricky
for me is

I wasn't 100% convinced

that Hulk was actually
going to see it through.

- Up until 4:00 o'clock,

Hulk wasn't sure
he was gonna do it, you know.

It was--it was not a go.

And the backup plan
was gonna be Sting turning.

- I think everybody
under their breath

said a little bit of prayer
because we knew

we're taking the biggest name
in the history of this business

and switching him to a bad guy.

- We couldn't afford
any mistakes.

Keeping it a secret
was my top priority.

I pulled him over into this
big janitorial closet,

and we started
going through that promo

just beginning
to middle and end.

It was the most exciting,
most stressful,

probably two hours
of my professional life.

Once Hulk walked
through that curtain,

it was
what it was going to be,

and there was nothing
I or anybody else

could do about it.
All bets were off.

- Hulk Hogan
is in the building!

- You're damn right he is!
- Go get 'em, Hulk!

- Hulk comes out.
Here he comes!

America, red and yellow,
blah, blah, blah.

People are there.
They're there. They're there.

- Yes. Finally, the Hulkster
to the rescue.

- And I'm--I'm in on it.

I know he's gonna turn.

And all I'm thinking
in my mind is, "Oh, man.

"Five minutes from now, man,

I'm going to get
the photo op of a lifetime."

Like, I'm in the ring
with Hulk Hogan.

- I go to the ring
and Bobby Eaton goes,

"But whose side is he on?"

- But whose side is he on?

- What are you talking about,
Bobby?

What side is he on?

There's only one side
for him to be on.

- Literally,
it was hard for me to breathe.

I was so excited.

- Kevin and Scott
cleared out of the ring

like they were afraid
of me first.

- Get it, Hogan!

Go get it, baby!

Hulk, Hulk, Hulk!

- Oh, my God!
Is he the third man?

- He's the third man!

- I went in and dropped
the leg on Mach.

- What has he done?

- Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW!

[crowd booing]

- They were in shock.

- You just sold your soul
to the devil.

- I mean, you could feel
the air come out of the arena.

No one knew how to react.

- Hogan drops the leg
and stands there in the ring

being interviewed by
a disgusted Mean Gene Okerlund.

- Mean Gene,
the first thing you need to do

is to tell these people
to shut up

if you wanna hear
what I gotta say.

Well, I told everybody
I was done

and all you fans out there,

you're just like
the trash in this ring.

When I said that, man,
they were throwing bottles,

they were throwing anything
they could get their hands on.

- Look at the ring.

Look at all this crap
in this ring.

- As far as I'm concerned,

all this crap in the ring

represents these fans out here.

You fans can stick it, brother.

- Trash is raining down
from the crowd.

You knew
you were seeing something

you never thought
you would see.

Hulk Hogan was evil.

He had become
the ultimate villain.

- You can call this

the New World Order
of wrestling, brother.

- And he ushers in

an entirely new era
of professional wrestling.

- And that was the birth
of the nWo.

* *

- Hulk Hogan,
for you to join up

with the likes of these two men

absolutely makes me
sick to my stomach.

- The way it is now, brother,

not only are we gonna take over
the whole wrestling business

with Hulk Hogan and the new
blood, the monsters with me,

we will destroy everything
in our path, Mean Gene.

It got so much heat.

Me, Kevin, and Scott got to the
back and went, "Holy [bleep]."

- It was the craziest thing
I've ever seen in my life.

They had to call
extra police in

from the Daytona Police
Department, came out there

because there
was a riot that took place.

I mean, all the news medias
picked up on it everywhere.

- The next day,

Turner Broadcasting was flooded

with emails and phone calls

of really pissed-off people,

mainly 'cause of the kids.

'Cause Hulk was,

"Say your prayer,
eat your vitamins."

And now you're heel?
Ooh, man.

People were--
bleep, bleep, bleep--pissed.

- People lost their minds,
dude.

I mean, kids were burning

their Hulk Hogan
wrestling huggers in effigy.

I mean it was insane.

That's how beloved
that man was.

[crowd chanting]
Hogan sucks! Hogan sucks!

Hogan sucks! Hogan sucks!

- That was devastating.

Little kids were crying.
Grown men were pissed.

It was genuine betrayal.

And the hate
that surely follows.

- Hollywood Hogan embraced
his dark side

with greater ease
than anyone expected.

It was clear he was in this
for the long haul.

- Wearing black

instead of his customary
and traditional

yellow and red,

Mr. Hollywood Hulk Hogan!

- The biggest on-camera change
for Hulk Hogan

going from good guy to bad guy
was wardrobe.

The red and yellow.
Those were his colors.

Then going to the black
and the bandana being black.

- He's turned his back
on it all.

- What I liked the most
about it

as opposed to just the
wardrobe, it was in the beard.

It visually made
his heel turn more dramatic.

- At the time, it wasn't gray.
It was still kinda blonde.

I grew the beard in,

and I got Just For Men,

and I dyed it
shoe polish black,

as evil, as Snidely Whiplash
as I could get it.

And that was the look.

It made people so mad
that they knew I dyed my beard

or I put makeup on it
or whatever they thought.

- Listen to the fans!

- It put that extra icing
on the top

to make people hate me
even more.

And then nobody airbrushed
their boots, you know.

So I was putting "Hollywood"

and lightning bolts
on the boots.

And so that was like tweaking

the character
and getting it right.

But it made me act
a certain way too.

- You know, there wasn't
a bigger boogieman

than Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

- Hollywood Hulk Hogan,

he'd give the cheap shots
behind the referee's back,

you know, scrape the back.

He would get on his hands
and knees and beg,

"Oh, please,
don't hit me, please,"

where the people wanted
to see that happen, you know?

And so it was just
a whole different persona

than he was from Hulk Hogan.

- Hulk Hogan is the man
that you voted for

for The Most Hated Wrestler
of the Year.

Hulkster, wait a minute.
I've known you, like, forever.

I mean, you were the most
popular guy in the world

and now The Most Hated
Wrestler of the Year?

- Well, brother, times change
and so do people, man.

- The scourge
of the wrestling world!

- Not only was the heat
so pure, but all the--

I don't wanna say
purist wrestling fans,

but the dicks like me,

we all loved it.
We were like, "Oh,

if he can do that,
anything's possible."

- I just wanted to set the tone

for what really would make
the nWo take off.

- * Let's get the--
get get get the money *

* *

- And man, we rode it hard
and we rode it long.

The nWo is the only way to go.

- Asking Hogan
to turn his back on the ideals

that made him the icon
of a generation

was a big ask
to say the least.

He knew
there was no turning back.

- * Let's get the--
get get get the money *

* *

- The new World Heavyweight
Champions, the nWo!

- The fans picked up on
the nWo Hulk Hogan.

It was something the wrestling
world had never seen before

and what's even crazier
more so than anything,

they liked it
and they ate it up.

- I think secretly,
we all love the bad guys.

There's always a cool factor
to the bad dude.

I think there's something
within all of us

that kind of wishes

we could do a little bit
of that in real life.

- What are you fans
gonna think?

- Hey, what you gonna do?
I'm a bad guy.

- Oh, oh, G-Gonzo! Gonzo, help!

- Thistle!

- I think
there's a certain authenticity

that rings with people

when they find out that
this pure hero is flawed.

And then when they see that
they go, "Wow,

I don't have to be perfect."

You can identify with
that person that has the flaws.

- They were cool bad guys.

And I think that's
what makes the fans go,

"You know,
I wish I could dress like him.

"I wish I could go
and tell my boss off

like this guy here."

It's being everything

that you wish you could be,
but you're not.

- It's a new world order.

There's nothing
you can do about it.

You know, the more we would
beat people up

and spray paint Ted Turner's
equipment outside,

the more evil stuff we did,

the more the fans cheered.

- I think the audience's
appetite was changing.

The audience was beginning
to dig the anti-hero

a lot more than the hero.

So the whole idea
was to be edgier,

more adult-themed,

and to have much more
of a reality sensibility.

And it worked.

- It was fascinating because
they were showing us things

that we had never seen before.

They were taking us back
behind the scenes,

and they were just disrupting.

From a fan's point of view,
it was almost like

now there was a virus
in wrestling

and you were either cool
like Hogan,

or you were, you know,
company people.

- Getting the world
to get behind it

and want to be a part of it,

it was genius.
It really was.

Everybody in the arena
had the shirt.

- Wanna make
a fashion statement?

- Buy the shirt!

- My grandmother
wouldn't allow me to wear

the nWo shirt in my house.

She even ripped down
my Hulk Hogan poster.

So when Hulk Hogan
was transforming

and the nWo was forming,

I was also turning
into a younger adult too.

So I was kind of changing
the way I was moving

and the things I liked.

So that whole transition
was perfect

from, you know, loving this
guy in the yellow and red

to, "Grandma,
I need my nWo shirt.

Where's my black
and white shirt?"

- Ironically,
the villainous Hollywood Hogan

was now attracting the sort
of celebrity attention

that Hulk Hogan could only
dream about back in '94.

- The nWo thing was so cool

that there were really
no boundaries.

- Hang on, you guys.
Now, listen--

- I mean, it was insane.

We had a blast.

[moody rock music]

- All of a sudden,
our ratings went from like 2.4s

to sixes, sevens, and eights.

I mean, those are NFL numbers.

- We had
our own NASCAR nWo car.

- Oh.
- Oh!

- Everybody wanted
to be a bad guy.

- You proved you are the icon

that everybody in this building
has always known you are.

Give it up for the Hulkster.
Come on, give it up.

- It totally changed
the landscape of the business.

All of a sudden,
bad guys became everything.

- Hulk Hogan becoming evil
and becoming bad

was the game-changer
that allowed WCW

to move ahead in the ratings
above us for 83 weeks.

And that was the catalyst that
really set WCW into motion,

becoming a very successful
promotion.

- Let's destroy
the broadcast booth...

- No! No!

- Just like we destroyed
the WCW.

- At that time,
the world celebrated

power hungry villains

who might just
burn the whole world down.

But in a bizarre
twist of fate,

the very monster WCW created
in order to destroy WWE

turned into an evil
they could not forbear.

- In 1996,
thanks to Hollywood Hogan,

WCW was dominating WWE
in the TV ratings.

But as it's often been said,

the devil's in the details,

or in this case,

the fine print.

- Going back to
some of the first--

the initial meetings I had
with Hulk about coming to WCW,

he looked me right in the eyes
and said, "Brother,

"I don't trust anybody here.

"I don't know you, Eric.

"And I know everybody that
works here in this company,

"and I really don't trust them.

"So here's how
this is gonna have to work.

Creative control."

[dramatic rock music]

- It means a lot to have
creative control

because if somebody else
comes in and says,

"I think we need
to do this or do that,"

and you can't perform,

it really hurts
the money you're making.

So we knew if you do
have creative control,

it's like you can do no wrong.

- When Hulk came over to WCW,

for Hulk,
creative control meant

that you could call
the match that you wanted,

when you wanted it.

It was something that
opened a can of worms.

I think it rubbed a lot
of the guys the wrong way.

- A lot of the wrestlers
were upset.

Their egos just
got out of control.

They were just really upset.

- We were pissed.

We were all just
fighting for your spot.

The nWo has had
some good times.

Quite frankly,
lately, some bad times.

- For Scott and I,

his creative control
was very hard

because the golden one
would walk in at 5:15,

on an 8:00 o'clock start
and go,

"Brother,
that doesn't work for me."

Well, [bleep] you.

You know, like,
"Wow, really, man?

"Okay. What does?
Do you have an idea?

"You don't even have an idea.

"That just doesn't work
for you?

So we'll just--
we'll work around it."

- It got to a point

when the lunatics started
running the asylum

and the ship
started falling apart.

[cackling]

The numbers started slipping
just a little bit.

Instead of Eric
taking over control,

you had everybody
in the Turner offices

that knew nothing
about wrestling,

trying to put their
two cents worth in.

- We need to talk.

- Uh--what do we need
to talk about?

- Wait a minute,
this is the president

of Turner Sports.
He's your boss.

- I know.
- This is Dr. Harvey Schiller.

This cannot bode well for you.

- Turner basically
took WCW away from him.

Eric Bischoff lost control.

So it was like being sabotaged
at the highest level.

It just--it just fell apart.

- So, yeah, I mean,
in September of '99,

I was relieved
of my duties in WCW.

In their infinite wisdom,

WCW brought in Vince Russo--

- Guys, this show really sucks.

- Because Vince Russo
was able to convince

certain people in WCW
and Turner Broadcasting

that Vince Russo was actually
the architect

behind the Attitude Era

and all the success
that WWE had.

- Oh, my God,
that's Vince Russo.

- Bro, as sure
as I'm sitting here,

I walked into
a WCW locker room.

And the minute I walked in,

there was a giant target,

bullseye on my back.

- Vince Russo came in

and he said,
"I'm gonna fire everybody

that's one day over 40."

And I went,
"Okay, how's this gonna work?"

- One of the ways he was able
to galvanize himself

with some of this lower card,
younger talent

was to badmouth guys
like Hulk Hogan.

- Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair
can't go on wrestling forever.

You've got to build
the undercard.

- And I'm just going,
"Oh, my God.

"If you guys buy this,
I got a lot of swamp land

here in Florida to sell you."

- Russo's goal is to
get rid of Hulk Hogan.

That was going to be
his claim to fame.

He was gonna put the nail
in Hulk Hogan's career.

- A wrestler's paranoia,

you can't--
you can't change that.

They're gonna believe
what they wanna believe.

And they believe

that I was trying
to run them outta Dodge,

which was the last thing
I was trying to do.

- Vince Russo never butt heads
with anybody to their face.

It was always behind your back.

Don't edit that out.
I dare you.

- Let's get ready to rumble!

- So when we talk about
"Bash at the Beach,"

I had written the show

and Hulk had to give
the script approval, okay?

Sent the first one over,
Hulk didn't like it.

Sent the second one over,
Hulk didn't like it.

- Basically, they want
to get the belt off you

and put it on Jarrett.

And I said,
"Well, here's the deal, bro.

"I don't get along
with this Vince Russo guy.

"Anyway, he's been trying
to sabotage me

since the day
he walked in here."

- So I write the third script,
and basically,

I have Hulk killing
everyone in the building,

but not walking out
with the title.

- He's here!
- It is.

- Vince wanted Hulk
to drop the belt to Jeff.

And he said, "Look,
let me win the belt tonight

"on the pay-per-view--"
which is the money.

"And then Monday night,"
he said,

"I'll drop it,
you know, at Nitro."

Well, he didn't want
to do that.

- I then go to Jeff Jarrett
and say to Jeff,

"Jeff, F Hogan,

"Lay down in the middle
of the ring.

"Let him cover you.

And let him leave
with his belt. F him."

- What's Jeff doing?
- Hang on a minute.

- What's Jeff doing?

Russo, I think, told Jarrett
to lie down.

What's going on?

- Jarrett lays down.

I looked down, and said,
"Brother, don't do this."

I said, "Don't screw
this business up like this."

You know?
And he just laid there.

Is this your deal, Russo?
- Wow.

- That's why this company's
is the damn shape it's in,

because of bull[bleep]
like this.

[match bell rings]
- This is wild.

Hulk Hogan
is the world champion.

And this sport has never seen
anything like this.

- Maybe Russo can explain
to the world

what we have seen.

- Look at his face.
- Yeah.

We know that face, don't we?

- I've done nothing,

nothing but deal with
the bull[bleep]

of the politics
behind that curtain.

I came back to the guys
behind that curtain

that give a [bleep]
about this company.

And let me tell you
who doesn't give a [bleep]

about this company.

That goddamn politician
Hulk Hogan.

Because Hulk Hogan tonight

wants to play
his creative control card.

You will never see
that piece of [bleep] again.

[cheering]

- Amen.

- So now you gotta understand
with Hulk's ego,

I go back to the office

and I gotta meet
with Brad Siegel,

who was the head of TNT.

And Brad says,
"Vince, what happened?"

And I laid out
the entire scenario

and Brad says to me,

"How did you leave it
with Hulk?"

- That was
the Vince Russo show.

The whole thing was just so--

just out of the realm
of what this business is about.

It was just--it was a disaster.

- Where does Hollywood Hogan's
career go from here?

- Where does WCW go from here?

- With the WCW's value
at an all-time low,

the powers cut their losses

and sold out to the man
they sought to destroy:

Vince McMahon.

- The fate of WCW
is in my hands.

- When Hollywood Hulk Hogan

and his band of cutthroats
destroy you,

the WCW will be on
a silver platter, brother.

And just like
the big, bad wolf said...

Better to eat you with.

Uh, wow.
[chuckles]

The downfall of WCW.

- I didn't feel any, you know,

ego boost of,
"Way to go, Vince..."

You know, "You crushed them.

And now you own them,"
and all that.

I look at it
as business as usual.

You have to grab
your competition by the throat,

and you've gotta squeeze
the life

out of your competition,

just like I did to WCW.

- On March 26th, 2001,

WWE officially purchased WCW.

Vince McMahon
would dismantle the roster

and yank WCW off the air.

A year later, Vince McMahon
was looking to squeeze

whatever evil juice
was left out of Hogan.

While Hollywood's star
was on the wing,

The Rock was on his way
into the stratosphere.

It was to be a symbolic
passing of the torch

from an icon of an era gone by

to the great one
of the Attitude Era.

- Hey, it's The Rock.
Come on, guys.

- Hey, wow.
It's our people's champ.

- I'm a baller.

- This is my son's
favorite wrestler.

- Vince wanted me
to wrestle The Rock, you know.

- Hogan, you take that camera.

It's already shined up,
turn sideways,

eat your vitamin,
say your prayers,

and stick it straight up
all your candy asses.

- It's kind of funny because,

you know,
I remember him saying,

"Well, Terry, you know,
things have changed.

"And, you know, if you're
gonna wrestle The Rock,

you better really bring it."

In my mind, I'm thinking,
"Brother, if I bring it,

you're gonna be begging me
to take it back."

- Hollywood Hulk Hogan!

- The Rock against Hulk Hogan.

Here's the aging Hulk Hogan.

Here's the newcomer, The Rock.

What was gonna happen?

- I mean, I took my daughter
to hear the Backstreet Boys

and NSYNC and girls scream
so loud it hurt my ears.

It was just that loud.

- There's a lot of fans
here in SkyDome

that love
this legendary figure,

Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

- Oh, the power of Hogan.

- When Hulk came back,
they don't want the nWo Hulk.

They didn't want
Hollywood Hulk.

They wanted Hulk.

I think our audience
looked at it as

it had been long enough.

He had been black and white

for ten years
or whatever it was,

and people were ready now,

what's old is new again.

- I mean, God, how long

did the beginning
of that match go on?

Where they were
just listening to the crowd

and listening to
the deafening Hogan chants.

- Many in the crowd
chanting for Hogan.

- Holy cow, man.

It was a worldwide audience
telling you that,

"Man, we love him
for everything he was.

"We loved him for leaving.
We loved him for coming back.

"We love Hulk.

And maybe you're shoving
Rock down our throat."

[crowd cheering loudly]

- Heard 'em cheering
and I went, "Oh, crap."

You know,
and they were cheering

and cheering
and cheering.

And The Rock started
taking over on me.

Every time he'd punch me,
they'd boo him.

[crowd booing]

- I don't think The Rock
expected a mixed reaction.

- The Rock was getting booed.

He's had the push
of a lifetime,

and here, I come back,

trying to put the WWE
out of business

for ten years,
trying to destroy the company.

I come back and the people
are cheering me and booing him?

- The crowd is solidly
behind Hulk.

I don't know if The Rock
knows what to think.

- People went crazy
over the Hulkster.

Oh, my God.
It was unbelie--

and then people loved
The Rock too.

But they got the match
turned around

where people cheered
The Rock, cheered Hulk.

You know, "Let's go, Hulkster.
Let's go, Rock."

"Let's go, Hulkster.
Let's go, Rock."

- Hulk, Rock.

Two of the greatest
of all time.

And they were able to listen,

react,

and make it work.

- People just couldn't
take it anymore.

Couldn't wait
for Hulk to hulk up

and make that big comeback.

Comeback, comeback.

- Oh, my God.
- What you gonna do, Rock?

- Hulk heard an audience,
a worldwide audience

telling you that,

"Man, we want
our traditional Hulk back.

And we love him."

It was a beautiful moment

because that was
an evolution for Hulk.

[match bell ringing]

- You smell what The Rock
is cooking.

- It was interesting
because it was almost like

it was the first time
that Hogan realized

that there could be some
ambiguity to his character.

I think it wasn't
until that night

'cause he was so over
with the audience,

he realized he could have
elements of Hollywood

and not be completely bad.

[crowd cheering]

- At the end,

the people really got
what they wanted to see:

two of the biggest icons
in the world.

And so, you know, it was kinda
like a passing of the torch.

[triumphant music]

* *

- It was so intense...

That Vince McMahon goes,

"Where is
your red and yellow gear?"

Vince goes, "You need to go get
your red and yellow stuff."

My whole character

of Hollywood Hogan
was nothing but fun

and being nasty
as I want to be

and having a blast doing it.

[sentimental music]

* *

The Hulk Hogan character
actually was up here

and it brought me up
and made me a better person

all these years.

And I finally understand

what it meant
to so many people.

* *

[National Anthem playing
on electric guitar]

- Wait just a minute!

Looks like Hulk Hogan's
got the red and yellow!

The true colors
of the Hulkster!

The bright red,
the bright yellow.

Hulk Hogan is back!

That is so cool
to see the Hulkster

in the red and yellow.

- Psychoanalyst Carl Jung
once said

the inside of every person
is a shadow self.

It's where we keep the things
we don't like about ourselves.

Pride, ruthless ambition,

tendency to violence.

That's Hollywood Hogan.

As much as we all want to be
the hero that was Hulk Hogan,

we all have a little bit of
Hollywood Hogan inside of us.

- I think
if one were to go back

and try to do a postmortem

on the "evil" Hulk Hogan,

at its core

was the fact that
Hulk turned his back

on people who loved him
and supported him

as a character.

And in creating a mystery,

getting the audience
to ask questions,

blurring the line,

which I will admit now
that the, you know,

litigation is far behind us.

You know, creating that feeling

of not being sure
what we're seeing

is real or make-believe.

- For Hollywood,
every night's a main event.

Every night's a payoff.

And every night's
another trip to the bank.

- It was genuine betrayal

and the hate
that surely follows.

It was a thing of beauty,

if I do say so myself.

- It's the most cunning
that will survive.

- What are we to think
of the duplicitous Hulk Hogan?

Is he the icon who inspired
a generation of Hulkamaniacs

to say their prayers
and eat their vitamins?

A superhero who made it cool
to be the good guy?

Or is he the nefarious
Hollywood Hogan

who became intoxicated
with his own power and fame

to the extent he brought down
an entire company?

Either way,

for the most beloved
superstar of a generation

to become the most prolific
villain of the next

is an amazing feat.

If you really wanna know
what evil lurks around you,

take a closer look inside
the heart of your heroes.

- I am the master

of the mental game
of wrestling.

To maneuver people
like puppets,

to financially take
what I want,

there's nobody better.

Batter up!

And each and every time
I hit an arena,

I made sure I left my mark.

Because I gave wrestling
something

that nobody else
could've given it.

I gave it life,

and wrestling will live forever
because of me.

- The preceding announcement
has been paid for

by the New World Order.