RIP brother…
Today, we lost WWE legend Hulk Hogan at the age of 71. TMZ Sports first reported that Hogan suffered a “cardiac arrest” event at his Clearwater, Florida, home early Thursday morning. Despite the responding medical personnel’s best efforts, the WWE star was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Clearwater Police are expected to reveal more about Hogan’s passing in a press conference.
Hulk Hogan joined the WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), in 1983, and quickly became a fan favorite and a cultural phenomenon. Pretty much everyone jumped on the “Hulkamania” train. His wrestling career was long-lived and iconic, earning him induction into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
The WWE shared this statement upon learning of his passing:
“WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away. One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans.”
But before Hogan stepped into the ring, he had aspirations of becoming a musician. In April, he joked with the Try That In A Small Town podcast that he:
“Was doing anything to avoid a real job. Anything to avoid a real job.”
Hogan was a fretless bass guitar player and played in several Florida-based rock bands. However, Hogan claims that he “never made any money” until he started wrestling for the WWF. Hogan even got involved in the production of some of his theme songs like “The Hulkster’s in the House,” a motivational song from the “Hulk Rules” album, co-written by Hogan, Jimmy Hart, and JJ Maguire. Music played a significant role in Hogan’s act while wrestling, often utilizing certain variations of rock songs earlier in his career to hype the audience as he made his way to the ring.
Later in the podcast episode, Hogan notes that he brought walk out music to mainstream wrestling in the ’80s, bending some rules and paying some folks under the table to make it happen. But once he started doing it, it took off:
“But the cool thing about it was, they told me no music. So I went to the sound guy. I said, ‘The hell with this. “Eye of the Tiger,” crank it.’ I gave him 500 bucks.
When that music started, that (mimics the intro melody), the roof of the place blew off. Then I told Vince, I said, ‘Man, I’ve been selling merchandise, T-shirts, headbands, hats, koozies, and wristbands and making a ton of money doing it, because nobody else is.’ Vince picked up on it real quick, and it just took off, and then everybody wanted entrance music.
So Jimmy Hart sat up all night, most nights, writing entrance music for all the wrestlers.”
The “Eye Of The Tiger” intro never failed to hype up the crowd. See it for yourself:
Later, that evolved into wrestlers having their own walk out songs. One of Hogan’s most notable tunes, which he would enter the ring with, was “Real American,” written by Rick Derringer and composed by Jim Johnston. The tune was initially written for the U.S. Express tag team, but was later adopted by Hogan.
However, the idea of walk out music dates back long before Hogan. In wrestling specifically, it was documented that wrestlers like Mildred Burke and Gorgeous George used music before entering the ring in the 1950s, and Sgt. Slaughter had a specific tune he used many times in the ’70s.
Outside of wrestling, baseball has been associating music with certain players since the 1970s, when famed organist Nancy Faust joined the White Sox. Muhammad Ali famously walked out to the Star Wars Theme in the ’70s.
So while he certainly didn’t invent the idea, Hogan definitely helped to establish a consistent trend among wrestlers. He took an idea and made everyone in the business want to follow suit. As the years went on, walk out songs became widely adopted outside of the sporting world, eventually making their way into the country music realm. Many of your favorite artists will play a signature song before they hit the stage, signaling to the crowd that it’s showtime.
Morgan Wallen, of course, has become famous for his walk out moments that often feature a local celebrity, usually an athlete, and Hogan even made a cameo during one of these moments last year in Tampa, Florida. Alongside Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, Morgan and Hulk walked to the stage while Moneybagg Yo’s “Whiskey, Whiskey” played, which of course features Morgan Wallen on the chorus.
Whoever you want to thank for the trend of walk out music, there is no denying that Hogan pushed the boundaries and played “Eye of the Tiger” in the early ’80s, which helped make the trend more mainstream.
Rest in peace to the legendary, Hulk Hogan.
