WRESTLING: Hulk Hogan back in business

By Alex Marvez, Scripps Howard News Service

Published October 16, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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Finally, Hulk Hogan is back in the spotlight for what he does best: pro wrestling.

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling premieres at 6 p.m. Saturday on Country Music Television. Over the span of eight episodes, 10 B-list entertainers and athletes will compete in elimination-style fashion to crown the inaugural CCW champion.

Supervising the crash course is Hogan, whose introduction to the grappling game was much more painful. His leg was broken by the late Hiro Matsuda during his first training session, in 1976. That was a time when veterans roughly handled outsiders while trying to protect the presentation of pro wrestling as a legitimate sport.

Even though the industry's inner workings were exposed a long time ago, CCW participants still suffered bumps and bruises while trying to learn the ropes.

"No matter what you think about pro wrestling, the adjective fake doesn't attach itself very well," Hogan said during a recent telephone interview. "People get hurt all the time. It's an art form. You cover every range of emotion, and it's real physical. It takes a special type of person to live that lifestyle."

With charisma that matched his larger-than-life physique, Hogan was among the most special of them all. The Hulkster successfully parlayed his in-ring stardom during the 1980s and 1990s into other entertainment ventures, including a popular VH1 reality show that featured his family.

But nothing that occurred on Hogan Knows Best could match the real-life drama taking place behind the scenes. Hogan's son Nick was sentenced to prison for his involvement in an auto accident that left a close friend permanently incapacitated. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, also is undergoing a messy (and highly publicized) divorce from his wife, Linda.

Interview questions about both subjects were off-limits, but Hogan did allow that Celebrity Championship Wrestling served as a therapeutic outlet during some rough times. Serv- ing as judges and trainers for the show were some of Hogan's closest friends: Ed "Brutus Beefcake" Leslie, "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, "Nasty Boy" Brian Knobs and CCW co-creator Eric Bischoff.

"There were some compromises made productionwise because my head was not totally in the game all the time," said Hogan, who returned from the CCW set in Los Angeles to Tampa every weekend for prison visits with his son. "I was distracted, but I was with a bunch of pros who knew what needed to be done.

"It also was important that I had my son's blessing. He said: 'Dad, go back to work and do a great job. I'll be OK.' That made it work."

Hogan believes that some of the CCW students could actually have pro-wrestling futures if they so desire. He said actor Todd Bridges was "the best athlete on the show," which is high praise considering that former NBA star Dennis Rodman and superheavyweight boxer Eric "Butterbean" Esch were also among the participants. Hogan also said that Dustin "Screech" Diamond has an Andy Kaufman-like persona as a manager but that his punches and kicks "couldn't crack an egg."

"It got to be very competitive on the show," Hogan said. "At that point, I knew they were hooked on the business I love."

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