Peacockery Pick: WWE Evil – Hollywood Hulk Hogan

The whole “Miss Peacockery” name was birthed when the WWE Network to Peacock change happened. I was on Twitter, as one does, and I was annoyed that nobody was documenting what had made its move to Peacock. They were slow and random with what moved, and I wanted to know and I saw others did too. So I created the Peacockery account. A few weeks later I added “Miss” to it because I was tired of being called “dude.”

Despite being named after the service, there are things exclusive to it I’ve never watched. WWE Evil is one of those, and it’s time to start it.

Debuting in 2022, Evil was exclusive to Peacock. Executive produced by John Cena (my third favorite Twitter follower), it profiled one person deemed EVIL by WWE for eight episodes. No, it is not THE eight most evil people ever (go ahead and get your Benoit jokes in). Remember these are WWE-branded shows, so don’t expect anything crazy.

Our first episode features one of wrestling’s biggest and most controversial names, Hulk Hogan. I hear that if you use coupon code BLOGOFDOOM on the Bigheads website, it costs an extra 10% for a Hogan bobblehead. Alright, let’s check this thing out.

We start out with Hollywood Hogan himself, saying he was the biggest slime ball of all time. The talking heads are done in the same style as Dark Side of the Ring.

Narrator John Cena tells us that Hollywood Hulk Hogan was the most notorious man in WWE history, but his beginnings started elsewhere. We flash back to the 1980s and Hulk Hogan. Bruce Pritchard, Executive Director, WWE Creative is our first talking head with on-screen labeling. Bruce says Hulk was larger than life and overflowing with charisma. David Shoemaker, Host / Producer, “The Ringer” tells us that the 80s were a big time for superheroes. Hulk was an idealized version of ourselves. Hulk Hogan, Terry Bollea tells us that he started Hulkamania but so did the promotion.

Lots of Hulkamania clips as Bruce tells us that it grabbed hold of the entire world. “Diamond” Dallas Page, WWE Hall of Famer tells us that it was huge and Hulk couldn’t go anywhere. Jimmy Hart, WWE Hall of Famer says that more and more, you saw Hulk Hogan on shows from the Tonight Show to Saturday Night Live (with clips, since both are in the NBC library). Jimmy says Hulk said you can’t go wrong with red and yellow because of McDonald’s and how they’re all over America.

Mario Lopez, Actor / TV Host tells us how Hulk came into his life when he was young and impressionable and he loved everything about him. Mario reminds us that we were in the middle of a Cold War and there was a lot of propaganda about Russians. Peter Rosenberg, Hip Hop / Sports Radio Host reminisces about Nikolai Volkoff singing the anthem and how it wasn’t the time for nuanced storytelling. It was the American hero against the rest of the world. Rosenberg leads us into the beginning of the 90s, defined by grunge and gangsta rap. Jimmy says everything changed when the 90s came along and it was about being the bad guy.

Bruce tells us that there was a point where the audience started looking at Hulk and asking, “what’s new?” Hulk says it didn’t feel the same and Jimmy said he started hearing boos and seeing the merch sales dip. Hulk tells us that he felt Hulkamania might not being going in the right direction and maybe it was time for a change.

John Cena, who we cannot see, tells us that Hulk focused on his Hollywood ambitions for the next few years. Hulk tells an interview that he was getting better at acting (he was not). In 1994, it was clear that Hulkamania was not working in Hollywood. Hulk says he wasn’t making money and he was stumbling along. We see footage of “Thunder in Paradise” as Hulk tells us about Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair approaching him on set about coming to WCW. “Brother, I’m in.”

We learn about Eric Bischoff and WCW. John says that Eric’s first plan of action was to entice WWE wrestlers into the company as we see footage of Randy Savage. Eric Bischoff, Former WCW President says WCW was positioning for growth and Hulk Hogan would be key and create awareness. Hulk says he never thought he’d run against Vince McMahon. Hulk told Eric he needs to come back as Hulk Hogan and they can figure it out from there.

Bruce tells us it would help WCW but not make an overall difference. Eric says doing it was a big deal, but after about a year and a half the audience viewed him differently and they had to be different and edgier. Hulk Hogan should join the dark side.

Eric tells us that he flew to Clearwater and talked to Hulk about turning heel. Hulk says he needed to do something, but he wasn’t sold. Eric says it was a risk of turning on the fans and merchandising and Hulk had no interest.

Kevin Nash, WWE Hall of Famer says that he and Scott Hall were taking on the role of guys trying to take over from the outside. Bruce says the perception was that they were being sent by WWE. DDP says that Hall and Nash killed everyone and Eric tells us about the momentum it was making. They tell us about building the story of a mysterious third man, the baddest of the bad guys but who could it be? DDP says everyone wanted the spot and no one knew who the third guy was because there wasn’t one yet.

Eric tells us about receiving a call from Hulk and flying to meet him in Los Angeles. Hulk asks about the third man and Eric tells us he had Sting lined up. Hulk says not to ask Sting and he needs a major change. He was questioning Hulkamania and if it was just a fluke and because of WWE. He said he needed the third man spot more than life itself and he could be the greatest bad guy ever. He’s in.

Bash at the Beach 1996 and we see footage of the famed match. Eric wasn’t convinced Hulk would see it through, which Nash echoes and notes Sting as the backup plan. Jimmy Hart says they were praying because they were switching the biggest man in the company. Eric talks about going through the promo with Hulk in a janitor’s closet and we see Hulk walk through the curtain. The various talking heads talk about their excitement as Kevin says he’s getting the photo shot of a lifetime. Rosenberg was confused by Bobby Heenan’s “whose side is he on” because there was only one side.

The leg drop happens and Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW. Hulk tells Mean Gene to tell the people to shut up and it’s off to the races. Hogan calls the fans trash and everything gets thrown into the ring. Rosenberg says we’re seeing something we never thought we’d see, Hulk becoming the ultimate villain. Hulk tells us it was the birth of the New World Order.

Hulk says they went to the back and the Daytona Beach police had to be there. DDP tells us that Turner Broadcasting was flooded with pissed off phone calls. Corey Taylor, Slipknot tells us that people lost their minds and kids were burning their Hulk Hogan Wrestling Buddies (were they though?). Eric says it was general betrayal and the heat followed.

Hulk embraced his dark side for the long haul. Shawn Michaels, WWE Hall of Famer says the biggest change in the character was his wardrobe, going from red and yellow to black and white. Shawn says it was all in the beard, which visually made it better. Hulk mentions it was originally blonde and he dyed it “shoe polish black” with Just For Men. He says it made people so mad that he dyed his beard. He also said that nobody else airbrushed his boots (which doesn’t seem factual) so he did that to differentiate himself.

Booker T, WWE Hall of Famer says there wasn’t a bigger boogeyman than Hollywood Hulk Hogan. We see Hulk giving cheap shots and playing cowardly. Corey tells us that “the dicks like me” loved it. Hulk spray paints the belt and we see NWO highlights.

Booker mentions the fans were all about the NWO and that they liked it. Kazeem Famuyide, Former WWE Writer says we all secretly like the bad guys. Rizzo and Gonzo of the Muppets get deserved screen time as we see a clip of them and Hogan from “Muppets in Space,” a movie we Muppet fans generally don’t talk about. Lawd, Dr. Phil McGraw, Clinical Psychologist / Author is here to tell us there is an authenticity when people find out a hero is flawed and that they identify with it. Jimmy says they were cool bad guys and it was everything the fans wished they could be.

The more they did evil things, the more fans cheered. Eric tells us the audience was digging the anti-hero and it worked. Corey tells us we were seeing things we had never seen before and it was like a virus in wrestling – you were cool like Hogan or a company person. Booker says it was genius. Zombie Juice, Rapper – Flatbush Zombies tells us his grandmother wouldn’t allow him to wear a NWO shirt. For the record, my grandma bought me a glow-in-the-dark NWO logo shirt at Goody’s.

Hollywood Hogan began drawing the Hollywood attention Hulk couldn’t draw before. DDP tells us about the ratings hitting NFL numbers. Rosenberg says that it changed the landscape of the business and Bruce tells us about the 83 weeks of WCW success. John tells us, however, that the very monster WCW created would become something more.

In 1996, WCW was dominating WWE but the devil is in the fine print. Eric tells us about Hulk’s creative control contract. Jimmy tells us creative control means you can do no wrong. Booker says it opened a can of worms and rubbed the other guys the wrong way. Hulk Hogan, he of no ego, says the other guys’ egos got out of control with jealousy. DDP says they were pissed as Nash tells us that “brother, that doesn’t work for me” threw off their plans. Hulk says the lunatics were running the asylum and the ship fell apart, the Turner heads out their heads in and didn’t know what they were talking about. According to Hulk, Eric had WCW taken away from him by Turner as we see screenshots of the Wrestling With Attitude newsletter proclaiming WCW housecleaning.

Eric says he was relieved of his duties in September 1999. WCW brought in Vince Russo in their “infinite wisdom” and Russo convinced WCW that he was the reason for WWE’s success. Vince Russo, Former WWE & WCW Head Writer of course says “bro” as his first word and then says from the moment he walked in, there was a giant bullseye on his back. Hulk says Russo was going to fire everybody who was a day over forty. Russo says you’ve got to build the undercard. Eric thinks Russo wanted his claim to fame to be that he ended Hulk’s career. Russo says you can’t change a wrestler’s paranoia. Eric says Russo always did things behind people’s back and to not edit that out.

We go to the infamous Bash at the Beach. I was there! It’s the only PPV I’ve ever been to and what a choice my family made by choosing THAT one. I also met Stacy Keibler and she was the sweetest person ever. Anyway, Hulk says he didn’t trust that Russo guy and he’s been trying to sabotage him since day one. Russo says he scripted Hulk beating everyone but not walking out with the title. Hulk offered to drop it at Nitro, according to Jimmy Hart. Russo tells Jeff Jarrett to lay down and let him leave with the belt, “F him.” We see it happen and part of the Russo promo.

Russo tells us that with Hulk’s ego, he has to meet with the head of TNT. Hulk says it was out of the realm of what the business was about and it is disaster. WCW is sold to Vince McMahon.

Vince McMahon of 2009 tells us he didn’t feel an ego boost because he bought it. We all know Vince on a level that we know this is definitely not true, but okay. John tells us that Vince dismantled the roster and yanked it off the air. A year later, Vince was trying to squeeze whatever juice he could out of Hulk as The Rock was beginning to explode. It would be the passing of a torch. Hulk says Vince wanted him to face The Rock and that Vince told him to bring it. “Brother, if I really bring it you’re gonna be begging me to take it back.”

WrestleMania happens and Hulk compares the fan noise to taking his daughters to see the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. Bruce says the fans didn’t want Hollywood Hulk, they wanted Hulk. Love him or hate him, the fans were saying they loved Hulk (and maybe you’re shoving the Rock down our throat, says Bruce). Bruce says they listened, reacted and made the match work. And they did. Bruce tells us it was a beautiful moment because it was an evolution for Hulk.

Jimmy calls it a passing of the torch. Of course, in 2024 only one of the two are getting those reactions and it’s not Hulk. Vince asked Hulk where his red and yellow gear was and to bring it back. Hulk says the Hollywood character made him a better person (WELL) as the red and yellow returns. John says that we keep a shadow self inside, and that’s what Hollywood was to Hulk. “We all have a little bit of Hollywood Hogan inside of us.” First of all EW, but also maybe not.

Eric says, at its core, it was Hulk turning his back on those who supported him and created a blurred line. Hulk says that for Hollywood, every night was a payoff and a main event. Eric says the heat was a thing of beauty. John asks us if we think of Hulk as an icon, a hero, or the nefarious Hollywood? Either way, it’s an amazing feat. “If you really want to know what evil lurks around you, take a look into the heart of your heroes.”

Well, that wasn’t bad. Next time, we explore the evil that is The Miz.