Wrestling's king of kings, Hulk Hogan, has become legend with a 20-year-plus reign of dominance. But even the self-proclaimed "God of wrestling" has had to resurrect himself a couple of times over his career.

Today, the Hulk Hogan who invades our TV screens is a rippling reprobate. Clad chiefly in sinister black, he barks out his agenda of destruction to crowds all over the country. Hulk Hogan is wrestling's Darth Vader, a diabolical villain who uses his power to create chaos. It's a far cry from times when Hogan stood for morality and truth. If the two personalities were to stand face to face inside a ring today, they would appear as different as day and night. But behind either version stands Terry Bollea, the man who breathes life into Hulk Hogan. As easy as it seems for Hogan to exist in the wrestling business, Bollea has had to live through the ups and downs to keep up that illusion.

In 1993, after a decade in the World Wrestling Federation as its signature star, Hogan was allowed to leave the company. WWF owner Vince McMahon decided that for some of the WWF's young, up-and-coming performers to reach the top, his older stars had to go. On June 13, 1993, Hogan made his last WWF title defense at the "King Of The Ring" in Dayton, Ohio.

He signed with Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling nearly a year later after the longest time he had spent out of the wrestling spotlight. Just as it seemed Bollea had a fresh beginning in his career, an old issue threatened to destroy it. In July 1994, he was summoned to testify in federal court during McMahon's trial for steroid possession and distribution.

Bollea testified he had used various types of steroids himself from 1976 to 1989. This information contradicted statements he had made on the "Arsenio Hall Show" in 1991. Bollea said he "trained 20 years, two hours a day" to look like he did and that "I'm not a steroid abuser and I do not use steroids." During questioning, he admitted he did not tell the whole story on the "Arsenio" program and lied about his steroid use to the press.

While McMahon was acquitted later that month, Hogan's name became included in newspaper and magazine stories of steroid abuse. Though Hogan admitted to using steroids only while still legal in the United States, the public perception left his career in question yet again.

Hogan became wildly successful in his first few months in WCW. After winning the WCW title from Ric Flair in his first WCW match, Hogan became WCW's most bankable star. Behind the scenes, Bollea was given significant power over the direction of his character. Having been brought in by Turner to impact the wrestling world on its behalf, Bollea reaped the benefits of Hogan's success. It was understood that Hogan called his own shots in WCW.

On September 4, 1995, WCW's confidence in Hogan resulted in the inception of "WCW Monday Nitro," a live wrestling program to run opposite the WWF's own show, "Monday Night Raw." Unfortunately, after six months of running neck-and-neck with "Raw" in the ratings, the numbers began to reflect the WWF's pulling away from its competition.

Recognizing that Hogan's name alone wasn't enough to help WCW climb over the WWF in the ratings, WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff began to use Turner's considerable resources to attract other big-name talent. WCW reached deep into its pockets to lure WWF superstars Razor Ramon and Diesel to the Turner organization. Going under their real names of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, respectively, The Outsiders (as they were billed) operated under the concept that WWF stars were invading WCW. After a few months in the company, the two inspired a surge in "Nitro" ratings, but something was still missing.

Personality Change

Bischoff began to brainstorm about how this angle could be taken to the next level. It was then that he spoke to Bollea about radically changing Hogan's character. The idea would be for Hogan to turn heel and become the third member of The Outsiders. Bollea initially opposed tearing down all that Hogan's current character had built over the years. However, Bischoff explained that this move would refresh the Hogan character, not kill it. After much consideration, Bollea agreed to take a chance.

In an event considered one of pro wrestling's defining moments, Hogan became the third member of The Outsiders on July 7, 1996 at WCW's "Bash at the Beach" pay-per-view telecast. He emerged from the backstage area to attack Randy Savage, Sting and Lex Luger in a show of unity with Hall and Nash. Then, with one sentence, Hogan cemented his new role as villain by telling the fans they "can stick it!" On that night, The New World Order was born.

Almost overnight, the "Nitro" ratings skyrocketed past "Raw" and into unprecedented heights. As leader of the NWO and WCW champion, Hogan had his most visible platform for self-promotion since the zenith of his WWF tenure. With the NWO making WCW's box-office business white hot, Bollea became entrenched backstage as ruler of the roost. After Bischoff joined the NWO later in 1996, Hogan and those close to him received the bulk of the TV time and storyline angles. Hogan, though never considered a technical great on the mat, began to draw critical reviews from all over the industry.

At "Starrcade '96," Rowdy Roddy Piper-hardly in top wrestling shape himself-gave Hogan his first clean defeat in more than six years with a sleeperhold-submission victory in their non-title matchup. Critics, fans and even the WWF referred to the cage match as "Age in the Cage," calling it a poor offering for a pay-per-view main event.

Soon after, Hogan stepped away from WCW to work on projects in film and TV. While he spent time in Hollywood, WCW turned to Hall and Nash to carry the ball. Fans began to cheer the NWO, responding to the element of "cool" that Hall and Nash provided.

In July 1997, Hogan returned to WCW and announced nefarious Chicago Bulls forward Dennis Rodman had joined the NWO. Rodman's outlandish reputation appealed to WCW fans and helped Hogan regain some fame. Unfortunately, the team of Hogan and Rodman came up short in their match against Lex Luger and the Giant at "Bash at the Beach '97." The loss began Hogan's first slump as a professional wrestler. He lost the WCW title to Luger in August, but got it back a week later at "Road Wild." But then he lost to Roddy Piper yet again in a non-title cage match at "Halloween Havoc."

During Hogan's slump of 1997, WCW officials were spending the year building up a Sting/Hogan match for "Starrcade '97." It was believed that Sting would become the next centerpiece of the company with the planned title victory over Hogan. However, Hogan had other ideas. In a bout that ended with more confusion than crescendo, Sting defeated Hogan for the WCW title with help from new WCW arrival Bret Hart.

But once again, Bollea made sure the Hulk Hogan character would never be far from the top of the heap for long. In early 1998, Hogan recaptured the WCW title from Randy Savage, who had defeated Sting for the belt not long before. But this time the fans were neither glad nor upset that Hogan was the champion-just indifferent.

The fans' indifference to Hogan's victory was caused by another significant moment in wrestling: the feud between Stone Cold Steve Austin and McMahon in the WWF. Austin had become wrestling's No. 1 draw and successor to Hogan's role as most visible entity. The WWF was experiencing a renaissance, climbing out from under a massive winning streak by "Nitro" in the ratings to beat it on a semi-regular basis. Ratings for "Nitro" both on TV and pay-per-view dropped noticeably-something WCW executives did not take lightly.

By this point, a rookie performer by the name of Bill Goldberg had taken WCW by storm with an inconceivable undefeated streak and the roar of the crowds in most arenas.