Hulk Hogan on larry king live

Larry King Live
Hulk Hogan Describes What It's Like to Be the Bad Guy
Aired June 23, 1999 - 9:00 p.m. ET

LARRY KING, HOST: He's the king in the ring, the biggest name in wrestling. He's Hulk Hogan, and he joins us for the full hour, and he's mad, and he takes your questions. It's all next on LARRY KING LIVE.

Great pleasure to have Hulk Hogan with us for the full hour tonight. He wrestles under the auspices of World Championship Wrestling, and is the best-know figure in this often criticized, often maligned, often very popular game. It has its ups and downs. It's right now in a big up, and there's lots to talk about it.

Let's go back and find out a little bit. I don't know why I talk so fast. Where did you start? How did you get into this?

HULK HOGAN, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING: Well, I was a wrestling fan all my life. I remember my dad taking me to the armory in Tampa to see the wrestlers wrestle, and it was like subliminally in the back of my head someday I wanted to be a wrestler.

And as time went by, I became a fan when I was a teenager and I just kept going to the matches, and, you know, I played music for a bunch of years and went to school. I got the guts to go down and talk to the wrestlers and say, hey, how do you get in?

KING: Was it hard to break in?

HOGAN: Yes, it was during my era. You just didn't have your dad buy yourself a pair of boots and get in the wrestling ring. You had to take somebody's job. There are eight or nine 300-pounders on the bench there, and you said, OK, which guy am I going to knock out of a job and a position, take the food out of his family's mouth.

So I went in there and started to work with a guy named Hiro Matsuda (ph), and he got me so tired and exercised me so much, I was ready the faint. And the next thing I knew, he sat between my legs, put his elbow on my shin, pulled my ankle and broke my leg. And that was my first day at wrestling school.

KING: Why was there a second?

HOGAN: Well, I wanted it so bad, and I was so embarrassed, because Tampa was such a small little community, everybody knew that I had failed. So after my leg healed, I went back and I had a different attitude. I cut my hair real short. I went in there and I worked very hard. And after all the workouts and all the pranks and all the browbeating, I finally proved myself, and they let me in the business.

KING: Do you know what attracted you to it as a kid?

HOGAN: I don't know. There was a mystique about it, just to see these athletes going in the ring one on one.

KING: Did you root for people? Did you think it was all real?

HOGAN: Oh, yes. When I get in the business, it was a situation where if you approached a wrestler and said, is your sport phony or is your sport fake? They didn't think twice about hitting you in the face or breaking your nose, because in the late '70s there were no lawsuits and people wouldn't sue you over broken finger.

KING: And now they readily admit that it's choreographed, right? Not that it's fake -- this is a kind of a brilliant show business, isn't it?

HOGAN: Yes, it's definitely entertainment. It's a controlled situation, and when you use the word "fake" sometimes, the hair goes up on the back of my neck, because the word "fake" to me means that nobody gets hurt, and these guys work very hard in the ring and they get hurt every night, and they work with injuries.

KING: But it is choreographed, right?.

HOGAN: Yes, it is choreographed. We hit the guys as hard as we can in the right places. We don't try to knock each other's teeth out or break arms or legs, because we have to do this night after night. But it's a control situation, and I think it's the best form of entertainment going today.

KING: How did Hulk Hogan become Hulk? I mean how did that wonderful character come about?

HOGAN: Well, I wrestled as Terry Bolder for many years, went to Atlanta the first time, and a man named Jim Barnett was the promoter there, and he gave me the name Sterling Golden, and I was trying to imitate the Gorgeous George character.

KING: You had long hair and blond.

HOGAN: Yes, then all of a sudden Lou Ferigno had a TV series called "The Incredible Hulk," and at the time, I was about 330 pounds, and all the wrestlers said, my God, you're bigger than Lou Ferigno, and so the name kind of stuck, you know. They called me Terry "The Hulk" Bolder. And then I quit wrestling for a while, because I got discouraged with the traveling and wrestling nine or 10 times a week, twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday, and only making $125 and living in my car for a couple of years, so I quit.

And a man named Terry Funk came down to Florida, and he said, what's wrong with you kid? You've got all kind of potential. And He sent me to New York, and a promoter there named Vince McMahon Sr.

KING: Vince's father. HOGAN: Yes -- he saw me, and he said, you know, I want to name you Hulk and I want to give you the last name Hogan, because we have Bruno Sam Martino for the Italians, Pedro Morales for the Puerto Ricans. We've got Chief Jay Strongbow for the American Indians, Ivan Putski for the Polacks -- and you're going to be Hulk Hogan, the Irishman. And they gave me a couple of bottles of red dye to dye my hair. And I thought I'd get fired, but I told Vince McMahon my hair's falling out already, and if I put this dye in my hair, the game's over. So with luck and a prayer, I squeaked by with blond hair.

KING: And then what worked for you? How did you get so big so quickly?

HOGAN: Well, it was a situation of timing. At the time when I went to New York, they didn't play entrance music when the wrestlers came into ring. It was pretty much cut and dry -- look at your opponent, stare him down and try to have a good match. And I've played music for 10 years, and I was used to dealing one on one with the crowd, and talking with them and relating with the crowd, so when I got in the ring in New York, I would body slam a wrestler and I'd look to the crowd, very animated. You know, I realize that the look to the arena got more reaction than the actual move. So, you know, it didn't take long to figure out that I was going to be more animated than the other wrestlers.

And then I talked the promoter into playing "The Eye of the Tiger" music, which is the theme music from the "Rocky" movie I was in. As soon as that music played, it lit me out, and when I came out, tearing the T-shirt off, ripping and roaring; "Hulkamania" was born. And I basically upset a lot of the wrestlers, because they thought, oh my God, he's turning into a spoof.

Well, pretty soon the merchandise started selling. There were T- shirts -- Hulkamania T-shirts -- hats, headbands, all kind of stuff everywhere, and other wrestlers followed suit. They took the personalities and the promoters started exploiting the personalities, and this whole marketing scheme was born.

KING: All for all of these years, Hulk Hogan was a good guy, right? You fought bad guys.

HOGAN: Yes, for many years, it was Hulk Hogan, the all-American good guy, and wrestling was at its peak.

KING: You wore white.

HOGAN: Red and yellow.

KING: Red and yellow.

But he was our American hero, right.

HOGAN: Yes, sir, sure.

KING: And he took on all invaders?

HOGAN: Everyone; everyone fell at the hands of hulk hogan.

KING: We'll find out why hulk left WWF to come to WCW, the changes in wrestling, why he left, why he's now a bad guy, what he thinks about what's going on and, of course, your phone calls.

Hulk Hogan is the guest. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

RING ANNOUNCER: Hollywood Hogan.

CROWD: One, two, three, four!

RING ANNOUNCERS: And a trademark comeback again.

Flair is wielding a chair.

Look, Joe, Robinson has hurt his hand.

Flair hit Page with the chair.

By mistake -- Page goes down in the heat.

And Robinson winning the match.

Hulk Hogan will have none of it!

Oh, here we go.

Look at this, no effect on those nine-inch chops from Flair, and he's backpedaling.

Hogan blocked it. Hollywood Hogan, amazing.

Oh, Flair caught the ropes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: There is a great rivalry between the World Wrestling Federation and the World Championship Wrestling -- WCW -- which, by the way, is owned by Time Warner, WCW is.

What made you change?

HOGAN: Well, it's a bunch of things. I had a long career in the WWF, and towards the end of my career I had a lot of injuries; it was just basically burnout from working so much.

And there was this huge dark cloud of the steroid controversy over wrestling. And when the scandal came down they pointed a lot of fingers, and me being the number-one guy in the sport, some of the fingers were pointed at me, some of the fingers were pointed at the promoter.

And basically it was a mixture of a lot of things. I had a chance to do a TV series with the producers of "Baywatch," something called "Thunder In Paradise" and shoot it at Disney, so it seemed like an appropriate time to pass the torch and move on.

And so, once the dark cloud cleared, you know, with the steroid controversy going away, and everybody realized that athletes in every sport -- wrestling included, baseball, football when it was legal -- used steroids and continued to use steroids when it wasn't legal.

KING: Did you?

HOGAN: Yes, yes. And once we all became re-educated, and realized what was important in life health-wise and value-wise, it was a situation that -- timing once again. I was on the lot of MGM, in one studio, and on the other lot Ted Turner had his wrestling. And when all the fans would come through to see the wrestling they'd go, "Where's Hulk Hogan? We want to see Hulk Hogan." Well Hulk Hogan wasn't part of this organization. And shortly after a guy named Mr. Eric Bishoff, the new kid on the block that had a vision to change wrestling, approached me...

KING: He runs WCW.

HOGAN: He runs WCW, and he had this master plan to compete and beat the WWF.

KING: That was when? When did you join them?

HOGAN: Oh my gosh, it was about four years ago. And I came in as a good guy, and as soon as I came in the numbers changed. And we were rocking and rolling. And things went along great for a long time, and then we needed a momentum shifter, we needed something to really rock the boat.

KING: Rev them up.

HOGAN: And Eric Bishoff said, "You know something? What if Hulk Hogan becomes a bad guy?" I said, "Oh my God. You mean all the kids that I've told to train (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to violence..."

KING: Not the Hulkster.

HOGAN: "... say I did it for the money?" And basically, I jumped right into the pool without a life jacket.

KING: Now how did you make that change? One day you just came out in black and just...

HOGAN: Well, basically I had some guys wrestling -- Macho Man was out there wrestling, fighting for his life, and we had a couple guys that jumped ship and came over to our team -- Kevin Nash and Scott Hall came over and they were called The Outsiders, and they were coming in to threaten to take over the WCW. And all of a sudden, when my friend the Macho Man got in trouble, I went down, and when all the fans thought I was going to help him, I cut his throat and joined The Outsiders. And we formed The New World Order, the national plan by Eric Bishoff, and wrestling just took off, the numbers climbed higher and higher, and it's jamming right now.

KING: Is it more fun being bad?

HOGAN: Yes, it's fun. Especially since I can explain it to all the kids, and my friends, and they know...

KING: Who still love you.

HOGAN: Oh, my gosh, yes.

KING: But they know you're bad.

HOGAN: Oh yes.

KING: And you lose a lot now.

HOGAN: Yes, I lose a lot, but you know...

KING: Bad guys lose.

HOGAN: Yes. There's no other answer: yes. But the funny part is the kids know how much I love wrestling, they know how much I love telling the story of the good guy wins and if you take shortcuts you lose, because I can attest: taking shortcuts you always fall short of your goals.

And for some reason it's the age of the edge. There's no really good and bad guy, there's like a gray edge; and if you're cool, and you're tough, and you're rough, and you fight for what you believe in, they may boo you a little bit, but still they ask for the autographs and they also cheer you.

KING: Why do you like WCW?

HOGAN: I like the people I work with, number one. Eric Bishoff has been always straight up with me; he's a great guy to work for and work with. When I talk with Ted Turner, he's one guy that when you look him in the eye and he says, "Terry -- Hollywood Hogan, we're going to do this, we're going to do that," you don't need a handshake; you know his word is his bond.

And then I believe that, with this age of Jerry Springer, and this age of the guns, and all the crazy stuff going on in this world, I think World's Championship Wrestling is -- the WCW is right on track, you know, not to deviate from the good guy versus bad guy situation. I mean, the other people at the WWF are doing the triple-X pornography, exploiting the women -- maybe that's not the right word, pornography, but it's...

KING: You mean the women are displayed in a manner that is...

HOGAN: Yes, they're pushing the envelope. They're doing a lot of sacrilegious Devil worship-type stuff. KING: Why?

HOGAN: Ratings. I understand it's a business, I understand where they're going with it, but I just think in the long run, you know, sticking to your guns in the direction that Ted Turner and Eric Bishoff have their organization going is going to win in the end, and I think people are getting tired of that type of thing, and it's getting to be old hat. It just doesn't feel right, you know.

KING: You're glad you're where you are.

HOGAN: Oh, I'm very happy I'm where I'm at, and there are a bunch of good wrestlers like Bret Hart and Macho Man...

KING: Yes, let's does discuss that. What happened to Owen Hart, as you see it? He -- I know you went to his funeral, I know you were close to him; what happened?

HOGAN: That's a tough call. I mean, it's a situation where -- well, first off the thing that bothers me most about it is the rumor mill, the rumor mill that goes around in my business that they say Owen Hart was going to come down and play the hero, and it was going to be a spoof that -- whether this is true or not, I don't know -- that he was supposed to come down about five feet from the ring and then, all of a sudden, release himself and fall down and stumble around like one of the Three Stooges. And basically his brother Bret Hart was in the WWF, and one of the disagreements Bret Hart had was he wanted to make it known there should still be heroes in this world, and Bret Hart wanted to be a hero. And he got in a big disagreement with the promotion over that.

And also myself -- Hulkamania -- I left there undaunted, so there was no closure on my character, and I could still run wild with my character. So it was basically a spoof to try to make fun of the guys that wanted to be heroes.

KING: Do you believe that? Do you think that's what it was?

HOGAN: Yes, I do.

KING: And what went -- we don't know what went wrong.

HOGAN: We don't know what went wrong. There are several things that -- Owen may have accidentally released himself. Maybe he was never hooked up. But I...

KING: Is that fairly common? Do wrestlers come in that way?

HOGAN: Yes, well we do it with one of our guys staying, and we have stuntmen that do triple safety checks, and we've never had a problem with it. And I know Owen wasn't trained for that type of stunt. And, once again, I don't think he was too happy about being up there, but...

KING: Is the Hart family's anger knowledgeable to you? I mean, do you understand it? In addition to pain, they have anger. HOGAN: I understand. It didn't have to happen. It was something that -- I feel that Owen was a good enough wrestler, technically, that he didn't need to be put in that position and didn't want to be in that position.

KING: We'll come back with the great Hulk Hogan right after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JUNE 15, 1999)

MARTHA HART, OWEN HART'S WIDOW: At 10:01 a.m. this morning, with my full authority, my legal counsel filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the circuit court of Jackson County, Kansas City, Missouri against WWF, Vince McMahon, Titan Sports and all others I believe are responsible for my husband's death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, MAY 31, 1999)

BRET HART, OWEN HART'S BROTHER: My kids stopped watching before I left. I know Martha's two children stopped watching. And I always thought that it was a shame, because I think Vince McMahon, almost like he built his company on the backs of little children, like, they're the ones that -- you know, the Hulk Hogan, and the "eat your vitamins" -- and you know he -- I wouldn't say exploited it. But he made a lot of money off -- generated a lot of money off kids and their involvement in wrestling, and then he took the, sort of, radical direction that he's taken. And he still sells kids these toys, but at the same time the shows are totally unviewable for children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: His widow, Martha, said, Hulk -- she was seen in that scene there -- "Professional wrestling has become a showy display of graphic violence, sexual themes and dangerous stunts." Has it?

HOGAN: The WWF has.

KING: You agree with that statement?

HOGAN: Yes, I do.

I think we need to turn the dial down. I mean, several of the top wresters, the guys that know this business, such as Brett Hart, Macho Man Kevin Nash, a bunch of guys -- we've all got together and we were basically going to have another shot at it. I mean, I just had knee surgery, I'm getting ready to come back and I'm going to stand in the middle of the ring and I'm going to say: All the new guys, anybody that wants a piece of me, try to knock me off the top of the mountain. Let's get back to the basics and let's get out here and wrestle and give people some action, and get away from the demonic storylines, and exploitation of the women and compromising situations.

KING: There's a woman suing, too, right. Sable is suing, right?

HOGAN: Yes.

KING: She says, also, it has become obscene, titillating, vulgar and unsafe.

Why do they keep doing it? Obviously, someone buys it, right?

HOGAN: Well, the American public, basically, is tuning in and they're getting ratings, so I mean, let's put the morals aside and let's put our personal feelings aside, and if that's what generates the ratings, well, then a businessman would go with what works, and that's basically, from a business point of view, what they're doing.

KING: It's sad to you, in a way, because you love this game, right?

HOGAN: Well, yes, I love the game, and I think everything goes full circle. Whether you're a good person or a bad person, you get hit with what you deliver, in the long run. And I feel that, in this situation, you know, my children will -- don't want -- I can't let them watch the WWF, because I don't know what they're going to do next or where they're going. And it's something that I don't want them to see. And I just really feel that the American public is going to get their belly full of this type of entertainment.

And wrestling, as popular as it is, when you go back to the basics and have the all-American or the hero that the people can cheer for and the bad guy that's taking shortcuts, it's the purest form of entertainment, without having to bring the exterior things in.

KING: How old are your children?

HOGAN: My son Nick is nine, and my daughter Brook is 11.

KING: Do they watch WCW?

HOGAN: Yes, they do.

KING: You have no problem with that?

HOGAN: The only problem I have with that is Nick likes Kevin Nash more than me. That's the only problem I have with that. He likes the Wolf Pack, and I think Kevin Nash kind of won him over, because Kevin is pretty cool.

KING: Hulk can be controversial too. He was mentioned on this program in another light by the governor of Minnesota. We'll ask him about that.

We'll be taking your phone calls. He's our guest for the full hour. We'll be right back with Hulk Hogan.

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RING ANNOUNCERS: With the uppercut way down low. Arn Anderson slipped out from the back. What's going to happen now? What's going to happen now?

He decked David Flair. Arn Anderson has decked David Flair and turns to the lady with a cautious -- she's on the back of Arn Anderson!

Oh, yes, he shrugged her off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JESSE VENTURA (REF.), MINNESOTA: If we refuse to do Wrestlemania, we can ask to have union come in and we can unionize. What can they do? And I came home a day or so later and Vince McMahon called me and almost fired me for attempting to unionize, and it took years and years later in a federal deposition where I told my lawyer the story, and I said, "I want you to find out who it was that told Vince," and my attorney asked Vince if anyone had ever attempted to unionize, and Vince says, "Yes, I think Jesse Ventura spouted his mouth off about one time about it." My attorney said, "Were you in the room? " "Did you hear him?" He said, "No." He said, "How'd you know?" He said, "Hulk Hogan told me." KING: is that true?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That true?

HOGAN: Totally false.

KING: So someone was lying to the governor?

HOGAN: Well, I think Jesse's stories get bigger as the years go by. I mean, even when I was in the AWA from '82, '83, when I first met Jesse, he was always complaining about the promoter, about his pay, and Jesse was basically a mid-par wrestler. He did work main events on occasions when he worked with me. And then, you know, there was talk of -- in the back, as the promoter was over on the other side of the room, and Jesse would say, need union, you know. So I'd heard it before.

And then we when he got in the WWF, we were over in England at Wimbley Stadium, and Jesse was complaining and carrying on. For what reason, I don't know. And there was just a little bit of a talk about a union, but there was not that Jesse got all the wrestlers on his side, like the stories I've heard, except for me, that I went and told Vince.

Jesse basically aired his dirty laundry in public, and everybody knew Jesse talked about a union.

KING: So you weren't squealing. HOGAN: No, I didn't go to Vince and say, hey, guess what, Vince, Jesse is trying to start a union.

KING: Have you ever called him and said to him, I didn't do that?

HOGAN: No, I haven't. It's been a situation that I always thought I was friends with Jesse. I mean, we got along in the old days when everybody was partying, everybody would go to Jesse's room, because Jesse was the party and he had everything to party with. So the bottom line was go to Jesse's room, you know. And I always thought we were friends, and then when Jesse decided to run for the mayor of Brooklyn Park, he asked me to come up and help campaign with him or help his campaign. And at the time, I had another friend in Minneapolis called Irwin Jacobs, who I was -- I had more loyalty to.

KING: He was running, too?

HOGAN: No, he wasn't running, but he had different aspirations for who should be the mayor of Brooklyn Park. And so I told Jesse I couldn't help him, and Jesse said that was fine. And so all of these years, I thought we were friends, and then recently in the news and on your show and everywhere I hear this different Jesse Ventura than I knew. So...

KING: Were you surprised that he ran for governor?

HOGAN: No, no, I'm not. In the state of Minnesota, Jesse was a local wrestler there for many years. He had a little gym there, and he was quite popular among the locals in Minnesota.

KING: You weren't surprised that he won?

HOGAN: Not really. Jesse's pretty quick. He knows a little bit about everything. And he's pretty quick with the tongue and really flashy with his answers. And I thought maybe -- I lived in Minnesota for a while, and I knew how popular he was in the Twin Cities, and when I saw who he was running against, I thought that Jesse was cunning enough to use his wrestling savvy and promote himself in the right way to win.

KING: And he was good at that, right?

HOGAN: Yes, he did a great job.

KING: You going to run for anything?

HOGAN: I don't know.

KING: I mean, I have heard...

HOGAN: There has been scuttlebutt, you know, they've...

KING: All of your other horses mouth, out of.

HOGAN: There you go. The people at Time Warner are trying to get me to run for the president of the United States, and they seem to think Lee Iacocca would be a tremendous running mate.

KING: You're kidding, right?

HOGAN: No, I'm not kidding. They're...

KING: The people at Time Warner want you to run?

HOGAN: Eric Bishoff, basically.

KING: As a gimmick.

HOGAN: Well, no, it started off as a gimmick, just to spin off the publicity that Jesse had. Then all of a sudden some radio stations did some polls in Atlanta, and they said if Clinton could run again and Al Gore and Hulk Hogan, who would you vote for? I won 61 percent of the votes. They did the same thing in California, and I beat both of the guys in that same...

KING: Are going to run on Reform Party, the same party...

HOGAN: It would probably be the all-American party.

KING: But you are thinking of running for something?

HOGAN: You know, it's something that's not out of the question, you know, because with everybody having a different agenda and everybody owing everybody something in the political arena, it would be nice to have somebody that could put America first. We have our hungry people. Let's feed them first and then feed the rest of the world, or let's put America first and vote what's right for...

KING: Why not vote for the Senate from Florida? Start a little smaller, Hulk?

HOGAN: No, start at the top. I mean, the way I look at it, if Jesse Ventura, you know, could come governor of Minnesota, I mean I basically beat Jesse at everything he's done anyway in his life, so I might as well run for the president.

KING: Then you might as well announce it right here then, right?

HOGAN: Well, now you're a little late; I announced it on "Jay Leno."

KING: That you're running?

HOGAN: Yes.

KING: Why did I not hear about it?

HOGAN: I don't know. I guess you must have been on vacation or something.

KING: But you are going to run?

HOGAN: I didn't say I was. I am strongly considering it. KING: That's what you said.

HOGAN: That's what it is.

KING: Why don't you form an experimental committee?

We'll be right back with Hulk Hogan, the prez.

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN: If I could find one good American to run next to me, one other American that the people trust, whether it be Iacocca, whether it be Oprah, or my brother Bubba, whoever it may be, Hollywood tonight on "Nitro" is here to announce my candidacy for the highest office in the land, the presidency of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NOVEMBER 10, 1998)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SUDDENLY SUSAN")

HOGAN: Stop writing lies and garbage about me.

BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: Hey, what I wrote about you is the truth. Your campaign is nothing but grunting and flexing, and if you win, it'll be a disgrace to this city.

KATHY GRIFFIN, ACTRESS: Yes, now knee him in the crotch!

(LAUGHTER)

HOGAN: God, you're annoying. You know what's a disgrace? People like you that just sit around whining about what's wrong with the world. Well, I don't whine, sister; I kick ass. So what do you think about that?

GRIFFIN: Susan, look out for the flying leg drop.

SHIELDS: I'll tell you what I think about that. I'm going to bury you.

HOGAN: Well, what does that mean?

SHIELDS: It means that I am going to run against you as supervisor, and I am going to kick your ass!

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Did you have fun doing that?

HOGAN: It was great.

KING: "Suddenly Susan," right?

HOGAN: Yes, she was tremendous to work with.

KING: All right, now were you kidding with Jay Leno? Because generally that was regarded as a joke. You wrestled Jay Leno, you announced for the presidency, you did the thing in the ring there, but I'm just asking like a serious -- you know, things happen on this program. Queen Noor is here tomorrow. Mike McCurry was here last night. Serious things happen. You might really run.

HOGAN: It's not ruled out. I mean, you know, my kids have done everything from joke with me, because I'm always joking with them saying, "Dad can't take a cut in pay and be the president of the United States," and my kids go, "Dad, if you get I elected you know, you might get assassinated." I mean, so my kids have scared me, you know.

But the bottom line is there's a chance that I would do it, I mean, because, you know, it's not so much about credibility, you know, it's got a lot to do with popularity. And if that has anything to do with it, with the American public, I could probably win hands down with the right platform.

KING: You could debate Gore and Bush on issues?

HOGAN: Oh, I'm sure they'd have to bring me up to speed, I mean, you know, but -- this -- if we went with a flat tax and just some basic stuff that we know worked and we put all the other agendas aside, I'd have a pretty good platform to run on.

But the bottom line would be if, you know, the American public really wanted somebody that could put America first and do what was right for America first -- I mean, I don't mean to knock the third- world countries or helping people, but I -- we have so many problems here at home, that if we just take care of America first, I think everything else would fall into place.

KING: You're not doing this just to bug Ventura.

(LAUGHTER)

HOGAN: No, no, I'm way beyond that.

KING: let's take some calls for Hulk Hogan. Who knows? Brockville, Ontario, hello.

CALLER: Good evening Larry, good evening Hulk.

HOGAN: Hi, how're you?

CALLER: Good. How are you?

HOGAN: Great.

CALLER: During the funeral for Owen Hart, Canadian media showed you chatting with Vince McMahon. Could you comment on what you think of Mr. McMahon, and whether or not you would ever contemplate a return to the World Wrestling Federation?

HOGAN: Wow, that's tough. You know, what I think of Vince McMahon as far as a person, I see how he controls himself with his family, and I see how he basically handles the people that are close to him, so I have a lot of respect for how he's taken care of his family. As far as a businessman, his theme of ride the horse until it drops, shoot it, then eat the horse, I don't agree with. He's very...

KING: You wouldn't work for him again.

HOGAN: At this point in time in my life, unless I was reborn in another body, I don't think I could go back. I'm too happy where I'm at, I like working with people that are walking the straight and narrow, and there's just too many hidden agendas for me there.

KING: What were you talking about then? Just general things? At the funeral she asked what you were...

HOGAN: Oh, what I was talking about. Basically, I really didn't talk to Vince. He came up to him, or I came up to him, and we shook hands because it was a day that I feel that we all should have been on the same team, and should have been there for one reason: to pay tribute to Owen. And when Vince looked at me, he says, "It's good to see you, Terry. I just wish we could have met under different circumstances."

KING: How well will Dennis Rodman do? You wrestled with him as a team; how well will he do in the world of professional wrestling?

HOGAN: That's a tough question. I mean, Dennis has been out on two different occasions. It depends on if Dennis works hard. It depends on if Dennis's heart is in it.

KING: Certainly an athlete.

HOGAN: He's an athlete, no doubt. I mean, I haven't talked to him in a few months, so I really don't know mentally where Dennis is at, or what...

KING: But couldn't he play the game? I mean, he's got enough -- look at him right there -- enough show business in him to play it, doesn't he? HOGAN: Yes, he's got the show biz part of it down, but, you know, there's a whole lot of different things to this business than just having the show business part down. You have to be a businessman, you have to be dependable, you have to work real hard. The guys -- this is a human game of chess as far as popularity; these guys'll stab you in the back in a second to get over you.

KING: You cannot not show up, in other words.

HOGAN: No, and you have to be on time, because we could make Dennis look real bad in the ring if we wanted to, so it's...

KING: You could hurt him, right?

HOGAN: No, not hurt him, just make him look back. We wouldn't hurt someone on purpose. But if Dennis was a clown, or if Dennis didn't show up, or if Dennis put us out too far when we were trying to help him, we could make him look real bad in the ring.

KING: You have been hurt though, have you not?

HOGAN: Oh yes, definitely. Many times.

KING: And does it ever happen where you're in, you know it's choreographed, they're your friends, but something really ticks you off, and you do get mad, and it becomes real -- really real?

HOGAN: Yes, there have been situations -- I try to go with a theme of, "cooler heads prevail," and save that for the dressing room, because...

KING: But there has to be some night where it happened.

HOGAN: Yes, there have been situations, especially overseas, that certain Japanese wrestlers could make their career in one night by breaking Hulk Hogan's arm or breaking my leg. So I mean, instead of just going out there like a lot of other Americans and being very comfortable wrestling a foreign wrestler, like in Botswana or South Africa, I have to be on the defensive, and have to stay tight, and not give them my arms or my legs, and just be real careful because a clean break can result in someone trying to blast your face in. And that doesn't happen very often, but I have to be aware, because my situation is just little bit different than some of the other guys some times.

KING: They point for you.

HOGAN: Not all the time. I'm talking about this is more in the past.

KING: Yes, I know, but it can happen...

HOGAN: It could have happened.

KING: It's your name and they want to knock off a name.

HOGAN: Right, but the people I work with now at the WCW, that scenario, that situation will never happen.

KING: Back with more calls for Hulk Hogan right after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The first backpedal. Hulk out of nowhere, a reserve, from deep down in his gut!

HOGAN: Well, guys, this is it. This is it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Hulk Hogan. He's been called the Babe Ruth of wrestling. Certainly the best-known name ever.

Watertown, Wisconsin hello.

CALLER: Hi, Larry.

KING: Hi.

CALLER: I have a question for Hulk. I know you like being a bad guy, but do you ever think you're going to go back to be good again.

KING: Do you want him to be good again?

CALLER: Yes.

KING: Yes, see. Your fans.

HOGAN: I'm at the crossroads.

KING: Back to good.

HOGAN: My kids want me to be good again. There was a situation right before I -- before Diamond Dallas Page actually hurt my leg in the ring that I started to fight back more, that instead of cowering and doing all the dirty deeds my last few matches I went out there and told the people I'm tired of laying back, I'm going to turn the dial up. And I started fighting back like the old Hulk.

The arenas went crazy. And I'm at the crossroads. It's going to be a tough one for me.

KING: You might go back?

HOGAN: It's going to be a tough one. I'm going to have to make my decision in the next few weeks. Great question.

KING: You might go back? The little boy had it right?

HOGAN: You never know.

KING: Argonne, Wisconsin, hello. CALLER: Hi, Larry. Hi, Hulk.

KING: Hi.

HOGAN: How are you doing?

CALLER: Hi. I was wondering what movie did you enjoy making the most and are there any movies coming out?

HOGAN: Yes. One of my favorite movies was "Mr. Nanny," because I'm a pretty tough nanny. I had a great time with my TV series, "Thunder in Paradise." And lately with TNT I've been doing "The Assault on Devil's Island," movies for TNT.

It's a tough -- I think "Mr. Nanny" was the best. I've got "Muppets From Space" coming out in a couple of weeks too.

KING: You're in that?

HOGAN: Just -- I have got a little cameo where I choke out one of the Muppets.

KING: Do you like acting? Do you like that whole -- well, you're in it in a sense.

HOGAN: It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. And once again you're going to hear the same complaint that you hear from everybody. It's the down time. And sometimes I'll be sitting in a trailer going, my god, I could be wrestling instead of sitting here. But it's a lot of fun to see the finished product. It really is.

KING: You mentioned something off the air that I think the audience ought to know. You -- when you're in that ring...

HOGAN: Yes.

KING: ... that's the greatest time for you. I mean, your world couldn't be better than walking in that arena.

HOGAN: Yes. Well, it's a situation of once you step through the ropes, I don't know how to explain it other than it's a euphoric feeling. It's where I don't worry about taxes, where I don't worry about personal problems.

When I'm in that ring, sometimes I wish I could stay there forever, because when I'm in that ring, I'm like in heaven. It's so much fun to be there and to be that character of Hollywood Hogan and just to be wild and free. It's the greatest feeling. I can't explain it.

KING: Is there a lot of camaraderie among the wrestlers? Are you friends?

HOGAN: Yes, there's a lot of camaraderie. I mean, the guys that have been through what I've been through, the guys that have paid their dues, that have worked hurt, that go by the theme, well, the show must go on -- if we can just use that old cliche -- that when you're hurt, when you break a thumb or whether your ankle's broken, you'll still get in that ring and wrestle even with a bad knee. Those guys I have a lot in common with.

Every once in a while there's a little bit of fake camaraderie with some of the guys that came into the business a different way or recently have come into the business. And they'll hide behind their attorneys or they'll hide behind an injury or they'll make an excuse of missing a plane for not wrestling.

Some of those guys, I look at them and I say, if that's the future of this business, we're in trouble.

But most of the guys, we see eye to eye and we live for this business. It's in our blood.

KING: I asked you about Dennis Rodman. How good is Karl Malone?

HOGAN: Karl's really good. Karl could quit -- I'm going to say this -- Karl could quit basketball and make as much money wrestling. He...

KING: Really? He's that good?

HOGAN: What an athlete. What a showman.

KING: There he is.

HOGAN: He's one of the strongest guys I've ever been in the ring with. It's hard to imagine. He's got a tremendous build on him, but strengthwise he's so powerful. And when he started working out with Diamond Dallas Page and the other wrestlers, he was more dedicated, and he wanted it more than anybody I have come across in a long time.

And I think one of the reasons for Karl's infatuation with this business is he's a great fan. I mean, he knew more about wrestling than I did. He was telling me finishes and matches and wrestlers and people -- I was looking at him and shaking my head, yes, yes, but I really didn't know what the hell he was talking about. He knows...

KING: So he could make...

HOGAN: He knows this business.

KING: He could make super money and be very good at it.

HOGAN: He could make the transition. And he's one of the athletes outside my business, one of the very, very few that could make the transition and be like a Hulk Hogan wrestler -- have the charisma and the drawing power. There's very few of those guys that have that spark in their eye when you see them work and when you see them -- I mean, we -- we pounded on him and beat him down, and he just kept fighting back. He's got a lot of heart.

KING: Back with more of Hulk Hogan on LARRY KING LIVE. Don't go away. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, LARRY KING LIVE, APRIL 1, 1994)

STEVE WHITMIRE, KERMIT THE FROG: One thing I need to clear up before we go too much further, should I call you Terry or Hulk, or maybe Elmer or Maurice...

HOGAN: Well, you're my friend. You can call me Hulkster.

WHITMIRE: Hulkster. Oh, great.

HOGAN: Hulkster, dude.

WHITMIRE: Hulkster, dude. How did I do? I'm not too good at that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And don't make mistakes or he'll body slam you one.

WHITMIRE: That doesn't sound like a fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trust me. I've made a couple of mistakes.

WHITMIRE: Uh-oh. Oh dear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: That's when Kermit sat in for me. The Hulkster was a good guy then.

Kingston, Ohio, hello.

CALLER: Yes. My question for Hulk is, is did DDP hurt your knee on purpose? And how is your health in general?

HOGAN: Well, I think I'm healthier than most of the young guys, and I'm in better shape. It was a situation where...

KING: What happened?

HOGAN: My knee has been questionable for a number of years. And during the match...

KING: With?

HOGAN: ... with Diamond Dallas Page, he drug me over to a corner. And as he wrapped my leg around the ring post and proceeded to put some pressure on it, I felt a snap. And I got up, and I couldn't walk. And I basically pretty much was so embarrassed -- this is the first time in my career this has happened -- I rolled out of the ring and was helped back to the dressing room. And they actually carried on the match without me because it was a tag team match.

But Diamond did something. He overtorqued my knee or turned it the wrong way, but he snapped the final straw in the bad knee that basically made the situation where I had to get it fixed, I had no choice.

KING: Were you mad at him?

HOGAN: No. I was mad at myself. This is something I should have taken care of years ago. But I had been on such a roll and had the tremendous position in the business as the No. 1 guy, I just didn't want to take a chance on taking any down time. But fate being what it is Diamond Dallas Page pushed the envelope and made the snap happen, and I had to get my knee cut on.

KING: How old are you?

HOGAN: Forty-five.

KING: How long can you keep doing this? Let's say you don't run for office?

HOGAN: Well, the way I feel -- I mean I feel like I'm 30 years old. And now that my knee -- Dr. Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama -- who has worked on Bo Jackson and all the really top athletes -- did a tremendous job on sculpting my knee, cleaning it out, realigning my kneecap, drilling holes, stimulating new growth in my knee. And it's been nine weeks, and my knee feels better than it has in 15 years. So to make a long story short, I love this business.

KING: Will you wrestle into your 50s?

HOGAN: I could. I want to go back and prove that Hulk Hogan -- Hollywood Hogan, that is, is the number one man in professional wrestling, that Hollywood Hogan can draw the crowds and that this knee was just a temporary setback. I am on a mission.

KING: I want to tell you something. You're going good, aren't you? You're going good, Hulky. Don't...

HOGAN: Hulky? Maybe I'll change my name, too. I've had so many people ask me...

KING: Hulkula.

HOGAN: You know, it's a tough question, because the Hollywood Hogan character is so sinister and I beat up those good guys so well. But then on the other side of the coin, the whole world is looking for heroes like Brett Hart and Hollywood Hogan.

KING: If you found the goodness?

HOGAN: I am seeing a little bit of a light. I don't know if it's the good light.

KING: Let's think about it. We have one portion left.

HOGAN: All right.

KING: Be well, my son.

We'll be right back with the remaining moments with Hulk Hogan. Don't go away.

Tomorrow night on LARRY KING LIVE, her majesty Queen Noor of Jordan will be my guest. Among the things we talked about, life after the death of her husband, King Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEEN NOOR, JORDAN: His presence is very much a part of pretty much every part of my day, and my life right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Friday night we'll take a look back at the royal weddings of Britain's three princes, Charles, Andrew and Edward. It's all ahead on LARRY KING LIVE, 9:00 Eastern on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: I just asked Hulky -- I just asked Hollywood Hulk when he might wrestle again, and he said maybe July 11. And I said, Why July 11?

Why July 11?

HOGAN: Well, the timing would be perfect. I think the knee would be 120 percent by then. And they've got some very controversial matches on the horizon, and I might just have to...

KING: What's that night?

HOGAN: Well, It's called "Bash at the Beach." It's a very, very big pay-per-view for the WCW, and they've got the Macho Man and Sid Vicious, a newcomer, and one of the WCW's favorite, Sting, with Kevin Nash, and I just don't quite understand the alliance, and I might just have to buy me a ringside seat.

KING: "Bash at the Beach" is being held where?

HOGAN: Fort Lauderdale.

KING: They're going to pack them in, right?

HOGAN: Well, My God, I'm sure you they will.

KING: What does pay-per-view do -- tremendous on nights like that?

HOGAN: Yes, tremendous numbers. I mean, they have four to five weeks to promote it on the "Nitro" show and on the Thursday "Thunder" show, and so we have a loyal following that basically follows us right into the arenas.

KING: So if the doctor says go and you're off feeling as good as you are now, Hulk comes back to the "Bash at the Beach?"

HOGAN: Well, I'd like to get my hands on that Goldberg guy, you know?

KING: What about him?

HOGAN: What about him? Well, I'm not sure about him. I'm trying to figure out if he's got wrestling in his blood or not.

KING: He's getting big, isn't he?

HOGAN: He's getting big.

KING: Does that bother the Hogan man?

HOGAN: No, not at all. I just have sat back and talked with him, and he's told me how much he wants this business and how much he wants to be a part of this business, and now, he's sitting on the sidelines. And I would like to sit down and have a talk with him and find out what he's really made of.

KING: When push comes to shove, that's where it counts, right?

HOGAN: Well, yes, I mean, you know, he gained my trust, and I wrestled him, and he got lucky enough -- I slipped on a banana people and he beat me.

KING: Goldberg beat you?

HOGAN: Goldberg beat me, beat for the world heavyweight title. And since then, Goldberg has had several different opinions and several different people leading him around, trying to make career decisions for him, and basically, me being dedicated to this business it rubs me a little wrong.

KING: You're saying Goldberg is not dedicated?

HOGAN: I did not say that. I am not saying that I would like to find out if he is.

KING: Would you match against him in the "Bash at the Beach."

HOGAN: That would be awesome. I don't know if that's possible, as far as the promoters go, and I don't know if Goldberg is hurt or if Goldberg's attorneys are holding him back, or maybe his girlfriend, or if he's hiding behind his attorneys, or he's letting his seat belt hold him back, but for some reason, he's dodging Hollywood.

KING: Are you saying that if Goldberg says yes, you will take him on July 11.

HOGAN: If he was to say yes, I'll wrestle him tomorrow. I'll wrestle him tomorrow with my knee being 70 percent.

KING: You don't like him, do you?

HOGAN: No, it's not that. There's a certain loyalty to this business. And I think that, if someone gains my trust, which Bill Goldberg did -- I haven't talked to him since he gained my trust. All I know is he's disappeared from the scene. I've heard the rumors that maybe he may come back. Maybe he has decided...

KING: I feel like I am being set up.

HOGAN: No, you're not being set up at all.

KING: I feel like there is going to be Goldberg and you fighting at the "Bash at the Beach."

HOGAN: No, it's not, because I don't know, but I would like to find out what he's made of, because I thought this guy could be, and maybe he will be, one of the new stars in the new millennium, but if he's not, I'd like to put him to rest.

KING: Anyone will, you will.

Thanks, Hulk Hogan.

HOGAN: Thanks sir.

KING: Thanks so much for a great hour.

Hulk Hogan.

Tomorrow night, Queen Noor, only on LARRY KING LIVE.