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In November 2002, Hulk Hogan released his first autobiography, this one coming under the WWE banner. In October 2009, Hogan released his second autobiography detailed his recent personal turmoil.

The following is Torch editor Wade Keller's review of Hogan's first book that supplements the Torch Talk with Hogan diving into some of the topics Hogan discussed in his book. (Read the first Torch Talk sample here.)

Keller's review captured Hogan's political maneuvering in the book to protect potential future business associates and bury wrestlers or wrestling personalities he probably wouldn't do business with again. Hogan buried Vince Russo in the book following their fall-out in WCW. Ironically, Hogan might end up doing business with Russo again in TNA.

This Week with Wade Keller
Headline: It's Hogan's world and everyone else is just living in it
Originally Published: November 30, 2002
PWTorch Newsletter #733

Last Tuesday, the day it was released in book stores, I devoured Hulk Hogan's autobiography in about five hours. It was a fun march through my 25 years of being a wrestling fan. It just so happens his career began in the late-'70s just as I began to watch wrestling. Like Bobby Heenan's book, there were plenty of fun stories that brought me back in time. There was also enough substance for the book to be educating.

Hulk Hogan may not see fault in his pattern of embellished self-promotion in all of his mainstream media interviews, but his series of laughably false claims over the years tend to create a picture of someone who is either delusional or has no respect for honesty. Therefore there were quite low expectations for his book, and thus it was relatively easy for him to surpass expectations. Surpass, he did - because there were fewer exaggerations, less of that "alternate universe" he sometimes creates to project a mainstream image of being the be-all, end-all of every boom period for pro wrestling.

The book was, without question (and I think Hogan would agree), nothing more than his vision for how he wants his career to be remembered, sometimes at the expense of others (enemies, rivals, threats) who deserve credit. Hey, it's his auto-biography, so he can create whatever world he wants. Given the lapdog mentality of most celebrity-awed media types, he figured he could get away with almost anything. The fact that he aimed higher than that is a surprising treat for readers.

In fact, it's because he wrote about himself with such honesty so much of the time, his book is likely going to undergo more scrutiny than it probably would have had he been completely over the top with his revisionist history. There's enough substantiated fact in his accounts of what happened over the years that now it's a matter of picking out his mistaken memories, his attempts to hide a mistake or hog the credit, his oversights or timeline errors, or the cases where he has told a fish tale so many times that he actually believes it now.

Hogan establishes what makes him tick, although sometimes it requires reading between the lines. Even though it was written by someone else who simply transcribed interviews with him, the book clearly shows that he is one of the most intelligent players in the game. He didn't completely dispel a stereotype that he was a shallow and self-absorbed walking egomaniac, as his harshest enemies would portray him.

For instance, I did wonder when he was writing about running for president if the thought ever crossed his mind that becoming President of the United States is different from winning a beauty pageant or bodybuilding competition, it's different from producing a top grossing movie, it's different from winning a World Title. He seems so hung up on whether he could actually become president (thus one-upping rival Gov. Jesse Ventura) that he never seems to actually comprehend the gravity of responsibility that would come with such "victory."

But throughout most of the book, Hogan seemed disarming enough to create sympathy even when expressing only qualified reservations about decisions he made in his career that may have hurt the industry or hurt fellow wrestlers.

His book did draw a clear line down the middle in terms of whom he likes and doesn't like. It's not just what's said, but what's not said, that tells a lot. Hogan, for example, didn't spend much space on Ric Flair. What better way to downplay your true top rival when it comes to history's portrayal of this era of wrestling than to virtually ignore him, treat him as a non-factor, in your auto-biography. Very little is written about Ric Flair, Randy Savage, or Steve Austin. The Savage omission isn't by choice. As he'll reveal in a future "Torch Talk" installment, he had a whole chapter written on Savage that was scratched by lawyers.

But when it comes to Flair and Austin, Hogan's lack of space tends to make them seem insignificant in his eyes. Hogan did say he wanted to headline against Flair at WrestleMania, but Vince McMahon changed plans, booking him against Sid instead, while Flair wrestled Savage, in order to set the stage for Hogan's forthcoming hiatus. As far as Austin goes, Hogan hasn't crossed paths with him much and would like to do business with him in the future, therefore the less said now the better. Save it for the sequel, because by that time either Austin will have chosen to be "on Hogan's team," in which case he'll get a pat on the head, or Austin will have chosen not to be on Hogan's team, in which case he'll be either ignored or buried. To be fair, Hogan has yet to ever wrestle Austin and was only around him in WWE for a few months this year, and Hogan tended to stick to writing about wrestlers with whom he had quite a bit of personal interaction.

Which brings us to The Rock. Hogan has nothing but good things to say about Rock. Of course, he has had nothing but great moments with Rock. Hogan seemed touchingly genuine when discussing how much the crowd's reaction to him when he faced Rock meant to him. Hogan said going into that match his confidence had been shaken, if not shattered, after his disastrous final year with WCW. Hogan had been associated with a losing product. His excuse, which is partially true but doesn't tell the full story, is that business took a downturn after Eric Bischoff burned out and when he (Hogan) began compromising with Vince Russo.

When Hogan returned to WWE early this year, he had something to prove - to the public and to himself. Even with a 49 year old broken down body and diminished looks, he was able to overcome the soiling of his image at the hands of WCW and win over a WWE crowd as if he had never left. It would have been "nice" if that happened against a monster heel such as Earthquake or Sid. It meant a thousand times more because it happened against the top babyface, The Rock. Hogan showed he was the saviest player in the game. He had already decimated Flair at behind-the-scenes politics years earlier, and now he walked into Rock's yard and beat him at his own game. Rock is better looking, has a full head of hair, is better on promos, is a more gifted athlete, is younger, is arguably more charismatic, and is a bona fide movie star. Yet Hogan, who had headlined Nitro episodes that lost soundly week after week to Raw's that featured Rock and Austin, walked in and within weeks had the WWE crowd in the palm of his hand.

It didn't matter that maybe fans were tired of Rock at that time, or resented Rock's blooming movie career, or were longing to relive their childhood years watching Hogan, and thus cut Hogan extra slack. Circumstances shlirkumstances. What mattered to Hogan was that he still had it - and he proved it by winning over the crowd at WrestleMania. He says he didn't want the cheers - he was a heel, after all - but in reality the fact that he got cheered meant more to him than anything in his career (which he details in his "Torch Talk")

In the book, Hogan praised Rock and touted his movie stardom. After all, the bigger and brighter Rock's star, the more amazing was his feat at WrestleMania. Hogan praised others, including Vince McMahon, of course, whom he hopes to do business with again some day. He also praised Triple H, sort of. In classic Hogan fashion, he basically said the same things of Triple H that he did of Goldberg - if the kid is willing to be on "his team," they could make money together. That means working with him, not against him. His words about Triple H were actually a bit chilling given recent events. "Triple H the businessman has so much in common with me, I think we could actually become very good friends."

Hogan has no problem bashing people with whom he has no chance to ever "do business with" again. Dennis Rodman, Mr. T, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, and Vince Russo all feel his wrath.

He, of course, praises Andre the Giant more than anyone. He has rewritten history on Andre the Giant to the point that many history books will tell Hogan's version of the tale. Hogan, though, has every right to create his own version of how his career took off, stating that WrestleMania III was when he officially became the top dog in the business. His respect and awe for Andre seemed genuine, his desire to get his approval seemed heart-felt. So even though Andre was never to wrestling what Hogan was even at the time of WrestleMania III, much less what Hogan became over the following 15 years, Hogan wants to see it that way. So he writes it that way. Real history books, of course, will be a bit more objective.

The one story that Hogan may have rewritten for the better was the story of his departure from the AWA. For years, the assumption was that Verne Gagne didn't want to give Hogan the AWA Title because Verne was too much a traditionalist or too close to current champ Nick Bockwinkel. Instead, Verne actually desperately wanted Hogan to win the title, in part so he could get a percentage of his earnings while he wrestled in Japan. Hogan, a savvy businessman from the start, knew that wasn't a good deal. He didn't need the belt. The funniest part of Hogan's story is his claim that Verne even tried to get him interested in dating his daughter Kathy. After all, if he's in the family, he ain't going nowhere. Imagine how different the wrestling world would be if headline wrestlers actually dated the daughters of wrestling promoters.

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