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In November 2002, PWTorch editor Wade Keller interviewed former WWE and WCW World Hvt. champion Hulk Hogan, one of the biggest names and stars in the pro wrestling industry.
In this "Torch Talk," the first interview Hogan ever did with an insider publication, and his longest interview of any kind ever, he discussed many of the highs and lows of his career. Hogan was promoting his first autobiography at the time. Over the course of the two hour interview, Keller attempted to avoid covering the same ground that he did in the book. This interview in many ways worked as a supplement to the book, as many questions asked were intended as a follow-up to what he wrote over the course of 300-plus pages.
Currently, Hulk Hogan has signed with TNA after being unable to agree with WWE CEO Vince McMahon on how to incorporate Hogan into WWE. McMahon reportedly wanted control over writing the end of Hogan's character. Hogan says he wants to write the ending himself.
The following is a sample of Part 7 of the Q&A with Hulk Hogan from November 2002 with Hogan talking about his relationship with Ric Flair, who Hogan will be working with in Australia this month. Flair is also a possibility for joining TNA. Read Hogan's comments on Flair from 2002 in the following snippet. Torch VIP members have instant access to the complete Hulk Hogan Torch Talk with Wade Keller right now. Sign up for a VIP membership to access the Torch Talk now!
Wade Keller: You talked about having a limited set of moves and doing the most possible with them. Somebody else who gets credit for being a superior worker to you, quote unquote, over the years is Ric Flair, yet he had a very limited moveset.
Hulk Hogan: Yes, he did.
Keller: He was not somebody who was out there doing a million moves. Did Ric Flair have that special something that you talked about even if he did it in different ways as mostly a heel?
Hogan: Yeah, yeah he did because he was smart enough to put the peroxide in his hair and he just kind of jumped on the bandwagon first with the stylin' and profilin', lear-jet, limousine, wheelin' dealin', kiss stealin'. Once he said that, no matter who tried to copy it, Buddy Lane or whoever else tried to do the suit thing such as Lex Luger or maybe Triple H, who is trying to wear the suit now, brother, Ric Flair jumped on the bandwagon first and anybody pales in comparison. Even if somebody� Who was the other Ric Flair wannabe guy?
Keller: Buddy Landell.
Hogan: Buddy Landell. He tried his ass off. He worked his ass off. He dropped the knee on the forehead the same way and did all of this stuff, but Ric Flair wasn't as good of a worker as Buddy Landell as far as all of the moves go, but he was a better worker overall because you see the career he's had in the business and the spot he's had, and Buddy Landell could never ever compare his career to Ric's.
Keller: In your book, you didn't write as much about Ric Flair as I thought you might. Was that something that got cut or was it just a matter of having only so much room?
Hogan: If this turns out to be just part one, part two can capitalize on Ric Flair, Rick Rude, plus Davey Boy (Smith) and I had a long history of running hard. We're not getting into all of the drugs and all of that, but there is a lot of history with me and Davey Boy, the stuff we did in Japan and the pranks we did that were harmless but funny as hell. There should be a volume two of this darn thing, and I might have to do that just to continue on this level to really give somebody the insight. But it is what it is. It's done and I really didn't know what I was doing, to tell you the truth. For the first shot out of the shoot it was really as good as it could be. Now that I kind of understand this stuff, the book thing, because I really did it blind. I really didn't understand. Well, now I've got a little bit of a handle on it. If it works and the damn thing sells like it's doing and it keeps going, I might go ahead and do another one.
Keller: I think there's material there.
Hogan: It is a pain in the ass, I can tell you that much.
Keller: You must have heard so much about Ric Flair over the years. In a sense, he was in this parallel universe to yours, but you didn't really cross paths with him for a long time. He was the king of different regions of the country and definitely recognized and respected by his peers as a top guy in the industry at the time. Because of all of that and all that you had heard about him, was your first match against him something special?
Hogan: Yeah, it was. It was really cool to get in the ring with him and have that first match with him. But for some reason, even though you can always throw Ric Flair into the turnbuckle and he can flip over and then you slam him off the top, hit him with two clotheslines or backdrop him, even though he calls the same spots night after night, for some reason, and I don't mean to be a pompous ass, even though there's been some down time since we worked, you could put Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan in the ring and we'd draw a number. I'm not going to say we'd do Super Bowl numbers or anything like that, but we would draw a number.
Keller: I traveled to Oakland, Calif. to see the first match in person between you and Flair. I was upset at the time because you both had an unadvertised "warm-up" match the night before. But anyway, after you wrestled him those first few times, did you notice there was something special about him that was a level different than most of the other people you had wrestled?
Hogan: I knew he had the magic because he had already established himself. It was a situation where he had that magic and it was cool because it always works. And it was easy to get in the ring with him because you didn't have to go out and kill yourself to get those people where you wanted them. It was a lot easier with him than with many others. Over the years, I've heard of so many people who were supposed to have the magic like the Bret Harts and all of this stuff that it was a surprise when I got in there and it was true with Ric Flair.
Keller: I know you wrote in the book that you wanted to wrestle Ric Flair at WrestleMania when Flair first joined the WWF and McMahon switched it around to you against Sid, and Randy Savage against Ric. I think you wrote that Vince made the decision because he knew you were going to take some time off after WrestleMania and he wanted to see if Randy could be the top guy. Did I get that right?
Hogan: Yeah, that's pretty close. Ric and I would have definitely stole the moment, then it would have been hard to follow that because the WWF hadn't had that huge Flair-Hogan match showcased in a WrestleMania setting yet. That would have set a precedent and you would have had to go with that and you would have had to go with the angle after that and you couldn't switch gears and try to get by old Hulk Hogan again, you would have had to roll with his ugly ass for a little bit longer.
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