Hulk Hogan was a massive attraction back in the mid-80s in WWF. The year 1985 saw the premiere of WWE’s grandest event, WrestleMania. During this time, Hulk Hogan was everybody’s hero and was considered invincible. In the lead-up to the first-ever edition of WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T were on a promotional tour. The show’s main event featured babyfaces The Hulkster teaming up with Mr. T against the heel team of Roddy ‘Rowdy’ Piper and Paul Orndorff.
As expected, the show was a huge success with a total of nine pro wrestling matches on the card. The event emanated from Madison Square Garden in New York City and drew over 19,000 fans. Part of its success was attributed to Hulk Hogan’s actions on a talk show. One that resulted in him being sued for $5 million.
Hulk Hogan’s $5 million front chin lock
In the build-up for the fast-approaching event, Hogan and Mr. T were guests on the Hot Properties hosted by Richard Belzer. The conversation was light-hearted initially until the host Bezler insisted Hogan try a wrestling move on him.
While he was first denied by T, Hogan eventually granted Belzer’s wish. He then wrapped his pythons around his neck putting him in a front chin lock. Let’s point out that Bezler was cautioned by Hogan before he was put into the lock.
Next thing you know, Hogan applied a little pressure while talking to the crowd and Bezler was out cold with his body hanging loose while still being cinched in. To make matters worse, Hogan let go and Bezler’s back of the head bounced off the floor.
Following the impact, Mr. T commented “he’s alright, he’s just sleeping!”. Hulk Hogan lightly smacked the discombobulated host on his cheeks and woke him up. As Hogan helped him back on his feet, Bezler quickly got back into his character and cut to a commercial break.
Fans gasped in astonishment when they saw Bezler’s back of the head bleeding profusely. The following week, Bezler filed a lawsuit against Hogan on grounds of personal injury. Bezler also stated in the follow-up episode of the talk show that he had to get several stitches due to the severity of the injury.
The two-time Hall of Famer was reportedly slapped with a $5 million lawsuit. The case was taken to the New York Supreme Court though Bezler and Hogan eventually settled outside the court. After the settlement, Bezler used the money to buy a farmhouse in France naming it Chez Hogan.
Hulk Hogan recalls Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff refusing to lose to him
In a video from Ringside Collectibles, Hulk Hogan revealed that the villainous team of Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff refused to lose to Hogan via pinfall in their tag team match at WrestleMania 1.
According to him, when he turned to Vince McMahon for a solution, Vince contemplated changing the way to end the match. However, the outcome of the match remained the same as Hogan picked up the win for his team via pinfall.
“Vince would say, ‘Hey, we want you to drop the leg on Piper, drop the leg on Mr. Wonderful [Paul Orndorff],’ and a lot of times they’d go, ‘No,’ so I’d call Vince back and say, ‘Okay, what are we gonna do? They don’t wanna end the match that way.’ He goes, ‘We’ll come up with something else,” Hogan said.
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