Marvel may be home to the Incredible Hulk but the WWE also houses a Hulk, one no less incredible, in their universe. Terry Bollea, known to the world as Hulk Hogan, achieved great heights during his time in WWE back in the 80’s. Using that particular name, however, turned out to be an expensive affair with Marvel comics swooping in for their share of the pie.
Hulk Hogan, like several wrestlers before and after him, struggled for quite a bit before finding the gimmick and name that would make him a household name.
After running with names like ‘The Super Destroyer’ and Terry Boulder, the then future WWF Champion finally settled on the name Hulk after appearing next to Lou Ferrigno.
Ferrigno portrayed the titular role in The Incredible Hulk TV series.
Hogan, who was still going by the name Terry Boulder at the time, was invited to a local Memphis talk show. Ferrigno was also on the same show and the host pointed out that Terry’s physique and frame was more impressive than the Hulk himself.
The comparison caught on. Soon enough, Hulk became a moniker to Terry Boulder. However, he had to go through one more name change before striking gold.
He walked into the WWE, then WWF, as Sterling Golden, when he was given the name Hulk Hogan. While he chose the name Hulk, Hogan was Vince Sr.’s suggestion in order to play to the Irish Americans. Neither of them at that time knew just how iconic that name was going to be!
Hulk Hogan paid Marvel over $100,000 for the rights to his name
Vince McMahon Sr. fired Hulk Hogan over his portrayal of Thunderlips in Rocky III. He had a policy of keeping his wrestlers away from outside projects and Hogan was not spared the ignominy. However, this particular role tremendously increased the wrestler’s profile.
Vince McMahon Jr., who brought the WWF from his father, noticed Hogan’s potential star power and brought him back. He made him his world champion shortly after and together they changed wrestling forever.
There was just one issue here. Hulk Hogan was continuously introduced as “The Incredible Hulk Hogan.”
With his popularity rising through the roof, Marvel Comics finally noticed. They informed Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan that they weren’t really pleased with the situation.
They struck a deal where Hogan could no longer be called The Incredible Hulk Hogan. He could use Hulk Hogan but even that came with quite a bit of compromise.
The WWF Champion was instructed to always use Hogan in conjunction with Hulk and Hulk could not be more prominent than Hogan.
He was also asked to stay away from green and purple colors in order to not be confused with the Marvel Superhero, to which end they also forbade him to create any logo similar to his namesake.
In a deal that would expire after 20 years or when he retired from wrestling, Marvel also managed to secure a financial agreement.
During the aforementioned period, they were entitled to $100 for every match he wrestled under the Hulk Hogan name. They also secured 0.90 of 1% of royalties from Hogan’s merchandise sales. Most of Hogan’s WWF products had a trademark that read:
“Hulk Hogan is a trademark of the Marvel Comics Group, licensed exclusively to TitanSports, Inc.”
On a recent episode of the Kliq This podcast, Kevin Nash revealed that the WWE paid a six-figure sum to secure the use of the already trademarked name.
“It was Marvel, and [WWF] paid, I wanna say one hundred grand, to use the Hulk trademark,” Kevin Nash revealed.
When did the deal expire?
The deal finally came to an end on July 9, 2004, 20 years after Hogan signed his agreement with Marvel. By then Hogan was still wrestling, although not as frequently the day the deal was signed. This time however, he was free from having to part ways with his money for using the name.
Regardless, both parties seem to have got quite the mileage out of their partnership. Hulk Hogan, for the longest time, became synonymous with pro-wrestling, while Marvel got a comic out of the WWE Superstar, where he faced their Hulk and was battered to no end.
More stinging than the beating though, was Hulk’s statement after his victory over Hogan:
“Any other of you clowns want to swipe a name you don’t deserve just to get ahead?”
Ouch!
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