THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
On March 31st 1990, the day before they met at Wrestlemania VI, the Toronto Sun ran two separate stories on the lives of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.
HULK HOGAN
To millions of screaming wrestlemanics he's the Hulkster, the one and only Hulk Hogan. But to the folks back home in Tampa, Fla. he'll always be Terry Gene Bollea, the quiet kid who was more interested in rock 'n' roll than sports. In
fact the folks back at Robinson Senior High School in Interbay remember his last day at school all too well.
"He streaked the graduation ceremony," chuckles Don Wolf, the school's activities director. That was in 1971 when Bollea scooted
naked through the stadium packed with up to 4,000 students, teachers and parents.
"We know someone was gong to do it, too," says Wolf. "We had guards everywhere but he did it." The high school prank was a glimpse into the showman who would later become the Hulk. In Tampa, Bollea is also remembered as a top Little League ball player - a pitcher who there "gas" and a batter who hit the long ball.
"They had a deal at Burger King that whenever a player hit a home run, the team would get free Whoppers. Man, we were there every Saturday because of Terry," said Jim Pitisici, whose dad, Vince, coached Bollea on the Lil' General's team from 1965-67.
Bollea was about 12 years old then, recalls Pitisici, and grew up much like everybody else in Interbay, a peninsula between St. Petersburg and Tampa.
It was an idyllic existence, with quiet tree-lined streets, parks and the ever- present Florida sun. Bollea's family still lives in the same modest wood-frame house he grew up in and Hulk himself has a condo in St. Petersburg.
But early on there was something different about Bollea - his size.
At age 12 he was hitting 5-foot-10 and by his teens he was 6-foot-7. The World Wrestling Federation puts his current height a 6-foot-9.
It's no surprise, though, that Hulk Hogan should come from the school which could be called Wrestling High USA. The list of pro-wrestlers who graduated the school is long: Mike Graham (Gossett), Steve Keirn, Dennis McCord (Austin Idol), Dick Slater and Ed Leslie (Brutus Beefcake). Richard Blood (Ricky Steamboat) and Bob Orton Jr. went to a rival high school across the street.
Bollea, however, wasn't interested in wrestling then and shrugged off the coach's attempts to draft him onto the school team.
At the time he played in the Varsity Band, blowing trombone. At night his heart belonged to rock 'n' roll.
"They were really successful around here," said Dave Lawson of the band. Lawson played in other bands around Tampa at the time. "They played 1960's
material - Stones, Beatles, Byrds and stuff."
Two years at Junior College was followed by two more years at South Florida University and in 1975 Bollea finished school with a commerce degree - and a passion for weightlifting.
Instead of settling into a career, Bollea focused on his newly acquired passion and even opened a successful gym in Vero Beach.
"He was playing at a bar called The Other Place and my brother, Jack Brisco, a former world champion wrestler, told him: `With your size, you should be a wrestler,' " said Jerry Brisco. Terry said that was what he always wanted."
But his first introduction to wrestling under famed trainer Hiro Matsuda was painful - he broke his ankle.
"No one expected him back," said Brisco. "It was August in Florida, and the gym had no air conditioning. It was 106 degrees. But there was Terry, his ankle taped up and ready to go."
He worked hard and trimmed his figure to a fit 220 pounds and by 1977 was on the USWA circuit out of Memphis, playing to 3,000-seat halls. "He couldn't really wrestle but he looked good and drew crowds," recalled promoter Jerry Jarrett.
Under Jarrett, Bollea used the name Terry Boulder and Sterling Golden. He played the villain, and worked the small towns around the south.
In 1979 a video tape of him in action caught the eye of Vince McMahon Sr., who re-christened him Hulk Hogan. About that time he started to bulk up, reaching 320 pounds at his peak.
After a couple of runs through the northern circuit, Hogan was kissed off as expendable. Dejected, he called American Wrestling Alliance president Vern Gagne.
"He said he wasn't making it, could we help," recalls Gagne. "He was terrible at first, couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time."
Under Gagne's expertise, Bollea developed further and by the early 1980's he was sent on tour of Japan, where the Japanese revered him because of his size.
"Things were really starting to happen for him," says Dave Meltzer, who writes a national wrestling column and also publishes the Wrestling Observer. "He made the Rocky III movie in 1982 but things were really happening before that."
On his return, he was "stolen" by Vince McMahon Jr., who by then had taken over his dad's business.
It was McMahon - a bodybuilder himself - who started the move to bigger and better bodies, a trend which dominates wrestling today.
By 1984 Hogan was firmly established with his own legion of Hulkamaniacs and McMahon picked him to anchor the WWF empire because of his drawing capacity.
Since then he's become an icon but to folks like Dave Dennison, who grew up with Bollea, he hasn't changed.
"He is the nicest guy, soft spoken, no ego and he still treats his old friends right," he said. "He'll never be Hulk Hogan to me - he'll always be Terry Bollea."
To millions of screaming wrestlemanics he's the Hulkster, the one and only Hulk Hogan. But to the folks back home in Tampa, Fla. he'll always be Terry Gene Bollea, the quiet kid who was more interested in rock 'n' roll than sports. In
fact the folks back at Robinson Senior High School in Interbay remember his last day at school all too well.
"He streaked the graduation ceremony," chuckles Don Wolf, the school's activities director. That was in 1971 when Bollea scooted
naked through the stadium packed with up to 4,000 students, teachers and parents.
"We know someone was gong to do it, too," says Wolf. "We had guards everywhere but he did it." The high school prank was a glimpse into the showman who would later become the Hulk. In Tampa, Bollea is also remembered as a top Little League ball player - a pitcher who there "gas" and a batter who hit the long ball.
"They had a deal at Burger King that whenever a player hit a home run, the team would get free Whoppers. Man, we were there every Saturday because of Terry," said Jim Pitisici, whose dad, Vince, coached Bollea on the Lil' General's team from 1965-67.
Bollea was about 12 years old then, recalls Pitisici, and grew up much like everybody else in Interbay, a peninsula between St. Petersburg and Tampa.
It was an idyllic existence, with quiet tree-lined streets, parks and the ever- present Florida sun. Bollea's family still lives in the same modest wood-frame house he grew up in and Hulk himself has a condo in St. Petersburg.
But early on there was something different about Bollea - his size.
At age 12 he was hitting 5-foot-10 and by his teens he was 6-foot-7. The World Wrestling Federation puts his current height a 6-foot-9.
It's no surprise, though, that Hulk Hogan should come from the school which could be called Wrestling High USA. The list of pro-wrestlers who graduated the school is long: Mike Graham (Gossett), Steve Keirn, Dennis McCord (Austin Idol), Dick Slater and Ed Leslie (Brutus Beefcake). Richard Blood (Ricky Steamboat) and Bob Orton Jr. went to a rival high school across the street.
Bollea, however, wasn't interested in wrestling then and shrugged off the coach's attempts to draft him onto the school team.
At the time he played in the Varsity Band, blowing trombone. At night his heart belonged to rock 'n' roll.
"They were really successful around here," said Dave Lawson of the band. Lawson played in other bands around Tampa at the time. "They played 1960's
material - Stones, Beatles, Byrds and stuff."
Two years at Junior College was followed by two more years at South Florida University and in 1975 Bollea finished school with a commerce degree - and a passion for weightlifting.
Instead of settling into a career, Bollea focused on his newly acquired passion and even opened a successful gym in Vero Beach.
"He was playing at a bar called The Other Place and my brother, Jack Brisco, a former world champion wrestler, told him: `With your size, you should be a wrestler,' " said Jerry Brisco. Terry said that was what he always wanted."
But his first introduction to wrestling under famed trainer Hiro Matsuda was painful - he broke his ankle.
"No one expected him back," said Brisco. "It was August in Florida, and the gym had no air conditioning. It was 106 degrees. But there was Terry, his ankle taped up and ready to go."
He worked hard and trimmed his figure to a fit 220 pounds and by 1977 was on the USWA circuit out of Memphis, playing to 3,000-seat halls. "He couldn't really wrestle but he looked good and drew crowds," recalled promoter Jerry Jarrett.
Under Jarrett, Bollea used the name Terry Boulder and Sterling Golden. He played the villain, and worked the small towns around the south.
In 1979 a video tape of him in action caught the eye of Vince McMahon Sr., who re-christened him Hulk Hogan. About that time he started to bulk up, reaching 320 pounds at his peak.
After a couple of runs through the northern circuit, Hogan was kissed off as expendable. Dejected, he called American Wrestling Alliance president Vern Gagne.
"He said he wasn't making it, could we help," recalls Gagne. "He was terrible at first, couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time."
Under Gagne's expertise, Bollea developed further and by the early 1980's he was sent on tour of Japan, where the Japanese revered him because of his size.
"Things were really starting to happen for him," says Dave Meltzer, who writes a national wrestling column and also publishes the Wrestling Observer. "He made the Rocky III movie in 1982 but things were really happening before that."
On his return, he was "stolen" by Vince McMahon Jr., who by then had taken over his dad's business.
It was McMahon - a bodybuilder himself - who started the move to bigger and better bodies, a trend which dominates wrestling today.
By 1984 Hogan was firmly established with his own legion of Hulkamaniacs and McMahon picked him to anchor the WWF empire because of his drawing capacity.
Since then he's become an icon but to folks like Dave Dennison, who grew up with Bollea, he hasn't changed.
"He is the nicest guy, soft spoken, no ego and he still treats his old friends right," he said. "He'll never be Hulk Hogan to me - he'll always be Terry Bollea."
ULTIMATE WARRIOR
Just call the Ultimate Warrior "doc." The heir-apparent to the World Wrestling Federation title has magic fingers.
Those grappling hooks can also bring relief to opponents in the locker room. That's because the Ultimate Warrior, a.k.a. James Hellwig, trained to be a chiropractor in Atlanta, Ga. before pursuing a career as a bodybuilder.
Today Hellwig lives in Grapevine, north of Dallas, Texas with his wife Sherri, a beautiful dancer. The path to wrestling was a strange turn for a man who started out to be a chiropractor, studying for four years at the Life Chiropractic College.
In real life, Hellwig is no Neanderthal. To be accepted at the school students need two years of college with mandatory science credits and a 2.25 grade point average.
In 1984 Hellwig suddenly quit his studies and headed for Los Angeles and Gold's Gym.
A long-time friend who knew him and Sherri during those years says the dream of being a bodybuilder was just too strong.
He "fell" into wrestling when a promoter dropped by the gym and picked out the four biggest guys. A few weeks later Hellwig enrolled at a California training camp under tag-team wrestler Red Bastien . "He came in about six weeks late because one of the guys dropped out," say Bastien who held the 1968 world tag team championship with Billy "Red" Lyons, of Dundas, Ont.
After training, Hellwig started out with three other wrestlers, the Power Team USA. James "Justice" Hellwig, Steve "Flash" Borden, (now wrestling as Sting in the National Wrestling Alliance), Garland "Glory" Donoho and Mark "Commando" Miller were touted as the "Ultimate American Athletes."
"He didn't have a lot of talent, but he did have determination," said Bastien. "Talent doesn't always mean anything these days anyway. He stuck to it and would work on moves until he got it.
Jerry Jarrett of the Championship Wrestling Association picked up Borden and Hellwig but recalls they were a disaster.
"They had great bodies, looked like a million dollars, but couldn't wrestle a lick," he said.
After three months he dumped them and Hellwig drifted out to Oklahoma where he wrestled under the name Bladerunner Rock. He moved to Dallas in the summer of 1986 with World Class Championship Wrestling but things weren't easy and his wife Sherri worked as a dancer at clubs like the renowned Million Dollar Saloon in Dallas to pay bills.
When Helwig was refused a salary raise to $450 a week, he quit. He then went to New York, where he signed with the WWF, was renamed the Dingo Warrior and worked the "D" Team - warmup matches.
But, such was his appeal to the fans that by 1988 Vince McMahon Jr. dubbed him the Ultimate Warrior and moved him up to top billing.
Yet, some things never change, says Dave Meltzer, publisher of Wrestling Observer. "He's better than he was, but he's a still a poor wrestler," he said.
"In fact, when Hellwig first started wrestling in the WWF in 1987 he was an outcast," says Meltzer. "They resented that he was getting breaks because of his body and not his wrestling ability."
But looks, not talent, had become the main selling factor of the WWF.
Hellwig, however was not deterred by the rejection by his colleagues.
"He started helping the other wrestlers with their backs and injuries using his chiropractic skills," says Meltzer. " He won them over."
Just call the Ultimate Warrior "doc." The heir-apparent to the World Wrestling Federation title has magic fingers.
Those grappling hooks can also bring relief to opponents in the locker room. That's because the Ultimate Warrior, a.k.a. James Hellwig, trained to be a chiropractor in Atlanta, Ga. before pursuing a career as a bodybuilder.
Today Hellwig lives in Grapevine, north of Dallas, Texas with his wife Sherri, a beautiful dancer. The path to wrestling was a strange turn for a man who started out to be a chiropractor, studying for four years at the Life Chiropractic College.
In real life, Hellwig is no Neanderthal. To be accepted at the school students need two years of college with mandatory science credits and a 2.25 grade point average.
In 1984 Hellwig suddenly quit his studies and headed for Los Angeles and Gold's Gym.
A long-time friend who knew him and Sherri during those years says the dream of being a bodybuilder was just too strong.
He "fell" into wrestling when a promoter dropped by the gym and picked out the four biggest guys. A few weeks later Hellwig enrolled at a California training camp under tag-team wrestler Red Bastien . "He came in about six weeks late because one of the guys dropped out," say Bastien who held the 1968 world tag team championship with Billy "Red" Lyons, of Dundas, Ont.
After training, Hellwig started out with three other wrestlers, the Power Team USA. James "Justice" Hellwig, Steve "Flash" Borden, (now wrestling as Sting in the National Wrestling Alliance), Garland "Glory" Donoho and Mark "Commando" Miller were touted as the "Ultimate American Athletes."
"He didn't have a lot of talent, but he did have determination," said Bastien. "Talent doesn't always mean anything these days anyway. He stuck to it and would work on moves until he got it.
Jerry Jarrett of the Championship Wrestling Association picked up Borden and Hellwig but recalls they were a disaster.
"They had great bodies, looked like a million dollars, but couldn't wrestle a lick," he said.
After three months he dumped them and Hellwig drifted out to Oklahoma where he wrestled under the name Bladerunner Rock. He moved to Dallas in the summer of 1986 with World Class Championship Wrestling but things weren't easy and his wife Sherri worked as a dancer at clubs like the renowned Million Dollar Saloon in Dallas to pay bills.
When Helwig was refused a salary raise to $450 a week, he quit. He then went to New York, where he signed with the WWF, was renamed the Dingo Warrior and worked the "D" Team - warmup matches.
But, such was his appeal to the fans that by 1988 Vince McMahon Jr. dubbed him the Ultimate Warrior and moved him up to top billing.
Yet, some things never change, says Dave Meltzer, publisher of Wrestling Observer. "He's better than he was, but he's a still a poor wrestler," he said.
"In fact, when Hellwig first started wrestling in the WWF in 1987 he was an outcast," says Meltzer. "They resented that he was getting breaks because of his body and not his wrestling ability."
But looks, not talent, had become the main selling factor of the WWF.
Hellwig, however was not deterred by the rejection by his colleagues.
"He started helping the other wrestlers with their backs and injuries using his chiropractic skills," says Meltzer. " He won them over."