10 Wrestlers Who Got Pushed Because They Were Friends With Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan was the biggest superstar in pro-wrestling during WWE's Golden Era. Due to his insane popularity, Hogan had a ton of influence over wrestling promotions. He won matches he wanted to win and in any fashion he wanted the victory.
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Anyone who was a friend of Hulk at that time found themselves in a better place than others. The Hulkster was very generous towards his real-life friends and he even helped many of them launch their wrestling careers. Hogan was also WCW's biggest signing during its peak, and since Eric Bischoff was also good friends with him, he didn't mind doing what Hulk said.
9 The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags)
No doubt The Nasty Boys was a legendary tag team in wrestling. But everyone knows that Hulk Hogan played a huge role in their success.
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Brian Knobbs was a really good friend of Hogan and this saw the duo of Knobbs and Sags even getting a TNA contract. He even appeared numerous times on Hogan Knows Best and even led his team in Celebrity Championship Wrestling.
8 Horace Hogan
Horace Hogan was the nephew of Hulk Hogan. He had a good relationship with his uncle, Hulk, and even wrestled as Horace Boulder early in his career to pay homage to the WWE Hall of Famer who used the same surname early in his career.
Hogan was best known for his work in WCW. He didn't do a lot there but once helped Hogan defeat The Ultimate Warrior at Halloween Havoc in 1998. When Hulk made him a part of The New World Order, Horace changed his surname to Hogan as well.
7 Jim Duggan
Jim Duggan was another wrestler who probably only got a job in WCW because of his friendship with Hulk Hogan. Duggan even defeated Attitude Era's biggest draw, Steve Austin, for the WCW United States Championship.
Austin was very embarrassed with this loss and made up his mind about leaving WCW. This was also one of the reasons why Stone Cold and Hogan never got along so well in real-life.
6 The Honky Tonk Man
Hulk Hogan was super close to The Honky Tonk Man and he absolutely loved his gimmick in WWE. Hogan was the reason why Honky Tonk won the Intercontinental Championship in his WWE career.
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The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All-Time had nuclear heat behind him during his title reign. Fans legitimately hated him as a wrestler and the entire arena was happy with Honky Tonk lost his title to The Ultimate Warrior in 1988.
5 Earthquake
The feud between Hulk Hogan and Earthquake was a huge success for WWE in the 1990s. It made Hogan look good, and it also brought him, even more, close to the wrestler known as John Tenta.
When Hogan joined WCW, he pushed to sign Earthquake due to the initial success of their rivalry. Earthquake became Avalanche in WCW and feuded with Hogan as a member of The Dungeon of Doom and The Three Faces of Fear. Even after the failures of these awful storylines, Earthquake retained his job in WCW until a few more years before he left the company.
4 Kamala
Kamala got into the main event scene as a monster heel during his rivalry with Hulk Hogan. Both wrestlers feuded over the WWE Championship from late 1986 to early 1987, during which he was even able to score a victory over The Immortal Hulk, but not with a pinfall though.
The Ugandan Giant was one of the few people who spoke in Hogan's defense following the racism controversy. He has also revealed in several interviews how The Hulkster cared for him and always did what he asked him to do.
3 Virgil
Virgil has publicly admitted many times that Hulk Hogan was the reason he got a job in WCW. He even claimed that Hogan did the most for him than any other person.
Although Virgil, known as Vincent in WCW, was also a part of Hogan's nWo, he was one of the least valuable stars of the stable. Like other Hulk buddies, he didn't lose his job until the very end when Hogan left the company.
2 The Big Show
Hulk Hogan was the one who brought Big Show in WCW as The Giant. He made his wrestling debut against Hogan at Halloween Havoc 1995 in a WCW Championship match. Hulk lost this match after his manager, Jimmy Hart, turned on him.
Show continued to feud with Hogan as part of The Dungeon of Doom. He also joined The New World Order years later. If it wasn't for Hogan, the man known as Paul Wight wouldn't have become a huge star in wrestling ever.
1 Brutus Beefcake
Brutus Beefcake was the best-friend of Hulk Hogan at one point. Hogan reportedly forced WCW to sign Beefcake in a huge contract and push him to the top. When Beefcake signed with WCW, he was put in a program with Hogan which also saw him main eventStarcade 1994 andIt was a massive failure.
Beefcake worked as many characters throughout his career, most of which never worked. But because he was a great friend of Hogan, he didn't have to worry about that. Although their relationship did take a sour turn after Hulk filed a legal case against his former best friend.
