Hulk Hogan's Iconic "Real American" WWE Theme Was Never Supposed To Be His
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When you think of Hulk Hogan, you either think about his WWe run as the all-American babyface superstar, or you think about his run as the villainous leader of the NWO in WCW. While his time as 'Hollywood' was monumental for the wrestling industry, it was his earlier run wearing red and yellow that truly made him one of the biggest names in pro wrestling history.
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Whether it was the charismatic promos or his wild attire, there were a number of factors that led to Hogan stealing the hearts of fans all over the world. Another contributing factor was his undeniably catchy entrance music. Good entrance music has always helped wrestlers feel like they're main event worthy, and Hogan's Real American song certainly did him a favor.
Fans around the world couldn't help but sing their hearts out whenever the song burst through the speakers in arenas, and the entrance music has become synonymous with the Hulkster. That makes it all the more surprising that the song wasn't actually intended for the future Hall of Famer originally. That's right, despite the song fitting Hogan's character perfectly, it was initially brought to WWE with plans for it to be used for someone else completely.
The Real American Song Was Originally Meant For The U.S. Express
While it was Hogan who would eventually make his way to the ring with the now classic song playing, it originally was intended for someone else entirely, the U.S. Express, a tag team made up of Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda.
The duo, who were brothers-in-law through Rotunda's marriage to Windham's sister Stephanie, originally used Bruce Springsteen's classic 'Born in the U.S.A' for their entrances and the team's gimmick was that of a pair of patriotic Americans. They even joined forces with "Captain" Lou Albano, who acted as the duo's manager during their WWE run.
The pair were extremely successful during their time teaming together, and managed to win the WWE Tag Team Championships on two separate occasions, first beating Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch for them, before later beating The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff for their second reign. The pair even defended the belts at the very first WrestleMania in Madison Square Garden, losing them to the aforementioned team of the Sheik and Volkoff.
Plans Changed When Barry Windham Left WWE
Exactly one year to the date of their first match as a tag team, the U.S. Express wrestled together for the final time as Windham decided to leave the company shortly after, effectively bringing their tandem to an end. Rick Derringer wrote the song for the pair, but following Windham's departure plans quickly changed, and it was decided that the new tune would instead be handed to Hogan, who was on the verge of super stardom.
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While Windham leaving the company brought the U.S. Express to an end, Rotunda was quickly placed into another patriotic tag team, this time with Dan Spivey, with the pair being dubbed the American Express. It wasn't long before Rotunda decided to leave WWE himself, with both ending up in WCW.
They'd both eventually return to WWE several years later, but didn't reunite, as Rotunda was repackaged as Irwin R. Schyster and eventually teamed up with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, while Windham would return in 1996 as The Stalker, a gimmick that never really caught on, and after a brief spell with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, he would once again leave the promotion, heading back to WCW.
While it's not fair to say the song was the difference between the success Hogan saw and the brief run the U.S. Express had, it's safe to state that it was much better suited to the Hulkster and would have largely been forgotten by now if things had worked out differently.
