Hulk Hogan Claims Credit For Unearthing The Undertaker For WWE
Hulk Hogan claimed credit for discovering WWE Hall of Famer Mark Calaway, popularly known as The Undertaker, during the production of his film “Suburban Commando.”
Hulk Hogan asserted that he brought Calaway into the WWE after a meeting with Vince McMahon, the company’s chairman. During a video on Hogan’s official website, he recounted the circumstances surrounding Calaway’s introduction to the wrestling world. Hogan stated:
It’s kind of funny how The Undertaker came about. I was doing a movie called Suburban Commando and we needed a couple of really big aliens, we had one actor and we couldn’t find another guy big enough. So I remembered Mean Mark Calaway from the NWA he was working in Atlanta Georgia for [Jim] Barnett at the time, so I had somebody hunt him down and we brought him to Hollywood and The Undertaker Mark Calaway was one of the bounty hunters in the movie Suburban Commando.
We became really good friends and once we were done I said ‘Man you should come to New York.’ So I brought Mark Calaway in to meet Vince [McMahon] and Vince took a long look at him, he was a monster at six foot ten and in really good shape and Vince goes ‘I’m gonna call you The Undertaker.’ I just said ‘Oh my god, this will never work with the bodybags and dead people’ but I was wrong on that one, so The Undertaker was born.
Despite Hogan’s claims, scrutiny of the timeline reveals inconsistencies. “Suburban Commando” was released in October 1991, while The Undertaker had already signed with the WWE a year prior. This raises questions about the accuracy of Hogan’s assertions regarding his role in Calaway’s WWE debut.
Which Hollywood Mega Star Did Hulk Hogan Say He Could Have Replaced?
Hulk Hogan claimed that he could have been the next John Wayne. Hogan stated that he spoke with the head of Paramount Pictures who told Hogan that he would be their next John Wayne but Hogan decided against this as he wanted to go back to wrestling.
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