Well let me tell you somethin’, BROTHER! Ad Nauseam is back and bigger than ever, dude! I’m grabbin’ comic books by the neck and lifting them above my head to the screams of 10,000 Ad-a-manics. I’m crackin’ these guys open and pulling out some crunchy pages of pure consumer capitalism, JACK! We’re talkin’ toys, video games, movies, all that junk you crave! So the only question you have to ask yourself is whatcha gonna do, brother?! Whatcha gonna do when another entry of Ad Nauseam runs wild on yooooooouuuu?!
Before big budget superhero flicks and shared Marvel cinematic universes; there was the golden age of professional wrestling. Meaty men in brightly colored tights dealing out superhero punishment in the name of cartoonish melodrama. So publishing comic books based on WWF feuds only makes sense. Talk about your pop culture coming full circle!
WWF BATTLEGROUND Released August 1991.
WWF Battlemania was a comic book series published by Valiant Comics that ran for 5 issues from August of 1991 to March 1992. Each issue consists of two wrestling “feud” stories, a double-sided poster, and – due to licensing terms – several WWF related advertisements as well as a twelve-page WWF Merchandising Catalog. Obviously these comics being absolutely busting with vintage WWF advertisements is why they’re currently the main event of Ad Nauseam. This is where the power lies!
So fasten your Python Power bandana, play some “Obsession” by Animotion, and read the rest of this paragraph in “Mene” Gene Okerlund’s voice: Its the moment none of you have been waiting for! Reading about 34 year old ads from a wrestling comic book! Can it get any sadder? It can! It will! So lets go down to the cyber ring for all the glorious ad-action!
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WWF Superstars for the Gameboy
These WWF titles on the NES and Gameboy were so damn enticing but always a let down. Each new game I’d always think would be different. To be able to have an official WWF wrestling match in your pocket or on your NES was what dreams were made of. But those dreams of winning the World Title at Wrestlemania had the “fun” of a frustrating pop quiz in your math class. I can only describe this era of WWF games like a clunkier Double Dragon. Every wrestler played the same. With small rosters. One or two match types. No taunts or “finisher” moves to be performed. I remember thinking the best thing about these games was hearing the 8 bit versions of a wrestler’s theme song at the selection screen. Mr. Perfect’s is still stuck in my head all these decades later.
Hulk Hogan & Ultimate Warrior Garbage
Okay, I choose these two WWF offerings because just look at them. I mean, the slippers are goofy. Fun…but silly. The fact that there is a large plastic Hulk Hogan head adorning the tips of your feet sounds like a request some crazed flamboyant sultan would make. Yet if I received these as a gift on Christmas morning, I wouldn’t be disappointed. Afterall, you don’t have the best judgement as a child. And you love what you love. So these slippers are ridiculous but appropriate.
Now the “chairs”. Holy God. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Even children of the 1980s had to think “Okay, now this is a little much.” A blue and red plastic chair sporting graphics of Hulk and Warrior on the seat and back would be just fine. But, instead, the designers of this thought it would be better to produce something out of your nightmares. A chair any child would think twice about sitting in. It’s like something out of Nightmare On Elm Street. Not to mention the simple reality that these are flesh colored plastic chairs of two shirtless hulking men that look like they’re constipated. They look like something you’d see at Elton John’s dinner table.
Hulk Hogan Vitamins
When you’re a world renowned pop culture icon and one of your catchphrases is “Say your prayers and eat your vitamins!” I am not at all surprised that there were Hulk Hogan brand vitamins. I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn if WWF tried to release a Hulk Hogan companion Prayer Book. This ad claims Hulk’s vitamins are made with only natural flavors and colors as well as no preservatives. When it came to vitamins, personally I was a Flintstones kid. I’m not sure if taking Hulk’s vitamins would’ve made a difference as most of these pro wrestlers were as “natural” as a deep fried Oreo. But I do know I would’ve garnered far more respect if the vitamins gave me a handlebar mustache in 2nd grade.
Lastly, it states that Hulk suggested “beta-carotene” be added. Which is a pigment (commonly found in colorful vegetables) that the body converts into vitamin A. Makes total sense as if you squint from enough distance Hulk Hogan looks like an unhinged sweet potato.
Tiger Electronics
Can you believe this ad? The absolute gall. Shame on you, Tiger Electronics. “World’s Best Games”? What an absolute slap to my prepubescent face.
You remember those awful Tiger Handheld LCD games? The ones we’d play because we couldn’t afford a Gameboy? We were told, “It’s the same thing, Spencer!” by our parental guardians. It wasn’t the same thing. It was beeping trash packaged in an impossible to open plastic shell for $19.99. Tiger Electronics would get the rights to some truly awesome video games like Mega Man 2, Tecmo Bowl, and Outrun. And then they’d create these simplistically braindead prehistoric “games” and package them in an alluring plastic shell complete with awesome official art and logos.
Perhaps you’d receive one of these as a gift. Or see them on the store shelf and think to yourself, “Altered Beast?! I don’t even need a Sega Genesis?! And I can play it ANYWHERE?!”
You just fell for the Tiger trap, bucko.
The idea of just firing up your favorite video game during a car ride or waiting room was fantasy to me…because of course it was. These were not your favorite video games. These were essentially bedazzled smoke detectors wearing the skin of Sonic The Hedgehog 3. Barely resembling the title it claims to be that made you want it in the first place. An erroneous trickster playing on your childlike inhibitions. Waiting to let you down on your birthday or Christmas. Chirping happily through its plastic shell. Then, an advertisement like this pops up in your comic book. Claiming the title “World’s Best Games” as if it’s synonymous with Tiger Electronics.
Tiger Electronics, I mean this from the bottom of my heart: Go suck a melon.
Tonka WWF Wrestling Buddies
The WWF Wrestling Buddies have to be one of the most ingenious and popular “dolls” for boys ever conceived. Growing up, these were a staple of nearly every friend I had. A Hulk Hogan or Ultimate Warrior wrestling buddy was as common in a boys bedroom as a flipping bed. As a child, you watch wrestling to emanate wrestling. You bet I’m climbing to the “top rope” to deliver a devastating elbow drop as often as Randy Savage did. But some marketing wizard at Tonka Toys had the genius idea to replace your common boring pillow with a pillow shaped like a wrestler. Incredible.
From the colorful alluring cartoonish designs, having “limbs”, to being nearly 2 feet in height…these toys were an absolute no-brainer when it came to boys and their natural masculine rage for wrasslin’! So much so that these have inspired generations of “wrestling” pillow buddies from the Ninja Turtles to Superheroes to even more wrestling promotions. They make “wrestling” buddies to “beat up” to this very day. As these are still a nostalgic staple of yesteryear and, no hyperbole, one of my personal favorite toys of all time. My Hulk Hogan “wrestling buddy” was part of my “decor” from childhood all the way to having my first apartment.
Afterall, there are two types of people in this world: those who have a decorative pillow on their couch that reads “gather” and those who have a 2 foot stuffed Hulk Hogan on their couch that reads “Hulk Rules”.
Suburban Commando
Suburban Commando is probably the movie trailer I’ve seen the most because it was shown at the beginning of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles home video. Seriously. The trailer, till this day, is ingrained into my brain permanently. I’ve seen the movie…don’t remember it…but the trailer? I could recite it beat for beat. I don’t remember much about this film other than 1.) It wasn’t as good as I thought it would be 2.) The Undertaker makes a cameo 3.) I WAS FROZEN TODAY. And 4.) I think there’s some interesting Alien makeup/creature towards the end.
As much of a Hulkamanic I am, I can’t defend Hulk Hogan’s Hollywood career. Simply put: it’s lackluster. 1989’s No Holds Barred is probably his “best” film as a lead. But even that is because it’s certainly a product of its time oozing absolute cheese. Hogan was the first crossover celebrity in professional wrestling, so it made sense for his films to be low brow, silly, and child friendly. They were marketing to the wrestling demographic of the time. Yet, even as a child, I knew these were stinkers. Not even Hulk Hogan could save them. What was most frustrating was that Hulk was such a poor actor. When it came to the world of wrestling, The Hulkster had charisma and energy for miles. Entertained millions live. But on the silver screen…he was subdued, monotone, and awkward. Every movie you were waiting for the Hulk Hogan we all knew and loved to break through. But it never came.
Rocky 3 is easily his best movie. It was also the movie that catapulted the character of Hulk Hogan. 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain is also some great 90s cheese. Hulk made a cameo in Muppets in Space. One of the worst Muppet movies.
But my personal favorite Hulk Hogan role? His cameo in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. What a glorious time capsule.
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And now the point of this article…
I began by saying professional wrestling is like comic books: Bright larger-than-life chiseled characters adorned in spandex dealing out massive amounts of punishment for the sake of melodrama. Complete with confusing history, catchphrases, and merchandise. Each weekly wrestling show is a comic issue featuring story arcs, “one-offs”, “specials” and “double issues”.
With that context, Hulk Hogan is the Superman of professional wrestling. The one who started it all. The blueprint for every “superhero” to follow.
Hulk Hogan wasn’t just the face of an era of professional wrestling—he created the era. He didn’t ride the wave of sports entertainment; he was the wave. A cultural tsunami that took professional wrestling out of bingo halls and into the living rooms, stadiums, and hearts of the entire world. Without Hulk Hogan, the term ‘main event’ would never have meant the same thing. He captivated the globe. He made believers out of skeptics. He gave hope, strength, and spectacle. And whether you cheered him or booed him, one thing was undeniable: you watched him.
I’ve been a Hulkamaniac as early as I can remember. It was never a fandom of peaks and valleys. Anyone who has known me can tell you that I never treated it as a fad.
For me, Hulk Hogan is Americana. Nostalgia. A warm positive feeling. Like hearing the theme song of your favorite childhood television show, taking a bite of your grandma’s home cooking, or fastening the cap of your favorite baseball team.
The character of Hulk Hogan was present throughout my life and attached to comforting memories. Even shared between friends and family. Beyond television, The Hulkster adorned my walls. Hulk showed up in the form of birthday and Christmas gifts. Magazines. Coliseum video tapes. I had epic “matches” against my Hulk Hogan pillow buddy. Bonded with fellow friends over his feuds and matches; fought over who would play as Hulk during those awful early WWF video games.
As I grew into a young man, Hulkamania never faded. Just evolved with a newly perceived sense of nostalgia. A “Hulk Still Rules” t-shirt was my first internet purchase ever back in 2002. A Hulk Hogan poster adorned my wall in college. “Real American” was my ringtone for over a decade. Weekly “TNA nights” with a friend as we’d reminisce of Hulk’s career while watching him on Monday’s “Impact Wrestling”. I had the privilege to be a part of the sea of Hulkamaniacs and watch him wrestle and appear live across multiple wrestling promotions. And as someone who witnessed it first hand several times, even in a smarky wrestling town like Chicago, the energy does change once the Hulkster makes his way to the ring. Pure charismatic electricity. That’s Hulkamania in full effect.
As my wrestling fandom winded down and I donated the childhood toys, threw away the magazines, and sold the t-shirts; Hulk Hogan was the exception .Wrestlers come and go but , just like the nWo, once you’re a Hulkamaniac…you’re one 4 life.
Not long ago when Hulk dropped the “Hollywood” for “Immortal” when being introduced, I had a dark intruding thought of when his day comes the irony would be palpable. But Hulk Hogan was immortal afterall. All the legendary wrestlers that have passed so young, Hulk was different. He was the guy. Not the top of the mountain. He was the mountain. But, time and again, life reminds us of its precious unpredictability.
I’m not someone who loses sleep over celebrity deaths. But, for my entire life, I was a solid subscriber to Hulkamania. Keeping up on all things Hogan. Hulk was always running wild.
And then it all came crashing down. Terry Bollea passed away July 24th 2025 at the age of 71. Clear as day, on the social media I’d see what Hulk was always up to; suddenly proclaimed that he was gone. That fire was extinguished.
It’s taken a few days for this realization to hit. You cannot let the opinions of others matter. The profound positive impact Hulk Hogan had on me as a child and adolescent is what matters most. I always looked up to him. Hulk Hogan brought me nothing but joy and entertainment for decades. Even as recently as this year, when “Real American” hits the arena; I’d be glued to my television. His message was strong and positive. The type of message a young man needs especially without a strong male figure in his life. Fight for the rights of every man. Fight for what’s right. Fight for your life! Believe in yourself, BROTHER.
Hulkamania will continue to run wild. Because it’s more than just a flawed singular man. It always has been. The legacy of Hulk Hogan isn’t just etched in the history of WWE—it is the history. Everything within professional wrestling worldwide that followed stands on the shoulders of Hulkamania. And beyond that, Hulk Hogan is one of popular culture’s most iconic characters. He’s the representation of strength, power, charisma. A Real American. Hulk Hogan was the phenomenon. The template. Hulk Hogan was, and always will be…immortal, brother.
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