Abdullah may refer to:

People and Fictional characters

Abdullah (name)

Other uses

Abdullah (horse) (1970–2000), a horse that competed in the sport of show jumping

Places

Abdullah Gan, mountainous region of Afghanistan

Abdullah Hukum LRT station, elevated rapid transit station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kampung Haji Abdullah Hukum, was an urban village located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Killa Abdullah District, district in the north west of Balochistan province of Pakistan

Qaysān, Abdullah Qeissan, a town in Blue Nile State, south-eastern Sudan

Salle Moulay Abdellah, indoor sporting arena in Rabat, Morocco

Stade Moulay Abdellah, multi-use stadium in Rabat, Morocco

See also

Abdul (disambiguation), often confused with having the same meaning as ''Abdullah''

Abdalla people, ethnic group in Kenya

ca:Abd-Al·lah da:Abdallah de:Abdullah fr:Abdallah ko:압둘라 nl:Abdullah ja:アブドゥッラー pt:Abdullah ru:Абдалла sv:Abdallah tr:Abdullah uk:Абдулла zh:阿卜杜拉

name	Sanjay Khan संजय ख़ान سنجے خان
birth date	3 January 1941
birth place	Bangalore, India
birth name	Abbas Khan
spouse	}}

Sanjay Khan () is an Indian actor, director and producer.

Career

Khan made his debut in the 1964 Chetan Anand film "Haqeeqat" followed by the Rajshri film ''Dosti''. In the 1960s and 1970s Khan starred in the movies ''Dus Lakh'', ''Ek Phool Do Mali'' and ''Intaqam''. He also acted opposite his brother Feroz in three films ''Upaasna'' (1971), ''Mela'' (1971) and ''Nagin'' (1976). He turned producer and director of three films in which he played the leading role which were ''Chandi Sona'' (1977), ''Abdullah'' (1980) and ''Kala Dhanda Goray Log'' (1986). After ''Kala Danda Goray Log'' he stopped acting in films and moved onto starring in and directing television series. In 1990 he starred and directed the Indian TV series ''The Sword of Tipu Sultan''. While filming in 1989, he got severely burnt in a fire on the sets in Premier Studios in Mysore. He recovered after many months in hospital and has since produced and directed television serials. He also directed the Mega Indian TV series, based on life of Maratha General Mahadji Shinde called, "The Great Maratha". In the late 90s he directed the TV-series ''Jai Hanuman'' (1997–2000). In the new millennium, he directed a mini series called ''Maha Kavya Mahabharat'' and a movie starring Jessica Chapnik called ''Maryada Purushottam'' (2005).

At present he is the chairman of a hotel and spa in Bangalore called the Golden Palms.

Personal life

Abbas (Sanjay) Khan was born in Bangalore. Two of his brothers, Feroz Khan and Akbar Khan (director), also work as actors. He has another brother, Sameer. They are originally from the Ghazni province of Afghanistan. His father was Sadiq Ali Khan Tanoli, who was an Afghan.

Khan is married to Zarine Khan, a Parsi and former Zoroastrian. He has three daughters and a son. Elder daughter Farah (married to DJ Aqeel), second daughter Simone (married to Ajay Arora) and his youngest daughter Suzanne Khan (married to actor Hrithik Roshan). His son Zayed Khan is an actor who is married to Mallika Parekh.

Sanjay Khan has a passion for cars, especially imported ones.

Controversy

Petition against release

Petitions were filed in the Supreme Court of India against the telecast of serial "The Sword of Tipu Sultan". The petitioners argued that the serial was not based on the real life and deeds of Tipu Sultan.[7] After hearing the arguments, the Supreme Court gave a judgment that the serial could be telecasted but that a notice has to be displayed along with each episode stating: No claim is made for the accuracy or authenticity of any episode being depicted in the serial. This serial is a fiction and has nothing to do either with the life or rule of Tipu Sultan. The serial is a dramatised presentation of Bhagwan Gidwani's novel.

Fire accident

A major fire accident took place on 8 February 1989 in the Premier Studios of Mysore where the serial "The Sword of Tipu Sultan" was being shot. Non-availability of fire fighting equipment and ignorance of fire safety standards have been quoted as the major reasons for this fire.[9] Loose wiring and absence of ventilators were further causes for the fire to spread. Instead of fire-proofing material, the walls had gunny bags and the temperature rose to around 120°C (248°F) because of huge lights being used for the shooting. All these factors contributed to the massive fire, and the final death toll was 62. Sanjay Khan himself suffered major burns and had to spend 13 months in hospital and undergo 72 surgeries. An ex-gratia amount of Rs. 5000 was paid to some of the victims of the fire The Sword of Tipu Sultan

Filmography

Actor

''The Sword of Tipu Sultan'' (1989) TV series .... Tipu Sultan

''Kala Dhanda Goray Log'' (1986) .... Raja

''Abdullah'' (1980) .... Emir-e-Rajasthan Sheikh Mohammed Al Qamal

''Chingaari(1977)

''Chandi Sona'' (1977) .... Mayur

''Mastan Dada'' (1977)

''Mera Vachan Geeta Ki Kasam(1977)

''Nagin'' (1976) .... Suraj

''Zindagi Aur Toofan'' (1975)

''Asliyat(1974)

''Duniya Ka Mela'' (1974)

''Trimurti'' (1974) .... Vijay

''Dhund'' (1973) (as Sanjay) .... Advocate Suresh Saxena

''Sone Ke Haath''(1973)

''Daaman Aur Aag'' (1973)

''Anokhi Pehchan'' (1972)

''Babul Ki Galiyaan'' (1972)

''Sab Ka Saathi(1972)

''Dharkan'' (1972)

''Wafaa'' (1972) .... Shyam Thakur

''Upaasna'' (1971) (as Sanjay)

''Haseenon Ka Devata'' (1971) .... Jai

''Mela'' (1971)

''Woh Din Yaad Karo'' (1971)

''Maharaja'' (1970)

''Pushpanjali''(1970) (as Sanjay) .... Dinesh Khanna

''Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' (1970)

''Beti'' (1969) .... Dr. Rajesh Anand

''Ek Phool Do Mali'' (1969) (as Sanjay) .... Amar Kumar

''Intaquam''(1969) (as Sanjay) .... Rajpal/Rajoo

''Shart'' (1969) .... Raj

''Abhilasha'' (1968)

''Milan Ki Raat''(1967)

''Dil Ne Pukara'' (1967)

''Dillagi'' (1966) (as Joseph Amrine)

''Dus Lakh'' (1966)

''Haqeeqat'' (1964) ..... Soldier

''Dosti'' (1964)

Director

''Maryada Purushottam'' (2005) (announced)

"''Maha Kavya Mahabharat1''" (2001) (mini) TV Series

''Jai Hanuman'' (1997–2000) TV series

''The Sword of Tipu Sultan'' (1989)

''Kala Dhanda Goray Log'' (1986)

''Abdullah'' (1980)

''Chandi Sona'' (1977)

Producer

''Abdullah'' (1980) (producer)

Writer

''Kala Dhanda Goray Log'' (1986)

Miscellaneous Crew

''Abdullah'' (1980) (presenter)'''

References

External links

Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Indian film actors Category:Indian Muslims Category:Indian Shi'a Muslims Category:Indian television actors Category:Indian people of Afghan descent Category:Indian film directors Category:Indian film producers Category:People from Bangalore

ar:سنجاي خان ur:سنجے خان

Name	Hulk Hogan
Names	The Super DestroyerSterling GoldenHulk HoganHulk MachineHollywood Hulk HoganHollywood HoganMr. AmericaTerry BoulderThunderlips
Height
Weight
Birth date	August 11, 1953
Birth place	Augusta, Georgia
Billed	Venice Beach, CaliforniaWashington, D.C. (as Mr. America)Hollywood, California (as Hollywood Hogan)
Resides	Tampa, Florida
Trainer	Hiro Matsuda
Debut	August 10, 1977
Website	www.HulkHogan.com }}

Terry Gene Bollea (born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Hogan had mainstream popularity in the mid 1980s through the early 1990s as the all-American character Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF—now the WWE), and was notable in the mid-to-late 1990s as "Hollywood" Hogan, the villainous nWo leader, in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Following WCW's fold, he made a brief return to WWE in the early 2000s, revising his heroic character by combining elements of his two most famous personas.

Hogan was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. He is a 12-time world heavyweight champion being a six-time WWF/WWE Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, as well as a former WWE World Tag Team Champion with Edge. He was also the winner of the Royal Rumble in 1990 and 1991 and the first to win two Royal Rumbles in a row. In his first reign as WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Hogan held the title for 469 days from July 17, 1994 to October 29, 1995. It is the longest reign of all time for this championship.

Early life

Bollea, who is of Italian, French and Panamanian heritage, is the son of Peter Bollea, a construction foreman, and his wife Ruth, a homemaker and dance teacher. Hogan was raised in Tampa, Florida. As a boy, he was a pitcher in Little League Baseball. He began watching professional wrestling at 16 years old. While in high school, he revered Dusty Rhodes, and he regularly attended cards at the Tampa Sportatorium. It was at one of those wrestling cards where he first turned his attention towards "Superstar" Billy Graham and looked to him for inspiration; since he first saw Graham on TV, Hogan wanted to match his "inhuman" look. Hogan was also a skilled musician, spending ten years playing bass guitar in several Florida-based rock bands. After music gigs began to get in the way of his time in college, Hogan decided to drop out of the University of South Florida before receiving any degree. During his spare time, Hogan would work out at Hector's Gym in the Tampa Bay area and eventually became strong enough to do big lifting. Eventually, Hogan and two local musicians formed a band called Ruckus in 1976. The band soon became a local sensation in the Tampa Bay region.

Many of the wrestlers who competed in the Florida territory at that time visited the bars where Ruckus was performing. Among those attending his performances were Jack and Gerald Brisco, two brothers who wrestled together as a tag team in the Florida region. Impressed by Hogan's physical stature, the Brisco brothers asked Hiro Matsuda—the man who trained wrestlers working for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF)—to make him a potential trainee. In 1976, the two brothers asked Hogan to try wrestling. Having been a wrestling fan since childhood, Hogan eventually agreed. At first, however, Mike Graham, the son of CWF promoter Eddie Graham, refused to put Hogan in the ring; according to Hogan, he met Graham while in high school and the two didn't get along. However, after Hogan quit Ruckus and started telling people in town that he was going to be a wrestler, Mike Graham finally agreed to accept the Brisco Brothers' offer, confronted Hogan and informed him that he would meet with Hiro Matsuda to begin a training session the following day. According to Hogan, during their first training session, Matsuda sarcastically asked him, "So you want to be a wrestler?" and purposely broke Hogan's leg.

Professional wrestling career

Early years (1977–1979)

In the summer of 1977, after over a year of training with Matsuda, the Brisco brothers dropped by Matsuda's gym to see Hogan. During this visit, Jack Brisco handed Hogan a pair of wrestling boots and informed him that he was scheduled to wrestle his first match the following week. In his professional wrestling debut, Eddie Graham booked him against Brian Blair in Fort Myers, Florida on August 10, 1977 in Championship Wrestling from Florida. A short time later, Bollea donned a mask and assumed the persona of "The Super Destroyer," a hooded character first played by Don Jardine and subsequently used by other wrestlers. Hogan, however, eventually could no longer work with Hiro Matsuda, whom he felt was an overbearing trainer, and left Championship Wrestling From Florida. After declining an offer to wrestle for the Kansas City circuit, Hogan took a hiatus from wrestling and managed a private club in Cocoa Beach, Florida-known as the Anchor Club-. for a man named Whitey Bridges. Eventually, Whitey and Hogan became close friends, and decided to open a gym together; the gym would be known as Whitey and Terry's Olympic gym. Soon after, Hogan's friend Ed Leslie (later known as Brutus Beefcake) came down to Cocoa Beach to help Hogan and Bridges manage both the Anchor Club and the Whitey and Terry's Olympic Gym. On his spare time, he and Beefcake would work out in the gym together, and eventually, Beefcake developed a muscular physique; Hogan was impressed by Beefcake's physical stature and become convinced that the two of them should wrestle together as tag team partners. Depressed and yearning to return to wrestling, Hogan called Superstar Billy Graham in 1978 with hopes that Graham could find him a job wrestling outside of Florida; Graham agreed and Hogan soon joined Louie Tillet's Alabama territory. Hogan also convinced Beefcake, who had yet to become a wrestler, to come with him and promised to teach him everything he knew about the sport.

In Alabama, he and Beefcake wrestled as Terry and Ed Boulder, the Boulder Brothers. These early matches as a tag team with the surname Boulder being used by both men prompted a rumor among wrestling fans unaware of the inner workings of the sport that Hogan and Beefcake were brothers, as few people actually knew their real names outside of immediate friends, family, and of course the various promoters the two worked for. After wrestling a show for Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) in Memphis, Jerry Jarrett, the promoter for the (CWA), approached Hogan and Beefcake and offered them a job in his promotion for $800.00 a week; this was far more than the $175.00 a week they would make working for Tillet. Hogan and Beefcake accepted this offer and left Tillet's territory. During his time in Memphis, Hogan appeared on a local talk show, where he sat beside Lou Ferrigno, star of the television series ''The Incredible Hulk''. The host commented how Terry, who stood 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) and weighed 295 pounds with 24 inch biceps, actually dwarfed "the Hulk." As a result, Bollea began performing as Terry "The Hulk" Boulder and sometimes wrestled as Sterling Golden.

In May 1979, Bollea had an early shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which at the time was generally recognized as the highest honor in wrestling. In June 1979, Bollea won his first wrestling championship, the NWA Southeast Heavyweight Championship, recognized in Alabama and Tennessee when he defeated Ox Baker.

World Wrestling Federation (1979–1980)

Later that year, former NWA World Champion Terry Funk introduced Bollea to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) chief Vincent J. McMahon, who was impressed with his charisma and physical stature. McMahon, who wanted to use an Irish name, gave Bollea the last name Hogan. At this time, Hogan wrestled Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship, and he started his first big feud with André the Giant, which culminated in a match with André at Shea Stadium in August 1980. Hulk Hogan claims in his autobiography that he and André the Giant were the reason for the Shea gate. However, Sammartino/Zbyszko sold out everywhere they wrestled leading up the show. Hogan and Andre wrestled in White Plains, New York, drawing 1,200 in a building that held 3,500 as the main event before they wrestled at Shea. During his initial heel run in the WWF, Hogan was paired with "Classy" Freddie Blassie, a wrestler-turned-manager.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1980–1983)

A great deal of Hogan's early success was achieved in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Japanese wrestling fans were in awe of the gargantuan blond American and nicknamed him "Ichiban" (which translates to "Number One"). Hogan first appeared in Japan on May 13, 1980, while he was still with the WWF. He toured the country from time to time over the next few years, facing a wide variety of opponents ranging from Tatsumi Fujinami to Abdullah the Butcher. When competing in Japan, Hogan used a vastly different repertoire of wrestling moves, relying on more technical, traditional wrestling holds and maneuvers as opposed to the power-based, brawling style U.S. fans became accustomed to seeing from him. Another difference is that Hogan used a running forearm lariat (called the "Axe Bomber") as his finisher in Japan, as opposed to the running leg drop that has been his traditional finisher in America. On June 2, 1983, Hogan became the first International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) tournament winner (although he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt, this was not the beginning of the actual championship), defeating Japanese wrestling icon Antonio Inoki by knockout in the finals of a 10-man tournament featuring top talent from throughout the world. Hogan and Inoki also worked as partners in Japan, winning the prestigious MSG Tag League tournament two years in a row: in 1982 and 1983. Hogan's popularity in Japan was so great, he even recorded an album there—a forerunner to the World Wrestling Federation's "Rock 'n' Wrestling" of the mid 1980s.

American Wrestling Association (1981–1983)

After filming his scene for ''Rocky III'', against McMahon's wishes, Hogan made his debut in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), owned by Verne Gagne. Hogan started his AWA run as a heel, taking on "Luscious" Johnny Valiant as his manager, before handing the AWA title over to him. Hogan, unwilling to give up his life as a bachelor just for the world title of the AWA, continued to turn down the belt. Shortly after these attempts to woo Hogan into giving Gagne more of a share of his profits and booking in Japan and attempts to bring him into the Gagne family, Hogan was lured back to the Northeast by Vincent K. McMahon, who had just recently purchased the WWF from his ailing father. Hogan claimed that Gagne, aware that Hogan was leaving AWA for the WWF offered the Iron Sheik a substantial amount to break Hogan's leg during a match. The Sheik refused to do it.

Over twenty years later, just prior to Hulk Hogan's WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2005, the revived AWA, under the authority of owner Dale Gagne (real last name: Gagner), relented and acknowledged the legitimacy of Hogan's two title wins over Nick Bockwinkel, making him a two-time AWA champion. This resolution, however, has been regarded as apocryphal to most as the resurrected AWA is generally regarded as an entirely different body than the Verne Gagne–owned AWA of old. As recently as the release of the DVD ''The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA'', interviews between Hogan and the Gagnes show that there is still animosity between both parties, indicating the unlikelihood Hogan's AWA title reign would have been retroactively instated under the original ownership. The WWE won a lawsuit against Dale Gagner, due to trademark infringement, which declared Gagne's claims to ownership of the AWA false, and as such rendered the resolution moot, as WWE only recognizes twelve American world titles being attributed to Hulk Hogan, and the AWA World Title is not among that number.

Return to World Wrestling Federation (1983–1993)

The Birth of Hulkamania

After purchasing the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, Vincent K. McMahon (i.e., Vince McMahon) had plans to expand the territory into a nationwide promotion, and he handpicked Hulk Hogan to be the company's showpiece attraction due to his charisma and name recognition. Hogan made his return to the WWF at a television taping in St. Louis, Missouri on December 27, 1983 defeating Bill Dixon.

On the January 7, 1984 edition of ''Championship Wrestling'', Hogan confirmed his face status for the WWF fans by saving Bob Backlund from a three-way assault. Hogan's turn was explained simply by Backlund: "He's changed his ways. He's a great man. He's told me he's not gonna have Blassie around". The storyline shortcut was necessary because less than three weeks later on January 23, Hogan won his first WWF Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik (who had Blassie in his corner) in Madison Square Garden. The storyline accompanying the victory was that Hogan was a "last minute" replacement for the Sheik's original opponent Bob Backlund, and became the champion by way of being the first man to escape the camel clutch (the Iron Sheik's finishing move). The backstage story was that the WWF Champion Bob Backlund had refused to put Hogan over for the title, demanding that any wrestler he lost the belt to have a legitimate wrestling background. As a consequence, The Iron Sheik won the title from Backlund first and then dropped it to Hogan.

Immediately after the title win, commentator Gorilla Monsoon proclaimed "Hulkamania is here!" Hogan frequently referred to his fans as "Hulkamaniacs" in his interviews and introduced his three "demandments": training, saying prayers, and eating vitamins. Eventually, a fourth demandment (believing in oneself) was added during his feud with Earthquake in 1990. Hogan's ring gear developed a characteristic yellow-and-red color scheme; his ring entrances involved him ritualistically ripping his shirt off his body, flexing, and listening for audience cheers in an exaggerated manner. The majority of Hogan's matches during this time involved him wrestling heels who had been booked as unstoppable monsters, using a format which became near-routine: Hogan would deliver steady offense, but eventually lose momentum, seemingly nearing defeat. He would then experience a sudden second wind, fighting back while "feeding" off the energy of the audience, becoming impervious to attack—a process described as "hulking up". His signature maneuvers—pointing at the opponent (which would later be accompanied by a loud "YOU!" from the audience), shaking his finger to scold him, three punches, an Irish Whip, the big boot and running leg drop—would follow and ensure him a victory. That finishing sequence would occasionally change depending on the storyline and opponent; for instance, with "Giant" wrestlers, the sequence might involve a body slam.

Over the next year, Hulk Hogan became the face of pro wrestling as McMahon pushed the WWF into a pop culture enterprise with The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection on MTV, drawing record houses, pay-per-view buyrates, and television ratings in the process. The centerpiece attraction for the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, Hogan teamed with legit friend Mr. T to defeat his archrival "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. On the first edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', Hogan successfully defended the WWF title against Cowboy Bob Orton in a match which Hogan won by a disqualification.

Hogan was named the most requested celebrity of the 1980s for the Make-a-Wish Foundation children's charity. He was featured on the covers of ''Sports Illustrated'', ''TV Guide'', and ''People'' magazines, while also appearing on ''The Tonight Show'' and having his own CBS Saturday morning cartoon titled ''Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling''. Hogan, as the premier WWF icon, headlined eight of the first nine WrestleMania events. He also co-hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' on March 30, 1985 during this lucrative run. AT&T; reported that his 900 number information line was the single biggest 900 number from 1991 to 1993. Hogan operated the 900 number through his stint in WWF and then recreated it when he joined World Championship Wrestling.

First title reign (1984–1988)

On the October 5, 1985 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', he successfully defended the title against Nikolai Volkoff in a flag match. He met long-time rival Roddy Piper in a WWF title match at the Wrestling Classic pay-per-view (PPV) event. Hogan retained the title by disqualification after Bob Orton interfered and hit Hogan with his cast. Hogan had many challengers in the way as the new year began. Throughout 1986, Hogan made successful title defenses against challengers such as Terry Funk, "The Magnificent" Don Muraco, King Kong Bundy (in a steel cage match at WrestleMania 2), Paul Orndorff, and Hercules Hernandez.

In the fall of 1986, Hogan occasionally wrestled in tag matches with The Machines as Hulk Machine under a mask copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling gimmick "Super Strong Machine." At WrestleMania III in 1987, Hogan was booked to defend the title against André the Giant, who had been the sport's premier star and was pushed as undefeated for the previous two decades. A new storyline was introduced in early 1987; Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three consecutive years. André the Giant, a good friend came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterward, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in the WWF for 15 years." Hogan came out to congratulate André, who walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of ''Piper's Pit'', Hogan was confronted by Bobby Heenan, who announced that André was his new protégé, and Andre challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III. At WrestleMania III, Hogan successfully defended the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant. During the match, Hogan bodyslammed the 520-pound Frenchman and won the match after a leg drop.

Hogan remained WWF Champion for four years and 13 days (1,474 days). In front of 33 million viewers, however, Hogan finally lost the belt to André on the February 5 edition of ''The Main Event'' after a convoluted scam involving "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Earl Hebner (who assumed the place of his twin brother Dave Hebner, who was the match's appointed referee). After André delivered a belly to belly suplex on Hogan, Hebner counted the pin while Hogan's left shoulder was clearly off the mat. After the match, André handed the title over to DiBiase to complete their business deal. As a result, the WWF Championship was vacated for the first time in its 25-year history. At WrestleMania IV, Hogan participated in a tournament for the vacant WWF title to regain it and faced André in the tournament quarter-finals but their match resulted in a double disqualification. Later that night in the main event, Hogan interfered and helped "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeat Ted DiBiase to win the title.

The Mega Powers (1988–1989)

Together, Hogan, Savage, and manager Miss Elizabeth formed a partnership known as The Mega Powers. After Savage became WWF Champion at WrestleMania IV, they feuded with The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase and André the Giant) and defeated them at the main event of the first SummerSlam. The Mega Powers, however, soon imploded from within in 1989, due to Savage's burgeoning jealousy of Hogan and his paranoid suspicions that Hogan and Elizabeth were "more than friends". Dissension was furthered at the Royal Rumble, when Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage from the Royal Rumble match. The duo broke up while wrestling The Twin Towers on the February 3, 1989 edition of ''The Main Event''. During the match, Savage accidentally collided with Miss Elizabeth. Hogan took her backstage to receive medical attention, while temporarily abandoning Savage. When he returned to the ring, Savage slapped Hogan and left the ring, where Hogan eventually won the match by himself. After the match, Savage attacked Hogan backstage, which started a feud between the two. Their feud culminated in Hogan beating Savage for his second WWF Championship at WrestleMania V.

Later title reigns (1989–1992)

Hogan's second run lasted a year, during which time he starred in the movie ''No Holds Barred''. The film was the inspiration of a feud with Hogan's co-star Tom Lister, Jr., who appeared at wrestling events as his movie character, Zeus. Zeus was a monster heel who was "jealous" over Hogan's higher billing and wanted revenge. Hogan, however, was easily able to defeat Zeus in a series of matches across the country during late 1989, beginning with a tag team match at SummerSlam, in which Hogan and Brutus Beefcake topped Zeus and Savage. Hogan and Beefcake defeated Zeus and Savage in a rematch at the No Holds Barred pay-per-view to end the feud.

Hogan's second title run was briefly interrupted in January 1989 when he was defeated via submission by Dino Bravo after Hogan couldn't break Bravo's bearhug hold. Hogan attempted to "Hulk Up" and turn the match around, but Bravo wouldn't release the hold, and Hogan became unconscious, forcing the ref to call the match. A silenced crowd watched Bravo grab the championship belt no sooner than an announcement was made that Hogan was determined the winner, by way of disqualification, therefore retaining his title and championship. An infuriated Bravo was quoted, "Last I checked, a bearhug was a legal move. The better and stronger wrestler just got cheated." The Wrestler magazine covered the story in their February 1989 issue with Bravo's hold on Hogan on the front cover with the title, "The Man That Hulk Hogan Cannot Beat." Also during his second run, Hogan won the 1990 Royal Rumble match. He dropped the title to Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior in a title versus title match at WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990.

Hogan soon became embroiled in a heated feud with the 470-pound Earthquake, who had crushed Hogan's ribs in a sneak attack on ''The Brother Love Show'' in May 1990. On television, announcers explained that Hogan's injuries and his WrestleMania VI loss to Warrior both took such a huge toll on his fighting spirit that he wanted to retire. Viewers were asked to write letters to Hogan and send postcards asking for his return (they got a postcard-sized picture in return, autographed by Hogan, as a "thank-you"). Hogan returned by SummerSlam 1990 and for several months, dominated Earthquake in a series of matches across the country. His defeat of this overwhelmingly large foe caused Hogan to add a fourth demandment: believing in yourself. He would also be known as "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan. Hogan then became the first wrestler to win two Royal Rumble matches in a row, as he won the 1991 Royal Rumble match.

At WrestleMania VII, Hogan stood up for the USA against Sgt. Slaughter, defeating him for his third WWF Championship. In the fall of 1991, Hogan was challenged by Ric Flair, the former NWA champion who recently arrived in the WWF. The feud remained unresolved, as Hogan lost the WWF title to The Undertaker at Survivor Series, and he won it back at This Tuesday in Texas six days later. Flair had interfered in both matches and due to the resulting controversy, the title was again declared vacant.

The WWF Championship was decided at the 1992 Royal Rumble in the Royal Rumble match. Hogan failed to regain the championship as he was eliminated by friend Sid Justice and in turn caused Sid to be eliminated, leaving Ric Flair the winner and new champion. Hogan and Sid patched things up and teamed together on the February 8, 1992 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'' against Flair and Undertaker but during the match Sid abandoned Hogan, starting their feud. At WrestleMania VIII, Hogan defeated Sid via disqualification due to interference by Sid's manager Harvey Wippleman. Hogan was then attacked by Papa Shango and was saved by the returning Ultimate Warrior.

At this time, news sources began to allege that Dr. George Zahorian, a doctor for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, had been selling steroids illegally to wrestlers in general and Hogan in particular. Hogan appeared on an episode of ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' to deny the allegations. Due to intense public scrutiny, Hogan took a leave of absence from the company.

Return, pursuit of the WWF Championship and departure (1993–1994)

Hogan returned to the WWF in February 1993, helping out his friend Brutus Beefcake in his feud with Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster), and officially renaming themselves The Mega-Maniacs. At WrestleMania IX, Hogan and Beefcake took on Money Inc. for the WWF Tag Team Championship. However, Hogan thought he was too big of a star to be a tag champion and instead wanted the world title. So Hogan and Vince McMahon came up with the plan that Hogan and Brutus would be disqualified in their match. Later that night, Hogan won his fifth WWF Championship by pinning Yokozuna only moments after Yokozuna had defeated Bret Hart. McMahon then planned that Hogan and Bret Hart would eventually fight in a big match at Summerslam 1993 in which Hogan would drop the title to Hart, Hogan didn't want to drop the title in a clean victory to another face and wanted to lose the title to the heel Yokozuna. At the first annual King of the Ring pay-per-view on June 13, 1993, Hogan defended the championship against the former champion, Yokozuna, in his first title defense since defeating Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. Yokozuna kicked out of Hogan's signature leg drop and scored the pinfall after Hogan was blinded by a fireball shot by a "Japanese photographer"(actually a disguised Harvey Wippleman), This was Hogans idea as he did not want Yokozuna to gain a clean victory over him. The victorious Yokozuna proceeded to give Hogan a Banzai Drop. This would be Hogan's last WWF pay-per-view appearance until 2002, as both he and Jimmy Hart were preparing to leave the promotion. Hogan would continue his feud on the international house show circuit with Yokozuna until August 1993. After that, Hogan would sit out the rest of his contract which expired later that year.

In 1994, Hogan, having received immunity from prosecution, testified in the trial of Vince McMahon relating to shipments of steroids received from Dr. Zahorian by both parties. Under oath, Hogan admitted that he had used anabolic steroids since 1976 to gain size and weight, but that Vince McMahon had neither sold him the drugs, nor ordered him to take them. The evidence given by Hogan proved extremely costly to the government's case against McMahon. Due to this and jurisdictional issues, McMahon was found not guilty.

Return to New Japan Pro Wrestling (1993–1994)

On May 3, 1993, Hulk Hogan returned to NJPW as WWF Champion, defeating IWGP Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta in a dream match at Wrestling Dontaku. Hogan would wrestle against Muta again, under his real name, Keiji Mutoh on September 26, 1993. Hogan would also wrestle The Hell Raisers with Muta and Masahiro Chono as his partners. His last match in Japan was on January 4, 1994 at Battlefield, when he defeated Tatsumi Fujinami.

World Championship Wrestling (1994–2000)

Early run (1994–1996)

After Hogan left the WWF in the summer of 1993, he split his time working on movies, television, wrestling in Japan, and spending time with his family. In June 1994, Hogan signed with Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and began appearing on television the next month. Hogan won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his debut match, defeating Ric Flair in a 'dream' match at Bash at the Beach. After overcoming the likes of Flair, The Butcher (former partner Brutus Beefcake), Vader, and the Dungeon of Doom for the next fifteen months (the longest reign of all time for this championship), Hogan dropped the belt to The Giant at Halloween Havoc 1995 via DQ. Following the controversial loss (which was due to a "contract clause"), the WCW title became vacant.

In early 1996, Hogan continued his feud with The Giant, before teaming with Randy Savage in a feud with the Alliance to End Hulkamania. After coming out victorious from his feuds, Hogan began to only appear occasionally on WCW programming.

New World Order (1996–1998)

At Bash at the Beach in 1996, during a six man tag team match pitting The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) against WCW loyalists, Hogan interfered on behalf of Nash and Hall, attacking Randy Savage, thereby turning heel for the first time in over ten years. After the match, Hogan delivered a promo, accosting the fans and WCW for underappreciating his talent and drawing power, and announcing the formation of the New World Order (nWo). The new stable gained prominence in the following weeks and months. Hogan grew a beard alongside his famous mustache and dyed it black, traded his red and yellow garb in for black and white clothing, often detailed with lightning bolts, and renamed himself Hollywood Hulk Hogan (often shortened to Hollywood Hogan). Hogan returned to WCW programming eight days after his heel turn.

Hogan won his second WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Hog Wild, defeating The Giant for the title. He spray painted "nWo" across the title belt, scribbled across the nameplate, and referred to the title as the "nWo title" during this and any other time he held the title while in the nWo. Hogan then started a feud with Lex Luger after Luger and The Giant defeated Hogan and Dennis Rodman in a tag team match at Bash at the Beach.

On the August 4, 1997 edition of ''Nitro'', Hogan lost the WCW title to Luger by submission. Five days later, at Road Wild, Hogan defeated Luger to regain the WCW title and begin his third WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan then lost the belt to Sting in a match at Starrcade. In the match, WCW's newly-contracted Bret Hart accused referee Nick Patrick of fast-counting a victory for Hogan and had the match restarted—with himself as referee. Sting later won by submission. After a rematch the following night, where Sting controversially retained the title, the WCW Championship became vacant. Sting then went on to win the vacant title against Hogan at SuperBrawl VIII.

Hogan then developed a rivalry with former friend (and recent nWo recruit) Randy Savage, who had just cost Hogan the title match at SuperBrawl by hitting him with a spray can. The heat culminated in a steel cage match at Uncensored, which ended in a no contest. Savage took the World Championship from Sting at Spring Stampede, while Hogan teamed with Kevin Nash to take on Roddy Piper and The Giant in the first-ever Bat match. Hogan betrayed Nash by hitting him with the bat and then challenged Savage the following night for his championship. In the no disqualification match for Savage's newly won title, Nash entered the ring and powerbombed Hogan as retribution for the attack the previous night. Bret Hart interfered moments later and turned heel by jumping in to attack Savage and preserve the victory for Hogan, who won his fourth WCW World Heavyweight Championship. However, Nash's attack on him signified a split of the nWo into two separate factions- Hogan's became nWo Hollywood and Nash's became nWo Wolfpac- that would feud with each other for the remainder of the year.

Hogan defended the title until July of that year, when WCW booked him in a match against newcomer and then WCW United States Champion Bill Goldberg, who had yet to lose a match in the company. Late in the match, Hogan was distracted by Karl Malone, and Goldberg pinned Hogan to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

Hogan spent the rest of 1998 wrestling celebrity matches. His second tag team match with Dennis Rodman pitted them against Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone at Bash at the Beach and at Road Wild, he and Eric Bischoff lost to Page and Jay Leno thanks to interference from Kevin Eubanks, who leveled Bischoff with a Diamond Cutter. Hogan also had a rematch with the Ultimate Warrior at Halloween Havoc, where his nephew Horace aided his victory. On the Thanksgiving episode of ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', Hogan officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling, as well as his candidacy for President of the United States. Campaign footage aired on ''Nitro'' of Hogan and Bischoff holding a press conference, making it appear legitimate. In the long run, however, both announcements were false and merely done as a publicity stunt attempting to draw some of the hype of Jesse Ventura's Minnesota gubernatorial win back to him.

After some time off from WCW, Hogan returned on the January 4, 1999 edition of ''Nitro'' to challenge Kevin Nash for the WCW title. Hogan won the match for his fifth WCW World Heavyweight Championship, but many people found the change to be "scandalous". As a result, the warring factions of the nWo reunited into one group, which began feuding with Bill Goldberg and The Four Horsemen.

Conflicts with Vince Russo and departure (1999–2000)

He then lost the title to Ric Flair at Uncensored in a Steel Cage First Blood match. A heavily bleeding Flair won via pinfall in a match refereed by Charles Robinson. During that match, however, Hogan began to show some signs that a face turn was imminent, showing off some old tactics like his "Hulking up" no-sell. The turn would have to wait, however, as Hogan was severely injured in a Texas Tornado match for the world championship featuring him, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, and Flair at Spring Stampede

On the July 12 edition of ''Nitro'', Hogan made his grand return as a full-fledged face and accepted a challenge from Savage, who had gained the world title at Bash at the Beach the night before in a tag team match by pinning Kevin Nash. Thanks to interference from Nash, Hogan defeated Savage to win his sixth and final WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Nash turned on him the next week, however, and the two began a feud that would last until the next pay-per-view.

On August 9, 1999, he started the night dressed in the typical black and white, but after a backstage scene with his son, Hogan came out dressed in the traditional red and yellow for his main-event 6-man tag team match. He then defeated Nash in a retirement match at Road Wild to retain his title. Injuries and frustrations were mounting up however, and he was absent from television from October 1999 to February 2000. In his book ''Hollywood Hulk Hogan'', Bollea said that he was asked to take time off by newly hired head of creative booking Vince Russo and was not told when he would be brought back at the time. Despite some reservations, he agreed to do so. On October 24 at Halloween Havoc, Hogan was to face Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (which he had lost to Sting at Fall Brawl the previous month, when Sting beat Hogan by cheating and had turned heel in the process). Hogan, however, came to the ring in street clothes, laid down for the pin, and left the ring.

Soon after his return in February 2000, at Bash at the Beach on July 9, Hogan was involved in a controversial, legit incident with Vince Russo. Hogan was scheduled to wrestle Jeff Jarrett for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Before the match, there was a dispute between Hogan and Russo. Unbeknownst to Hogan, Russo told Jarrett to lie down in the middle of the ring and asked Hogan to pin him straight away. A visibly confused Hogan complied with a foot on Jarrett's chest after getting on the microphone and telling Russo, "''Is this your idea, Russo...? That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in, because of bullshit like this!''" Russo responded by coming out and angrily proclaiming "I can guarantee you that this is the last time you will ever see that piece of shit in a WCW stadium!" This is also when the public discovered, through Russo, the "creative control" clause that Hogan had, which meant that Hogan was able to control what would happen with his own character and be able to do so without anyone else being able to tell him no. This has been a common complaint about Hogan, since he has been known to request such clauses in his contracts (even in WWE) because it is believed by many that he uses them to be able to "bury" others that would prove to be a threat to his legacy (which also might lead to the belief that the on-air criticisms that Bobby Heenan and then later Mark Madden made about him were not kayfabe even though the two usually were heel commentators, with Madden saying "Amen!" when Russo said that Hogan would not be back in WCW after that night). In his Bash at the Beach shoot promo, Russo said that he was arguing with Hogan all day prior to the event in the back because he wanted to use the clause in the Jarrett match, saying, "That means that, in the middle of this ring, when [Hogan] knew it was bullshit, he beats Jeff Jarrett!"

Since Hogan refused to job to Jarrett, a new WCW World Heavyweight Championship was created, setting the stage for a title match between Booker T and Jeff Jarrett later that night. Whether or not the whole incident was a shoot or a work was hotly debated. As a result, Hogan filed a defamation of character lawsuit against Russo soon after, which was eventually dismissed in 2002. Russo claims the whole thing was a work, and Hogan claims that Russo made it a shoot. Eric Bischoff agreed with Hogan's side of the story when he wrote that Hogan winning and leaving with the title was a work, and that he and Hogan celebrated after the event over the success of the angle, but that Russo coming out to fire Hogan was an unplanned shoot which led to the lawsuit filed by Hogan.

In the months following the eventual demise of WCW in March 2001, Hogan underwent surgery on his knees in order for him to wrestle again. As a test, Hogan worked a match in Orlando, Florida for the Xcitement Wrestling Federation promotion run by his longtime handler Jimmy Hart. Hogan defeated Curt Hennig in this match and felt healthy enough to accept an offer to return to the WWF in February 2002.

Return to World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2002–2003)

Hollywood Hogan and Undisputed Champion (2002)

At No Way Out in 2002, Hogan returned to the company that had made him a pop culture icon. Returning as leader of the original nWo with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, the three got into a confrontation with The Rock and cost Stone Cold Steve Austin a chance at becoming the Undisputed WWF Champion against Chris Jericho in the main event. The nWo feuded with both Austin and The Rock, and Hogan accepted The Rock's challenge to a match at WrestleMania X8. At the event, Hogan asked Hall and Nash not to interfere, wanting to defeat The Rock by himself. Despite the fact that Hogan was supposed to be the heel in the match, the crowd favored Hogan throughout it; this effectively turned him face. The Rock cleanly won the contest but befriended Hogan at the end of the bout and helped him fight off Hall and Nash, who were upset by Hogan's conciliatory attitude. After the match, Hogan was a definite face again, siding with The Rock, though he continued wearing black and white tights for a few weeks after WrestleMania X8 until he resumed wearing his signature red and yellow tights. During this period, the "Hulk Rules" logo of the '80s was redone with the text "Hulk ''Still'' Rules." Hulk wore the original "Hulk Rules" attire 12 years earlier, when he headlined WrestleMania VI at the same arena, in the SkyDome. For a time, he was still known as "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, notably keeping the Hollywood Hogan style blond mustache with black beard while wearing Hulkamania-like red and yellow tights and using the Voodoo Child theme music he used in WCW. On April 4, Hogan feuded with Triple H and defeated him for his sixth and final WWF (Undisputed) Championship at Backlash, thus becoming the last ever WWF champion before the initials dispute against the World Wildlife Fund For Nature. On May 19 at Judgment Day, he lost the belt to The Undertaker. After losing a Number One Contenders match for the Undisputed Championship to Triple H on June 6, Hogan began feuding with Kurt Angle resulting in a match between the two at the King of the Ring, which Angle won by submission.

On the July 4, 2002 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Hogan teamed with Edge to defeat Billy and Chuck and capture the WWE World Tag Team Championship for the first time. They celebrated by waving the American flag as the overjoyed audience sang along to Hogan's theme song "Real American." They later dropped the titles to The Un-Americans (Lance Storm and Christian), at Vengeance. In August 2002, Hogan was used in an angle with Brock Lesnar, culminating in a main event singles match. Lesnar won by submission (the match was called after Hogan became unconscious from a bear hug hold). Lesnar became only the second WWE Superstar to defeat Hogan by submission (after Kurt Angle), and the first to defeat Hogan by having the match called. Following the match, Lesnar continued to beat on Hogan, leaving him bloody and unconscious in the ring in what many fans recall as the worst beating Hogan ever received of his career. As a result of Lesnar's assault, Hogan went on hiatus and was not able to return until early 2003, shaving off his black beard and dropping "Hollywood" from his name in his return. He battled The Rock (who had turned heel) once again at No Way Out and defeated Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX in a match billed as "20 years in the making."

Mr. America and departure (2003)

Later, he had a run as the masked Mr. America. The persona was supposed to be Hulk Hogan in disguise, wearing a mask. He used Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme music and used all of Hogan's signature gestures, moves, and phrases. He was the subject of a storyline that took place after Hulk Hogan was forced by Vince McMahon to sit out the rest of his contract. After Hogan won at WrestleMania XIX, McMahon was frustrated with him and wanted Hulkamania to die. A WWE pre-debut push took place with mysterious Mr. America promos airing for weeks during ''SmackDown!''. There was also on-screen discussion on ''SmackDown!'' between then General Manager Stephanie McMahon and other players concerning her hiring Mr. America "sight unseen." On May 1, Mr. America debuted on ''SmackDown!'' on a ''Piper's Pit'' segment. McMahon appeared and claimed that Mr. America was Hulk Hogan in disguise; Mr. America shot back by saying, "I am not Hulk Hogan, brother!" (lampooning Hogan's use of "brother" in his promos). The feud continued through the month of May, with a singles match between Mr. America and Hogan's old rival Roddy Piper at Judgment Day. McMahon tried desperately to prove that Mr. America was indeed Hulk Hogan but failed at all attempts. Mr. America even passed a lie detector test.

Mr. America's last WWE appearance was on the June 26 edition of ''SmackDown!'' when The Big Show and The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) defeated the team of Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and Mr. America in a six-man tag team match when Show pinned Mr. America. After the show went off the air, Mr. America unmasked to show the fans that he was indeed Hulk Hogan, putting his finger to his lips telling the fans to keep quiet about his secret. The next week, Hogan quit WWE due to frustration with the creative team. On the July 3 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Vince McMahon showed the footage of Mr. America unmasking as Hogan and "fired" him, although Hogan had already quit in real life. The Mr. America gimmick came under fire briefly from Marvel Comics, who anointed it a rip-off of Captain America, citing costume similarity; the single star on the mask was also a trademark on Captain America's chest piece. This was also adding fuel to the fire over the rights to use the Hulk Hogan name because of Marvel's ownership of the Incredible Hulk character. Because of these problems, WWE was forced to edit out all references to the "Hulk Hogan" name, including pictures which featured Hogan wearing memorabilia that said "Hulk" (a majority of them) and started to refer to Hogan under the "Hollywood Hogan" name he used in WCW. It was later revealed that Hogan was unhappy with the payoffs for his matches after his comeback under the Mr. America gimmick. Vince decided to terminate Hogan's contract, and Hogan left WWE in 2003.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003)

Shortly after Hogan left WWE, TNA Wrestling began making overtures to Hogan, culminating in Jeff Jarrett, co-founder of TNA and then NWA World Heavyweight champion, launching an on-air attack on Hogan in Japan in October 2003. The attack was supposed to be a precursor to Hogan battling Jarrett for the NWA title at TNA's first three-hour pay-per-view. However, due to recurring knee and hip problems, Hogan did not appear in TNA. Still, the incident has been shown several times on TNA broadcasts, and was included in the TNA DVD ''TNA's Fifty Greatest Moments''.

Return to WWE (2005–2007)

In 2005, weeks before WrestleMania 21, it was announced on all WWE programming that Hogan would be inducted into the Hall of Fame. On April 2, Hogan was inducted by actor and friend Sylvester Stallone. Hogan was applauded for several minutes before he was able to make a speech. When he paused during his speech, the crowd chanted "One More Match! One More Match!" The fans also chanted "Austin, Hogan" (referring to a Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan match); Hogan responded "that may be a good match someday". At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, Hogan came out to rescue Eugene, who was being attacked by Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari. Some of the build-up to Hogan's induction into the Hall of Fame and preparation for this angle were shown on the first season of ''Hogan Knows Best''.

The next night on ''Raw'', Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault fan favorite Shawn Michaels. The following week, Michaels approached ''Raw'' General Manager Eric Bischoff demanding a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused but told Michaels if he found a partner he would be granted a tag team match. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him. On the April 18 episode of ''Raw'', Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared, and saved Michaels and accepted his offer. At Backlash 2005, Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels.

Hogan then appeared on July 4 edition of ''Raw'' as the special guest of Carlito on his talk-show segment ''Carlito's Cabana''. After being asked questions by Carlito concerning his daughter Brooke Hogan, Hogan proceeded to attack Carlito. This was then followed up by an appearance of Kurt Angle, who made comments about Brooke, which further upset Hogan. Hogan was eventually double teamed by Carlito and Angle but was saved by Shawn Michaels. Later that night, Michaels and Hogan defeated Carlito and Kurt Angle in a tag match. During the post match celebration, Michaels delivered Sweet Chin Music to Hogan and walked off. The following week on ''Raw'', Michaels appeared on ''Piper's Pit'' and challenged Hogan to face him one-on-one for the first time. Hogan appeared on ''Raw'' one week later and accepted the challenge. The match took place at SummerSlam. The "Legend vs. Icon" storyline was the main event for the Raw brand going into SummerSlam. The match went back and forth, with two referees getting knocked out and Michaels using a steel chair to try to gain an advantage. Even after Michaels hit his Sweet Chin Music, Hogan still kicked out and mounted some offense against Michaels, finally hitting him with the legdrop and scoring the victory. Michaels extended his hand to him, telling him that he "had to find out for himself," and Hogan and Michaels shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd.

Prior to WrestleMania 22, Hogan inducted friend and former announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund into the WWE Hall of Fame. Hogan returned on the July 15, 2006 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'' with his daughter Brooke. During the show, Randy Orton flirted (kayfabe, as he was engaged with his girlfriend, now wife Sam Speno) with Hogan's daughter, and later attacked Hogan in the parking lot and hit the RKO onto the trunk of Hogan's car. He later challenged Hulk to a match at SummerSlam, which Hogan won. In regards to the public reaction to Summerslam, and his treatment as an employee, he said:

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He also spoke extensively on his payment, and his concerns of not being a top priority to Vince McMahon, despite the fact that he felt he was the company's biggest draw:

Hogan's last WWE appearance to date occurred on December 10, 2007 on the ''WWE Raw'' 15th anniversary. He saved Hornswoggle from being attacked by The Great Khali.

Memphis Wrestling and PMG Clash of Legends (2007)

After a brief fall out with McMahon and WWE, Hogan was lured to Memphis Wrestling with the proposal of wrestling Jerry "The King" Lawler. The match had been promoted on Memphis Wrestling Prime Time for several months. On April 12, 2007, however, Lawler announced in a news conference that WWE had barred him from wrestling Hogan on the basis that NBC performers (including Lawler, on the basis of co-hosting the NBC-owned USA Network's ''WWE Raw'' and his appearances on the biannual WWE ''Saturday Night's Main Event'') are contractually prohibited from appearing on VH1, the channel on which ''Hogan Knows Best'' airs. The situation resulted in a lawsuit being filed against WWE by event promoter Corey Maclin. Lawler was replaced with Paul Wight. Hulk Hogan defeated Wight at PMG Clash of Legends on April 27, 2007 when he picked up and bodyslammed Wight and pinned him following his signature Leg Drop.

Return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2009–present)

Debut and Dixie Carter's business partner (2009–2010)

On October 27, 2009 it was announced on TNAwrestling.com that Hulk Hogan had signed a contract to join TNA on a full time basis where, partnered with Eric Bischoff, he would partner with TNA President, Dixie Carter. The footage of his signing and the press conference in the Madison Square Garden following it were featured on the October 29 episode of ''TNA Impact!''. His role remained uncertain.

On November 21, 24, 26, and 28, Hogan performed with a group of wrestlers including Spartan-3000, Heidenreich, Eugene, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and Orlando Jordan across Australia in a tour titled ''Hulkamania: Let the Battle Begin''. The main event of each show was a rematch between Hogan and Ric Flair—the wrestler who defeated Hogan more times than any other. Hogan defeated Flair in all four matches, bringing his career record against Flair from 2–8 to 6–8. It was the first time Hogan had performed in Australia.

On December 5, 2009, Hogan announced on UFC's The Ultimate Fighter that he would be making his official TNA debut on January 4, 2010, in a special live three hour Monday night edition of ''TNA Impact!'' to compete with WWE's Monday Night Raw (which featured the return of Bret Hart) Carter revealed Hogan's role in the company in an interview with The UK Sun stating when his job came to question, "he is involved with everything from looking at the talent to how we shoot the show". On the January 4, 2010 ''Impact!'', Hogan debuted after a motorcade arrival reuniting briefly with former nWo partners Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman, the latter two of whom made their returns to the company. He, however, refused to join them for a full-fledged reunion of their group claiming, "it's a different time", and stuck to his business relations with Bischoff, who made his appearance to declare that, the two of them would "flip the company upside down" and everyone would have to earn their spot. Hogan also encountered TNA Founder, Jeff Jarrett on the broadcast, appearing via video wall and interrupting Jarrett's company success speech, stating that Carter was instrumental to the company's survival, and that just like the rest, Jarrett would have to (kayfabe) earn his spot in TNA.

At TNA Genesis on January 17, Hogan and Bischoff revealed a newly renovated TNA Impact! Zone, and reintroduced the traditional four sided ring, opposing the six sided ring TNA had in use. On the February 18 edition of ''Impact!'' Hogan took Abyss under his wing, and during this sequence, gave him his Hall of Fame ring and claimed it would make him a "god of wrestling". The following week Hogan announced that he would be making his in-ring TNA debut on the March 8 live Monday night edition of ''Impact!'' teaming with Abyss to face A.J. Styles and Ric Flair. That night, Hogan and Abyss defeated Styles and Flair, when Abyss scored a pinfall over Styles. Afterwards, the returning Jeff Hardy saved Hogan and Abyss from a beat down at the hands of Styles, Flair and Desmond Wolfe. This proceeded in later weeks to become a Team Flair versus Team Hogan situation, whereas Jarrett and the debuting Rob Van Dam joined Team Hogan and Beer Money and Sting, who rekindled his feud with Hogan with an attack, joined Team Flair. At Lockdown Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam) defeated Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode and James Storm) in a Lethal Lockdown match.

Heel turn, Immortal (2010–present)

On the June 17 edition of ''Impact!'' Hogan's alliance with Abyss came to an abrupt end, when Abyss turned heel. Abyss later claimed that he was controlled by some entity, that was coming to TNA. The next months Hogan worked with Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe against Sting and Kevin Nash, who claimed that they knew that Hogan and Bischoff were up to something. During this time Abyss went on a rampage, attacking Rob Van Dam to the point that he was forced to vacate the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and eventually put his hands on TNA president Dixie Carter, which led to her signing the paperwork, presented by Bischoff, that would have Abyss fired from TNA following his match with Van Dam at Bound for Glory. Hogan was set to wrestle with Jarrett and Joe against Sting, Nash and D'Angelo Dinero at Bound for Glory, but was forced to miss the event due to a back surgery. However, he would make a surprise appearance at the end of the event, turning heel, helping Jeff Hardy win the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship and aligning himself with Hardy, Bischoff, Abyss and Jarrett. This is also Hogan's first working as a heel since he reunited with the NWO in the WWE. On the following edition of ''Impact!'' it was revealed that Bischoff had tricked Carter and the paperwork she had signed a week earlier, were not to release Abyss, but to turn the company over to him and Hogan. Meanwhile, Bischoff's and Hogan's new stable, now known as Immortal, formed an alliance with Ric Flair's Fortune. Dixie Carter returned on the November 25 edition of ''Reaction'', informing Hogan and Bischoff that a judge had filed an injunction against the two on her behalf over not having signatory authority, indefinitely suspending Hogan from TNA. During his time away from TNA, Hogan underwent a potentially career–ending spinal fusion surgery on December 21, 2010. Hogan returned to TNA on the March 3, 2011, edition of ''Impact!'', declaring himself as the new owner of TNA, having won the court battle against Dixie Carter. In April, Hogan began hinting at a possible return to the ring to face the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Sting. On the May 12 edition of the newly renamed ''Impact Wrestling'', Hogan lost control of the program to Mick Foley, who revealed himself as the Network consultant, who had been causing problems for Immortal ever since Hogan and Bischoff took over the company, however, this angle was aborted just three weeks later, when Foley left the promotion..

At Hardcore Justice Hogan came to the ring with a steel chair. Angle took the chair from Hogan and used it on Sting to win the TNA Title; turning heel in the process. On the following Impact Wrestling! taping Angle divulged that it was Hogan who informed Kurt that Dixie Carter had kept from him Jeff Jarrett's affair with Karen and as a result will destroy all young superstars. Walking up the ramp Angle was confronted by Sting but Hogan came from behind to start beating down Sting, where Kurt and Hogan then hugged; signifying an alliance between the two men.

CWI (2011)

On August 20, 2011 Hulk Hogan appeared as a face during a 6 man tag match which featured the Nasty Boys, Scott Steiner, Bushwhacker Luke, Tatanka, and Brutus Beefcake. Hulk Hogan distracted Steiner long enough for Tatanka to steal a pin. Hogan celebrated with Tatanka, Luke, and Beefcake after the match.

Other media

Hulk Hogan's crossover popularity led to several television and movie roles. Early in his career Bollea played the part of Thunderlips in ''Rocky III'' (1982). He also appeared in ''No Holds Barred'' (1989), before starring in the family films ''Suburban Commando'' (1991), ''Mr. Nanny'' (1993), ''Santa with Muscles'' (1996), and ''3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain'' (1998). He starred in his own television series, ''Thunder in Paradise'', in 1994. He is the star of ''The Ultimate Weapon'' (1997), in which Brutus Beefcake also appears in a cameo.

Bollea also starred in a pair of television movies, originally intended as a pilot for an ongoing series for TNT, produced by Eric Bischoff. The movies, ''Shadow Warriors: Assault on Devil's Island'' and ''Shadow Warriors: Hunt for The Death Merchant'', starred Hogan alongside Carl Weathers and Shannon Tweed as a freelance mercenary team. In 1995, he appeared on TBN's ''Kids Against Crime''.

Bollea made cameo appearances in ''Muppets from Space'', ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (the theatrical cut) and ''Spy Hard'' as himself. Hogan was offered the role of Zeus in ''Little Hercules in 3D'' on an episode of ''Hogan Knows Best'' and was shown during the filming of the movie. He also had a cameo at the end of the movie ''Little Monsters''. Hogan also made two appearances on ''The A-Team'' (in 1985 and 1986), and along with Roddy Piper, Hogan lent his voice for a few episodes of the stop-motion animation skit show, ''Robot Chicken''. Nick's favorite animated show, Captain Planet, was another popular stop for Hogan's recognizable voice. He was the voice of BP, Sly Sludge's evil sidekick. His famous catchphrase was "You're gonna pay at the pump, brother!" He also had a vital role in the two-part episode of ''Suddenly Susan'' in 1999. In 2001, Hogan guest-starred on an episode of ''Walker, Texas Ranger'', playing a reformed criminal now operating a Christian Community Center and helping Walker steer teenagers away from gangs.

Bollea hosted the comeback series of ''American Gladiators'' on NBC in 2008. He also hosted and judged the short-lived reality show, ''Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling''. Hogan had a special entitled ''Finding Hulk Hogan'' on A&E; on November 17, 2010.

''Hogan Knows Best''

On July 10, 2005, VH1 premiered a new reality show titled ''Hogan Knows Best'' which centers around Hulk Hogan, his then-wife Linda, and their children Brooke and Nick. Set in their home in Clearwater, Florida, the show follows the family in their efforts to fulfill the dreams of their children while still maintaining their sense of closeness. At the show's onset, 16-year-old Brooke is trying to break into the music industry while younger brother Nick (age 14) goes through a series of career aspirations including his failure to become a professional race car driver and following in his dad's footsteps as a pro wrestler.

As of July 2008, ''Hogan Knows Best'' transferred its focus into a new show called ''Brooke Knows Best'' which focuses on his daughter's move into a new apartment to continue her pursuit of a music career.

Music and radio

Bollea released a music CD, ''Hulk Rules'', as Hulk Hogan and The Wrestling Boot Band. Also, Green Jellÿ released a single, a duet with Hogan, performing Gary Glitter's classic song "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)". He has also made cameos in several music videos. From her self-named show, ''Dolly'' the music video for Dolly Parton's wrestling-themed love song "Headlock on my Heart" features Hogan as "Starlight Starbright". On the show, Parton mentioned that the tabloid Weekly World News had "reported" that she had written a song about her love for a wrestler, and said "if you read in the Weekly World News, it must be true!" In the music video "Pressure" by Belly ft. Ginuwine, Bollea and his daughter Brooke both made brief cameo appearances.

Bollea is a regular guest on Bubba the Love Sponge's radio show. He also served as the best man at Bubba's January 2007 wedding. On Monday March 12, 2010, Bollea hosted his own radio show, titled ''Hogan Uncensored'', on Sirius Satellite Radio's Howard 101.

Endorsements and business ventures

Food industry

Hulk Hogan's ''Pastamania'' was a restaurant in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. It was created and financed by Hogan. It opened on the Labor Day weekend of 1995 and was later heavily hyped on World Championship Wrestling's live flagship show ''WCW Monday Nitro'', which actually premiered that September from the mall. The restaurant, which remained in operation for less than a year, featured such dishes as "Hulk-U's" and "Hulk-A-Roos".

In an interview on both the ''The Tonight Show'' and ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', Bollea claimed that the George Foreman Grill was originally offered to him, but he failed to respond in time. George Foreman was called and he chose to endorse the grill instead of a blender which became the Hulk Hogan Thunder Mixer. This claim was validated on an episode of ''Hogan Knows Best'', in which his wife Linda and the family are worried about Hogan's wrestling career and plead with him to take up a career in marketing. Hulk explains about turning down the Foreman grill, and his choice to invest in the shake-mixer instead, saying that whenever he thinks about investing in something "big," he thinks about what happened with the grill and the shake-mixer. However, he has since endorsed a similar product known as "The Hulk Hogan Ultimate Grill."

In 2006, Bollea unveiled his own energy drink, Hogan Energy, distributed by Socko Energy. It was featured in an episode of ''Hogan Knows Best''. His name and likeness are also applied to a line of microwavable hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and chicken sandwiches sold at Wal-Mart called "Hulkster Burgers".

In September 2008, Bollea's net worth was revealed to be over $30 million.

Other

During an interview with ''The Sun'' in 2007, Bollea claimed to be planning his own federation to compete against Vince McMahon. Bollea says he has raised $40 million of the $80–$100 million goal and his venture is something that will eventually revolutionize the sport of professional wrestling.

In October 2007, Bollea transferred all trademarks referring to himself to his liability company named "Hogan Holdings Limited". The trademarks include Hulk Hogan, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, Hulkster, Hogan Knows Grillin, Hulkamania.com, and Hulkapedia.com.

In April 2008, Bollea announced that he would be lending his license to video game developer Gameloft to create "Hulkamania Wrestling" for mobile phones. Hogan stated in a press release that the game would be "true to [his] experiences in wrestling" and use his classic wrestling moves like the Doublehand Choke Lift and Strong Clothesline. As of 2010, Hogan stars alongside Troy Aikman in commercials for Rent-A-Center. On March 24, 2011, Hogan made a special appearance on ''American Idol'', giving a big surprise to wrestling fans Paul McDonald and James Durbin.

On 15 October 2010, Endemol Games UK (a subsidiary of media production group Endemol UK) announced a partnership with Bischoff Hervey Entertainment to produce "Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania", an online gambling game featuring video footage of Hogan.

Personal life

On December 18, 1983, Bollea married Linda Claridge (born August 24, 1959). They have a daughter Brooke (born May 5, 1988) and a son Nick (born July 27, 1990). Bollea made his personal life the centerpiece of the television show ''Hogan Knows Best'', which includes his wife and two children.

Bollea's 17 year old son Nick was indicted as an adult on November 7, 2007 on four criminal charges. The charges stemmed from an August car accident that seriously injured the passenger in Nick's car, John Graziano. Nick pleaded no contest and was sentenced to eight months in prison on May 9, 2008.

According to an interview in ''The National Enquirer'', Christiane Plante revealed that she had an affair with Hogan in 2007 while the Hogan family was shooting ''Hogan Knows Best''. Plante was 33 years old at the time and had worked with Brooke Hogan on her 2006 album. On November 20, 2007, Linda filed for divorce in Pinellas County, Florida. Hulk told ''St. Petersburg Times'' that he was unaware of the filing when the paper called for a comment. The Graziano family's lawyer believed the divorce might have been an attempt to divide the family's assets from a planned civil suit against the Bolleas regarding their son, Nick. After filing for divorce, Linda (48 at the time) began dating Charlie Hill (19 at the time). Hill was a student at Brooke and Nick's high school, one grade above Nick and one grade below Brooke. In November 2008, Linda revealed to the public that she made the decision to end her marriage after finding out about Hulk Hogan's affair.

Bollea was honored as the 2008 King of the Krewe of Bacchus, a New Orleans carnival organization. Hogan visited the Children's Hospital of New Orleans and rode in the parade where he threw doubloons with his likeness. Hogan received the honor in part because meeting Hogan is one of the most requested "wishes" of the terminally ill children benefited by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Bollea lived with his daughter, Brooke, who starred in the now-cancelled VH1 reality series, ''Brooke Knows Best''. Bollea has suffered numerous health problems, particularly with his back since retiring as a wrestler following the years of heavy weight training and jolting as a wrestler.

On October 27, 2009, St. Martin's Press released Bollea's autobiography, ''My Life Outside the Ring.'' Bollea has continued to stay in the news, due to his revelation that he considered suicide in 2007, shortly after his wife filed for divorce. Hogan credits Laila Ali, co-star on ''American Gladiators'', with preventing him from committing suicide.

Bollea has been in a relationship with Jennifer McDaniel since early 2008. The two were engaged in November 2009 and married on December 14, 2010, in Clearwater, Florida.

In 2011, A&E; released a 1-hour documentary about the problems of Hogan, his comeback to (and problems with) TNA and his current life problems.

Hogan became a distributor for multi-level marketing company ViSalus Sciences after looking for business opportunities outside of wrestling.

Filmography

''No Holds Barred (1989 film) ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' ''Suburban Commando'' ''Mr. Nanny'' ''The Secret Agent Club'' ''The Ultimate Weapon'' ''McCinsey's Island'' ''Assault on Death Mountain'' ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' ''Little Hercules'' ''Gnomeo and Juliet''

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Role	Notes
1982	''Rocky III''	Thunderlips
1989	No Holds Barred'' ||	Rip
1990	|	Himself
1991	|	Shep Ramsey
rowspan=2	1993	|	Sean Armstrong
''Thunder in Paradise''	Randolph J. ''Hurricane'' Spencer
rowspan=2		1994	Thunder in Paradise>Thunder in Paradise II''
''Thunder in Paradise		Thunder in Paradise (TV)''
1995		Thunder in Paradise>Thunder in Paradise III''
rowspan=3	1996	|	Ray Chase
''Spy Hard''	Steele's other Tag-Team Member
''Santa with Muscles''	Blake
rowspan=2	1997	|	Cutter
''Assault on Devil's Island''	Mike McBride
rowspan=2	1998	|	Joe McGrai
''3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain''	Dave Dragon
rowspan=2	1999	|	Mike McBride
''Muppets from Space''	Himself
2001	|	Boomer Knight	List of Walker, Texas Ranger episodes>Division Street
2009	|	Zeus
rowspan=2	2011	|	Terrafirminator V.O.	Voice
''Black River''	Marcus Demchak

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Axe Bomber'' (Crooked arm lariat)

''Atomic Leg Drop'' (Running leg drop)

Signature moves

Atomic drop

Big boot

Body slam

Clothesline

Multiple punches, with theatrics

Raking the opponent's eyes or back

Managers

"Classy" Freddie Blassie

Miss Elizabeth

"The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart

Nicknames

"(The) Hulkster"

"The Hulk"

"The Immortal"

"Hollywood"

* The Unstoppable Force

Entrance themes

* American Wrestling Association

** "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor

* World Championship Wrestling

** "American Made" by The Wrestling Boot Band (1994–1996, 1999–2000)

** "Rockhouse" by Frank Shelley (used while a part of the New World Order; 1996–1999)

** "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1997–1999)

** "Kevin Nash/Wolfpac Theme" (used while a part of the nWo wolfpac elite; 1999)

* Xcitement Wrestling Federation

** "American Made" by The Wrestling Boot Band (2001)

* World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

** "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor (1984–1986)

** "Hulk Hogan's Theme" by Jim Steinman (1985)

** "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa (1985)

** "Real American" by Rick Derringer (1986–1993,2002,2003,2005–2007)

** "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (2002–2003)

* Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

** "nWo Original Theme" (Rockhouse Remix) by Frank Shelly (2010–present)

*"Immortal Theme" by Dale Oliver (used while a part of Immortal; 2010–present)

Championships and accomplishments

New Japan Pro Wrestling

IWGP League Tournament (1983)

* MSG Tag League Tournament (1982, 1983)—with Antonio Inoki

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum

*Class of 2003

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

* PWI Comeback of the Year (1994, 2002)

* PWI Feud of the Year (1986) vs. Paul Orndorff

* PWI Match of the Year (1985) with Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff at WrestleMania

* PWI Match of the Year (1988) vs. André the Giant at The Main Event

* PWI Match of the Year (1990) vs. The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI

* PWI Match of the Year (2002) vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8

* PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1996, 1998)

PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1983, 1999)

* PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1985, 1989, 1990)

* PWI Wrestler of the Year (1987, 1991, 1994)

PWI ranked him #1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991

PWI ranked him #1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

PWI ranked him #57 of the Top 100 Tag Teams of the "PWI Years" with Randy Savage in 2003

Southeastern Championship Wrestling

NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Northern Division)'' (1 time)

* NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Southern Division)'' (2 times)

Tokyo Sports Grand Prix

Match of the Year (1991) vs. Genichiro Tenryu on December 12, 1991

Most Outstanding Forienger (1983)

World Championship Wrestling

WCW World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE World Tag Team Championship (1 time)—with Edge

WWF/E Championship (6 times)

Royal Rumble (1990, 1991)

WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

* Feud of the Year (1986) vs. Paul Orndorff

* Most Charismatic (1985–1987, 1989–1991)

* Most Overrated (1985–1987, 1994–1998)

* Worst Worked Match of the Year (1987) vs. André the Giant at WrestleMania III

* Worst Worked Match of the Year (1996) with Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson, Meng, The Barbarian, Ric Flair, Kevin Sullivan, Z-Gangsta, and The Ultimate Solution in a Towers of Doom match at Uncensored

* Worst Worked Match of the Year (1997) vs. Roddy Piper at SuperBrawl VII

* Worst Worked Match of the Year (1998) vs. The Warrior at Halloween Havoc

* Worst Feud of the Year (1991) vs. Sgt. Slaughter

* Worst Feud of the Year (1995) vs. The Dungeon of Doom

* Worst Feud of the Year (1998) vs. The Warrior

* Worst Feud of the Year (2000) vs. Billy Kidman

* Best Babyface (1982–1991)

* Least Favorite Wrestler (1985, 1986, 1991, 1994–1999)

* Worst Wrestler (1997)

* Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1995, 1996, 1998–2000)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

Hogan's last reign was as Undisputed WWF Champion. The title was renamed the WWE Undisputed Championship on May 6, 2002 after World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. settled a lawsuit with the World Wide Fund for Nature, and became simply World Wrestling Entertainment.}}

Notes

References

External links

HulkHogan.com (Official website)

Professional wrestling record for Hulk Hogan from The Internet Wrestling Database

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Profile

WWE Hall of Fame Profile

TNA Profile

Official Twitter

Hulk Hogan Possibly Returning to WWE at The Wrestling Cafe

Category:1953 births Category:Actors from Florida Category:Actors from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:American film actors Category:American people of French descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Panamanian descent Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Living people Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Augusta, Georgia Category:People from Miami, Florida Category:People from Tampa, Florida Category:Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Category:University of South Florida alumni Category:WWE Hall of Fame Category:People associated with Direct Sales

ar:هولك هوجان an:Hulk Hogan bar:Terrence Bollea bg:Хълк Хоган ca:Hulk Hogan cs:Hulk Hogan cy:Hulk Hogan da:Hulk Hogan de:Hulk Hogan es:Hulk Hogan eu:Hulk Hogan fa:هالک هوگان fr:Hulk Hogan gl:Hulk Hogan ko:헐크 호건 hy:Հալկ Հոգան hi:हल्क होगन it:Hulk Hogan he:האלק הוגאן hu:Hulk Hogan ml:ഹൾക്ക് ഹോഗൻ ms:Hulk Hogan nl:Hulk Hogan ja:ハルク・ホーガン no:Hulk Hogan pl:Hulk Hogan pt:Hulk Hogan ro:Hulk Hogan ru:Халк Хоган simple:Hulk Hogan sr:Халк Хоган fi:Hulk Hogan sv:Hulk Hogan te:హల్క్ హొగన్ th:ฮัลค์ โฮแกน tr:Hulk Hogan vi:Hulk Hogan

Name	Abdullah the Butcher
Names	Abdullah the ButcherMadman from the SudanSaladin PikensZeras AmalaKuroi Jujutsushi
Height
Weight
Birth date	January 11, 1941
Birth place	Windsor, Ontario
Resides	Atlanta, Georgia
Billed	The Sudan
Debut	1958
Website	}}

Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve (born on January 11, 1941) best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time. He debuted in the late 1950s, and is a 2011 inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The scars in his forehead are said to be a result of frequent blading. According to Mick Foley, Shreve used to put gambling chips into the deep divots in his head to entertain (or scare) people at casinos. However, New Jack claimed in his RF Video shoot interview that the grooves in Shreve's head were surgically implemented.

An amateur martial artist, Shreve also has knowledge of judo and karate, often including this knowledge in his professional wrestling matches. This knowledge was mainly displayed by him using judo style throws, and karate chops.

Career

Shreve grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada as part of a family of ten people in a deeply impoverished household. He learned karate and judo as a youth and, teaching fellow children in the backyard, claims to have eventually earned the title of seventh-degree grandmaster.

Standing 6 feet tall and weighing a robust 260 pounds, Shreve caught the attention of Montreal promoter Jack Britton, and he soon made his professional wrestling debut at age 17 in 1958. He initially competed in numerous independent territories north of the border under such various monikers as Pussycat Pickens, Kuroi Jujutsushi (The Black Wizard) and Zeras Amala. However, he ultimately created his legendary gimmick of an evil Arabian sadist; and in a match against Gino Brito (Jack Britton’s real-life son), Abdullah the Butcher first distinguished himself as one of the world’s most feared rule breakers when he broke a chair over Brito’s head and then beat him senseless with the leg.

Such acts of violence were only the beginning for the terrifying Abdullah the Butcher, whose menacing figure, excessive violence, and complete disregard for the safety of himself or his opponents quickly established his reputation for ruthless brutality. Abdullah’s matches almost always turned into bloodbaths, and he was infamous for stabbing his opponent’s wounds with his trademark fork (or any other foreign weapon that he could get his hands on). In addition to his hardcore style, Abdullah the Butcher was revolutionary with his habit of never staying in any one territory for too long, to avoid wearing out the novelty, and maintaining the notoriety, of his character. Constantly roaming from region to region, Abdullah propagated his reputation as the most violent wrestler in the world. Consequently, he was often brought into a territory as a hired gun to destroy a popular fan favorite, and his appearances usually sparked local interest.

Since his gimmick required that he speak no English (though it was in actuality his native tongue), he possessed an extraordinary number of managers over the course of his long career, including Gary Hart, Paul Jones, Eddie Creatchman, Black Baron, the Grand Wizard, J.J. Dillon, Damien Kane, Larry Sharpe, Oliver Humperdink,Buddy Colt, George Cannon, Bearcat Wright, Big Bad John, Gentleman Jim Holiday, and Rock Hunter, who were all portrayed as “handlers” commissioned to control the Sudanese madman, while also doing most of the talking in promos and interviews. He has, however, spoken for himself in promos while in Japan, where they aren't considered as important in getting a wrestler over.

As a result of his frequent traveling, Abdullah the Butcher usually served as more of a special attraction than as a consistent championship contender. Accordingly, Abdullah never did win a World Heavyweight Championship, though he would capture a myriad regional titles during his career. He won his first major championship on October 23, 1967 when he teamed with Dr. Jerry Graham to defeat John & Carlos Tolos for the NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles in Vancouver. A few years later, he ventured to the Montreal region, where he had three reigns as the IWA International Heavyweight Champion between 1969 and 1972, feuding against Ivan Koloff and Johnny Rougeau. He later served as one of the premier rule breakers in Calgary’s Stampede territory, capturing the NWA Canadian Championship, as well as having six North American Heavyweight Title reigns during the early 1970s. On June 24, 1972, he defeated Ernie Ladd in Akron, Ohio to capture his first of two NWF World Heavyweight Titles. During the mid-1970s, he frequently performed in Detroit, Michigan’s Big-Time Wrestling territory, where he engaged in a classic rivalry against local legend, The Sheik. He teamed with “Killer” Tim Brooks to win the region’s version of the NWA World Tag Team Titles before defeating Bobo Brazil on February 8, 1975 for the NWA United States Championship.

In addition to his successes in North America, Abdullah the Butcher would also become a true international superstar by performing in the Far East, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia, and Africa. On March 12, 1974, he traveled all the way to New Zealand, where he captured the prestigious British Empire Commonwealth Title by defeating the nation’s legendary champion John DaSilva. Abdullah would also establish himself as one of the premier attractions in Japan, where he competed as part of the round-robin tournament that ultimately crowned Giant Baba as All-Japan’s inaugural PWF Heavyweight Champion in February 1973. On October 18, 1978, Abdullah won that same prestigious PWF belt when he defeated European legend and former AWA champion Billy Robinson; and then on October 13, 1980, he also beat Jumbo Tsuruta to capture the NWA United National Heavyweight Title. His feud with Terry Funk is still considered one of the hottest feuds in Japan, and Funk claims to have had one of his top 3 all time greatest matches with Abdullah the Butcher.

He arrived in World Class Championship Wrestling in 1986, where he defeated The Great Kabuki for the Texas Brass Knuckles Title and waged war against the equally wild Bruiser Brody. However, perhaps Abby’s most memorable encounters occurred in Puerto Rico, where he was declared the very first WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion in July 1982 following three reigns as the Puerto Rican Champion between 1978-81. His violent battles against Carlos Colón and Hercules Ayala are legendary; and he long after remained one of the area’s top attractions, more recently defeating Carly Colón for his fifth Universal Title on January 3, 2004.

He was introduced in World Championship Wrestling in a giant, gift-wrapped box. This giant box was to be Sting's birthday gift from Cactus Jack. Sting unwrapped his gift and Abdullah attacked him, leading to both Abdullah and Cactus feuding with Sting after the incident. The feud culminated in a "Chamber of Horrors" match at Halloween Havoc 1991, in which Cactus accidentally electrocuted Abdullah in an electric chair, leading to a brief feud between the former allies.

In 1993, Abdullah arrived in ECW, where he participated in a storyline with Kevin Sullivan, Terry Funk and Stan Hansen, and wrestled at Ultra Clash and Bloodfest.

In late 2002, Abdullah made a one night appearance in Ring of Honor as Homicide's partner, facing the Carnage Crew in a bloody Bunkhouse Brawl at ROH's Night of the Butcher.

In 2007 WWE released an Abdullah The Butcher "WWE legends" figure complete with the famous blade marks on top of his head. They also released "The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Wrestling" which included a bloody cage match between Abdullah and his famous rival Bruiser Brody.

The 2007 WWC's Anniversary show was dedicated to Abdullah the Butcher's legacy and contributions to WWC. On December 13, 2008 Shreve wrestled against Balls Mahoney in Bayamon Puerto Rico during the annual event WWC Lockout.

On April 4, 2009, Shreve faced Hannibal in Montreal, for NCW Promotions in his last match in Montreal.

Abdullah says "I will be active throughout my life in Japan." During July 2009, he wrestled in Dragon Gate and Hustle. He also wrestled at the New Japan Pro Wrestling supershow Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2010, as well as wrestling for Japanese independent promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling.

His entrance music in Japan is Pink Floyd's instrumental track "One of These Days" from their 1971 album ''Meddle''. In 2009, Abdullah made an appearance at the Decatur Book Festival, facing off against author Michael Muhammad Knight, marking the first pro wrestling match ever held at a book festival. Abdullah pummeled Knight with chairs, forks, and a water cooler, not even stepping into the ring. Knight was taken from the festival in an ambulance and received 46 stitches. It was Right After Wrestling in March 2011, hosted by Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas, that Abdullah admitted his favorite wrestler to face was actually Lou Thesz

On April 2, 2011 Abdullah The Butcher was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in Atlanta.

In 2011, Abduallh the Butcher is set to return to Georgia Championship Wrestling as a mentor/advisor to a local wrestler known as The Congo Warrior.

In July 2011, Devon "Hannibal" Nicholson filed a $6.5 million lawsuit against Shreve, claiming he had gotten Hepatitis C from him during one of their matches, which caused WWE to lose interest in him.

Legacy

In addition to his hardcore style, his dietary habits have also become infamous in the wrestling world. He has been shown to eat announcers' ties, whole raw fish, he once even appeared to bite the head off a live chicken before a shocked crowd. Abdullah's appearances on the NWA's Georgia Championship Wrestling television broadcasts frequently highlighted his gustatory mayhem. While on camera he was shown eating reams of paper, cardboard boxes, the announcer's script, and even half of Gordon Solie's microphone. Prior to a match with local favorite Bob Armstrong he ate an entire live toad in front of Armstrong and his son as an act of intimidation. His unpredictable, ultra-violent style served as inspiration for other wrestlers, including “Maniac” Mark Lewin, Kevin Sullivan, Cactus Jack, Kamala, and Sabu, among others; and he still continues to compete on the independent circuit in a career that has now spanned five decades.

Abdullah has worked in nearly every major wrestling promotion in the world, with the exception of TNA and WWE.

Outside of wrestling, Shreve owns two restaurants (one in southwest Atlanta, the other in Japan) called "Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs and Chinese Food." Reviews of the Atlanta restaurant have been mixed. Most diners claim the Chinese portion of the menu is pretty scary, but that the ribs are better than average. Shreve is often on hand to meet fans and sign autographs. Shreve and his restaurant make a cameo appearance in the music video for the song "''Damn!''" by Atlanta recording artists Youngbloodz. Shreve's restaurant was also referenced in the 2006 Film "''ATL''" during a scene where the character Ant (played by Evan Ross) and two friends argue over a local barbecue.

WWE had been promoting Abdullah The Butcher more than ever since his Hall of Fame induction. He now has a profile and videos on their website and he is also featured on their "Best Steel Cage Matches" DVD.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

*Bottom rope splash

*Jumping headbutt

''Sudanese Meat Cleaver'' / ''The Butcher's Axe'' (Australia) (Running pointed elbow drop to the throat)

Signature moves

*Diving double foot stomp

Dropkick

Throat thrust

Signature foreign object

*Fork

*Broken Glass

Entrance themes

*"One of These Days" by Pink Floyd (Japan)

Managers

:*Oliver Humperdink :*Buddy Colt :*James J. Dillon :*Jimmy Hart :*Paul E. Dangerously :*Paul Ellering :*Skandor Akbar :*Harley Race and The Sheik :*Adnan El Kassey :*Gentleman Jim Holiday :*Hugo Savinovich :*The Grand Wizard :*Eddie Creatchman :*Chicky Starr :*Rico Suave :*Rip Rogers :*Tully Blanchard :*Mike Rotunda :*The Cuban Assassin :*Frenchy Martin :*Damien Kane :*James Mitchell :*Sir Dudley Clemens :*"Honest" John Cheatum :*Rock Hunter :*The Great Mephisto

Championships and accomplishments

All Japan Pro Wrestling

:*NWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ray Candy :*NWA United National Championship (1 time) :*PWF United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*PWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*Champion's Carnival (1976, 1979) :*January 4th Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal Winner (2008)

Big Japan Pro Wrestling

:*BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Central States Wrestling

:*NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Roger Kirby

Georgia Championship Wrestling

:*NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*NWA Georgia Television Championship (1 time)

International Wrestling Association

:*IWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

Lutte Internationale (Montreal)

:*Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Midwest Wrestling Federation

:*MWWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

NWA All-Star Wrestling

:*NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (''Vancouver version'') (2 times) - with Dr. Jerry Graham (1) and Armand Hussein (1) :*NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' (1 time) - with Dr. Jerry Graham

NWA Detroit

:*NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Detroit version)'' (1 time) :*NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Detroit version)'' (1 time) - with Killer Tim Brooks

NWA New Zealand

:*NWA New Zealand British Commonwealth Championship (1 time)

NWA Southwest

:*NWA Texas Hardcore Championship (1 time)

National Wrestling Federation

:*NWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times) :*NWF International Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

:*PWI ranked him # 54 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

Stampede Wrestling

:*NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship ''(Calgary version)'' (1 time) :*Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (6 times)

Tokyo Pro Wrestling

:*TPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Benkei

World Class Wrestling Association

:*WCWA Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Council

:*WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (2 times) :*WWC Hardcore Championship (1 time) :*WWC North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times) :*WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (3 times) :*WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (3 times) :*WWC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

:*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

World Wrestling Entertainment

*WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)

In popular culture

He is a superstar in Japan, where he appeared in some TV commercials.

* Suntory/Daikin Industries/Denon/Sapporo Ichiban

He starred with Hiroyuki Sanada in the kung fu action film ''Roaring Fire''.

Frequently, characters in Japanese anime or manga will be designed to resemble him, often with his signature scars. Examples include "Abdullah" from ''Kinnikuman'' and Mr. Heart from ''Fist of the North Star''.

The character of Butcher in ''Tiger Mask'' 2 is inspired by him.

He also appeared in the Acclaim video game ''Legends of Wrestling II'' and it's sequel ''Showdown: Legends of Wrestling'' as well as Spike's ''King of Colosseum''.

He appears in the 1997 Nintendo 64 game WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, renamed as ''Saladin.''

The character and final boss, Grand Kong, from the Genesis game Wrestle War, is based on him.

References

External links

WWE Hall of Fame Profile

Public Broadcasting Atlanta News article on Shreve (includes video)

Abdullah the Butcher BIO from SLAM! Wrestling

TRIBUTE PAGES for Abdullah The Butcher

Abdullah The Butcher Movie website

Category:1941 births Category:Canadian male professional wrestlers Category:Canadian expatriate professional wrestling people in the United States Category:Living people Category:People from Windsor, Ontario Category:Wrestling people from Ontario Category:WWE Hall of Fame

de:Abdullah the Butcher fr:Abdullah the Butcher it:Lawrence Shreve nl:Abdullah the Butcher ja:アブドーラ・ザ・ブッチャー pt:Abdullah the Butcher ru:Абдулла Мясник

name	Kishore Kumar| image Gangulybros01.jpg
background	solo_singer
spouse	Rama Devi, Madhubala, Yogeeta Bali, Leena Chandawarkar
birth name	Abhas Kumar Ganguly
born	August 04, 1929Khandwa, Central Provinces and Berar
died	October 13, 1987Mumbai, Maharashtra
genre	Playback, Rabindra Sangeet, rock and roll
occupation	Singer, actor, director, musician, producer
years active	1946–1987 }}

Kishore Kumar (, , ; born Abhas Kumar Ganguly 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter. Kishore Kumar sang in many Indian languages including Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya. He was the winner of 8 Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer and holds the record for most number of Filmfare Awards won for that category.

Early life

Kishore Kumar was born into the Bengali Brahmin Ganguly family in Khandwa, Central Provinces and Berar (now in Madhya Pradesh) as Abhas Kumar Ganguly. His father Kunjalal Ganguly (Gangopadhya) was a lawyer. His mother Gouri Devi came from a wealthy Bengali family. Kishore was the youngest of four siblings, the other three being Ashok Kumar (the eldest), Sati Devi, and Anoop Kumar.

While Kishore was still a child, Ashok Kumar became a Bollywood actor. (Later, Anoop Kumar also ventured into cinema with the help of Ashok Kumar). Spending time with his brothers, Kishore also started to take a keen interest in movies and music. He became a fan of singer-actor Kundan Lal Saigal, whom he considered his guru, and tried to follow Saigal's singing style.

Career

After Ashok Kumar became a Bollywood star, the Ganguly family used to visit Bombay regularly. Abhas Kumar changed his name to Kishore Kumar and started his cinema career as a chorus singer at Bombay Talkies, where his brother worked. His first film as an actor was ''Shikari'' (1946), in which Ashok Kumar played the lead role. Music director Khemchand Prakash gave him a chance to sing the song ''Marne ki duayen kyon mangu'' for the film ''Ziddi'' (1948). After this, Kishore Kumar got many other assignments, but he was not very serious about a film career. In 1949, he decided to settle in Mumbai.

Kishore Kumar played hero in the Bombay Talkies film ''Andolan'' (1951), directed by Phani Majumdar. Although Kishore Kumar got some assignments as an actor with help of his brother, he was more interested in becoming a singer. He was not interested in acting, but his elder brother Ashok Kumar wanted him to be an actor like himself.

He starred in Bimal Roy's ''Naukri'' (1954) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's directorial debut ''Musafir'' (1957). Salil Chowdhury, the music director for ''Naukri'' was initially dismissive of him as a singer, when he came to know that Kishore Kumar didn't have any formal training in music. However, after hearing his voice, he gave him the song ''Chhota sa ghar hoga'', which was supposed to be sung by Hemant Kumar.

Kishore Kumar starred in films ''New Delhi'''' (1957), ''Aasha'' (1957), ''Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi'' (1958), ''Half Ticket'' (1962), and ''Padosan'' (1968). ''Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi'', his home production, starred the three Ganguly brothers, and Madhubala. The film is about romance between a city girl (Madhubala) and a car mechanic (Kishore Kumar), with a subplot involving brothers.

Music director S. D. Burman is credited with spotting Kishore Kumar's talent as a singer, and advancing his singing career. During the making of ''Mashaal'' (1950), Burman visited Ashok Kumar's house, where he heard Kishore imitating K. L. Saigal. He complimented Kishore, but also told him that he should develop a style of his own, instead of copying Saigal. Kishore Kumar did not have a formal training in music. He kept Burman's advice in mind, and eventually developed his own style of singing, which featured the yodeling that he had heard on some records of Jimmie Rodgers bought by his brother Anoop Kumar.

S. D. Burman recorded with Kishore for Dev Anand's ''Munimji'' (1954), ''Taxi Driver'' (1954), ''House No. 44'' (1955), ''Funtoosh'' (1956), ''Nau Do Gyarah'' (1957), ''Paying Guest'' (1957), ''Guide'' (1965), ''Jewel Thief'' (1967), ''Prem Pujari'' (1970), and ''Tere Mere Sapne'' (1971). He also composed music for Kishore Kumar's home production ''Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi'' (1958). Some of their initial films included the songs ''Maana Janaab Ne Pukara Nahin'' from ''Paying Guest'', ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke'' from ''Nau Do Gyarah'' (1957), ''Ai Meri Topi Palat Ke Aa'' from ''Funtoosh'', and ''Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si'' and ''Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka'' from ''Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi'' (1958). Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar performed duets composed by S. D. Burman including ''Chhod Do Aanchal'' from ''Paying Guest'' (1957), ''Ankhon Mein Kya Ji'' from ''Nau Do Gyarah'' (1957), ''Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka'' and ''Paanch Rupaiya Baara Aana'' from ''Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi'' (1958), ''Chhedo Na Meri Zulfein'' from ''Ganga Ki Lahren'' (1964), and ''Arre Yaar Meri Tum Bhi Ho Gajab'' from ''[Teen Devian|Teen Deviyan]'' (1965).

C. Ramchandra was another music director who recognized Kishore Kumar's talent as a singer. and their collaborations include ''Eena Meena Deeka'' from ''Aasha'' (1957). Kishore Kumar's work includes, ''Nakhrewaali'' from ''New Delhi'' (1956) by Shankar Jaikishan, and ''C.A.T. Cat Maane Billi'' and ''Hum To Mohabbat Karega'' from ''Dilli Ka Thug'' (1958) by Ravi.

Kishore Kumar produced, directed, and acted in the film ''Jhumroo'' (1961). He wrote the lyrics for the title song, ''Main Hoon Jhumroo'', and composed music for all the songs in the film. Later, he produced and directed the film ''Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein'' (1964). He also wrote the script and composed music for the film. The film is based on the relationship between a father (Kishore Kumar), and his deaf and mute son (played by his real-life son, Amit Kumar). He made another two films called ''Door Ka Rahi'' (1971) and ''Door Waadiyon Mein Kahin'' (1980).

In the 1960s, as an actor, Kishore Kumar built up a notoriety for coming late for the shootings, or bunking them altogether. His films flopped frequently, and he also landed in income tax trouble. As a singer, his work in this period includes ''Zaroorat Hai Zaroorat Hai'' from ''Manmauji'' (1961), ''Gaata Rahe Mera Dil'' from ''Guide'' (1965), and ''Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara'' from ''Jewel Thief'' (1967).

In the late 1960s, Rahul Dev Burman worked together on the soundtrack of the film ''Padosan'' (1968), in which Kishore Kumar sang the songs ''Mere Saamne Wali Khidki Mein'' and ''Kehna Hai''. ''Padosan'' was a comedy film starring Kishore Kumar as a dramatist-musician, Mehmood as a Carnatic music and dance teacher, and Sunil Dutt as a simpleton named Bhola. Kishore Kumar's character in the film was inspired by the personality of Kishore's own uncle, Dhananjay Bannerjee (a classical singer). The highlight of the film was a musical, comical duel between Kishore Kumar-Sunil Dutt and Mehmood, ''Ek Chatur Nar Karke Singaar''.

1970's and 1980's

In 1969, Shakti Samanta produced and directed the film ''Aradhana'', for which the music was composed by S. D. Burman. S. D. Burman fell ill after recording some duet songs with Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar. Afterwards, his son and assistant Rahul Dev Burman took over the recording. R. D. Burman got Kishore Kumar to solo sing the songs ''Mere Sapno Ki Rani'' and ''Roop Tera Mastana''. Kishore Kumar won his first Filmfare award for the song "Roop Tera Mastana".

In 1970s & 1980s Kishore Kumar sang for Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Dev Anand, Shashi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff.

S. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar continued to work together, including ''Phoolon Ke Rang Se'' and ''Shokhiyon Mein Ghola Jaaye'' from ''Prem Pujari'' (1969), ''Aaj Madhosh Hua Jaaye Re'', ''Khilte Hain Gul Yahan'' and ''O Meri Sharmilee'' from ''Sharmilee'' (1971), ''Meet na mila'' from ''Abhimaan'' (1973), ''Pyaar Ke Is Khel Mein'' from ''Jugnu''. In 1975, S. D. Burman composed his last song for Kishore Kumar. S. D. Burman went into a coma for the second time, soon after Kishore recorded the song ''Badi Sooni Sooni Hai Zindagi'' for the film ''Mili''.

R. D. Burman frequently used Kishore Kumar as the male singer, and recorded several songs with him in the 1970s. Some Kishore Kumar-R. D. Burman songs include ''O Maajhi Re'' from ''Khushboo'', ''Yeh Shaam Mastaani'' and ''Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai'' from ''Kati Patang'' (1971), ''Kuchh To Log Kahenge'' from ''Amar Prem'' (1972), "Raat Kali Ek Khwab Mein Aayi" from ''Buddha Mil Gaya ''(1971), ''Musafir Hoon Yaaron'' from ''Parichay'' (1972), ''Diye Jalte Hain'' from ''Namak Haraam'' (1973), ''Meri Bheegi Bheegi Si'' from ''Anamika'' (1973), ''Zindagi Ke Safar Mein'' from ''Aap Ki Kasam'' (1974), ''Agar Tum Na Hote'', ''Humein Tum Se Pyaar Kitna'' from ''Kudrat'', "Mere Naina Saawan Bhadon" from ''Mehbooba'', and ''Chingari Koi Bhadke'' (''Amar Prem''), ''Jab Bhi Koi Kangana'' from ''Shaukeen'' (1986). R. D. Burman also recorded several duets pairing Kishore Kumar with Asha Bhosle and with Lata Mangeshkar. Some of these duets include ''Panna Ki Tamanna'' from ''Heera Panna'' (1973), ''Neend Chura Ke Raaton Mein'' from the film ''Shareef Budmaash'', ''Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai'' from Sanjay Dutt's debut film ''Rocky'' (1981), ''Sagar Kinare'' from ''Sagar'' in [1985], ''Aap Ki Aankhon Mein Kuchh'' from ''Ghar'', ''Jaane Ja Dhoondta'' and ''Nahi Nahi'' from ''Jawani Diwani'', "Kharoshoo" from ''Harjai'' (1982).

Apart from the Burmans, Kishore Kumar worked with other music directors as well. The composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal (L-P) also composed many songs sung by Kishore Kumar. Some of their songs include ''Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi'' from ''Mr. X In Bombay'', ''Mere Naseeb Mein Aye Dost'' from ''Do Raaste'', ''Yeh Jeevan Hai'' from ''Piya Ka Ghar'', ''Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai'' from ''Daag: A Poem of Love'', ''Nahi Mai Nahi Dekh Sakta'' from ''Majboor'', ''Mere diwanepan ki bhi'' from ''Mehboob Ki Mehndi'', ''Naach Meri Bulbul'' from ''Roti'', ''Chal Chal Mere Haathi'' from ''Haathi Mere Saathi'', ''Gaadi Bula Rahi Hai'' from ''Dost'', ''Ruk Jaana Nahi'' from ''Imtihaan'', ''Ek Ritu Aaye'' from ''Gautam Govinda'', ''My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves'' from ''Amar Akbar Anthony'' ''Bahut Khoobsurat Jawan Ek Ladki'' from ''Dostana'' and ''Om Shanti Om'' as well as ''Paisa Yeh Paisa'' from ''Karz''. Laxmikant-Pyarelal also composed several Kishore-Lata duets, including ''Achchha To Hum Chalte Hain'' from ''Aan Milo Sajna'', ''Gore Rang Pe Na Itna'' from ''Roti'', ''Main Solah Baras Ki'' from ''Karz'', and ''Din Mahine Saal'' from ''Avtaar'', ''Tu Kitne Baras Ki'' from ''Karz''. L-P also got Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi to sing duets for the films ''Dostana'', ''Ram Balram'' and ''Deedaar-E-Yaar''. L-P composed a duet with Kishore Kumar and Alisha Chinoy, ''I love you (Kaate Nahin Katate Yeh Din Yeh Raat)'' from ''Mr. India'' in (1987). Salil Chowdhury recorded songs like ''Koi Hota Jisko Apna'' from ''Mere Apne'' and ''Gujar Gaye Din Din'' from ''Annadata''. Ravindra Jain recorded ''Ghungroo Ki Tarah'', and the duet ''Tota Maina Ki Kahani'' from ''Fakira''. Khaiyyaam recorded beautiful duets with Lata Mangeshkar such as ''Hazar Rahein'' from ''Thodisi Bewafai'', ''Aankhon Mein Humne Aapke Sapne Sajaye Hain'', ''Chandani Raat Mein Ek Bar''. Hridaynath Mangeshkar recorded ''Zindagi Aa Raha Hoon Main'' from ''Mashaal''. Kalyanji-Anandji recorded several songs with Kishore Kumar including ''Zindagi Ka Safar'' and ''Jeevan Se Bhari Teri Aankhein'', from ''Safar'', ''Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas'' from ''Black Mail'', ''Apne Jeevan Ki Uljhan'' from ''Uljhan'', ''Mera Jeevan Kora Kagaz'' from ''Kora Kagaz'', ''O Saathi Re'' from ''Muqaddar Ka Sikandar'', ''Khaike Paan Banaraswala'' from ''Don'', ''Neele Neele Ambar Par'' from ''Kalakar'' and ''Pal Bhar Ke Liye'' from ''Johny Mera Naam''.

Other composers including Rajesh Roshan, Sapan Chakravarty, Jaidev, Chitragupta (composer), Usha Khanna, Sohnik Omi, Prem Dhawan, Vanraj Bhatia and Bappi Lahiri also worked with Kishore Kumar. Rajesh Roshan's film ''Julie'' featured songs sung by Kishore Kumar, ''Bhool Gaya Saab Kuchh'' (duet with Lata Mangeshkar) and ''Dil Kya Kare Jab Kisise''. Their other songs include ''Chhookar mere man ko'' from ''Yaarana'', ''Tune Abhi Dekha Nahin'' from ''Do Aur Do Paanch'' and ''Kahan Tak Ye Man Ko Andhere Chhalenge'' from ''Baaton Baaton Mein''. Bappi Lahiri also recorded many songs with Kishore Kumar, including ''Pag Ghunghroo Bandh'' from ''Namak Halal'' (1982), ''Manzilen Apni Jagah Hai'' from ''Sharaabi'' (1984) and ''Chalte Chalte Mere Ye Geet'' from ''Chalte Chalte'' (1976), ''Saason Se Nahi Kadmose Nahi'' from ''Mohabbat'' in (1987) and duets with (Lata Mangeshkar)) like ''Taa thaiya'' from ''Himmatwala'' in (1984), ''Albela Mausam'' from ''Tohfa'' in (1985) and another duet ''Pyar Ka Tohfa'' from the same film.

During the Indian Emergency (1975–1977), Sanjay Gandhi asked Kishore Kumar to sing for an Indian National Congress rally in Mumbai, but Kishore Kumar refused. As a result, the government put an unofficial ban on playing Kishore Kumar songs on the All India Radio or television.

Later years

Kishore Kumar produced and directed some movies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as ''Badhti Ka Naam Daadhi'' (1978), ''Zindagi'' (1981) and ''Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin'' (1980). His last appearance as an actor was in ''Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin''.

With patronage from R. D. Burman and Rajesh Roshan, Kishore Kumar's son Amit Kumar also became a Bollywood singer in the 1980s. Kishore Kumar also continued singing for several actors. He also did some stage shows, apparently to earn money to pay his income tax arrears.

Kishore Kumar stopped singing for Amitabh Bachchan in the mid-1980s, after Bachchan did not do a guest appearance in a film produced by him but called a truce with him by singing for him in ''Toofan''. He also temporarily stopped singing for Mithun Chakraborty, after Yogeeta Bali divorced him and married Chakraborty. However, later Kumar sang for him in many films like ''Disco Dancer'', ''Muddat'', and ''Pyar Ka Mandir''.

In the mid-1980s, Kishore Kumar sang for Anil Kapoor in Kapoor's debut film as a leading man, ''Woh Saat Din'' and also recorded ''Mr. India''. He sang a duet with Alka Yagnik, ''Tumse Badhkar Duniya Mein Na Dekha'' for ''Kaamchor'' in (1986). He also recorded some songs for the film ''Saagar'' with R. D. Burman. By this time, he had decided to retire and was planning to go back to his birthplace, Khandwa.

On 13 October 1987, he died of a heart attack in Mumbai at 4:45 pm. His body was taken to Khandwa for cremation. He had recorded his last song a day before he died. The song was ''Guru Guru'', a duet with Asha Bhosle, for the film ''Waqt Ki Aawaz'' (1988) composed by Bappi Lahiri for Mithun Chakraborty and Sridevi.

Kishore Kumar's song ''Pal Bhar Ke Liye'' from the film ''Johny Mera Naam'' (1970) was used in an episode of ''The Simpsons'' titled "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore". His songs have also been featured in several films, including ''Such a Long Journey'' (1998) and ''Side Streets'' (1998). Sony TV organised the television singing contest ''K for Kishore'' to search for a singer like Kishore Kumar.

Personal life

Kishore Kumar married four times. His first wife was Ruma Guha Thakurta aka Ruma Ghosh. Their marriage lasted from 1950 to 1958.

Kishore's second wife was actress Madhubala, who had worked with him on many films including his home production ''Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi'' (1958). When Kishore Kumar proposed to her, Madhubala was sick and was planning to go to London for treatment. At this time, she didn't know that she had a ventricular septal defect, and her father wanted her to wait and consult the London doctors first. Nevertheless, Madhubala married Kishore in 1960. Madhubala was a Muslim, and the two had a civil marriage. Kishore converted to Islam and took the name Karim Abdul. The doctors in London told Madhubala that she would not live for long. The marriage lasted for nine years, and ended with Madhubala's death on 23 February 1969.

Kishore Kumar's third marriage was to Yogeeta Bali, and lasted from 1976 to 4 August 1978. Kishore was married to Leena Chandavarkar from 1980 until his death. Kishore Kumar sired two sons, Amit Kumar (playback singer) with Ruma, and Sumit Kumar with Leena Chandavarkar.

Kumar is said to have been paranoid about not being paid. During recordings, he would sing only after his secretary confirmed that the producer had made the payment. Once, when he discovered that his dues hadn't been fully paid, he landed up for shooting with make-up on only one side of his face. When the director questioned him, he replied "Aadha paisa to aadha make-up." (Half make-up for half payment). On the sets of ''Bhai Bhai'', Kishore Kumar refused to act because the director M V Raman owed him five thousand rupees. Ashok Kumar persuaded him to do the scene. But, when the shooting started, he walked across the floor and, each time he walked a few places, he said, ''Paanch Hazzar Rupaiya'' (five thousand rupees) and did a somersault. After he reached the end of the floor, he went out of the studio, jumped into his car, and ordered his driver Abdul to drive away. On another occasion, when producer R. C. Talwar did not pay his dues in spite of repeated reminders, Kishore turned up at Talwar's residence one morning and started shouting "''Hey Talwar, de de mere aath hazaar''" ("Hey Talwar, give me my eight thousand"). He did this every morning until Talwar paid him.

The film ''Anand'' (1971) was originally supposed to star Kishore Kumar and Mehmood Ali in the lead. Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the director of the film, was asked to meet Kishore Kumar to discuss the project. However, when he went to Kishore Kumar's house, he was driven away by the gatekeeper due to a misunderstanding. Kishore Kumar (himself a Bengali) hadn't been paid for a stage show organized by another Bengali man, and had instructed his gatekeeper to drive away this "Bengali", if he ever visited the house. When Hrishikesh Mukherjee (also a Bengali) went to Kishore Kumar's house, the gatekeeper drove him away, mistaking him for the "Bengali" that Kishore Kumar had asked him to drive away. Consequently, Mehmood had to leave the film as well, and new actors (Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan) were signed up for the film.

In spite of his "no money, no work" principle, sometimes Kishore Kumar recorded for free even when the producers were willing to pay. Such films include those produced by Rajesh Khanna and Danny Denzongpa. On one occasion, Kishore Kumar helped actor-turned-producer Bipin Gupta, by giving him Rs. 20,000 for the film ''Dal Mein Kala'' (1964). When actor Arun Kumar Mukherjee died, Kishore Kumar regularly sent money to his family in Bhagalpur. Mukherjee was one of the first persons to appreciate Kishore's singing talent.

Many journalists and writers have written about Kishore Kumar's seemingly eccentric behavior. Kishore Kumar had put a "''Beware of Kishore''" sign at the door of his Warden Road flat, where he stayed for some time while his bungalow was being done up. Once, producer-director H. S. Rawail, who owed him some money, visited his flat to pay the dues. Kishore Kumar took the money, and when Rawail offered to shake hands with him, he reportedly put Rawail's hand in his mouth, bit it, and asked "Didn’t you see the sign?". Rawail laughed off the incident and left quickly. Kishore Kumar was a loner, and in an interview with Pritish Nandy (1985), he said that he had no friends – he preferred talking to his trees instead. Once, when a reporter made a comment about how lonely he must be, Kishore Kumar took her to his garden. He then named some of the trees in his garden, and introduced them to the reporter as his closest friends.

According to another reported incident, once Kishore Kumar was to record a song for producer-director G. P. Sippy. As Sippy approached his bungalow, he saw Kishore going out in his car. Sippy pleaded him to stop his car, but Kishore only increased the speed of his car. Sippy chased him to Madh Island, where Kishore Kumar finally stopped his car near the ruined Madh Fort. When Sippy questioned his strange behavior, Kishore Kumar refused to recognize or talk to him and threatened to call police. Sippy had to return. Next morning, Kishore Kumar reported for the recording. An angry Sippy questioned him about his behavior on the previous day. However, Kishore Kumar insisted that Sippy must have seen a dream, and claimed that he was in Khandwa on the previous day.

Once, a producer went to court to get a decree that Kishore Kumar must follow the director's orders. As a consequence, Kishore Kumar obeyed the director to the letter. He refused to alight from his car until the director ordered him to do so. Once, after a car scene in Mumbai, he drove on till Khandala because the director forgot to say "Cut". In the 1960s, a financier named Kalidas Batvabbal, patently disgusted with Kishore Kumar's alleged lack of cooperation during the shooting of ''Half Ticket'', gave him away to the income tax authorities. Kishore had to face a raid at his house. Later, Kishore invited Batvabbal home, tricked him by asking him to enter a cupboard for a "chat" and locked him inside. He unlocked Batvabbal after two hours and told him "Don’t ever come to my house again."

Awards

; Filmfare Awards

Winner:

! Year	! Song	! Film	! Music director	! Lyricist
1969	''Roop tera mastaana''		Sachin Dev Burman	Anand Bakshi
1975	''Dil aisa kisi ne Mera''	''Amanush''	Shyamal Mitra	Indeevar
1978	''Khaike Pan Banaras Wala''		Kalyanji-Anandji	Anjaan
1980	''Hazaar raahen mudke dekheen''	''Thodisi Bewafaii''	Khayyam	Gulzar
1982	''Pag ghungroo baandh ke meera nachi''	''Namak Halaal''	Bappi Lahiri	Anjaan
1983	''Hamen aur jeene ki''	''Agar Tum Na Hote''	Rahul Dev Burman	Gulshan Bawra
1984	''Manzilen apni jagah''	''Sharaabi''	Bappi Lahiri	Anjaan
1985	''Saagar Kinaare''	''Saagar''	Rahul Dev Burman	Javed Akhtar

Nominated:

! Year	! Song	! Film	! Music Director	! Lyricist
1971	''Zindagi Ek Safar''		Shankar-Jaikishan	Hasrat Jaipuri
1971	''Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai''	Kati Patang	Rahul Dev Burman	Anand Bakshi
1972	''Chingari Koi Bhadke''	Amar Prem	Rahul Dev Burman	Anand Bakshi
1973	''Mere Dil Mein Aaj''	''Daag: A Poem of Love''	Laxmikant-Pyarelal	Sahir Ludhianvi
1974	''Gaadi Bula Rahi Hai''	''Dost''	Laxmikant-Pyarelal	Anand Bakshi
1974	''Mera Jeevan Kora Kagaz''	''Kora Kagaz''	Kalyanji Anandji	M.G.Hashmat
1975	''Main Pyaasa Tum''	''Faraar''	Kalyanji Anandji	Rajendra Krishan
1975	''O Manjhi Re''		Rahul Dev Burman
1977	''Aap Ke Anurodh''	''Anurodh''	Laxmikant-Pyarelal	Anand Bakshi
1978	''O Saathi Re''	Muqaddar Ka Sikander	Kalyanji-Anandji	Anjaan
1978	''Hum Bewafa Harghiz''		Rahul Dev Burman	Anand Bakshi
1979	''Ek Rasta Hai Zindagi''	''Kaala Patthar''	Rajesh Roshan	Sahir Ludhianvi
1980	''Om Shanthi Om''		Laxmikant-Pyarelal	Anand Bakshi
1981	''Hameh Tumse Pyar''	''Kudrat''	Rahul Dev Burman	Majrooh Sultanpuri
1981	''Chhookar Mere Mann Ko''		Rajesh Roshan	Anjaan
1983	''Shayad Meri Shaadi''	''Souten''	Usha Khanna	Sawan Kumar
1984	''De De Pyar De''	Sharaabi	Bappi Lahiri	Anjaan
1984	''Inteha Ho Gayi''	Sharaabi	Bappi Lahiri	Anjaan
1984	''Log Kehete Hai Main''	Sharaabi	Bappi Lahiri	Anjaan

; Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards

Winner: 1971 - Best Male Playback Singer for ''Aradhana'' 1972 - Best Male Playback Singer for ''Andaz'' 1973 - Best Male Playback Singer for ''Hare Rama Hare Krishna'' 1975 - Best Male Playback Singer for ''Kora Kagaz''

See also

Kishore Kumar filmography

List of Indian playback singers

Hindi songs

References

Further reading

External links

Category:1929 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Bengali people Category:People from Khandwa Category:Indian male singers Category:Indian actors Category:Indian film actors Category:Indian film singers Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in India Category:Indian comedians Category:Bollywood playback singers Category:Yodelers Category:Bengali musicians Category:Bengali actors Category:Assamese playback singers Category:Indian former Muslims Category:People from Mumbai Category:Hindi film actors Category:Hindi-language film directors Category:Indian film directors Category:Indian film producers

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