Pro wrestling and politics have been linked for decades. From Jesse "The Body" Ventura teasing a run to be the President of the United States in his 2004 WWE Hall of Fame induction speech, Vince McMahon doing a tongue-in-cheek tease at SummerSlam 2005 of running in the 2008 election, rumors of The Rock entering the fray to run in the 2020 election, and Donald Trump, a WWE Hall of Famer, elected President of the United States in 2016.
Advertisement
This year, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan teased potentially entering the race to be US President. WWE commentator Corey Graves spoke on the pros and cons of a Hogan presidency on "Over the Top with Beadle and Rosenberg."
"I did see the headlines, I skimmed through them, but hearing it said out loud on an actual platform is absolute insanity," said Graves.
He painted a picture of Hogan sitting at a long table with the President of France Emmanuel Macron and responding to him with, "That doesn't work for me, brother," arguing that it could be a political disaster.
"They would be amazing press conferences. Could you imagine a debate with Hogan?" Graves passionately pointed out. "Talk about the old WrestleMania promos where he's talking about the planes going down into the ocean, and, 'I'm gonna get all the Hulkamaniacs on my back and we're gonna doggie paddle to...' I mean, he's got the charisma down."
Advertisement
Hogan announced his intentions to run in the 2000 presidential election in1998 while appearing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and even retired from pro wrestling. Hogan, though, did not go through with his promise and backed out, later returning to wrestling.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Over the Top with Beadle and Rosenberg" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
