Hulk Hogan: Dusty Rhodes Got Me Hooked On Wrestling; If It Wasn’t For Him, None Of This Happens

Hulk Hogan has high praise for the late great Dusty Rhodes.

'The American Dream' was beloved by practically everyone and it's easy to understand why. Rhodes was often praised by his peers for being an influential mind in wrestling and being a man of quality character behind the camera.

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Hulk Hogan recently chatted with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated for a new interview. In the chat, Hogan said that Rhodes was the person that got him hooked on wrestling.

“It was Dusty Rhodes who was the one who got me hooked on wrestling. If Dusty Rhodes was not on TV on Saturday or Sunday morning here in Tampa, we were pissed off. We lived for Dusty Rhodes. I loved the matches, but the interviews alone, man–those were incredible. My whole senior year of high school, I lined up my study hall, shop class, and physical ed were classes where I could hide with my friends and wrestle. We’d hide in shop and wrestle, imitating Dusty and Dick Murdoch and the Great Malenko. Those are some of my favorite memories of high school. We all loved Dusty.”

Hogan also credited Rhodes as being the main reason that he decided to focus on becoming a professional wrestler.

“If it wasn’t for Dusty, none of this happens. He was the main reason I got focused on pro wrestling.”

Hogan appeared in a pre-taped promo on the January 22 episode of Raw and teased that he might "have one more left in him". Fans can learn more here.

Furthermore, Hogan was recently championed in the news for saving a young girl from the wreckage of a car accident. Learn more about that here.

Special thanks to Justin Barrasso and Sports Illustrated for the quote(s).

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