Wrestling immortality

April the second in the United States will mark a very significant day for me. That Saturday will forever live in sports’ greatest and most relevant moments. No, it’s not Barry Bonds retiring or the National Hockey League restarting or Steve Nash winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. It’s something much more historic. It will be the day that Hulk Hogan gets inducted to the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame. April 2, Saturday, is the day Hulkamania becomes truly immortal.

This may not mean much to most people but I guarantee, to those young men and women who grew up watching the Hulkster power slam muscle-bound behemoths like they were pillows – myself included – that day marks an end of an era and puts an exclamation point on one of the most storied, beloved and successful sports-entertainers of all time. Hulk Hogan was not just a wrestler with an acting career. He was a hero to almost everyone who watched him in that ring, myself included.

Ever since I can remember, I enjoyed watching wrestling. It was almost like a religion to me. Yes, I realize that it’s fake (In the words however of former WCW Champion, Diamond Dallas Page, wrestling isn’t fake, it’s fixed) but so are the movies and everyone has their favorite actor or actress. We all had our heroes. Hulk Hogan was mine. So much so that my mother started calling me Hogan when I was a kid (and still does, occasionally). Wrestling was such an apparent institution of my childhood that each of my relatives could point out a different incident where they saw me wrestling my dad and imitating all the grapples and gestures that Hulk Hogan did. I was a regular Hulkamaniac.

Even now, as a recently-turned 19-year-old young man, I still drop everything and sit down in front of the television every time wrestling is on. I find it brilliant. It’s the ultimate guy flick. It’s a sports show mixed with elements of a soap opera, sitcom, fantasy and reality shows. What more can you ask for? I’m actually surprised that more women don’t watch wrestling. Some of the story lines on WWE Smackdown are better written than those shows teenage girls rave about.

All of this however, won’t be possible if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan was the one who mainstreamed wrestling and drew fans from across the globe. He is the equivalent of Michael Jordan in basketball, Wayne Greztky in hockey, Babe Ruth in baseball and Muhammad Ali in boxing. He is a living legend. There is no bigger name in the business. In the wrestling world, his star shines the brightest.

This Saturday, the day before Wrestlemania, the greatest wrestling event of them all, Hulk Hogan will take his well-earned and rightful place in the Hall of Fame. He will not only be remembered for having one of the largest arms in the world, he called them his 24-inch pythons, or those times he slammed Andre the Giant, who weighed north of 500 pounds I believe, or those classic matches he had with the Ultimate Warrior or "Macho Man" Randy Savage or the championships he won over his illustrious career. He certainly won’t be remembered for his movies. Hulk Hogan will be remembered as one of the true heroes of modern sports. He will be remembered as a beloved role-model. He will be heralded as the greatest sports-entertainer of all time.

Hulk Hogan always used to say that he was immortal, immortal because he will forever live in the hearts of every Hulkamaniac out there. I won’t disagree. He certainly will live forever in me.

* * *

E-mail me at carlramirez@yahoo.com.