Hulk Hogan Responds to CM Punk's Comments About Hogan & Bruno "Having it Easy"

[Shockage]

Source: WrestleView.com


Fighting Spirit Magazine is featuring another quote from a recent interview with TNA's Hulk Hogan where he is asked to respond to a recent promo by CM Punk on WWE television where he said, in character, that guys like Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino "had it easy" during their respective reigns as WWE Champion.

"CM Punk never had to walk into a dressing room where he wasn't supposed to be. He never walked into Kansas City, where Harley Race was the champion for 20 years, where Harley had told all of his friends and neighbours that he was the only heavyweight champion, because he was the NWA champion. CM Punk never walked into Kemper Arena and had Harley Race put a gun to his head and say, 'Get out of my town, kid'.

"So, does CM Punk have it easier than me? When I was flying 300 days a year, doing double-shots (Editor's note: two shows in one day), and there was no Rock and no 'Stone Cold' around, but just me (as the main event guy) for the first 15 years? During the day, I was flying from New York and stopping in St. Louis, taking a TV station manager out to lunch, and then in the afternoon getting to the building early in another town, like Chicago, and cutting a TV deal before wrestling that night. So, no, I don't think I had it easier than him."

To view the full article, click here.

[Shockage]

CM Punk also lied about Bruno defending the WWWF title only in MSG. Bruno defended it where ever the WWWF went which included Canada and Japan.

I don't think CM Punk can get it through that greasy thick skull of his that back then the World Champion didn't just sit on his ass all day on twitter in between TV and House shows criticising celebrities and the Rock for being too successful. Hogan was doing charities, visiting children in hospitals among other important responsibilities. Hogan being the face of the WWF had to take the WWF to the people, meetings, lunches, dinners, and you wounder why John Cena is still looked at by many as the guy who can represent the company instead of this revolting hermit with social issues.

[WWE Gary]

I'm not taking anything away from Hogan , Sammartino or anybody else but there is no way guys back then ever worked as hard as athletes do in todays wrestling world . Nowadays , in WWE , there are two made weekly shows , plus Main Event , Superstars and Saturday Morning Slam . We got monthly PPVs plus regular tours of Europe , Australia and many other places . The fact that guys like Hogan were still wrestling in their late forties , early fifties is proof of that . Compare this to guys like Kurt Angle , Rey Mysterio, Austin , Edge and many others . These guys had been plagued with injuries for such a long time and such an early age . Edge for example , coz of all his hard work had his career cut way too short . Same with Austin . If these guys had been around in the cartoon era they would have been wrestling 3 or 4 PPV matches a year and beating up some jobber on Superstars or Wrestling Challenge . Plus there was the occasional Saturday Night Main Event match. From the Attitude Era onwards , wrestlers have had the busiest and most gruelling schedule ever . Guys like Hogan and co , have had careers lasting decades because they took way better care of themselves than the athletes of today .

[Shockage]

The wrestlers have it a lot easier today. Many of the older wrestlers who were with the WWF during the 80s would tell stories about being on the road 100 to 150 days straight with only a day or 2 off, they say back then you were lucky to go home for up to 3 days, and the days you got off - it wasn't worth going home because you had to be back on the road. Oh, and did you know that if wrestlers were too injured to wrestle they wouldn't get paid? No, they didn't have 12 ppvs, 7 hours of TV a week, but the roster was broken up into 3 teams for house shows, the A show, B show and C show, and these house shows ran 5 times a week. On most weekends, all 3 shows would do matinee shows from Friday to Sunday. They would do a month worth of TV Tapings (for Superstars and Wrestling Challenge) one night after the other. Back then their interviews were syndicated, so wrestlers would cut the same promo/interviews for about 20 different cities. The interviewers took the brunt of those interview, Ken Resnik (who was secondary interviewer to Mean Gene) said that he once recorded back to back syndicated interviews which took 15 hours. The WWF also did the tour here and there to the UK, Australia and Japan inbetween their regular house shows as well as their monthly big events at Madison Square Garden, Maple Leaf Garden, The Boston Gardens and the Philadelphia Spectrum. Wrestlers also drove more than they flew, and that was the entire roster, the responsibilities doubled for Hogan since he was Champ. I bet it took more work to elevate the WWF from a territory to an international company than it was to maintain it. CM Punk should shut his mouth next time.

[RoughRoad]

LOL @ all these people taking a heel promo from a heel wrestler seriously!

[Goldie79]

LOL @ all these people taking a heel promo from a heel wrestler seriously!

I don't know though... Punk for the record does not like Hogan.
On Steve Austins bio DVD.... Punk states that he introduced himself to Hogan at an Indy event (before Punk made it in the WWE) and Hogan didn't acknowledge him. Punk naturally took offence.

Though WWE promos are heavily scripted (and lets face it, the writers will take shots at Hogan) Punk will probably enjoy delivering these shots

[Goldie79]

As for the topic itself.... the guys in the 80s didn't wrestle any less a schedule. Remember in Beyond the Mat where Jake Roberts tells his daughter he was obligated to wrestle for Vince McMahon everyday?
Even though superstars back then often gobbled up jobbers on house shows, and wrestled less PPVs.... they were still on the road all the time. They still had a punishing schedule.

Hogan may have had it a little easier.... as I assume he would have featured more on the TV tapings, or big arenas.... rather than the house shows circuit.
It may have taken less of a physical toll on Hogan.... but Hogan did carry alot of extra weight and responsibilities on his shoulders.
The Harley Race story outlined above is a classic example. The people in the territory promotions all hated what Vince was doing...and as the poster boy, it was Hogan who was the marked man amongst the wrestlers.

Plus Hogan spent alot of time marketing the WWE when they were branching out into new areas, new countrys. I recall Hogan appearing in several interviews and media settings here in the UK when the WWE first broadcasted here in 1988. Hogan was the guy selling wrestling and the WWE to the masses as he was their poster boy. Vince was hiding in the shadows whilst Hogan was doing the selling and making non-wrestling fans aware of the WWE brand.
There was more to it than just the wrestling schedule itself.

Hogan was laying the foundation for the WWE, establishing the promotion as a worldwide mainstream phenomenom. All the superstars today are living off the platform that Hogan built for them 30 years ago.

[The Legend Killer]

I don't totally believe the promo. I'm sure a huge part of it is scripted, I don't know how much freedom they actually give CM Punk to just say what's on his mind, I wouldn't think it's alot, but, if this is something he truly believes, he seriously needs to stop with his "We have it so much harder" bullcrap./ I wouldn't say any wWE superstar has it easy, i'm sure after just a week, some of those dudes are so sore they can barely walk, but, during the time of guys like Hogan, even after the 80's, wrestling got slaaot more crazy. With WCW and WWE competing against eachother hard, those wrestlers were being put through a ton of crap. From Hollywood Hogan constantly whipping people with that belt he wore, to Mankind falling off the cage, the wrestlers back then took some serious bumps. I'm sure they were doing this over and over night after night. On the hardcore scale, CM Punk is just getting smacked by pillows compared to what wrestling used to be.

Also, back in the times of guys like Hogan and Bruno, wrestling was still wrestling. It wasn't, "Here, do a 10 min, promo, then put on a 5 min. match", it was, "here's your opponent, you figure it out." Back then, wrestling wasn't this soap opera, it was still about raw talent. I'm sure some of it was though up, as far as "OK, this guy is going to win the match with a DDT OK?" The rest of it was up to the wrestlers to figure out. I don't totally believe into all of CM Punks bullcrapp because he is a heel, and he's just being a heel, but, hopefully this isn't something he seriously believes. I wouldn't think so, I don't know anything about CM Punk the person, but, for some reason, I don't see him being this arrogant. I could easily see him as the guy that would go up to someone like Hogan or someone and, "Hey, how can I do this better?"

[Maximo]

Also, back in the times of guys like Hogan and Bruno, PRO wrestling was still PRO wrestling.

Just thought I should point that out.


But no I agree with Hulkster, he worked his ass off all over the globe to make the product what it is today. And Punk saying they didn't do squat is a load of bullocks.

Just a thought but what about merging this with the Superstar Graham thread where he defended Bruno?
Everything that needed to be said on the subject was pretty much said there.

[Shockage]

In the 80s, the WWF monthly house show events with MSG, MLG, Boston Garden, and the Spectrum were also TV deals. WWF were obligated to putting together a 3 hour show for each venue every month. The shows would go out to air in those markets. A lot of those matches done at the big house shows would be shown on Prime Time Wrestling. Then they would record a months worth of Superstars of Wrestling (4 shows = 1 hour each) on one night, and Wrestling Challenge (4 shows = 4 hours) on the next night. In the Superstars & Challenge tapings, they would tape longer either re-doing matches, interviews, angles. So basically, WWF taped over 24 hours of TV a month (add another hour for Saturday Night's Main Event which they had every 4 to 6 months), plus the non-televised house shows (3 hours) which they had going 4 to 5 nights in a week, and they maintained that schedule even as the big 4 ppvs were added. The long drives and ridiculous flight schedules where some wrestlers talking about doing a house show in San Francisco one night, then having to fly to Washington the next day for a house show, then flying to Canada the day after for a show at Maple Leaf. CM Punk is lucky that all he does all day is sit on twitter and going after celebrities who don't know who he is.