“Real American” wasn’t Hulk Hogan’s first entrance song.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)With the WWE in town tonight for the Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field, I thought it'd be fun to take a look back in time. When I grew up watching pro wrestling in the 80s, the wrestlers had just started using entrance music. Hulk Hogan was probably the first. While everyone thinks of the song "Real American," that wasn't actually the first song Hulk used as a theme song. In fact, "Real American" wasn't even meant for Hulk Hogan! More on that in a moment.
Back before lawyers and royalties got involved, the wrestlers came to the ring with some familiar Q105 hits playing over the arena speakers. If you go back and watch those matches now in the archives on the WWE network, you'll notice there's some pretty awful editing of the sound. WWE would have to pay pretty substantial rights to use that music even though it's old footage. So now, editors have to dub in fake theme music. It's why you don't hear the commentators talking as the wrestlers head toward the ring. Their commentary would pick up the original song playing in the background. But if you somehow are able to get your hands on old VHS video cassettes recorded by fans back then, you'll hear what the crowd heard... these 10 Q105 hits!
Can you think of any others? Leave me a comment in my Facebook group for old school wrestling fans! I was a big fans in the 80s and yours truly was even a pro wrestling ring announcer briefly in the 90s! Being 6'4" and making the wrestlers look short put a quick end to that career path.
Tampa was supposed to be the home of WrestleMania this weekend. Raymond James Stadium was where WWE was set to present its version of the Super Bowl. But with the darn coronavirus messing up our lives, it just wasn't meant to be. Instead the WWE will present the show from their training center in Orlando without an audience. My buddy and I had 10th row seats for WrestleMania at Ray Jay. It would've been my first WrestleMania since 1988!
Yup! I was there when Sarasota's own "Macho Man" Randy Savage won the World Wrestling Federation championship. I got to see Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and celebrities galore like Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White, Gladys Knight, and "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" host Robin Leach.
That ticket stub you see up there? Guess who was sitting in our section? Yes, that says Row C! 3rd row on the floor. Sitting about 30 feet away from us was some real estate guy named Donald Trump. Wonder whatever happened to him.
Before I ever wanted to be a radio DJ, my plan was to be a pro wrestler. All us kids in the neighborhood had our own little version of the WWF. We'd videotape our matches and make a TV show out of it. We learned the moves. One of my buddies stuck with it and actually made it to the WWE. I eventually grew out of it, especially when I realized radio was my thing.
Yup. That's yours truly with his mother in the back of a limo. Mom thought she'd be cool and use the phone. Cell phones wouldn't be a thing for another 5 or 10 years... the only one she could've been talking to in 1988 was the driver.
How mom pulled this off I'll never know. She worked so many jobs to make ends meet. Miss you Mum.
These were all taken with my handy dandy Kodak Disc camera. Remember those? I loved mine.
Geno's Pictures From WrestleMania 4 in 1988
Took a walk around the arena when we arrived to get different shots like this.
This was Trump's view.
Our view!
My dreams of becoming a WWF champ faded when I discovered radio. "Thunder 107" was my first radio station. I would be the guest ring announcer when my buddy had his matches at high school gyms in front about 30 people.
Crowd filling in.
Lights down, crowd ready!
And your winner... Macho Man Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth on his shoulders.
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant headlined WrestleMania the year before. But Andre's health was in decline by this point. It was just a match during the tournament. Hulk and Andre only did this one match.
"Mean Gene" Okerlund, Robin Leach and Howard Finkel.
Final round of the tournament. Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.
"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
Celebration time with Macho Man, Elizabeth and Hulk
Celebration continues...
Gladys Knight sings the America The Beautiful.
Trump Plaza was really just the Atlantic City Convention Center. Trump Plaza was just a hotel.
Howard Finkel ready to get this thing started.
Vanna White says hello.
"Mr Baseball" Bob Eucker I believe!
Hoooooooooo! Hacksaw Jim Duggan.
Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake
Geno's Pictures From WrestleMania 4 in 1988
Battle royal time!
Battle royal action
Bret Hart, Bad News Brown and Junkyard Dog
Tag team championship match
Demolition about to become WWF Tag Team Champs over Strike Force
Defeated and no longer champs... I was happy. I always liked the bad guys!
Hulk Hogan KO's Virgil the Bodyguard
Hulk vs Andre
Bam Bam Bigelow vs One Man Gang... fun fact, before WrestleMania, my amazing mother rented a car so we could look for the pro wrestling school Bam Bam trained at. We knew it was SOMEWHERE in this small New Jersey town I can't think of the name of. There was no internet or GPS back then. We couldn't look up the address so we went driving around just looking for it for HOURS. We never found it. So I never became WWF champ.
Savage is down but not out
Savage vs One Man Gang
New champ!
Andre The Giant looming
Macho Man gets some help from Hulk Hogan
Oooohyeahhhh!
"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase vs Magnificent Muraco
Magnificent Muraco accompanied by former champ Superstar Billy Graham
Randy "Macho Man" Savage about to win his first world championship.
Magnificent Muraco vs Dino Bravo I believe
"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
$150 for a ticket was a fortune back in '88. This would've been my first WrestleMania since 1988! Yup! I was there when Sarasota's own "Macho Man" Randy Savage won the World Wrestling Federation championship. I got to see Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and celebrities galore like Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White, Gladys Knight, and "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" host Robin Leach. That ticket stub you see up there? Guess who was sitting in our section? Some real estate guy named Donald Trump. Wonder whatever happened to him.
