Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling

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Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling
Title card
GenreAnimated series
Created byWorld Wrestling Federation
Developed byJeffrey Scott
Voices of
Theme music composerJim Steinman
Opening themeHulk Hogan's Theme
Ending themeHulk Hogan's Theme
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes26
Production
Producers
Running time30 minutes[1]
Production companiesDIC Enterprises
World Wrestling Federation
Saban Productions (1985 special episode only)
Columbia Pictures Television (1985 special episode only)
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 14, 1985 (1985-09-14) –
October 18, 1986 (1986-10-18)

Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling is an American animated television series that originally aired on CBS Saturday mornings from September 14, 1985 to October 18, 1986, with reruns airing until June 27, 1987.[2]

History[edit]

Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling was animated and produced by DIC Animation City. It featured animated adventures of popular WWF stars from the time, including its title character Hulk Hogan and his group of face wrestlers fighting against a group of rogue heel wrestlers led by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.[3] The show followed cartoon archetypes concerning good characters triumphing over evildoers in wacky situations, typical of children's cartoons in the 1980s.

Rarely referenced, wrestling was simply a device to determine the good guys from the bad guys.[4] The wrestlers themselves appeared in the live action segments of the show, but due to their busy travel schedules, they did not provide the voices for their animated counterparts.[5] These were instead performed by professional voice actors. One recurring live action segment was the music video for the cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances" recorded by several WWF wrestlers for The Wrestling Album.

Due to the show being animated and the longer production times that resulted, it often failed to keep pace with the events of the WWF at the time. This resulted in certain wrestlers turning heel (or, in non-wrestling terms, a villain) in regular WWF programming, but remaining good guys on the cartoon and vice versa; examples include "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (who was a heel when the show debuted, but became a face in the fall of 1986, despite remaining a bad guy in the cartoon) and André the Giant (who was a face in the fall of 1985, but turned heel in early 1987, despite remaining on the good guys' side throughout the series' run). Additionally, the characters of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and Wendi Richter remained throughout the series' run, despite both having left the WWF in late 1985.

WWE currently own the rights to the program.

In April 2015, WWE added the show to the WWE Network, making its premiere following the April 20 episode of WWE Raw. On July 24, 2015, Hulk Hogan was fired by the WWE and all references to Hulk Hogan, including Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, were removed from the WWE Network. Hogan was later rehired, though the series did not return to the Network.[6]

Characters[edit]

Hulk Hogan was the leader of the faces, or good guys, heroes, or protagonists; consisting of Junkyard Dog, Captain Lou Albano, André the Giant, Wendi Richter, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Hillbilly Jim, and Tito Santana. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper was the leader of the heels, or bad guys, villains, or antagonists; consisting of The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, The Fabulous Moolah, Big John Studd, and Mr. Fuji.[7] Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and "Mean" Gene Okerlund appeared animated in a few episodes as well.

Music[edit]

The opening theme to Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling is "Hulk Hogan's Theme", composed by Jim Steinman. It was also used as Hogan's ring entrance theme, before being replaced with "Real American" by Rick Derringer. Steinman later reworked "Hulk Hogan's Theme" into "Ravishing", performed by Bonnie Tyler and featured on her 1986 album Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire.

List of episodes[edit]

Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling aired for two seasons beginning in 1985. Each episode was 30 minutes in length (including commercial breaks). Some episodes contained one 30 minute cartoon, while other episodes contained two 15 minute cartoons. Over the two seasons, there were a total of 26 episodes with 39 cartoons.

Season 1 (1985)[edit]

Episode number Cartoon 1 Cartoon 2 Written by Original air date Summary
1 The Junkyard 500 Junkenstein Jeffrey Scott Sept. 14, 1985 Junkyard Dog and Roddy Piper race to decide who gets to have their car be in a new movie; Junkyard Dog builds a robot out of spare parts in the junkyard.
2 The Four-Legged Pickpocket N/A Jeffrey Scott Sept. 14, 1985 A horse shows up and causes trouble for the wrestlers.
3 Clean Gene André's Giant Problem Larry DiTillio/Jeffrey Scott Sept. 21, 1985 Hulk and friends decide to clean "Mean" Gene's new house for him; André tries to impress his visiting mother by pretending that he is a chef instead of a wrestler.
4 Gorilla My Dreams N/A Jeffrey Scott Sept. 28, 1985 The wrestlers are invited to a masquerade ball at a fancy hotel, where André, dressed as a gorilla, steps out for some fresh air. Meanwhile, a real gorilla, trained by thieves to steal, goes inside to rob the hotel safe and the thieves abduct André, thinking he is their trained robber.
5 Cheaters Never Prosper Driving Me Crazy Jeffrey Scott Sept. 21, 1985 The Iron Sheik teaches his nephew's baseball team to cheat to win the Junior World Series; the Iron Sheik has a difficult time passing his driving test.
6 The Wrestler's New Clothes A Lesson in Scouting Jeffrey Scott Sept. 28, 1985 André does not have anything to wear to Wendi's high school reunion, so they use a tent to make him an outfit; Junkyard Dog, Wendi and Tito are leading a scout troop, but one of the members is Moolah's troublemaking niece.
7 Hog Society Wrestling Roommates Sandy Fries/Jeffrey Scott Oct. 05, 1985 At his cousin's wedding to a rich man, Jim and his pet pig Lulubelle cause trouble with their hillbilly style; Captain Lou comes to stay with Hulk for a while, but his sloppy habits and attempts to help out around the place drive Hulk crazy.
8 Moolah's Ugly Salon Ballot Box Boneheads Jeffrey Scott Oct. 05, 1985 Moolah and Nikolai help out at a beauty salon that is run by Moolah's sister; Hulk and his crew help an honest politician run against a corrupt mayor.
9 The Duke of Piperton Robin Hulk & His Merry Wrestlers Jeffrey Scott Oct. 12, 1985 Roddy Piper inherits a Scottish castle, but a distant cousin challenges his claim and they must joust to decide who gets the castle; Hulk gets caught in a time machine, where he ends up as "Robin Hulk" of Sherwood Forest and his friends are the Merry Men who must defend the forest from the Iron Sheik, a.k.a. the "Sheik of Nottingham".
10 Small but Mighty N/A Larry DiTillio Oct. 12, 1985 When Jim's Granny's miracle herbs get in the chili, the wrestlers all transform into kids.
11 Rock 'n' Zombie N/A Jeffrey Scott Oct. 19, 1985 Bobby Heenan opens a new amusement park and the wrestlers scheme to get their name on it.
12 The Last Resort N/A Larry DiTillo Oct. 26, 1985 Hulk and his friends get invited to a new hotel, but end up having to fill in for the staff that recently quit. A young prince is staying in the hotel and the young prince needs the wrestlers' help to find a jewel that is missing because he cannot run the country without it. Junkyard Dog plays mentor to the young prince.
13 Bucket N/A Larry DiTillio Nov. 09, 1985 An alien robot lands in the junkyard and the wrestlers rush to help him get back to his home planet before the government can get him.

[8]

Season 2 (1986)[edit]

Episode number Cartoon 1 Cartoon 2 Written by Original air date Summary
1 Ali Bano and the 40 Geeks N/A Larry DiTillio Sept. 13, 1986 Wendi gives Captain Lou a magic lamp for his birthday, but the genie cannot do anything right.
2 Captain Lou's Crash Diet Muscle Madness Jeffrey Scott (Captain Lou's Crash Diet)
Michael Maurer (Muscle Madness)		 Sept. 13, 1986 Captain Lou has to lose 40 pounds in 10 days or he is out of wrestling; Hulk enters Wendi in the Miss Muscle Contest against Moolah, with Roddy Piper coaching.
3 10 Little Wrestlers N/A Jeffrey Scott Sept. 20, 1986 Ten wrestlers, five from each side, go on a cruise, but are abducted one by one.
4 Big John's Car Lot Big Top Boobs Jeffrey Scott (Big John's Car Lot)
Larry DiTillio (Big Top Boobs)		 Sept. 27, 1986 The bad guys take over the operations of Big John Studd's family car dealership; the wrestlers perform in a circus.
5 The Foster Wrestler N/A Jeffrey Scott Oct. 11, 1986 While in India, the wrestlers come to India for wrestling matches and discover that someone is stealing the supplies Tito Santana has been sending to his foster child.
6 Ballet Buffoons Battle of the Bands Jeffrey Scott Oct. 11, 1986 Nikolai's ballerina sister gets injured, so he must replace her on stage; Hulk and Roddy Piper compete with their versions of music in a charity concert that Hulk is raising money for a new gymnasium in Hulk's high school.
7 Amazons Just Wanna Have Fun N/A Jeffrey Scott Sept. 20, 1986 "Mean" Gene charters a private plane for the wrestlers and it crash lands in the jungle.
8 The Art of Wrestling The Blue Lagoons Jeffrey Scott (The Art of Wrestling)
Larry DiTillio (The Blue Lagoons)		 Oct. 11, 1986 Hulk becomes a model for Wendi's art class; Hulk and the Iron Sheik are marooned on an island and must work together in order to survive.
9 The Superfly Express N/A Jeffrey Scott Sept. 27, 1986 On a train to California, "Superfly" Snuka meets a new girl and she gets kidnapped.
10 Junkyard Dog's Junkyard Dog My Fair Wrestler Jeffrey Scott Oct. 04, 1986 After a break-in at the junkyard, Junkyard Dog gets a dog for protection.
11 Ghost Wrestlers N/A Jeffrey Scott Oct. 04, 1986 An old wrestler comes to town looking for help getting rid of ghosts in his boarding house.
12 The Wrong Stuff N/A Jeffrey Scott Oct. 18, 1986 Hulk Hogan and Nikolai Volkoff are sent into space to rescue astronauts.
13 Rowdy Roddy Reforms Three Little Hulks Jeffrey Scott (Rowdy Roddy Reforms)
Larry DiTillio (Three Little Hulks)		 Oct. 18, 1986 Roddy Piper gets hypnotized and starts acting nice; Hulk's three nephews come to visit and cause trouble for him and his fellow wrestlers.

[9]

Voices[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N' Wrestling: Series Info". www.thetvdb.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  2. ^ "Hulk Hogan's Rock N' Wrestling Episode Guide -DiC Ent | Big Cartoon DataBase". Bcdb.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  3. ^ "Wrestling Cartoon Puts Hold On Taste". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  4. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 421–422. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. ^ "Immortal animation: The true story behind 'Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling' | WWE.com". Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  6. ^ "Wwe Terminates Contract With Hulk Hogan; Wrestler Sorry He Used 'n-word'". Foxnews.com. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  7. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 293–294. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  8. ^ "Watch Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N' Wrestling Season 1 Full Episodes". Ovguide.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  9. ^ "Watch Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N' Wrestling Season 2 Full Episodes". Ovguide.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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