Wrestling the Hulk: My Life Against the Ropes Read online

  I thought it was very impressive that Terry considered my opinion on such an important decision, even though we were not married quite yet. I have always had an adventurous streak in me, and it surely sounded like an adventure to work with Vince and the WWF. After Terry drove Vince back to the airport and came home, he looked me in the eye and said, “Linda, do you realize how big this is going to be? Are you ready to make a run through New York?”

  I had been with Terry in and out of different wrestling events for the whole year before we got married, so I was very familiar with wrestling and the business. I didn’t feel strange or like a stranger to it. I was actually excited about going to New York, because I had heard all about it but had never been there. For me, to think that I would be living near New York City was like a crazy dream. I wasn’t lonely moving to New York City, because I had lived alone in my own apartment for quite some time and was used to it. It wasn’t scary saying good-bye to my family, either, because Terry and I had traveled all the time. We were always back and forth. The weird part for me was not having to get up every morning to go to a job. From the time I was fifteen years old, I had always worked. It was strange being taken care of and just hanging out. But I knew Terry wanted to build a life with me, and I only wanted to keep him in his business as he was now the sole breadwinner.

  At that point, when we were presented with the opportunity to leave Minnesota, I knew how smart Terry was and how he was a figurehead in his field. He earned the most money out of all the wrestlers, and when he said we would make one more run through New York, I knew it would probably be more of the same, just more intense! So the idea of long hours and hard work didn’t even ruffle me. I was in!

  Now that we were going to be married, we felt that if this was an opportunity to make more money and a better life for ourselves, then we should do it! I could also see inside of Terry that he really wanted to make a go of this. He just wasn’t sure if I was ready for what was to come. But I’m pretty tough and can see myself through just about any situation that’s put in front of me. I was clearly a good support mechanism for Terry, and I really looked forward to all of the new stuff we were going to experience together in New York.

  “Let’s do it! Let’s go for it!” I responded.

  “Well, it’s going to be a lot of work.”

  I never imagined just how much work actually lay ahead.

  Soon after our wedding, we moved as a new husband and wife to Stamford, Connecticut, which was (and still is) the headquarters of Vince’s business organization, now the WWE.

  When we arrived, we first stayed with our good friends Peggy and David Schultz. David aka “Dr. D” was a wrestler who previously worked in Tennessee. While Terry was busy taking meetings and doing photo shoots at the WWF studios in Stamford, I busied myself with a local real estate agent looking for a new apartment. It was a bit difficult to find something. Everything on the East Coast was so old, crowded, or in the middle of nowhere. In the meantime, Terry and I also stayed at a Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge on the side of the highway in Stamford for six weeks until we moved in. Terry had been close friends since childhood with Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. So he brought him into the WWF as well. Brutus ended up coming to Connecticut and staying with us in our hotel room. Two’s company and three’s a crowd, so I made sure “The Barber” got cut out of our room pretty quickly. I wasn’t trying to come between them, but in such close quarters I needed my privacy with my husband.

  I had to put up with a lot—the laundry, suitcases, bills, traveling, not really having my own life or friends. But it was okay. I liked being on the road and hanging with other gals who were sort of in the same position. It was a time of change and growth—everyone in the biz understood that and we were all trying to make it work! At the time, it was just our lifestyle and I accepted it. Sure, his wrestling buddies were always around, but I liked a little privacy for Terry and me every once in a while. I enjoyed being a support mechanism for him. We were building his career together on the road. It wasn’t what a wrestling wife was supposed to do; it was what I wanted to do. I just liked being his lady.

  Terry got a rare few days off, and we eventually found a place we could call home together. It was a three-story town house at 101 Seaside Avenue in Stamford. It was brand-new, but the other houses and the street were old and looked like something out of All in the Family. Along with the cold winter weather, it was a very different lifestyle from what I was used to in Los Angeles, that’s for sure. When we moved into the new town house in Connecticut, I fixed it up cute and wanted to make a nice home life for us. I did it inexpensively and chose to hunt at antique shops for most of the furniture. I even made my own curtains with iron-on tape as I can’t sew a stitch! I enjoyed fixing up the house and finding new stuff in a strange town. I tried to host nice parties and was always Miss Congeniality to Terry’s wrestling buddies who would come to town and usually stay with us instead of in some crappy hotel.

  For the most part, I loved fulfilling my role as wife to Hulk Hogan, and when we lived in Connecticut, I would happily cook for the guys and make any visitors we had welcome. Of course there were some minor bumps along the way as I settled into newlywed life. The following story tells about one such bump.

  It was really hard to find good food on the road, so when the wrestlers came back home they appreciated a fresh, healthy meal. Remember, these guys have to keep a lot of weight on—lots of protein foods to build muscle, like chicken and steak, fresh vegetables, and salad. Linda McMahon had told me about a great seafood restaurant in Greenwich, so I drove there and picked up some fresh, raw shrimp. The guy who worked there packed them in ice for me and put them in the back of my car. I went shopping, forgot about the shrimp, and by the time I got home the ice had melted. I didn’t know you needed to keep shrimp super iced down or it could go bad, so I cooked all of the shrimp along with some New York steaks. Terry and Brutus ate the hell out of it! They literally were licking their fingers it was so good. That night, they had to wrestle each other somewhere up near Boston, which was driving distance from where we lived. By the time they drove to the arena and hit the dressing room, they had started showing symptoms of food poisoning. That night Terry and Brutus were locked up in the ring, worried about shitting themselves in front of thousands of fans. This was an elimination match—literally.

  WE WERE ONE OF THE FEW WRESTLING COUPLES WHO ACTUALLY lived in Connecticut near the office. Terry’s position within the WWF was demanding. Vince would have him constantly doing television interviews and photo shoots in between his matches, so living close made sense. In the wrestling business you never sold your home and moved to the new territory. That would kind of make you look desperate and show the promoter that he didn’t have to work as hard to make you happy to keep you there. You live there! But with a contract in place, we felt like we could settle in Connecticut and really give it a go with the WWF.

  Vince was planning a big match for January 23, 1984, between Hulk Hogan and the Iron Sheik for the Heavyweight Championship belt at Madison Square Garden in New York City. We all know now how the wrestling business operates, but back then it was extremely covert. I didn’t know what was going to happen that night, and it was never explained to me.

  There was incredible hype leading up to the match. Terry was on a whirlwind publicity tour weeks in advance. Vince and his wife, Linda, were very thankful that Terry and I put ourselves on the line and didn’t take a honeymoon after our wedding. We got right down to work without missing a beat. And when I say “we didn’t miss a beat,” I mean it. Terry was completely dedicated and totally focused, and I stayed by his side. We traveled so much together that I didn’t care that we missed having a honeymoon. We worked out, drove, ate, and spent every night together in hotels. It was our way of life and we did it together. The only thing different was that I never climbed into the ring!

  That night, Mrs. McMahon let me sit in the owner’s box with her and not with the rest of the fans like I usually di
d. It was clearly a big step up.

  When Hulk beat the Iron Sheik, history was made. The crowd cheered for fifteen minutes straight. Terry had a lot of devoted fans and believers. I will never forget that night. I was very proud of him.

  Back then, Terry and I were very much a couple. We were lovers and best friends. We had a great relationship and rarely fought. He was always excited to see me sitting out in the audience watching him do his thing. As he got more famous, I was still sitting on the sidelines watching it all and rooting him on. And we continued to do everything together. Terry and I shared it all and did a lot of laughing in the old days, living life together one day at a time.

  Wrestling Wives

  We’ve all heard of football wives, baseball wives, and basketball wives. However, there was a new breed of sports wives on the rise in the mid-1980s—“wrestling wives.”

  Wrestling wives are the emotional support mechanism for the wrestlers. Not to mention, we are sexy and fun! The wrestlers’ demanding schedule of training and travel was just as grueling as their matches. Most wives didn’t travel because a lot of them had families at home.

  I was one of the only wives who actually traveled from city to city. Some of the wives would show up in various cities, if the match was near their hometown or took place on a weekend. But I spent days on the road with Terry, driving thousands of miles in a rental car or flying coach class to each city until we had a day off. Then we would go home to Connecticut for two or three days. It was laundry, gym, tan, grocery store, bills, and sleep. Most of the time that we were on the road, we would get to a city and go to the gym and then the arena. At six P.M. I would say “good luck” as he went into the locker room (a place I rarely went) with the guys. Sweaty guys taping their wrists, fingers, knees, and elbows. I had no idea what they were doing, but tensions ran high in the locker room as they prepared for the big fight.

  I would sit backstage, usually on a forklift or out in the bleachers, as the crowd began to enter the building. Over the years, I’d made friends with building managers and referees, but I really didn’t have anyone to talk to. However, there were always other girls who would show up. They were one-night stands that the wrestlers called “Ring Rats.” They were obsessive fans who dreamed of being with one of the wrestlers. I never wanted to be thought of in that way and tried to keep to myself.

  Of course, I didn’t have to travel with Terry, but I wanted to; and he needed the help and support. I tried my best to hang with him on the road. Remember, this was in the early stages of wrestling, and it was growing at an alarming rate! During the meet and greets with the fans, I would be in the background laying out more pictures to be autographed, helping to organize lines for the kids, or just speaking to them and their parents while they waited in long lines to get a few seconds with their heroes. I also made sure Terry had all the right clothes for the events he needed to attend. If he had a meeting immediately following a match, I made sure I brought an outfit for him to wear. It took both of us working as a team to succeed on the road.

  I always enjoyed traveling to the Philadelphia Spectrum because I got an opportunity to see one of my favorite promoters, Arnold Skaaland, and his lovely wife, Betty. She was a classy New York Italian woman in her fifties with a golden tan and platinum blond hair pulled straight back into a bun. I remember thinking I finally found someone to talk to. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine’s first wife would hang, too. They were nice companions to talk to while the wrestling matches were going on. It was great because I was on the road alone with Terry so much of the time.

  I connected with many of the wrestlers’ wives on a personal level because we were all in the same boat, although I was the only wife who went to every city. However, it was clear that I wasn’t the wife of just any wrestler. I was the wife of the reigning heavyweight champion of the world. I realized that along with that came a responsibility, and I always stood by my man. I didn’t want to be a quitter. After all, he couldn’t quit. Besides, what would I do? Sit home and wait? Work at the mall? School wasn’t my thing. I really loved being with him, and he needed my support and companionship.

  Throughout the years, especially early on, I tried to assist Terry creatively with establishing his image. When I had first moved from California to Minnesota, I remember one night I was cutting up a T-shirt in the kitchen. It was a shocking pink men’s extra-large tee—totally loud, yet totally cool. I folded the shirt as if it were a paper doll and I cut into it leaving a ribbed, shredded sort of see-through look. It immediately caught Terry’s eye. “Hold on a minute,” he said. “What are you doing to that shirt? Let me try it on.”

  “You want to try it on? Okay,” I responded, handing it over.

  Terry put on the T-shirt and even though it fit him extremely snug, he loved what it did for his body. He could see his biceps, abs, and lats through the shredded cotton. The shreds made him look like the Incredible Hulk busting out of his clothes. Terry stood in front of the mirror admiring himself. “I like it!” he exclaimed.

  This was the start of Terry shredding the back of his red-and-yellow Hulkamania T-shirts. For five years straight, I can’t even tell you how many T-shirts I cut up and shredded for him. Thank God the shirts were eventually mass-produced! Terry’s style of wearing a bandanna has some interesting origins as well. When we were in California together riding Harleys, his long blond hair was always blowing in his face. My father took off his bandanna and tied it on Terry’s head. Terry instantly dug the look; it was a sort of easy rider/bad boy vibe that definitely worked for him. After that, one of Terry’s trademarks was wearing a bandanna; and whenever he tore it off in the ring, the crowd went crazy!

  Terry was no suit-and-tie guy. When we attended meetings, Terry would wow the executives with his wrestler sense of style. And I was with him at every meeting. Terry usually wore cowboy boots, a pair of boot-cut tight jeans, a big western belt buckle, and a tight-ass T-shirt showing off his big, tan, lotioned-down arms. He needed to retain a gimmick, so to speak, and wearing a suit and tie like the rest of the business executives wasn’t the way to go. Terry was a superstar, so it didn’t matter if he wore his pajamas when he met executives from toy or video companies. However, even though Terry dressed down in jeans and casual attire, I had to dress on the same level as the rest of the other businesspeople. For instance, I would wear a St. John knit top and slacks, along with a beautiful coat and purse. I needed to look the part of a successful businesswoman. I feel that if people see the wife of a celebrity behind the scenes and she’s put together, they know what the star is really all about. He was Hulk Hogan the wrestler, but Terry was also a brilliant businessman who was making the big bucks, and many individuals wanted to rub up against him.

  AFTER TERRY WON THE TITLE, THE NEXT REALLY BIG EVENT SCHEDULED was Wrestlemania I for March 31, 1985, at Madison Square Garden. Sure the wrestlers had muscle, but Vince’s marketing muscle was the driving force in preparing for this enormous event. He was turning his cigar-box wrestling into family entertainment.

  The wrestling wives needed to step up their game for the event as well. After all, this was the Academy Awards of wrestling—the very best matches, the biggest crowd, and worldwide media attention. It was my idea for the wrestling wives to wear black gowns with long gloves and treat this like a red carpet event. TV cameras, celebrities, limos—the truth was that Terry was really a television star!

  I’d like to think I had a lot to do with changing the image of how people perceived wrestling and the wrestlers outside of the ring. When people saw Terry and me walk out onto a red carpet dressed in classy black-tie fashion, I think fans looked at him a bit differently. Sometimes fans even asked me for my autograph. Who am I? I thought. I’m just Hulk’s wife. I didn’t realize how big of a star Terry was becoming.

  THINGS BECAME SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT IN TERRY’S LIFE. HE got so popular, so famous, so fast—and I watched his fame grow every day. We tried to keep our private life private. However, it was starting to get almost i
mpossible to do the simple things that we normally did, like going to the gym, grocery store, and tanning salon. We couldn’t even go out of the house without people noticing him from the car window at a traffic light and going nuts. Fans began to bang on our front door, fan mail poured in, and people would follow us at the mall.

  The fame that came with being married to Terry wasn’t something I was prepared for at the beginning. I’m very happy that it happened, and I’m proud of him for working so hard to make it happen, but it was constant work even when he wasn’t on the job. If we were walking through an airport, sometimes tired from a long flight, people would often follow us. And they didn’t just recognize Terry and then whisper to their friends, “Hey, it’s Hulk Hogan.” No, they had to come up to him, meet him, and touch him. It was as if they had to touch this larger-than-life character to believe they actually just met him.

  I had to develop a thick skin very quickly as a wrestling wife because it wasn’t just the kids and their parents who approached him. No, it was women, too. Whether they were hotel clerks, flight attendants, or bank tellers, I had to deal with women chasing after him all the time. You couldn’t rent a car without all of the girls who worked there coming out from behind the counter to meet him. I kind of got used to it though and realized it was just another part of the business. Show business! Looking back, the women’s attention made all the sense in the world. Terry was tall, handsome, and muscular. Not to mention superfamous and now super-rich.

  I remember trying to pay some of our bills on an airplane and realized I had missed our rent payment the past three months in a row. I desperately needed help organizing our expenses. Somebody from the WWF hooked me up with a real estate broker. She said she knew the principal of a local school who could help us with our bills and accounting. When I met him, I literally handed him a paper grocery bag filled with all of our bills. I told him to call me and let me know what was happening. With his help, Terry and I finally got things in order. We had so many checks coming in so fast that I couldn’t count them all. I would just hand them over to our new bookkeeper, and he would deposit them into our account. After a couple of months working with him, he called me and said, “I hope you’re having a nice day because I have some good news for you.”