{"id":40092,"date":"2025-08-07T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=40092"},"modified":"2025-08-21T04:02:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T04:02:42","slug":"hulk-hogan-and-the-unraveling-of-worker-solidarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/hulk-hogan-and-the-unraveling-of-worker-solidarity\/","title":{"rendered":"Hulk Hogan and the unraveling of worker solidarity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brian Jansen<\/a>, University of Maine<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hulk Hogan\u2019s death by heart attack at age 71<\/a> came as a shock to many fans of the larger-than-life wrestler who\u2019d earned the nickname \u201cThe Immortal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in many respects, the real surprise was that Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea, lived as long a life as he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the staged nature of its combat, professional wrestling is a notoriously dangerous career. Studies rank it<\/a> among the riskiest professions. Wikipedia even maintains a comprehensive list of premature wrestler deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for professional wrestling\u2019s dangers are largely tied up in the industry\u2019s working conditions. And part of Hogan\u2019s legacy may be his complicity in those conditions. In 1986, he allegedly played a key role in undercutting a unionization effort<\/a> \u2013 arguably the closest pro wrestling has come to unionizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The Body\u2019 sticks his neck out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WWE\u2019s first WrestleMania was held in 1985<\/a>. The pay-per-view event was enormously successful and established the company \u2013 then known as WWF \u2013 as the nation\u2019s preeminent wrestling promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the buildup to WrestleMania 2 the following year, wrestler Jesse \u201cThe Body\u201d Ventura understood that performers had more leverage than they\u2019d ever had. He began advocating behind the scenes for a wrestling union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story, as recounted by Ventura<\/a>, goes like this: An acquaintance of Ventura\u2019s in the NFL encouraged him to start organizing behind the scenes. WWE was behind the ball: In 1956, the NFL became the first American pro sports league to have its union recognized<\/a>. It was followed by the NBA in 1957<\/a>, MLB in 1966<\/a> and the NHL in 1967<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It helped that Ventura had little to lose. He\u2019d be appearing in the forthcoming \u201cPredator<\/a>\u201d film; should he get blackballed from wrestling for trying to form a union, he could probably earn a living as an actor. (Few could have predicted that he would go on to be elected governor of Minnesota in 1998<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ventura brought together his peers to hash out the details of what a pro wrestling union might look like, he also included the promotion\u2019s reigning champion, Hogan, with the thinking that the support of the WWF\u2019s biggest star would boost the cause and insulate others from retaliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, WWF owner Vince McMahon got wind of the effort<\/a> and called his performers individually, threatening their jobs. The unionization effort sputtered, and McMahon eventually pushed Ventura out of wrestling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Balding
After Jesse \u2018The Body\u2019 Ventura tried to unionize his fellow wrestlers, WWE owner Vince McMahon caught wind of the effort \u2013 and nipped it in the bud. WWE\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ventura went on to sue the WWF over unpaid royalties. During the discovery process, Ventura testified that he had learned it was Hulk Hogan who snitched to McMahon<\/a> and effectively sabotaged the union drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hogan never publicly admitted to telling McMahon about the rumblings of a union. The WWE has never confirmed nor denied the series of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, there have been no unionization campaigns in professional wrestling since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Do the job\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s WWE performers are legally classified as \u201cindependent contractors<\/a>.\u201d They\u2019re responsible for their own travel, training, costuming and insurance, even as their employer owns their likeness and is indemnified from liability due to injury or death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of pro wrestling\u2019s paradoxes is that the top promotion\u2019s wrestlers aren\u2019t unionized, even as its audience has historically skewed low income and blue collar<\/a>. Wrestling has long been a family business, and most wrestlers are part-timers working additional jobs \u2013 often in blue-collar, union positions. Many of them are truck drivers and warehouse employees, construction workers and bouncers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wrestler-turned-scholar Laurence de Garis has written about how the language of wrestling is rich with references to labor<\/a>. A \u201cwork\u201d in wrestling is a staged storyline; to \u201cdo the job\u201d is to lose a match. The goal of many performers is to be considered a \u201cgood worker\u201d by peers, and WWE performers wrestle as many as 300 nights per year. The company has no offseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The steroid, painkiller and alcohol abuse that has been endemic to the industry may well stem from pressures on wrestlers<\/a> to perform night after night, even if they\u2019re in pain, for fear of losing their position. In the 1990s, Hogan himself confessed to extensive steroid use<\/a>, which is known to contribute to heart disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d think that these harsh working conditions would make wrestlers ripe for a union. Why that hasn\u2019t happened is up for debate. WWE bought out its competition<\/a> in the early 2000s<\/a>; perhaps its status as the last remaining major wrestling promotion in the nation has weakened the leverage of wrestlers. Or maybe the testosterone-driven, masculine nature of the sport makes solidarity seem like weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers left holding the bag<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story of Ventura\u2019s failed unionization bid is a story of what could have been. But in some sense, I see the story of the WWE as part of a broader story of the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a period of relative stability after World War II, American work since the 1980s<\/a> has become dominated by mergers, buyouts, deregulation<\/a> and financialization<\/a>. Profits are increasingly generated<\/a> by financial means such as interest and capital gains instead of through offering genuine goods or services. Layoffs and precarious work have become the norm<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WWE\u2019s profits exploded<\/a> in the 1990s and 2000s. The company went public in 1999<\/a> \u2013 though the McMahon family retained majority control \u2013 and dipped its toes into film production, reality television and online streaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, WWE merged with UFC\u2019s parent company Endeavor to form TKO Group Holdings<\/a>. TKO\u2019s revenue was more than US$2.8 billion<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Endeavor has been spun off as a Hollywood talent agency and was acquired by a private equity firm<\/a>. The fruits of these new revenue streams and mergers haven\u2019t trickled down to its in-ring performers. So far in 2025, WWE has laid off or released more than 30 wrestlers and at least 10 employees from the company\u2019s corporate wing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Middle-aged
According to Forbes, Vince McMahon\u2019s net worth is $3.1 billion. Leon Halip\/WireImage via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Much as professional wrestlers have remained independent contractors, this arrangement has become normalized in the broader American economy, with more than 36% of Americans<\/a> participating in the gig economy. In 2022, Stanford researchers identified gig work as a \u201csocial determinant of health<\/a>,\u201d since most gig workers lack employer-sponsored health care, paid time off or sick days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All for one and none for all<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s economy, luck or happenstance, rather than merit, seem more likely to influence who achieves financial security<\/a> and who scrapes by, living paycheck to paycheck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hulk Hogan, as professional wrestling\u2019s biggest star for 20 years, certainly believed he earned his place at the top of the industry. But without diminishing his talents, it\u2019s worth noting he arrived at precisely the correct moment in history to become that star. For many years, a wrestler was expected to have \u201cshoot\u201d skills \u2013 that is, actual wrestling expertise \u2013 should an opponent ever go rogue and turn a staged performance into a real fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as McMahon\u2019s power and influence expanded, the look, the sound and the character of the wrestler became most important. How well could a wrestler perform for the camera? How well could he sell T-shirts to young fans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Hogan\u2019s limitations<\/a> as a technical in-ring performer, his mullet, mustache and \u201c24-inch pythons<\/a>\u201d \u2013 the nickname given to his enormous biceps \u2013 made him the right person at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hogan also succeeded because his opponents in the ring were willing to make him look like a star. They were able to \u201cdo the job\u201d and do it safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another paradox of professional wrestling is that it requires performers to appear as if they are hurting one another. But their primary goal, in fact, is keeping one another safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, that sounds a lot like solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Jansen<\/a>, Assistant Professor of English and Media Studies, University of Maine<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brian Jansen, University of Maine Hulk Hogan\u2019s death by heart attack at age 71 came as a shock to many fans of the larger-than-life wrestler who\u2019d earned the nickname \u201cThe Immortal.\u201d But in many respects, the real surprise was that Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea, lived as long a life as he did. Despite the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":40093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,8025,7,827,10,25,36,38,41],"tags":[8510,16731,16711,16730,356,2991,1651,885,891,886,860,510,16713,14068,646,16729,2114,6773],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40092"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40092"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40210,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40092\/revisions\/40210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}