Hulk Hogan Opens Up About Being A Fan Of This WWE Hall Of Famer In His Youth

WWE legend Hulk Hogan captivated millions of fans in the '80s and '90s, inspiring countless young fans, but his journey into pro wrestling began due to his admiration for a legendary wrestler.

Hogan was asked during his recent appearance on the "PBD" podcast about when he knew that he wanted to pursue a career in pro wrestling. "The Hulkster" revealed that he was a fan of Dusty Rhodes and that his initial interest in becoming a wrestler happened when he was in his senior year.

"In Florida, back in the day, there was a real popular wrestler named Dusty Rhodes, 'The American Dream,' and I became a huge fan of his," revealed Hogan. "When we were in high school, you know, we could kind of like arrange our schedule when you're a senior, and I had shop class and then phys-ed and then study hall all together. So shop class we would start horse-playing around that would lead into the phys-ed class and then study class. If we stayed for study hall, or whatever that was, if we stayed for that, we would wrestle and act like the wrestlers and throw each other around into boxes and do all this stuff. But I was a huge wrestling fan of Dusty Rhodes — never dreaming that I would have the opportunity to get in the wrestling business — but I was such a fan, you know, it kind of just led me in that direction."

The two-time WWE Hall of Famer stated that he first encountered Rhodes at a wrestling show in Tampa, Florida. Hogan had the chance to step into the ring with his idol a few times, which took place in the Japanese promotion NJPW, in 1980 and 1981.