Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling
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Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N Wrestling was a Saturday morning cartoon that aired on CBS from 1985 to 1987. The show, produced and animated by DiC Entertainment, featured WWF stars including Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, André the Giant, The Junk Yard Dog, Tito Santana, The Iron Sheik, and others. Hogan was the leader of the faces, or good guys, and Piper was the leader of the heels, or bad guys. The show was the typical "group-of-do-good-heroic friends vs. the gang-of-sneaky-troublemakers repeatedly facing off in wacky situations", extremely typical for cartoons in the 1980s. Rarely referenced, wrestling simply was a device to determine the good guys from the bad guys. Even after Piper had turned face and Andre turned heel in the WWF, the show continued to air in reruns on CBS. The show is currently available on VHS and has yet to be released on DVD.
[edit] Trivia
- In the series, Hulk Hogan was voiced by Brad Garrett, best known for his role as Robert Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, and the character of the "Junk Yard Dog" was voiced by James Avery, who would later portray "Shredder" in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and "Uncle Phil" in Will Smith's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
- Mad Maxine was going to be in the cartoon, but she left the WWF before it premiered and was replaced by The Fabulous Moolah.
- In the episode entitled "The Superfly Express", the two thugs that worked for a jewel thief beared a great resemblance to Paul Orndorff and Ivan Koloff.
- Bobby Heenan was not in the first few episodes of the cartoon, but was added later on as a part of the bad guy stable. Originally, Fred Blassie was supposed to have a regular character, but since he was retiring, Heenan got the nod instead.
- The theme to the show is a remix of Bonnie Tyler's track, Ravishing.
- Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Shiek are depicted as good friends. At the time of the show, they were tag team partners. According to Shiek, the two are no longer friends, due to a long-standing feud that started over $2.00.
- All vehicles shown in the show reflect their owner's gimmick, in some fashion:
- Hulk -- The Hulkmobile (modified Cadillac convertible)
- JYD -- The Junk Wagon (A pick-up truck with a shed of junk on the bed)
- Iron Sheik -- The Iron Jeep (jeep with a giant headdress)
- Roddy Piper -- The Hot Rod (drag racer with giant bagpipes on the back)
