Awesome Cartoons gets into the ring with Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling!!

Whenever something becomes popular, it gets marketed like crazy. Wrestling was at its apex in the 80’s and 90’s and a certain yellow clad, handlebar mustached man rose to the top of the WWF circuit and became a legend. I’m Devildriver1313. This is Awesome Cartoons! Let’s enter the ring with Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling!

Every child from the 80’s knows the name Hulk Hogan. He was at the height of his career in the early days of MTV. His face was on everything from lunch boxes to cereal to Sport Illustrated (being the first and only wrestler to do so as of 2013). Soon, he got his own cartoon. Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling debuted in September 1985. It featured animated adventures of popular WWF stars from the time, including its title character Hulk Hogan and his group of wrestlers fighting against a group of rogue wrestlers led by Roddy Piper. The show followed cartoon archetypes concerning good characters triumphing over evil-doers in wacky situations, which was typical of children’s cartoons in the 1980s. Hulk Hogan was the leader of the Faces, or good guys; consisting of Junkyard Dog, Captain Lou Albano, André the Giant, Wendi Richter, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Hillbilly Jim, and Tito Santana. Roddy Piper was the leader of the Heels, or bad guys; consisting of The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, The Fabulous Moolah, Big John Studd, and Mr. Fuji. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and “Mean” Gene Okerlund appeared animated in a few episodes as well.

The star of the show Hulk Hogan

AWESOMENESS!! Wrestling was a big deal back then so a wrestling cartoon was an even bigger deal. And who could resist chanting ‘Hulk! Hulk! Hulk!’ along with the show’s opening theme. By the way, that opening theme was written by Jim Steinman, as in the song writer for singer Meat Loaf. Rock ‘N’ Wrestling was entertaining to watch. It was fun seeing our favorite superstars placed in comically awkward situations. The same wrestlers also appeared in the live action segments of the series. Now how cool was that?!

However, Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling almost borders my “Cheesy Cartoons” list as some of the situations the wrestlers were placed in were just downright hokey at times. But that can be overlooked as the cartoon series did nothing but further Hogan’s career and brought the world of wrestling to broader and younger audience. Rock ‘N’ Wrestling ran for two seasons ending in December 1986. WWE (changed in 2002 from WWF following a lawsuit from World Wide Fund for Nature) adopted the series in April 2015 until Hogan was fired in July of that same year and all references to him, including his cartoon, were removed from WWE Network. Still, Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling retains its fans who have grown up with little Hulkimaniacs of their own. The series is locked in our memories and will always be a reminder of the days of our youth, grabbing a bowl of cereal and Hulk Hogan action figure, sitting in front of the TV and chanting ‘Hulk!’ while watching the yellow clad wrestling stroll down the street with legions of his fans following him.

Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling gets an AWESOME rating of 4 out of 5!