On a special tribute episode of his “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, Chris Jericho shared several personal stories from his time working with the late Hulk Hogan in both WCW and WWE. The stories paint a picture of a generous and respectful veteran who, in Jericho’s experience, was always kind to him, even when he didn’t have to be.
“That Worked Out Great, Brother”
Jericho recalled a difficult period in WCW when he was feuding with Goldberg. After weeks of creative battles where Jericho was pushing to have a competitive pay-per-view match, a compromise was reached for a segment on Nitro where Goldberg would spear him in the aisle. After the segment, Jericho was in the locker room with the “plebeians,” as he jokingly called the other wrestlers, when he got a surprise visitor. “In walks Hogan, which Hogan never, ever walked into the dressing room of the guys,” Jericho said. “I heard Hogan say, ‘is Jericho in here?’… and he walks across the dressing room and he goes, ‘brother, that worked out great. Let me shake your hand. You’re a smart guy.’ And he shook my hand in front of all the f*cking… Raven was in there. And, you know, Konnan and all the guys, see Hulk Hogan come in looking for me and shook my hand. I just thought that was really f*cking cool.”
Calling the Matches on the Road
Years later, when Hogan returned to WWE in the early 2000s, Jericho worked with him frequently on non-televised live events. He was surprised by how much trust Hogan put in him in the ring. “I worked with him quite frequently… it’s got to be at least a dozen times that we would do house shows together,” he recalled. “He was like, ‘whatever you want to do, brother,’ like he left it up to me to call the whole thing.”
Flying Private with the Hulkster
During this period, Jericho became a frequent guest on Vince McMahon’s private jet, which was used to fly Hogan to and from the shows. “Part of the deal for him at the time was Vince would fly him private to the show… he would always invite me to come on his plane to fly to the shows,” Jericho said. He then shared a humorous story about how that privilege ended abruptly. “Montreal was the last show that we had together… he’s like, ‘Yeah, brother, I can’t fly you home tonight.’… The moment that our… house show angle ended, I was off the plane.”
Generosity with Fans
Jericho also noted Hogan’s incredible patience and generosity with fans, even when he was a heel in WCW. “I remember going on planes… everybody knew Hulk Hogan. Everybody wanted a picture, and everybody wanted an autograph, and he signed for all of them,” Jericho stated. “I mean, I saw people wake him up when he was sleeping… on a commercial flight… and he was not that guy. People would wake him up and he would ‘Hey brother’ and take the picture and sign.”
The full tribute can be heard on the “Talk Is Jericho” podcast.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
