Hulk Hogan owns it all, brother.
Hulk Hogan wrestled as a handful of names before he established himself as Hulk Hogan in the WWF. As Hogan's popularity took off throughout the 80s, Marvel took notice due to the similar nature of Hulk Hogan and their character The Hulk.
Speaking to Theo Von on The Weekend After, Hogan explained how he got the name rights from Marvel.
"I own everything. I own Hulk Hogan, Hulkamania, Hulkster. I'm one of the few guys who own the name, rights, trademarks, and licenses," he said before recalling his meeting with Vince McMahon Sr. to join the WWF.
"He goes, 'I want you to be Hulk Hogan.' 'What does Hulk Hogan mean?' 'Ivan Putski for the Polish Americans, Bruno Sammartino for the Italian Americans, Chief Jay Strongbow for the Native Americans, and Hulk Hogan for the Irish Americans.' Vince gave me the name. Vince Sr dies, Vince Jr takes over. Right when Hulk Hogan takes off, we get a call from Marvel Comics. 'You're infringing on our mark. Reasonably similar. We're going to sue you, put you in litigation.' We let them have the name, didn't license the name. I only had to pay them one-tenth of 1%. That went from 1985 to 2005. In 2005, it's over. Now, I can't use Hulk Hogan anymore, and I'm red hot in 2005. I went to my attorney, 'I don't give a damn what deal you make, you're going to make a deal because I need the name.' What happened was, I got a one-year extension and I had to pay them 30% of everything I made. Movies, TV wrestling, they got 30% of everything, but if they decided to sell the name, they had to give me first shot at it. They couldn't sell the name or do anything. Fair market value. All of a sudden, Marvel Comics gets in a bitchfest with WWE about intellectual properties, that they can't re-air old Hulk Hogan matches. Marvel Comics lost. They owe Vince $35 million. They made a huge mistake. They said, 'Instead of paying $35 million, how about we give you the Hulk Hogan name.' I heard about it and went, 'You screwed up now.' Now, I don't have to pay $35 million for the name, you have to sell it for me for fair money value,' which is only $750 grand. I bought the name back. Vince wanted to buy the name from me. 'Nah, I got this one.' I bought the name back and I own everything." he said.
Hogan has used the name for many licensing purposes, including his bar in Tampa, Florida.
Elsewhere during the interview, Hogan stated he's turned down a lot of reality shows in recent years. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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