Hulk Hogan On How Andre The Giant Helped Him Learn the Wrestling Business

Hulk Hogan credits the late Andre the Giant with helping him learn how the wrestling industry works. Hogan spoke about his most famous rival on The Stakscast with Erick Stakelbeck, and you can see some highlights below (per Wrestling Inc):

On learning from Andre: “He basically taught me this business. He straightened me out because when I got in the business, I was in my 20s and wasn’t serious, wasn’t focused. [I] just didn’t have … didn’t understand what this business was really all about, that wrestling was the smallest part of this business. The image, the promotion, the merchandise, the ancillary stuff, the licensing, how big this business could be. Andre was really the first sports entertainer.”

On Andre helping him in the ring: “What he had taught me over the years was don’t talk about the wrestling match. You just need to know who’s going to win or lose. This is an art form like dancing or playing guitar, you’ve got to listen to the crowd and listen with your heart because a lot of wrestlers will sit down and they’ll talk for 20 minutes about having a three-minute match on TV.”