Eric Bischoff Says Hulk Hogan Hated Notes For Promos

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff pulled back the curtain on how Hulk Hogan prepared his promos, revealing that Hogan never worked off paper and instead leaned on a verbal rehearsal process. You can check out some highlights below:

On How Hogan Hated Getting Notes for Promos:

“Hulk didn’t like notes. If we wrote stuff up for him, he’d pretend he’s looking at it, then set it down. So it’s like, ‘Why bother?’ Hulk was really comfortable; that’s the way he came up.”

On Hogan Being Comfortable Gene Okerlund

“He felt really comfortable with Gene Okerlund. Because Gene would take the time and go through the interview, rehearse it together a bunch of times, back and forth. And Hulk could change a few things, Gene would set them up a little differently, and Hulk could add a little bit here, take out a little bit there. It was kind of a collaborative process that was essentially notes, but without the paper — all verbal rehearsal, walk through it, talk through it, then go out and do it.

“That was 100% Hulk. It’s awkward to say it, but Hulk leaned on me for that part of it. I was good at it, he was comfortable with me, and he knew that if he dropped the ball somewhere, I could pick it up. And if I dropped the ball, he’d pick it up. When you get that kind of comfort zone out there, it allows you to improv a little more confidently and try things you might not otherwise try if everybody’s sticking to the paper or the script.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.