Greg Gagne on Verne Gagne Thinking a Resignation Letter From Hulk Hogan Was a Rib

– During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Greg Gagne, the son of late wrestler and promoter Verne Gagne, discussed Hulk Hogan no-showing an AWA event. Also, Hulk Hogan sent a letter to Verne Gagne to let them know he wasn’t coming back to the promotion. Initially, Verne Gagne thought it was a rib by Eddie Graham. Greg stated the following (via WrestlingInc.com):

“Verne got a letter on December 21 from Tampa, Florida. It said, ‘I’m not coming back. Signed Hulk Hogan.’ Verne saw it, and he said, ‘Tampa, Florida, that damn Eddie Graham.’ Eddie and him used to play ribs on each other all the time. So Verne thought it was a rib, and he threw it away. So Christmas night comes, St Paul’s sold out. Hogan doesn’t show up. I called him on the phone, I said, ‘Hey, big man, what are you doing? We’ve got matches down here.’ He says, ‘I’m gonna go with the WWE.'”

While Hogan had completed his interviews for the holiday period for AWA at that point, Verne Gagne had hoped Hogan would finish his commitments with the company before joining WWE in early 1984. However, Greg Gagne stated that they were informed by Hogan that Vince McMahon was paying Hogan “more money to stay at home.”

Hogan would make his return to WWE in early 1984. On January 23, he defeated Iron Sheik to win the WWE Championship, kicking off the Hulkamania Era.