In the September 1985, Hulk Hogan was immensely popular and had rapidly growing mainstream name recognition. He was bringing lots of new fans into wrestling. His fans were known as "Hulkamaniacs".
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Host Russell Franklin discusses the first ten wrestlers he would sign for an AEW territory/developmental promotion. He also profiles the wrestler he believes will be the number one star in all of wrestling within a couple of years, headlining either WWE or AEW into the 2030s. Other topics include reflections of interviewing and writing about the late Louie Spicolli, memories of the original Four Horsemen, and a review of the book Keirn Chronicles Volume One: The Fabulous Wrestling Lif of Steve Keirn, as well as an overview of the content of an NWA wrestling program from the Great American Bash 87 tour. Subscribe monthly to The Pro Wrestling Exuberant and get subscriber only content. Learn more at https://www.buzzsprout.com/2366340/subscribe and also subscribe to the free The Pro Wrestling Exuberant written column at substack.com/@theprowrestlingexuberant

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Host Russell Franklin discusses the importance of world championships in the history of professional wrestling and how they should be presented as the focal point of a promotion, and the dominant title reigns of Hulk Hogan in the WWF and Ric Flair in the NWA in the mid to late 1980s. He talks about the immensely popular recent storyline in wrestling involving Cody Rhodes and his chase for the world championship, and he parallels it to Sting's chase for his first world championship over three decades earlier. Other topics include reflections of interviewing and writing about Sean Waltman when he was early in his wrestling career and working under the name The Lightening Kid, coverage of Pro Wrestling Noah and independent promotion Limitless Wrestling, breakdown of Zombie Sailor and Major Bendies figures lines, a review and historical overview of a DVD with St Louis Wrestling footage from the early 80s, a review of the new book The Six Pack: On the Open Road in Search of WrestleMania, and an overview of the content of two WWF wrestling programs from house shows in the late 80s. Subscribe monthly to The Pro Wrestling Exuberant and get subscriber only content. Learn more at https://www.buzzsprout.com/2366340/subscribe

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