Three burly brutes dressed in leather vests, ripped jeans and biker boots had taken over Hogan’s day. How dare they.
Ah, but in good ol’ wrestling fashion, soon, the trio of hooligans had been chased off by a team of “security” so the regularly-scheduled programming could continue. While Wes Brisco, Garett Bischoff and Knux escaped off into Tampa Bay on a jet-ski (quite a scene, I might tell you), Hogan happily finished his welcome speech to University of South Florida football coach Willie Taggart.
“Tampa has always had such supportive wrestling fans, the most supportive wrestling fans of any place in the world,” Hogan said. “Coach Taggart was a huge Hulka-maniac fan and when we reached out to him, we were thrilled when he said he wanted to get involved. This is our way of saying thanks for coming home and we appreciate you being back.”
Hogan, 59, born Terry Bollea in Augusta, Ga., grew up in Tampa and now lives in Clearwater, where the VH1 Reality Show Hogan's Know Best caught some embarrassingly candid moments. Hogan, who went to USF for two years before beginning his career in professional wrestling, has been instrumental in making the Tampa Bay area a popular place for professional wrestlers to live and train.
“I like to take a little credit for influencing a lot of them to move here,” said Hogan, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
Hogan joined Impact Wrestling as one of its business partners in 2009 and he made his debut on Jan. 4, 2010. Hogan, who opened his beachfront restaurant on Clearwater Causeway on New Year’s Eve 2012, also serves as the organization’s general manager.
The press conference gave Hogan the opportunity to announce details for the tour stop in Tampa for Impact Wrestling, an organization that includes famous professional wrestlers like Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Sting, Bobby Roode, Brooke Hogan and the ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. Ticket prices start at $15 and range up to $125 seats located in the Knockout Zone, a section of floor seats hosted by TNA Knockouts Christy Hemme and Socal Val (these seats include buffet-style food andbeverage service and appearances from Impact Wrestling stars.
Doors open at 6 p.m. the day of the event and the action gets started at 7 p.m. for the live event televised on Spike TV. For more info, visit impactwrestling.com.
