When Hulk Hogan passed away, I didn’t know what I was feeling. Was it grief? Nostalgia? Or maybe just the realisation that a piece of my childhood had broken away. Whatever it was, I knew I had to write it down. That’s where The Man in Red and Yellow came from — my way of honouring Hogan, professional wrestling, and the belief in heroes that first made me a fan.
Wrestling Was Never “Just Wrestling”
People who didn’t grow up on it will never truly understand. For them, wrestling was just “a bit of scripted nonsense.” But for me — and for millions of fans — it was more than that. Wrestling was theatre mixed with sport, myth mixed with reality. It was where good clashed with evil and where, just for a couple of hours, you could believe that heroes did exist.
Hulk Hogan stood at the centre of that world. He wasn’t flawless. He wasn’t even always likeable. But he was the symbol. The red and yellow gear, the bandana, the music hitting — it all meant something. Writing this book was my way of reminding myself (and maybe others) why those moments mattered.
Hogan’s Legacy – Larger Than Life
No one shaped wrestling’s boom like Hogan. Without him, WrestleMania wouldn’t have become the global juggernaut it is. Without him, wrestling wouldn’t have broken into the mainstream the way it did in the 1980s.
Yes, there are plenty of stories about Hogan backstage politicking, scandals, and questionable choices. I don’t shy away from that in the book. But that’s not the whole story. The other side is the kid in the crowd tearing his T-shirt in half, screaming the catchphrases, and believing this guy couldn’t be beaten. That’s the part I wanted to capture — the feeling, not just the facts.
Wrestling and Pop Culture Collided
Another reason Hogan still matters is the way he helped wrestling crash into the wider world. His role in Rocky III. The endless merchandise. The Saturday morning cartoons. Even if you weren’t a wrestling fan, you knew who Hulk Hogan was.
That reach made Hogan more than a wrestler. He became a household name. Writing The Man in Red and Yellow gave me a chance to revisit that cultural storm — to capture how a single figure in spandex and boots could shape an entire generation.
A Tribute That Became a Book
At first, I thought this would just be a blog post. A quick tribute to say thanks and share a memory. But the more I wrote, the more I realised there was too much to say. Hogan’s story was bigger than a thousand words on a website.
So The Man in Red and Yellow grew into a book. A love letter, not just to Hogan, but to wrestling itself. It became a way of exploring how a flawed, loud, sometimes ridiculous character could still inspire belief. It became about holding onto that feeling of being a fan when the lights go down and the music hits.
Why It Still Matters
I didn’t write this book to pretend Hogan was perfect. I wrote it because he mattered. Because he made people believe in something bigger than themselves. Because he created memories that outlived him.
And because, if I’m honest, I wasn’t ready to let go of that part of my life. The Man in Red and Yellow isn’t just about Hulk Hogan. It’s about the magic of wrestling itself — the belief in heroes, the theatre of the impossible, and the strange comfort of nostalgia.
If you’d like to read the full story, you can grab your copy of The Man in Red and Yellow right here: Buy on Amazon.
Over to You
So that’s why I wrote The Man in Red and Yellow. To remember. To honour. To hold on to something that shaped me.
I’d love to know what Hulk Hogan meant to you. Did you grow up on Hulkamania? Did you cheer or boo him later on? Share your memories in the comments, pass this post on to another fan, and head over to CMeewrites to see more of my work.
Because wrestling isn’t just about what happens in the ring — it’s about what it leaves behind in all of us.