This article talks about understanding professional wrestling from a musician’s perspective. I have been a wrestling fan since the age of nine, and at an earlier age; I was blessed with a gift of playing the piano by ear. A certain feature that drew me to wrestling was music. Specifically, the different musical themes that played while the wrestlers walked to the ring. I thought I was the man for being able to hear these wrestling tunes and then play them on the piano to myself, I remember ringing up a friend from school just to play Macho Man Randy Savage’s theme, “Pomp and Circumstance’. I was 11 during a school assembly, my childhood friend and next-door neighbour, encouraged me to stand up in front of the school and play an impromptu piece on the piano, the first song that came to mind was the Macho Man’s theme, followed by the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers’ “All American Boys”. My confidence in performing in public came partly from playing these themes, the other part came from playing in church. Music and wrestling went hand in hand so much that when I moved away to study music, I took with me my collection of wrestling tapes. In between my studies, I would watch a tape or five as a way to de-stress. The qualification I worked towards was the first of its kind for a university in New Zealand, the focus of the curriculum was a contemporary rock and the outline included lectures that studied how Eminem’s lyrics and American accent were cleverly crafted to music. In addition to lectures, the students were put into bands and taught to work together. This was a valuable tool for the reasons that we were at the beginning of networking with other musicians, each of our skills developed from playing with other band members and listening skills were honed from hearing the other members play their instruments. This exercise ensured that we complemented each other and put together an overall sound. Being in a band was similar as being in a family unit or a very small community where each member had a skill set that was necessary for the community to function and as an out of town student, the band also served as a support system.
A few years ago, I came across this Facebook status that was posted by a pro wrestling veteran:
“Watching some Hulk Hogan matches before bed. Selling makes matches. Hogan was good at selling. I hate when I see guys on the Indies think they’re “too big” to sell. André the Giant sold for people … stop being marks”.
I was fortunate to play in several bands during my career as a musician. This experience helped me, to understand the professional wrestling industry in my role as the Media Relations Manager for Fale Dojo. I recognised the similarities between pro wrestlers and musicians when they perform, and this revelation was not surprising as the two professions share the objective of performing to their audience. As a ‘band’, Hulk Hogan was the frontman of 1980s WWE, the wrestlers of that era were the band members, and the opponents served as part of the songs. Like a band performance, there is a minimum of two wrestlers in conflict to create a story/song/match while the referee held down the responsibility of the rhythm section (the drums and bass) to maintain order and make sure that the ‘song’ is performed from start to finish. As the frontman, the Hulkster gained the trust of the fans so that they would see themselves in their hero and invest emotion into their heroes performance. In reality, Hogan’s gift of connecting with people was a vehicle for WWF to generate revenue from their consumer. The WWF roster was stacked with talent that wrestled a variety of different styles. The internet fans viewed wrestlers such as Ted Dibiase and Curt Hennig as the ‘uncrowned world champions’, technical greats that should have been in Hogan’s place – just because they ‘did more in the ring’. As great as some of these wrestlers were (and it applies to the current WWE), there is a definite place in the band for these ‘uncrowned champions’; in most cases that place is not situated at the front. You will find these incredible workhorses supporting the frontman from the side where their instruments are of greater use.
The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase was a notable foe of Hogans. The Million Dollar Man was aggressive in his pursuit to attack Hogan’s values of integrity and justice with greed and selfishness. Their conflicts brought about many matches/songs that are remembered with great fondness. Mr Perfect Curt Hennig embodied an unattainable quality on the surface and was unreasonable in his disputes against Hulk Hogan’s message of inclusiveness. A lot of great songs speak about the main character facing conflicts and vulnerability, and the 
I look at WrestleMania 3 as an illustration of Hulk Hogan’s drawing power. Hogan’s tremendous appeal helped to enhance the WWF’s visibility and the careers of those who were involved in the company. WrestleMania 3 is regarded as the event that established the WWE as the top definitive wrestling promotion in the United States. The event brought in the largest wrestling crowd in the US, 93,173, and this record was sustained for almost 30 years. The advertising leading up to WrestleMania 3 was hyped around the Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant main event. Hogan and Andre generated much attention that when it came time for the event, the matches on the undercard, in particular; the Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage classic had gained massive exposure. Steamboat vs. Savage was of a higher quality to Hogan vs Andre, however, the level of publicity that was achieved by Hogan and Andre helped give Steamboat/Savage the attention to be remembered and appreciated by a new generation of fans.
Since its beginnings, the WWF has stayed close to the ‘simple sells’ practice, requiring the wrestlers to slow their pace during their matches. This method was vital for their top stars such as Bruno Sammartino, Hogan, Steve Austin, the Rock and John Cena. The reason for this is that the wrestlers could tell better stories that would be received by diverse audiences This also conserves their bodies to keep up with the travel and demand for wrestling several nights a week. This, of course, applies to a sensible musician that looks after their vocals and lifestyle.
Although Hulk Hogan was nicknamed the ‘Real American’, he was able to appeal to an international audience; other American based characters like Sgt Slaughter and “the American Dream” Dusty Rhodes had certain barriers to their characters which limited their appeal to southern Americans. A fruitful band and wrestling roster can depend upon the maturity of a great frontman and the members whose skills are used for a specific purpose; for the WWF, their purpose has been to reach a broader audience by having the right person in the front.