Before his lucrative, star-making stint on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” actor and comedian Brad Garrett spent a good 15 years paying his dues. Garrett was bitten by the stand-up bug when he was young and began visiting local Southern California comedy clubs in the 1980s when he was in his 20s. In 1984, Garrett won an impressive $100,000 in the “Star Search” talent competition, becoming the first comedian to win the prize. This led directly to a night on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” which, in turn, earned Garrett a long string of gigs opening for some of the day’s hottest musical groups, performers and lounge singers; he opened for Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Liza Minnelli and David Copperfield.
To supplement his income, the deep-voiced Garrett also took on numerous voice roles for various animated shows. He played the robot Trypticon in the 1986 series “Transformers,” but made his professional voice acting debut with a rather high-profile role, playing the legendary and bizarre Hulk Hogan in the bizarre animated series “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling.”
It’s important to remember that the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) was huge by the mid-1980s and had become a legitimate entertainment empire. The very first Wrestlemania event debuted in 1985 and over 19,000 people gathered at Madison Square Garden to witness it. It featured star wrestlers of the era like Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and, of course, Andre the Giant. The main event was Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. T, an event for the ages. Hulk Hogan was more or less the “main character” of the WWF.
“Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” debuted the following September. It was a success.
Brad Garrett played Hulk Hogan in the animated series Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling
Much like the WWF, “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” featured a team of colorful “faces” of good guys often butting heads (sometimes literally) with equally colorful “heels” of bad guys. The heroes of the series were Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Hillbilly Jim and Captain Lou Albano. The villains were led by the irascible “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and included Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, The Fabulous Moolah and Big John Studd.
None of these wrestlers provided their own vocals. Brad Garrett played Hogan, while cartoon luminary Charlie Adler played Piper. James Avery, of “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” fame, played Junkyard Dog. Jim Steinman wrote the theme song, which Hulk Hogan would use as entrance music at live events. The opening title sequence was the only place where Hogan appeared in live-action, sort of wrapping up the animated adventures we were about to see. If the theme song sounds familiar, that’s because Steinman rewrote it for Bonnie Tyler, turning it into her 1986 single “Ravishing.”
The series was the height of stupidity. The stories were simple sitcom plots about race cars, professional jealousy, or first dates. In one episode, Andre the Giant needed a costume, but he was too big to fit into traditional outfits, requiring a special costume made from camping gear. In another, a gorilla infiltrates the wrestlers’ costume party. In yet another, Lou Albano becomes Hulk Hogan’s roommate for a while, and he becomes the botched Oscar to Hogan’s Felix. Most episodes were complete 30-minute stories, although a few were split into two 15-minute segments.
Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling kinda sucks
The series takes place mostly in the real world, but occasionally veers into pure fantasy. This was good, because WWF wrestlers were already oversized fantasy characters. Some episodes featured aliens, genies or ghosts. Most of the time the stories involved kidnappings, failed business ventures, or, uh, ballet performances? Nikolai Volkoff had to replace his dancing niece in a recital anyway. Because the characters were so varied and numerous, “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” was successful enough to last 26 episodes over two seasons. The show sucked – the scripts were bad and the characterizations broad – but it was a continuation of a popular wrestling franchise, so people tuned in in droves.
On the WWE website in 2013, Garrett talked a bit about his role as Hulk Hogan, recalling the thrill of landing the role. He watched old-school wrestling with his grandfather when he was a kid, and he checked out John Tolos, Porkchop Cash and Pampero Firpo. When asked if Garrett had ever met Hulk Hogan, he replied:
“No, I haven’t met him. I’ve never met him. I’ve always wanted to do it. He wasn’t really involved in the production as far as recording, or writing or any of that. […] no idea [if Hogan liked my performance]. I hope it went well, because I’m still alive.”
The WWF eventually became WWE, but it never forgot its history. Indeed, most of “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” is available on the WWE Vault YouTube channel. Fans of deep wrestling will definitely want to check it out.
Garrett, meanwhile, continued his prolific career as a comedian and voice actor. He recently played a character in the Pixar film “Elio.”
