It was the year 1985, when Hulkamania was running wild in WWE and across the globe. WrestleMania had been a smash success and Cyndi Lauper’s involvement in the so-called ‘Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection’ had brought sports-entertainment into the mainstream of the MTV generation. WWE was everywhere, including CBS, where Hulk Hogan and the gang were the stars of their own Saturday morning cartoon show.
Across two seasons and 26 episodes, Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling helped establish WWE as an indelible piece of 1980s pop culture. Week in and week out, The Hulkster – along with future WWE Hall of Famers like Andre the Giant, The Iron Sheik and “Mean” Gene Okerlund – found himself caught up in the type of wacky capers usually seen on cartoons those days and it was simply awesome.
Well, WWE’s over the top service WWE Network has recently added the classic 2D animation series to its classics library. Like any cartoon from the era, it involved goofy plots like “oh no, Hulk Hogan has to babysit” or “the good guys have a car and the bad guys have a car and they’re gonna race.”
Everybody’s voice is a little weird, nobody looks quite right, and every WWF (its 1980s people, so it was called that) show takes place in one town’s local gym. Junkyard Dog was voiced by Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. Hulk Hogan had a full head of hair and was voiced by Robert from Everybody Loves Raymond.
The WWE Network recently celebrated one year and with that also over a million subs and counting; Hulk Hogan’s Rock N’ Wrestling cartoon series which aired 26 episodes from 1985-1987 on Saturday mornings on CBS, is certainly a great addition to the classics library of the Network.
The WWE has ventured into animation in recent times as well, with the webisodes of Slam City, which showcases contemporary superstars doing normal day time jobs to earn a living.
Also recently among the eight new original series being added to the Network is an animated short-form comedy series created in partnership with Seth Green’s Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.
Titled Camp WWE and slated for late in the year, the show imagines WWE Superstars and Divas when they were kids at their favourite summer camp… which happens to be run by none other than Mr. McMahon. The adult-targeted comedy will feature plenty of shock value, slapstick humor and social satire.
