Hulk Hogan is thrilled to “top off his career” by co-hosting WrestleMania 37 in Tampa, where his legendary journey in professional wrestling began.
For the first time ever, WrestleMania will feature two hosts. WWE legend Hulk Hogan, a Tampa resident, will share hosting duties with Titus O’Neil, known for his charitable efforts in the community. Speaking on WWE After The Bell, Hogan expressed his excitement about working with Titus, humorously suggesting that Titus could become the mayor of Florida.
“To come back to Tampa, where this all started, WrestleMania 37 — I started in ’77 and a come back here in my hometown and to have Titus with me, hopefully, the new mayor of Florida, who knows, but to have Titus with me… we’re coming in wide-open, guns a-blazing, to show everybody that the Super Bowl was cool but WrestleMania is the greatest show in the world,” Hogan said. “We are so excited, brother. For me, in my hometown, this tops my career off like I never thought it would be topped off.”
This year’s WrestleMania marks a return to having a live audience for the first time since March of last year. Hogan emphasized the importance of the crowd to the event’s atmosphere and expressed his disappointment about missing the chance to host WrestleMania 36 due to the pandemic.
“I mean this is a huge statement. WWE, once again, raising the bar on how things should be played out from this point on. I was devastated last year, you know, I talked to the upper hierarchy at the WWE and they asked me to host WrestleMania last year everything went awry. Gronk did a great job, but I mean, as I watched it, there was like a hole in my heart because there was no crowd and it was so different you know what I prayed that it would never happen again.
“So all of a sudden to be back out there in front of this crowd. That was my thing man to listen to the crowd, to feed off the crowd I mean everything that I ever did had to do with a crowd, you know, I didn’t need to anything else so that crowd just makes Hulk Hogan go crazy, it makes Hollywood Hogan go crazy, and the WWE Superstars just raise the bar on their performance once they get in the ring in front of that crowd so this is going to be off the charts this WrestleMania.”
Hogan also emphasized the personal significance of hosting the event in Tampa, a city where he has deep roots and a storied history.
“This is going to be the ultimate high for me because I’ve lived here 67 years. I’m not some newcomer who just moved here 20 years ago. I’ve been here and I’ve seen all the changes and these people know me. They know my history. They know the good, they know the bad. They know I’m just a normal guy running around here in Tampa and at the end of the day, the scars and everything I’ve been through, these people in Tampa know me. So this is really going to be cool for the WWE. That’s what I’m praying for. I hope it’s just so intense that it blows everybody away, including Vince McMahon.”
Hulk Hogan made a surprise appearance at WrestleMania 35, hosted by Alexa Bliss, and was recently featured on an episode of WWE Raw.
Fans can look forward to live coverage of both nights of WrestleMania and all related events throughout the week, provided by Fightful.
