Here’s a recap of what has happened with the Hogan family over the last few days.
1) Nick Bollea was sentenced to eight months of jail time, and five hundred hours of community service to go with his five years probation, after he was sentenced in court following his car accident a few months ago that left friend John Graziano in a vegetable state for the rest of his life. The Hogans came to court and plead that John was Nick’s best friend and Linda and Hulk talked of him as a second son. They spoke positively of his relationship with Nick, and John in general. Hulk wore his black doe-rag to court. While speaking to the judge, Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea publicly admitted that his show “Hogan Knows Best!” was not a reality show, but was rather scripted. He says Nick was portrayed a certain way on the program, and that he’s a much nicer kid in real life.
2) TMZ.com has been following up on the case as they got their hands on several extremely controversial phone calls between Nick and Linda, and Nick and Hulk which Nick made from prison. In the first one – a call to Linda – Nick sounds scared and distraught as he shares his first experiences behind bars. Linda, like every normal mother probably would, cries aloud on the phone. As the two point out they miss each other, Linda screams at John’s mother saying she’s just after money, and she did not know the relationship Nick and John had. She makes the controversial remark that it is Linda who’s now spending her days crying over the situation, and not John’s mother (who is sitting by her son’s side in the hospital every day, as he can not operate on his own without having hospital assistance around the clock).
3) TMZ.com posts a second phone call. This is one that everybody needs to hear, and is certainly the most controversial piece about the Bollea/Hogan family to ever come out. As Nick calls Hulk for an update, the two end up completely burrying John Graziano. The young man that Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea called a “second son” in court, is said to be in the condition he is in because he wasn’t a good person and because “he must have pissed off God” in Terry’s words. Nick, who pointed out in court that John was a positive person and so was their friendship, tells his father that his friend “was a very negative person.” If you think that this is as worse as it could possibly get, you’re wrong. What do you think Nick Bollea – a young man who several years ago on an episode of Nitro was dubbed “Nasty Nick” (and who knew he would live up to his character!) – follows up with? He asks his dad to finalize a deal for him that will land him a TV show! That’s right. He wants a deal for a reality show that will bring cameras the first day he’s out of jail, showing him leaving the facility and then living life as a new person. Nick points out “It can be about how prison changed me.” As Hulk agrees and says he’ll follow up on it, he asks his son who he wants to work with on the show. Nick says he wants the team that will get him the most money. The business side of Terry Bollea – which the phone call proves never rests – then wakes up, as he’s quick to tell Nick to lock the deal with himself, Eric (Bischoff) and Jason (Harvey), as they’d never cheat him out of his money, and they’ll make the most. Nick agrees.
4) Reports come out that Nick is having a hard time in prison. TMZ.com posts yet another phone call between Nick and Hulk in which they talk about a secret hearing with the judge, where Hulk would try his best to get Nick moved to another facility. Nick complains of his surroundings, and is obviously struggling in jail. Hogan points out that it should be kept secret and that himself and Linda shouldn’t show up in order to avoid the media attention. The two go over plans of how to woo the judge, and Nick says he will hear his jail clothes for sympathy. They speak of this as if they’re discussing a reality-show storyline.
5) Today – Sunday, May 25 – Hulk Hogan crashes his Mercedes on the Bayside Bridge in Florida, as he’s involved in a multiple-car accident. Daughter Brooke was in the car, and TMZ.com reporter Russell Weakland reports that maybe “estranged wife Linda” was in the car as well. There are no reports of injuries.
There are simply too many things to write about the Hogan family, stemming off of the above. I think the best conclusion we can reach is that when you try and make a “work” (in wrestling terms) of life, you often times end up being the one that’s “worked.” If you try to cheat faith and reality, the joke is going to be on you. The bottom line is that just about every celebrity that was involved in a “reality” show that followed their life has had some huge negatives in their lives because of it. The originators of this brand of work – the Osbournes – suffered through plenty of problems with both their children who turned into media stars because of the show. Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson divorced shortly after their MTV reality show that followed their new life as a married couple. It was Hogan’s idea to play up a “divorce” storyline on “Hogan Knows Best.” Only one year later, Terry Bollea is in the midst of a horrible divorce. His son is in prison. His daughter was let go of her contract as a singer that he put so many millions of dollars in. His wife wants nothing to do with him. His show “American Gladiators” that is the only steady source of income he has is facing cancellation, as ratings have plummeted. And after today, his Mercedes is crashed.
Wrestling is a business where you can fake just about anything, and just about anyone. Life isn’t. The Hogan’s Reality has come to end.
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