Hulk Hogan died. I wonder how many middle-aged adults pretended to be the Hulk while jumping off a couch onto their sibling. He sat in the middle of that whole sports-entertainment Venn diagram. I doubt many reading this would consider wrestling a sport, but it’s certainly sport adjacent and it’s undeniably impacted the world of sport to no end.
UFC and WWE Wrestling are owned by the same company, which tells you all you need to know.
Hogan’s broader cultural presence was also immense. Before there was ‘The Rock’ in The Fast and The Furious or John Cena in Barbie, there was Hulk Hogan in Rocky. At his zenith, this man was among the most famous people on the planet.
Which made his indiscretions and flaws hard to stomach. This was a living, breathing, comic book hero, who was caught on camera using the n-word. Embroiled in a sex-tape defamation scandal.
His most recent contribution to public life was pushing ‘Trumpmania’ a play on ‘Hulkmania’ as he sought to have Donald Trump elected. Many obituaries today led with an image of Hulk Hogan pushing the MAGA movement.
Caitlin Clark knows about cultural movements; the American hooper is one. You frequently read about the 23-year-old basketballer transforming not only the WNBA, but women’s sport. Her games sell out. Live broadcasts of her games rate bit time numbers. It’s a kind of Taylor Swift of sport effect.
Soooooo, what happens when the face of a movement turns out to be mortal? Clark has been injured a lot this season. When she doesn’t play TV broadcasts drop by half. Clark has also been out of form, especially away from home. The Indiana gun has made two three-pointers from thirty-five attempts on the road. That’s not good for a woman whose brand is ‘I can shoot from anywhere’.
It’s not great timing for her colleagues who are trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. When you consider Clark was paid US $75k in her rookie year and men’s equivalent Victor Wembanyama earned US $12m, you can understand why Clark and her cohort were wearing t-shirts that read ‘pay us what you owe us’ during the WNBA All-Star weekend.
It could be worse. Imagine facing retirement at age 30, that is what Tim Tszyu might be grappling with this weekend after another bad loss to Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas. This was the end of his world title dreams.
The western Sydney native has made millions, so walking away shouldn’t be financially debilitating. However, when you’re the son of one of the greatest to get in a ring and you’re trying to walk that path… it probably makes up a reasonable chunk of your identity.
There was one man who got up off the canvas for a huge win. Ben O’Connor came clattering down on stage one of the Tour de France. Cycling fans are suspect on O’Connor because of a 30 second clip from a Netflix show where the Australian was at his lowest ebb and he behaved like a bit of a prat.
The Perth product showed just how far he’s matured with a ballsy win on stage 18 of the biggest cycling race on earth. Soak it up below.
