Screenshot / Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan tease a third man.
By Jeff Wilen @JAWBreaker386 / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- This past week, Hulk Hogan again captured the interest and attention of the wrestling world and more, and showed why he remains the GOAT in professional wrestling.
Let's review some key Hogan dates to justify his GOAT status (keying in on 1984, 1996, 2002, and still today):
- Jan. 23, 1984: Hogan beats The Iron Sheik to start Hulkamania.
- March 29, 1987: Hogan beats Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III.
- April 2, 1989: Hogan beats Randy "Macho Man" Savage at WrestleMania.
- April 1, 1990: Hogan loses to The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania.
- July 7, 1996: Hogan turns heel and forms the New World Order in Daytona Beach, spearheading WCW's success for several years.
- July 9, 2000: More Daytona Beach history, as Hogan makes his last WCW appearance in the Vince Russo incident.
- March 17, 2002: Hogan faces off (and loses) against The Rock at WrestleMania X8.
- April 2, 2005: Hogan enters WWE Hall of Fame.
- 2008: Hogan debuts Celebrity Championship Wrestling, which airs eight episodes.
- Oct. 27, 2009: Hogan signs with TNA Wrestling until 2013.
- April 6, 2014: Hogan drinks beer with The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 30 in what's considered an iconic moment.
- Feb. 27, 2015: "Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night" at Madison Square Garden in New York.
- April 6, 2021: Hogan enters the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the NWO.
- Jan. 6, 2025: WWE enters multi-year partnership with Hogan's Real American Beer.
To justify the GOAT label, Hogan keyed the launch of WrestleMania and WWF (WWE) in the 1980s, turned heel and carried WCW in the 1990s, captured the fans' respect in 2002 with The Rock, had a five-year run in TNA Wrestling from 2009-2013, and made a few appearances as his in-ring career ended in January 2012. No other wrestler comes close to being as relevant and instrumental for such a long period as Hogan.
You can even toss in Hogan's friendship with President Donald Trump over the years and quite a bit in 2024 as bringing in an entire new fan base while getting easy, free promotion and publicity for his Real American Beer. Talk about the ultimate businessman who is able to maintain some kind of spotlight -- whether people like Terry Bollea as a person or not, you can't discount the impact of Hogan over the years.
Multimedia videos
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) April 28, 2025
Hogan, Bischoff tease to the third man
Our Third Man pic.twitter.com/e74KkWqXV5
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) April 30, 2025
Hogan, Bischoff reveal the third man
Rewind to last week:
- Hogan released a video with Eric Bischoff in which, like the NWO, they teased "a third man."
- For a few days, fan guesses included everyone from "83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff" and host Conrad Thompson to John Cena, The Rock, Ric Flair, and even Travis Scott and Vince McMahon.
- JAWBreaker guesses included who else "The Man" Becky Lynch, Goldberg, Undertaker, Kevin Nash, Dennis Rodman, Brock Lesnar, President Donald Trump, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a new unnamed wrestling promotion to go head-to-head with WWE and AEW, and something with Atomic Legacy Wrestling (ALW) - which will be in Daytona Beach on July 27th of this year (more on that, below).
- Hogan had people talking and guessing about "a third man."
- A second video revealed "third man" Izzy Martinez and Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling. This new league will focus on amateur wrestling and offer significant financial incentives for athletes, giving them a platform to showcase their skills and continue to grow as a sport.
Let me tell you something, brother ...
Some fans were disappointed with the Real American Freestyle announcement (what did they want or expect?). However, some fans are not happy with WWE's product. They wanted more out of the Cena heel turn, and/or they wanted The Rock to be involved. Or fans are tired of AEW being the second-best option, or they miss the major star power or new feeling that UFC once had (remember the early days, or the biggest names now gone in Conor McGregor, Lesnar, and Ronda Rousey?).
Real American Freestyle will be an alternative to those.
Will it succeed? Time will tell.
But with Hogan doing what he did in 1996 with the NWO and again in 2002 with The Rock, you can never count him out.
According to Bischoff, Real American Freestyle will include incentives for certain moves, fans can bet on the action, and television, streaming, or both will be available. The first event will be in Cleveland on August 30th, and Tampa will be one of the focal cities.
I strongly propose that Real American Freestyle combine the 30th anniversary of the New World Order with an event here at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center on July 7, 2026. If it does happen, it means Real American Freestyle is still around and prospering, or at least surviving.
I know I'll be watching, having attended many of Hogan's historic moments live.
In other news
• Hogan showed up across from Madison Square Garden in New York to announce the soon-to-be opening of "Hulk Hogan's Scores." And yes, this is the same building where Scores strip club used to be. This is a great get for Hogan, who also has Hogan's Hangout in Clearwater (great restaurant, by the way) and two iconic beach shops (Clearwater and Orlando).
• Stone Cold turned down $1 million to wear the Prime bottle costume at WrestleMania: Smart move by Austin. But it would have been a better idea than what happened: recklessly crashing his ATV into a barrier and sending a woman flying.
ALW coming to Daytona Beach
Atomic Legacy Wrestling will be at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center on July 27th. Two of the scheduled nine matches have been announced: Shelton Benjamin vs. Kenta AND Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) vs. Matt Cardona.
Also scheduled are Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy), MVP, Gangrel, Sinn Bodhi, Mad Man Fulton, The Backseat Boyz, Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse, and Alicia Fox.
Go to ticketmaster.com NOW to order tickets, and be a part of wrestling history in the legendary Daytona Beach Ocean Center.
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About the Byline Writer:
Jeff Wilen is an award-winning journalist who worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal from 1993 to 2019 as a sports writer, assistant sports editor, and senior multimedia copy editor. Wilen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida, with his wife, Shannon Sullivan Wilen, and their three daughters. Wilen has written his JAWBreaker wrestling column for 20-plus years.