Watch: WWE Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Hulk Hogan's Debut

WWE celebrated the 40th anniversary of Hulk Hogan's debut match with the promotion on Sunday with [...]

By Connor Casey

WWE celebrated the 40th anniversary of Hulk Hogan's debut match with the promotion on Sunday with a special tribute video via the WWE Network's Twitter account. The celebration comes with a few asterisks, Hogan wrestled as Terry Boulder for 25 matches earlier in the year when the promotion was still known as the Continental Wrestling Association, but this week did mark 40 years since he first competed in the World Wrestling Federation as Hulk Hogan. On Nov. 13, 1979, the future WWE Hall of Famer wrestled three matches during a taping of WWF Championship Wrestling at the Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The last of those three matches, which is featured in the clip below, was a three-minute victory over Harry Valdez. Hogan would win his first of six WWF/E Championships in January 1984 and would lead the WWF through a golden age of popularity throughout the rest of the decade.

Back in 2015 Hogan was stripped of his status as a WWE Hall of Famer and and all of his connections to the WWE severed after racist comments he made during a leaked sex tape made their way online. WWE then reinstated him into the company in July 2018 and gave an apology to the WWE locker room prior to the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Since then "The Hulkster" has appeared on WWE television numerous times including episodes of Raw and SmackDown, the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, WrestleMania 35 and, most recently, the Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia. Hogan served as the coach for a team of wrestlers opposite Ric Flair for a 10-man tag match. His team — comprised of Roman Reigns, Ricochet, Rusev, Mustafa Ali and Shorty G — came out on top.

Despite being 66 years old and having undergone numerous back surgeries, Hogan recently campaigned for one more match at WrestleMania 36, where he wants to take on 74-year-old Vince McMahon.

"I talked to Vince [McMahon], and I said I really don't know if I could live with myself knowing my last match was with TNA [Total Nonstop Action Wrestling]," Hogan told the Los Angeles Times. "If I can get fixed, I pray I can have one more match. I told Vince, 'When I get through this back surgery, I'm going to get in the best shape of my life and we're going to talk about me having one last retirement match.'"

"I'd love for it to be against Vince," Hogan said. "I had such a great time with him in the ring at WrestleMania 19. I had no idea what to expect from him, but he's a great bad guy. His timing is great. I loved wrestling him, but everything he does hurts. When you're in the ring with someone and they're hurting you, you kind of pinch them on the wrist, and the whole match I was doing that to Vince. I was like, 'Vince, take it easy!' Everything he does hurts, but I'd like to get in the ring with him one more time for my last match. That would be perfect."

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