Hulk Hogan Claims He Started Entrance Music Trend

Hulk Hogan has added another colorful chapter to his long history of exaggerated storytelling.

Appearing on the Try That in a Small Town podcast, the wrestling legend suggested that he was the one who introduced the concept of entrance music to professional wrestling.

Here’s Hogan’s full quote:

“But the cool thing about it was, they told me no music. So I went to the sound guy. I said, ‘The hell with this. Eye of The Tiger, crank it.’ I gave him 500 bucks. When that music started, that [hums guitar riff] the roof of the place blew off. Then I told Vince, I said, ‘Man, I’ve been selling merchandise, T-shirts, headbands, hats, koozies and wristbands and making a ton of money doing it, because nobody else is.’ Vince picked up on it real quick, and it just took off and then everybody wanted entrance music. So Jimmy Hart sat up all night, most nights, writing entrance music for all the wrestlers.”

While Hogan’s charisma and star power were undeniable during the peak of the Hulkamania era, the idea that he originated the use of entrance music doesn’t exactly hold up under scrutiny.

The use of entrance themes predates Hogan by several decades — Mildred Burke and Gorgeous George were using music for their entrances as far back as the 1950s. In WWE, it’s believed that Sgt. Slaughter was the first to consistently use entrance music in the late 1970s.

Even in Hogan’s own era, other wrestlers were already paving the way. The Road Warriors famously used Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” as their theme long before Hogan ever walked through the curtain to “Eye of the Tiger.”

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Over in WCCW, The Fabulous Freebirds were innovating with their self-produced anthem “Badstreet USA,” while the Von Erichs entered to songs by Rush.

As with many of Hogan’s stories, there’s a sliver of truth beneath the bluster. He did play a major role in popularizing entrance music on a national scale, and his association with “Real American” remains iconic. But inventing it? That’s a claim better left in the realm of Hulkster folklore.