The latest guest on Busted Open Radio was Greg Gagne, son of legendary promoter Verne Gagne, who shared the story of when Hulk Hogan quit the AWA and how Verne thought the Immortal One was just playing a prank on him. Highlights from the interview are below.
Recalls his father Verne receiving a letter from Hulk Hogan saying he was going to quit, but Verne thought it was a rib:
“Verne got a letter on December 21 from Tampa, Florida. It said, ‘I’m not coming back. Signed Hulk Hogan.’ Verne saw it, and he said, ‘Tampa, Florida, that damn Eddie Graham.’ Eddie and him used to play ribs on each other all the time. So Verne thought it was a rib, and he threw it away.”
How they reached out to Hogan during a show and found out that quitting was real:
“So Christmas night comes, St Paul’s sold out. Hogan doesn’t show up. I called him on the phone, I said, ‘Hey, big man, what are you doing? We’ve got matches down here.’ He says, ‘I’m gonna go with the WWE.’”
(H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)