Hulk Hogan Choking Out Richard Belzer & The Lawsuit That Followed, Explained
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1985 was a big year for WWE. Vince McMahon had pooled all his resources into arranging one supercard by the name of WrestleMania and his biggest star at that time, Hulk Hogan, was the star attraction. The main event featured Hulk Hogan teaming up with Mr. T against the villainous duo of Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Yes, the same Mr. T from the third Rocky movie.
He was far from a savant inside the ring but had star power, which was good enough in the eyes of McMahon. Hogan and Mr. T, as the babyfaces, carried the duty of marketing the mega event. While they were making rounds in the lead-up to WrestleMania, a particularly gruesome incident led to Hogan being sued for five million dollars.
Hulk Hogan And Mr. T Were On A WrestleMania Promotional Tour
On March 27, 1985, mere days before the show, Hogan and Mr. T had an appearance book on the Hot Properties show hosted by comedian Richard Belzer. The interview started off well and Belzer directed most of his questions at Hogan.
The Hulkster was in character throughout the interview. Belzer even questioned Hogan why he was a bad guy before and Hogan said he was new and needed management from Freddie Blassie to smarten up, ut Hogan soon realized that all he needed were prayers, vitamins, and his Hulkamanaics.
Eventually, Belzer asked Hogan to perform a wrestling move on him. Mr. T, who had been sitting quietly all the time, spoke up and denied his request. Belzer, however, was insistent and repeatedly requested Hogan to try some wrestling moves on him. Hogan obliged.
A Front Chin Lock From Hulk Hogan Leaves Richard Belzer Unconscious
Do note that Hogan was clearly reluctant and even cautioned Belzer that the floor was hard and he might get hurt, but the crowd wanted to see, so Hogan was left with no other choice. Hulk Hogan applied a front chin lock to the host and Belzer passed out within a few seconds. According to Belzer, Hogan had told him to let him know if the hold was too much and while he did signal to Hogan that he was suffocating, the Hulkster did not notice as he was busy conversing with his tag-team partner.
Belzer then collapsed to the ground and his head hit the floor with an audible crack. Mr. T said something about Belzer taking a nap, but Hulk Hogan looked somewhat mortified as Belzer was legitimately unconscious, and he was not moving. There was an eerie silence in the room.
Hogan lightly slapped his face in order to wake him up and the host eventually regained consciousness. As soon as he was up, he cut to a commercial and then staggered off. There was a splatter of red on the floor and the wound on his head was constantly leaking out blood. Richard Belzer did not return after the commercial break was over and Hogan issued an apology to the people watching.
Still in his kayfabe character, Hogan said that he was used to training with professionals and warned the folks at home not to try this as wrestlers were trained professionals. Mr. T then praised Hogan as the champion of the world and said people shouldn’t be messing with him.
Mr. T even brought up David Schultz slapping a television reporter for a stupid question and made it clear that what they did was very real. And that was the end of the interview. The next week, Richard Belzer returned to Hot Properties and revealed that the wound on his head required a hundred stitches. Belzer then sued Hogan for personal injury.
Richard Belzer And Hulk Hogan Settled In Court
The case was heard at the New York Supreme Court, and while Belzer and Hogan reached an out-of-court settlement, the lawsuit continued on the issue of attorney fees. Belzer’s lawyers claimed that they were entitled to 50% of the settlement due to the "angst, aggravation, and life's blood" they had spent on the case.
Belzer argued against it and said that he did not agree with the additional fees. This led to his own lawyer calling him a "paradigm of ingratitude." The judge denied the request for the additional fees and the lawsuit, Belzer v. Bollea, became a precedent in relation to attorney contingent fees.
Belzer bought a farmhouse in France with the money and named this property Chez Hogan. WrestleMania was a booming success and the incident probably had a hand in that as Hogan certainly got a bunch of publicity. That being said, the whole show might have been canceled if Belzer suffered something more serious.
Never try this at home. Or during television talk shows.
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