Weird Internet: Hulk Hogan’s Pasta Restaurant

You're probably familiar with Hulk Hogan. The man was an iconic figure of the 1980s as the Hulkster, the All-American, muscle-bound, red-and-yellow (and sprayed orange) king of professional wrestling. In the 1990s, he was just as iconic as a bad guy, a founding member of the nWo faction in WCW, one of the reasons professional wrestling hit such incredible highs (in fandom, cultural relevance, and most importantly, revenue) at the close of the century.

You might also know him from such films as Santa With Muscles and Suburban Commando. Okay, you probably don't know him from such films as Santa With Muscles and Suburban Commando.

But he's a man of many talents; in the 1990s, when he wasn't using his political power within the wrestling industry to suppress the careers of up-and-coming young stars, he was busy opening failed attempts at restaurants like Pastamania at the Mall of America!

Yes, that's right. Pastamania on the first episode of WCW's flagship (and soon-to-be dominant, and then soon-to-be catastrophic) program Monday Nitro.

The best part? A segment featuring Hulk Hogan talking about how he's going to beat Big Bubba Rogers (a/k/a the Big Bossman) in the main event because he's eaten his Hulk-a-Roos and has "Pastamania running through [his] brain" would have been perhaps the most logical and coherent thing on an episode of Monday Nitro just a few years later.

Pastamania lasted less than a year.

If you'd like to read about the insane, unbelievable, and completely captivating story of WCW's rise (and way more interesting fall), I highly recommend The Death of WCW by RD Reynolds.