WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart recently sat down with ESPN.com to discuss WWE’s new “Legends of WrestleMania” video game. During the interview, the Hitman discusses a number of topics, including the rocky atmosphere in the WWE during early 1990’s, his favorite WrestleMania match, his beef with Shawn Michaels and more. It’s a long interview, but one that’s worth reading.

Bret said things changed drastically in the WWE when they started drug testing in 1992 and made the transition from muscle heads (e.g. Hogan, Warrior, Legion of Doom) to the “workers” (Bret, Shawn Michaels, Marty Janetty). When asked whether he was upset that Hulk Hogan never gave him a match at WrestleMania, he replied:

Bret Hart: I just thought that somebody preempted my run. For somebody like Hulk Hogan, when he was on his run, nobody preempted it. Everyone was happy to make him. But when I needed some of the bigger guys to make me, especially some of the bigger names like Jake Roberts or Ultimate Warrior or Hogan, when it came to passing the torch down and doing me a favor…I had always been loyal, working my ass off on their undercards and I was always respectful of those guys and paid my dues, but I always felt short changed by some of those guys who didn’t do anything to help me. And that was a critical time in the business. The wrestling business back then was kind of like the stock market right now. There were some tough times business-wise, and everyone was fearful of the future, especially after they implemented the drug testing. But they handed me the ball, and back then I was only six feet tall, I wasn’t a giant, I didn’t have 24-inch arms, and I wasn’t a good interview. Then all of a sudden I found myself carrying the torch at a tough time and trying my hardest.

Hart continued, “If you look at wrestling when I started to get my big break back in 1992, I changed wrestling from the cartoons of Hulk Hogan and Iron Sheik and the matches with the leg drop and the hand behind the ear and the playing to the crowd. They were just cartoon characters if you ask me. Hogan had the same match every night for years and so did Warrior. They didn’t tell great stories, to be honest. I went out there and had those matches with Piper and Perfect and the match with Davey at Wembley. I went out there and tried to have great matches all the time, and it wasn’t about Bret Hart, it was about these matches. I think I changed the style of wrestling, and even today, there’s not another Hulk Hogan out there, it’s guys like Edge, and it’s all about work rate. When you see Bret Hart versus Steve Austin, it just seemed so much more real than Hulk Hogan versus Sgt. Slaughter. All of the storylines started to be more realistic and the belt started to mean more. I made the belt seem like the world to me and to my fans. I kind of pat myself on the back today and think that I did more good for professional wrestling than people realize.”

Hulk Hogan In the Ring

According to USA Today, Hulk Hogan recently asked a judge to grant him access to the $300,000 frozen assets from his divorce with Linda. He has $410,000 available and his bills are $312,000. As previously reported, Hogan recently underwent back surgery and with no deal in place for WrestleMania 25, there are no major paydays in his immediate future. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday regarding the request.

Yikes, you know the economy is in bad shape when the Hulkster is in trouble.

During Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show on February 18th, a caller asked Bubba if Hulk Hogan would be appearing at WrestleMania 25 since a number of WrestleMania moment clips on WWE television seem to feature him.

We know what you’re thinking, strange question to ask a sponge… but as it turns out, Bubba is NOT a sponge. In fact, not only is he a person, Bubba is one of Hulk Hogan’s best friends. So that’s why a caller would ask The Sponge.

So what was Bubba’s response?
Bubba said he knew why WWE was running the clips, but could not comment at this time. For a guy who spends his life talking, his silence on the matter should spark even more speculation on “The Hulkster” appearing at WrestleMania 25.

So who knows what The Hulk is up to. We’ll just have to wait and see.

“All of a sudden, Vince McMahon raised his ugly head and thought we were threatening his company and he’s been doing everything he can to shut us down,” Hogan told the radio station. “We’re just a reality show.”

Hogan said he was intitially worried the celebrities wouldn’t take wrestling seriously because they were paid upfront, but he had a positive experience so far.

Hogan claimed even the great Regis Philbin inquired about being on the series when it was first announced, and now people from “all of the major companies” are calling wanting to be part of Celebrity Championship Wrestling.

Hogan mostly hyped CCW during the interview, but he did find time to take a shot at Triple H and WWE. When asked about the wrestling business’ history of exposing its inner workings, Hogan said McMahon smartened up the public in the 80s when he said pro wrestling isn’t a real sport, and then created the Tough Enough series on MTV. However, Hogan believes the worst offense of exposing the business is Vince McMahon keeping the WWE Title on Triple H for so many years, and that it exposes the wrestling business more than Celebrity Championship Wrestling does. “The biggest expose is putting the World Title on your son-in-law for the last five or six years,” Hogan said. “That’s probably the biggest expose I’ve ever seen keeping Triple H as champion.” Triple H has taken a number of unwarranted shots at Hogan over the years (usually when Hogan’s been out of favor with Vince), even though Hogan was mostly positive when talking about him.

And after all that, Hogan still found more to hype up, saying he will be in New York this weekend with Steve Austin doing promotional work for liveautographs.com, which films celebrities signing merchandise that customers are buying to authenticate the merchandise.

You can listen to the entire interview here.

Linda Hogan’s 19-year-old boyfriend Charley Hill tried to get a restraining order against Wrestling Superstar Hulk Hogan, but even a Florida court doesn’t believe Hulk is out to get Charlie and has subsequently denied the request.

Charley has claimed Hulk “dangerously followed” him in his car a couple weeks ago and “pulled up next to him and stared at him” at a stoplight – but as far as we know, that’s not a crime in any state.

Charley says he “fears [Hogan] will attempt to injure or kill him” because Linda is his girlfriend. The aspiring seaman also claims Hulk tailgated him and intimidated him on another occasion, and thinks Hulk is even more dangerous because he had weapons charges against him in 1979.

Hulk’s Hogan’s lawyer David Houston tells TMZ.com, “This is just another blatant attempt by Linda Hogan to try to defame Hulk Hogan’s character. We commend the judge on seeing through this ridiculous stunt and denying these baseless claims.”

Could Ric Flair really be lacing up his boots once again?

After an amazing sendoff at WrestleMania earlier this year, Ric Flair is rumored to be considering stepping back into the ring.

During a question and answer session with fans at a 1PW event in Great Britain last weekend, Ric Flair admitted that he is considering a return to the ring. Flair claimed that his retirement from wrestling only applies to the United States and Europe, and he has stated that he is in talks with promoters in Japan regarding some potentially big money matches with wrestlers such as Great Muta and Masa Chono.

Flair stated that while part of him would like to do the matches, he’s conflicted because of his promise to Shawn Michaels that Wrestlemania XXIV would be his final wrestling match.

For what its worth, Hulk Hogan did a radio interview up in Rochester, New York: and spoke about Ric Flair’s retirement. Hogan said that it was a great storyline but he doesn’t think we have seen the last of Ric Flair in the ring.

For those of you have any interest at all left for the former great Hulk Hogan’s life, We’ve just heard that Hulk Hogan and Linda Hogan (aka Linda Bollea) have come to an agreement earlier today regarding how the couple will temporarily split their assets as their divorce goes forward. In short, the agreement decreed:

Linda will receive $40,000 a month in temporary alimony over the next year.
Hulk will take $500,000 out of their combined assets.
Hulk will be allowed to withdraw up to $400,000 to cover legal costs involved in Nick Hogan’s criminal defense.
Linda Bollea gets use of one home, while Hulk gets use of the other.
The couple will have to copy and provide the other any mail addressed to the couple.
The couple will temporarily split their vehicles during the divorce proceedings.

And finally, the court has also allowed Hulk Hogan out of a previous agreement that he would have to put money into a proposed Las Vegas condo for Linda.

Can’t wait to see what’s next for the soon to be no-longer-couple.

Stacy Keibler spoke to The National Ledger about her new work on the upcoming “Samurai Girl” mini-series and how she has done all her own stunts. “I did all my own stunts, and I had just an amazing time,” says the amazing Keibler, who just finished shooting the 6 hour mini that airs Sept. 5-7.

“I got there early, and I was taught martial arts and to use the sword for a while before we even got into any of the choreography. Every day I wasn’t working, I was training, but for me it came very naturally with my wrestling background and dancing.”

And as for the Hogans:
Apparently there’s been a lot going on between Linda Hogan / Linda Bollea and her new 19 year-old boyfriend lately. Celeb gossip blog Hellarious.com tells us “The 47-year-old cougar hosted a party for [her boyfriend] Charlie on May 24th so she could meet his friends, who ended up stealing a bunch of pictures and valuables. The Enquirer reports that Charlie has been heard bragging to his friends about how he’s taking her for every penny he can get… what a shocker.” The article also quotes someone close to the situation who goes into somewhat graphic detail about their sex life and has some pictures of the couple together.

In Brooke Hogan’s blog, the daughter of WWE Wrestling Legend’s Hulk Hogan lashed out at the general media in her latest Myspace blog following reports that she skipped her brother Nick Bollea’s 18th birthday celebration in jail. “Here’s how stupid and inaccurate the media can be…” she wrote. “They must have thought I didn’t show cause they didn’t see me. Uh…there’s such thing as a back door, you jerks.
She goes on with:

“In conclusion…That goes to show you that you can’t believe anything you watch on TV or read in magazines. Cause people will make up BS without even knowing the facts. Hey Media! Why don’t you gather facts, check them, and then give the public the truth? That might work. Oh no…I forgot. You make too much money telling lies.”

So there you go. The Media just sucks… Thank goodness for folks like Brooke Hogan to set everyone straight.

The Hulkster himself was recently interview by a reporter from Tampa Bay’s 10 station regarding the “total insanity” that has become his life. The highlights of the interview are below.

Hulk Hogan on married life with Linda Bollea: I think the first few years we were cool, for me, I hung in there forever because of the kids, some people say that’s the wrong thing to do.

Apologizing for the jail tape comments: Am I sorry the tapes were released? Yes. Do I apologize? Yes. Did I say things with an edge? Yes. Did I say things incorrectly? Yes. Are you sad that the media construed that as a mean spirit or callous spirit that didn’t exist. The public has a hot and cold button. They know me.

Why his marriage ended: I think the marriage ended because we grew apart. I think the first few years we were cool, for me, I hung in there forever because of the kids, some people say that’s the wrong thing to do.

On Linda’s 19-year-old boyfriend: It’s just such a weird scenario – a 50 year-old woman dating a 19 year-old boy. None of us understand it. If there’s something there we’re missing then I understand, but it’s really off the wall.

So who’s side are you on? Hulk, Linda, or is it time to stop paying attention to the ex-wrestler?