Why Hulk Hogan Matters By David Shoemaker

When it comes to book covers, David Shoemaker's 'Why Hulk Hogan Matters' has possibly one of the best to come along in quite some time. After all, it has the Hulkster in all his red and yellow glory from back in the day.

That, unfortunately, is where my praise ends. Never judge a book by its cover. And all that.

I was aware of David Shoemaker before I picked up a Kindle copy of 'Why Hulk Hogan Matters'. I've found his writing style to be slick, words flow superbly. Just a few important things, though: Shoemaker's research and knowledge of wrestling history is lacking. Incredibly.

There are countless inaccuracies in this work. I genuinely don't know where to begin. I've read other readers claim 'Why Hulk Hogan Matters' could have been written with the use of Artificial Intelligence. Going by how I noticed errors with AI when I used it to fact check some research I did for Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annuals (cheap plug!), I can understand that suggestion.

Giving Shoemaker the benefit of the AI doubt would mean he's a dreadful researcher and wrestling historian.

If your task is to write about Hulk Hogan's career, you should know Hogan's last major match, before heading to WCW the following year, was a losing effort to Yokozuna in Dayton, Ohio at WWF King of the Ring 1993.

Shoemaker informs his readers the loss occurred in an untelevised bout in Japan. Completely untrue. 

Then there are blips stating that Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior had their  first altercation - to set up their WrestleMania bout - at the 1992 Royal Rumble. That was off by two years because WrestleMania VI occurred in 1990.

Anyone who follows the 'sport' at Shoemaker's level should know that.

Then there's little things like stating Bob Backlund returned to the WWF as a heel in the 1990s. He didn't. Backlund's 1992 comeback was as a babyface before turning heel a couple of years into that run. There's a claim 'Macho Man' Randy Savage joined World Championship Wrestling before Hulk Hogan's arrival. That's false as well - Savage's WCW debut came in late 1994. The Macho Man's opening angle for the company was whether he would slap Hogan's face or shake the WCW Champion's hand at Starrcade 1994.

The following note was equally annoying.

As you can see, it claimed Hulk Hogan returned to WWE in 2002 after the company was forced to change its name, from the WWF, following a legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund. 

That isn't how it went. Hogan arrived back in the WWF during February of 2002. The WWF changed its moniker to WWE in May of that very same year. Not 2001.

A concerning thing about such a book being out there on shelves is that it creates a false history of Hulk Hogan. Newcomers aren't going to get the accurate story. Ironically, Hogan himself would distort his own history with tall tales about himself. Shoemaker fails to sieve truth from Hogan's fiction. He piles on more through inept research and knowledge.

⭐/5

Week Zero 2026

My evening of American college football will look like this:

North Carolina versus TCU from 5pm BST followed by NC State's visit to Virginia from 8:30pm.

The former will be played at Dublin's Aviva Stadium as part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

In a follow up to Tuesday's Post, I came across some good news when I was looking for the list of games for Disney Plus' coverage of college football.

We're currently in 'Week Zero' of the season. The full schedule of games will kick off next week. The streaming platform has some of next week's fixtures on the menu and - lo and behold - there it was. 

Disney+ is planning to air the Texas Longhorns' home opener against Texas State. This game will kick off at 8:30pm a week from tonight.

I was worried I wouldn't catch any of the Longhorns' matches in 2026. I gave out a legit yip of joy upon seeing the game 

Looks like I have to make sure the Texas t-shirt is ready for Saturday. 

A Fake Disney Plus Email Scam

I received an email from Disney Plus the other day. 

Nay, strike that: I thought I received an email from Disney Plus the other day.

The email indicated that there was an issue with my payment. I believed it to be genuine because - a few weeks ago - I signed up for a year of Uber One. A benefit of signing up for Uber's subscription service is I get a year of Disney Plus along with it.

(I only signed up for Uber One to get Disney Plus but that's a subplot to this story).

I assumed the payment issue might have had something to do with the Uber subscription. That's why it ALMOST got me. 

The email address of the sender is the only thing which made me realise how close I was to clicking on the button in front of me.

I fear for those who potentially could turn out to be one step slower than me in a similar situation. It was a very close call for yours truly. The nearest I've been to falling for a scam in recent memory. 

Be on guard! 

Tim Curry Passes Away

Another celebrity death was in the news yesterday.

Following Dolly Parton's passing comes Tim Curry.

I suppose the first time I ever came across Curry was when I watched Annie as a child. I got to watch it a fair deal back then because it was one of the titles my uncle rented out from his video store back in the early 80s. My uncle is linked with another Tim Curry memory as well because, this time in the 1990s, we were at my aunt and uncle's home one summer and watched the miniseries of Stephen King's It over two nights when it first aired on Sky.

Curry's portrayal of Pennywise the clown was brill. I haven't seen the newer It movies, nor Welcome to Derry, so I cannot comment on the current version of the monster. 

Before I click 'Publish', I should point out one regret I have from this morning. I should have put these socks on today:

They're of Tim Curry's version of Pennywise. I first wrote about them in THIS POST from 2023. You'll find that, of the eight  pairs if socks - with horror movie characters on them - the 1990 Pennywise one is likely the best of the bunch. 

Dolly Parton Passes Away

Obviously, the biggest news of the past day is the fact that Dolly Parton has passed away.

Parton transcended country music, so it has been unsurprising to see all the outpouring of grief, tributes and everything in between since learning of the star's passing.

I though the way Dolly Parton orchestrated how her death would be announced was classy. She gave the job to her nephew - Bryan Seaver - who delivered the news in a moving video. To be fair, Parton couldn't have picked a better representative to do such an honour.

DAZN's NCAA UK Prices For 2026

Last week, I pointed out that it looks like Disney Plus is set to stream some NCAA College Football games during the 2026 season. There is an additional update to the UK coverage.

DAZN has released information about its upcoming coverage for the year. Unlike 2025, after the streaming platform secured rights to air the games, customers will now have to pay to watch.

That's fair. DAZN is a business. Last year was an obvious one-off. However, I am in a mindset where I am leaning on the Disney+ option because I already subscribe to Mickey Mouse. 

With that said, I expect DAZN to offer a superior line-up of games. Also - I won't get to keep up with the Texas Longhorns games as I have done in previous years. That's the prime annoyance with this situation. 

Disney Plus it is. 

For now?

What are DAZN's packages and prices for the upcoming 2026 college football season?

Ultimate (£10.99 a month or £119.99 a year as of 25th August 2026)

• Over 20 college football games per week, plus the CFB playoffs and National Championship
• Over 20 college basketball games per week plus March Madness
• Multiview - watch up to 4 NCAA games at once
• Highlights and full game replays on demand
• College GameDay 
• Stream on 5 devices in 2 locations
• Download on the go

Standard (£8.99 a month or £99.99 a year as of 25th August 2026 )

• Over 20 college football games per week, plus the CFB playoffs and National Championship
• Over 20 college basketball games per week plus March Madness
• College GameDay
• Highlights and full game replays on demand
• Stream on 2 devices in 1 location
• Download on the go

Remembering Rovert

A person I've known online for at least twenty years passed away last week. His service is today, so I thought I would share some words now before he sends me a spiritual late slip.

We weren't friends. In fact, at one point early on, we had a heated discussion on a message board which used up a lot of useless energy for both of us. In those twenty years of knowing Rovert (Trevor backwards), I learned it wasn't abnormal for him to fight his point to exhaustion.

So, yes - we weren't buddies. However, a year or so after that initial squabble, we both found ourselves chatting in a private as we both waited on delivery of the special edition High Spots DVD of a Ric Flair shoot interview. 

I'd like to think our similar experiences of waiting for our respective parcels to arrive at our homes, his in Ireland and mine in Wales, settled any beef that lingered. I came away thinking along the lines of 'he's okay when you're one-on-one with him'.

We never argued about anything after that. Granted, we never spoke in private message ever again, but we did so occasionally in front of the social media world to see.

Most of it wasn't even about wrestling.  Of the few I can think of, I recall talking about Spar supermarkets (Ireland's one in Dublin looks so posh compared to the ones I've been in), Lenovo laptops and... Morrissey and or The Smiths!

As an online presence, Rovert (Trevor Woodhouse) leaves behind a controversial history. A lot have glowing memories of their experiences with him. Others not so much. 

From now on, I'll look back and think of my encounters as a coin. On one side there was that sole squabble. Then, on the other, there are the intelligent - positive - communications I had with him.

I'm sure that, if I were to toss this figurative coin hundreds of times, the better side would  win out the most often.

Best wishes to Rovert's friends and family members.