Hulk Hogan returning to WWE to host ‘WrestleMania 30’

Hulk Hogan, arguably the most famous wrestler ever to grace the WWE’s mat, is coming back to the ring. His first WWE appearance in seven years will be Monday, Feb. 24, on “Raw” on the USA Network and on “WWE Raw Backstage Pass” on the newly launched WWE Network. Monday is the first night of the subscription-based wrestling streaming video service.

After that, he’ll be back again. This time as host of WWE’s “WrestleMania 30” to be held April 6 in New Orleans.

The man who gave the world “Hulkamania” in the 1980s hasn’t been part of a televised WWE event since 2007, when he appeared on the 15th anniversary of “Monday Night Raw.”

While the 60-year-old semi-retired pro wrestler is billed only as host of the event, anyone want to guess if some outrageousness will transpire and the elder statesman of wrestling will be forced to jump in the ring?

BEST TV OF 2013 Lloyd | McNamara

In a statement, Hogan asked rhetorically, “Whatcha gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild as the host of ‘WrestleMania 30’?”

It’s a question all of us would do well to think long and hard about.

Hogan is a six-time WWE champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

For a time in the 1990s, he left the WWE and joined its chief competitor, World Championship Wrestling, in 1994. There he briefly became a bad-guy wrestler, or “heel,” and renamed himself Hollywood Hogan.

He returned to the WWE in 2002. In 2005, he starred in the reality TV series “Hogan Knows Best,” which chronicled the misadventures of his real-life family. That show ran for four seasons on VH1 before getting a spinoff starring his daughter, Brooke. “Brooke Knows Best” premiered in 2008 and ran for two seasons.

Here’s hoping there will be shirt-ripping aplenty.

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