\t![\"Dennis](\"https:\/\/www.remindmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hulk-Hogan-Celeb-Wrstlng_0908_1-1014x570.jpg\")
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Ron Jaffe\/CMT <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
In 2008, iconic wrester Hulk Hogan<\/a> \u2014 who died on July 24, 2025, at age 71 \u2014 was doing what he loved best, outside of the wrestling ring: looking for another way to reinvent himself, while giving others a leg up. His relationship with WWE<\/a> was tenuous, but he\u2019d just defeated Paul Wight<\/a> (best known as The Big Show) in a high-profile indie match for Memphis Wrestling. His popular VH1 series Hogan Knows Best<\/a><\/i> ended due to family troubles, but his hosting gig on the extreme amateur athletic competition American Gladiators<\/a> was going gangbusters. Hogan considered retiring from the ring because he thought sports-entertainment had gone soft, but he thought he could do something about that. Enter Hulk Hogan\u2019s Celebrity Wrestling Championship<\/i>.<\/p>\n The CMT\u00a0reality show, brainchild of Hogan and his former WCW boss Eric Bischoff<\/a>, pitted Hulk\u2019s two best pals, Brutus \u201cThe Barber\u201d Beefcake and Brian \u201cNasty Boy\u201d Knobbs, against each other to turn faded celebs into top-tier wrestlers. Despite what serious wrestling fans may have thought about this seemingly kooky offering from a group wrestling business titans, \u201cit raises the bar of wrestling,\u201d Hogan told ReMIND\u2019s sister publication<\/a>, Channel Guide Magazine, at the time. \u201cOur first shot out of the cannon was to work with celebrities, to go back to the art form of wrestling and not just hire the next John Cena<\/a> lookalike that might wrestle like a robot. \u2026 [to] show them what the real life, the real bumps and bruises of wrestling is all about. It also gives us an open door that, if everybody loved the show, we can bring all different kinds of people into wrestling.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if they weren\u2019t wrestling fans, the show was a treat for fans of classic TV. Among the roster of wrestlers in the making? Bewitched<\/a><\/i>\u2018s own Tabitha, Erin Murphy<\/a>; The Partridge Family<\/a><\/i>\u2018s, Danny Bonaduce<\/a>; Different Strokes<\/i>\u2018 Willis Jackson, Todd Bridges<\/a>; and the late Dustin Diamond<\/a>, who played Screech on Saved By the Bell.<\/i> Joining them in the competition were showboating former NBA star Dennis Rodman<\/a>, Road Rules<\/a><\/i> star Trishelle Cannatella<\/a>, \u201980s pop princess Tiffany<\/a>, Sly Stallone\u2019s little brother Frank, DJ Bubba the Love Sponge, pro boxer Eric \u201cButterbean\u201d Esch, and Nikki Ziering, former Playboy Playmate, Price Is Right<\/i> model and wife of Beverly Hills 90210<\/a><\/i> star Ian Ziering<\/a>.<\/p>\nFrom Dennis Rodman to Danny Partridge<\/h2>\n