'He lifted me up': Diamond Dallas Page on Hulk Hogan

(NewsNation) — In the mid-to-late 1990s, Hulk Hogan and World Championship Wrestling were warring World Wrestling Entertainment for wrestling supremacy successful the "Monday Night Wars."

Hogan (born Terry Bollea), who died Thursday, on with Diamond Dallas Page, were among the astir fashionable characters successful the institution and astatine 1 constituent helped WCW triumph the ratings warfare with WWE for 86 weeks. The 2 were adjacent successful a programme that featured Page teaming with "Tonight Show" big Jay Leno against Hogan and NBA fable Dennis Rodman.

Page, a WWE Hall of Famer and three-time WCW heavyweight champion, appeared connected "Elizabeth Vargas Reports" and said Hogan was the crushed helium had specified an illustrious vocation to statesman with.

"He was 1 of the guys who helped assistance maine up," said Page. "You person to understand, I didn't commencement wrestling until I was 35, and my vocation didn't instrumentality disconnected until I was 40.

"Hulk came up to maine precise aboriginal connected successful my career, and helium said, 'Whatever you're doing, brother, support doing it, due to the fact that it's not this twelvemonth oregon adjacent twelvemonth oregon the twelvemonth after, but determination down the line, I judge you person the quality to gully immense wealth with me.'"

Hulk Hogan was connected the aforesaid level arsenic Ali: Page

Under his iconic nickname "The Hulkster," Hogan gained popularity during the 1980s and became infamous for his agleam yellowish wrestling tights and his “Real American” taxable music. He won a WWE heavyweight title six times, coined the operation "Hulkamania" and became a cultural icon and entertainer whose theatrics brought wrestling into the mainstream.

"If you took a Q standing of radical who would beryllium recognizable, Muhammad Ali would beryllium close determination astatine the top, Hulk is not acold down him," Page said.

Page added that Hogan "paved the way" for the caller procreation of stars who are present performing connected Netflix and selling retired shows each crossed the globe.

"In our day, Hulk was a large prima successful the '80s, I came connected successful the '90s, and Hulk was an adjacent bigger prima successful the '90s. All antithetic records of being the apical guy, a apical performer successful our business," helium said.

"And everything started with Hulk, Hulk and Vince McMahon getting together. And they conscionable changed. They changed not conscionable the wrestling landscape, but the popular civilization landscape."

Dave Meltzer, a longtime wrestling journalist, relayed the aforesaid connection arsenic Page successful presumption of Hogan's iconic status.

"Hogan successful the '80s, helium was conscionable truthful recognizable," said Meltzer. "At the time, you had radical who were conscionable elephantine successful culture, Taylor Swift and radical similar that now. And helium was 1 of those people. Everyone knew him, everyone inactive knows him."

Hogan sent Page a loving substance earlier passing

Page emphatically said Hogan had a "heart of gold" and was "very giving" and was speedy to admit however arrogant helium was of others.

Page helped Butterbean, a celebrated 1990s boxer, with his DDP Yoga program, which drew praise from Hogan.

Diamond Dallas Page, Karl Malone, & Hulk Hogan during Press Conference for Bash astatine the Beach astatine Planet Hollywood successful Beverly Hills, California, United States. (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)

"And helium sent maine the astir loving substance astir however what I'm doing contiguous and helping people, and that he's just, he's very, helium was precise arrogant of me," Page acknowledged. "So we went backmost and distant with a mates of texts. I didn't speech to him, astir apt successful astir a year, I deliberation it was astir a twelvemonth we were doing WWE legends, and Hulk came successful with his wife, Sky, and we sat down, had a bully talk."

Hogan besides played a manus successful assisting the occurrence of galore others by creating relationships with Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Randy Savage and The Undertaker.