Back in 1984, there was a notorious incident between pro-wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan and TV host Richard Belzer live on the set of the latter’s Lifetime talk show, Hot Properties. It left viewers wondering whether what they saw was real or a hoax. Spoiler: it was very much the former.
Hogan had been joined by actor Mr.T on the show to promote their tag-team match at the first-ever Wrestlemania event, but Belzer managed to get under the skin of his guests with his antagonistic line of questioning. Hogan later recalled that even before they got on stage, Belzer had been quizzing him about whether pro-wrestling was fake – a subject that was far more taboo then than it is now. WWF wrestlers were at the time under strict orders from their boss Vince McMahon not to discuss it.
When the cameras started rolling, the tension between Hogan, Mr. T, and Belzer was already evident. It only ramped up further when the host poked fun at them, and then said to Hogan, Oh, so you think you’re a tough guy? Put me in one of your wrestling holds.
Despite his temper rising, the pro-wrestling star was initially reluctant, but when Belzer continued goading him, Hogan quickly changed his mind and decided to apply what he describes as a front chin lock. These days it.s best known as a Guillotine choke.
By the time I grabbed hold of Belzer’s head I was pumped to the eyeballs with adrenaline, Hogan recalls in his autobiography, Hollywood Hulk Hogan. I reached in, cinched up, and gave him about five pounds of pressure. And I felt his body go totally limp. I thought, I’d better let him go. But instead of letting him down gently like I should have, I panicked and let him go all at once.
Hogan aptly describes the unconscious Belzer as hitting the ground, like a wet noodle and banging his head off the hardwood floor, which would lead to several stitches for a head wound.
After a few seconds, Belzer reawakened and bizarrely sprung back to his feet and quickly wrapped up the segment as if nothing had happened, which led to some suspecting this was all a set-up. However, as he turns around blood could be seen leaking from his head wound, and the following week on his show Belzer insisted the incident had been real.
He wasn’t joking. Hogan has since revealed that Belzer attempted to sue him for $5 million. However, after several months of legal wrangling, they settled privately for a $500,000 sum.
Belzer, who would later go on to star in the Homicide: Life On The Streets and Law And Order: Special Victims Unit TV shows, revealed in an interview years later that he bought a farmhouse in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France with the money, and jokingly called it, Chez Hogan. Belzer passed away there on February 19, 2023, at age 78, from circulatory and respiratory conditions. His friend Bill Scheft reported that Belzer’s last words were: “F*** you, motherf***er!”.
