NJPW holds ceremony honoring Hulk Hogan

Shortly after WWE’s tribute to Hulk Hogan on SmackDown, another promotion on the other side of the world honored him with their own 10-bell salute.

NJPW — where Hogan was a superstar in the 1980s along with the success he had in the United States — held a memorial ceremony for Hogan prior to the start of Saturday’s G1 Climax event in Tokyo. Company president Hiroshi Tanahashi and former referee Tiger Hattori stood in the ring with a picture honoring Hogan. The roster surrounded them at ringside for a 10-bell salute.

Backstage, Hattori spoke about his history with Hogan — which dates back to before Hogan even entered the wrestling business.

“Personally, I can’t believe it. It was too soon, to be honest,” Hattori said about Hogan’s death. “Before he became a professional wrestler, I lived in Tampa, Florida for 17 years, and Hogan’s mother happened to live near my house. So I was about 17 when I first met him. I was in my second year of high school or something like that.

“So I was teaching amateur wrestling at Hiro Matsuda’s gym. He came there as a student, but after about six months he broke his leg. I thought he had disappeared, but then he started coming back. After a while he went to Georgia to make his debut, and then he came back to his hometown of Tampa.”

Hattori remembered Hogan as a wrestler he had a lot of respect for.

“He was definitely outstanding, more than your average wrestler. He was big in size, but I don’t know, I think he was just a little different,” Hattori said. “He had such great success so it’s sad that he passed away so early, but I have a lot of respect for him as a professional wrestler.

“I bet he’s up there again wrestling in heaven. We’ve lost a truly wonderful person. I hope we’ll see another wrestler like him. I want to say thank you for all the great times we had.”

Hogan first wrestled for NJPW in 1980 and competed for the promotion until 1985 before returning in the early 1990s. He returned again in 2003 for his final NJPW match, facing Masahiro Chono.

The 71-year-old Hogan died on July 24 of cardiac arrest after weeks of complications stemming from a neck fusion surgery.