Before Hulk Hogan was a pop culture icon, he got his big break in Minnesota

Well, ya know somethin’ brother? Before Hulkamania ran wild all over MTV, Hulk Hogan was making a name for himself as a professional wrestler in Minnesota.

Hogan, who died Thursday at age 71, was hired by the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1981 after struggling to gain traction with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In two short years, he would make the switch from being a bad guy to becoming arguably the most beloved wrestler in the Midwest, testing out the traits that led him to become a pop culture icon in the 1980s.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was a larger-than-life presence who garnered mainstream appeal and became the best-known pro wrestler of his day. Later in life, though, he was known more for his legal battles, troubling racial issues and exaggerations while talking about his already wild career.

Yet one thing is true: Without his time in Minnesota, the Hulkster wouldn’t have become the face of pro wrestling that he was for decades.

The man behind Hulk Hogan was about five years into his wrestling career by the time he moved to Minnesota in 1981 at the invitation of Verne Gagne, the promoter and longtime AWA champion. Before he was Hulk Hogan, he wrestled as Sterling Golden and Terry “The Hulk” Boulder for several years in the eastern U.S., eventually landing with the New York-based WWF.

Then-WWF promoter Vince McMahon Sr. came up with the name Hulk Hogan, combining “The Hulk” with an appeal to Irish fans. A popular story says McMahon Sr. soured on Hogan for agreeing to be in “Rocky III” as Thunderlips, the wrestler who challenged Rocky Balboa in a charity match.

The story goes McMahon Sr. fired Hogan for trying to step outside the pro wrestling world on his own.

“He goes, ‘If you do that, you’re fired, and you’ll never work here again.’ I said, “OK, cool.’”

Minnesota wrestling historian George Schire disputes this account, however.

“When Hogan was here, it was a short time afterwards where he was Thunderlips in the movie,” Schire said. “That had nothing to do with the WWF at the time at all.”

He said Hogan was dissatisfied with his time in the WWF and approached Gagne to come to the AWA in Minnesota. When he came into the wrestling territory, he was still working as a “heel,” or a bad-guy wrestler.

At the time, the AWA held shows throughout the Upper Midwest, with key events in the Twin Cities, Milwaukee and Chicago. While Hogan’s size, muscles and blond look made the fans cheer rather than boo him, he wasn’t ready for the main events when he came in.

“(Graham) had a gift of gab that no other wrestler at that point had,” Schire said. “He was the influence for a guy like Hulk Hogan ... he admitted that ‘Superstar’ Graham was an idol. He loved the image, the character, and then Jesse Ventura later said the exact same thing.”

Hogan quickly became a wrestling favorite. The release and box office success of “Rocky III” cemented his star in the audience’s eyes. And fans were already starting to buy “Hulkamania” shirts, which Hogan was starting to rip off his body during interviews.

Hogan challenged several times for the AWA championship, but never captured the title. He came closest when he faced Nick Bockwinkle on April 18, 1982, at the St. Paul Civic Center.

Hogan won the match but was disqualified for throwing Bockwinkle over the top rope, a rules violation at the time. AWA President Stanley Blackburn threw out the decision, allowing Bockwinkle to keep the belt.

Hogan remained on top of the AWA for another year before leaving in controversial fashion for the WWF at the end of 1983.

McMahon had kept tabs on Hogan and planned to promote him as the WWF’s star. But Hogan was comfortably finding success in the AWA, where he was close to capturing the AWA championship and beating international stars like Antonio Inoki in Japan.

Hogan was advertised to wrestle his longtime nemesis, “Dr. D” David Schultz, at a Christmas show at the Civic Center. Shortly before bell time that day, Gagne received a telegraph from Hogan, saying he was jumping to the WWF.

“When (Gagne) asked why, Hogan said, ‘Vince McMahon has paid me to stay away, and I’m not going to come back to work in the AWA,’” Schire said. “That’s the true story.”

Hogan would also take Schultz and Okerlund, the announcer, with him to the WWF. A few weeks later, on Jan. 7, 1984, he defeated the Iron Sheik to capture the WWF championship, beginning his ascent to superstardom.

Hogan would return to Minnesota over the years as the biggest star in the WWF, but he made one more major wrestling impact in Minnesota in the 1990s.

WCW was owned by Ted Turner, who gave permission to TV executive Eric Bischoff (who also got his start in the AWA as an announcer) to run weekly wrestling shows against the WWF. Bischoff created “Monday Night Nitro,” which debuted Sept. 4, 1995, at the Mall of America.

That night, Hogan wrestled Big Bubba Rogers — later known as the Big Boss Man — and promoted his new Pastamania restaurant in the mall. WCW would dominate pro wrestling for several years in the ’90s before losing ground to the WWF amid mismanagement and money issues. WCW closed in 2001; McMahon bought the company and turned his own promotion into World Wrestling Entertainment.

Hogan returned to WWE soon after, wrestling for several years in the mid-2000s before hanging up his boots by 2010.

He was briefly banished from the WWE during the 2010s after racist remarks he made toward Black people came to light during his lawsuit against Gawker Media, but he had begun to be an ambassador for WWE once more in recent years.

His last televised appearance with the WWE was in January of this year on the debut episode of “WWE Raw” on Netflix.