The Hulkster has always been a kind of anti-hero to me – just far enough on the side of the good v. evil wrestling divide to be admirable,  not too goodie-goodie to be boring, and that touch of larrikin which says “I know that there’s a fair few of you out there who know that I ‘m taking the piss.”  I recently heard that he had just turned 60, another fine product of 1953.  Or perhaps it was Terry Bolea who turned 60, rather than Hulk Hogan – the benefit in having a stage name like Hulk maybe.

I wondered if he and I had anything else in common, besides our year of birth.  After some intensive research (being 15 minutes in Wikipedia and 5 more in biography.com) I’ve discovered that he and I have quite a few cross-overs.  Like these:

• He made his debut as a wrestler in the same year I made mine as a lawyer – 1977
• He has a son and a daughter from his first marriage
• He is semi-retired now
• He lives his life according to personal values .

Well, he calls them “demandments” rather than values.  The four Hulk demandments are training, saying prayers, eating vitamins and believing in oneself.

Of course, there are many more differences than similarities between us – e.g.

• I’m not 6 foot 7 inches and 135 kilos, and I don’t have 24 inch biceps
• I’ve never been inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame (or the lawyers’ one either, come to think of it)
• I’m pretty sure I couldn’t body-slam Andre the Giant
• My signature move is falling off my bike, rather than doing the Atomic Drop.

He might look a little one-domensional, but I reckon there are nevertheless some lessons to be learned from Hulk Hogan.  Live by your values is one, even if they don’t qualify as demandments.  Don’t let yourself go is another – the Hulk can still put on a show in the ring.  And give something back – meeting Hogan is one of the most requested “wishes” of the terminally ill children benefited by the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Cyndi Lauper recently turned 60 too, but that might be another story.