Based on what I’ve seen in the wrestling industry, it appears many of the wrestlers have lied about their height. This seems particularly true regarding wrestlers that have ever been associated with the WWE. It seems as though this is also true in Hollywood, where actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger are criticized for lying about height and packing their shoes to raise height in a false way.
My dad enjoyed lifting weights his whole life and was even a Mr. Michigan bodybuilder. As you can imagine, my dad lifted weights in a lot of different gyms. Every once in a while my dad said professional wrestlers would come into the gyms. My dad always told me Hulk Hogan was about 6’3” tall. I didn’t want to believe my dad, because I was a big fan of Hulk Hogan.
As a kid, I had a wrestling card that said Hulk Hogan stood 6’8” tall. And in the movie Rocky III, Hulk Hogan played the role of a character named Thunder Lips. The announcer introduced Thunder Lips by telling the audience he stood “Nearly seven feet.” 6’8” tall was close enough to 7’ to keep me happy. Plus, Hulk Hogan really was far taller than Sylvester Stallone. But, as a kid, I didn’t know Stallone stood only 5’8” tall in real life.
A later wrestling card of Hollywood Hulk Hogan listed his height as 6’7” tall. I mentioned this to my dad and he said he didn’t care what that card said, he had seen Hulk Hogan in the gym before and he knew the guy was about 6’3” tall. My dad stood 6’2” tall and he said Hulk Hogan was only a little taller than him.
Here is where things get interesting. Troy Aikman is a former NFL Quarterback; we know he stands 6’4” tall. When you see Troy Aikman next to Hulk Hogan in commercials for Rent-a-Center, you can clearly see Troy Aikman is about one inch taller than Hulk Hogan. After all those years, I finally saw proof my dad was right! This also shows the Internet Movie Database is not a reliable source, because it currently lists Hulk Hogan’s height as 6’4.5” tall while Troy Aikman is listed as only 6’4” tall.
I later saw Hulk Hogan as a guest on Larry King, and I was surprised to see this issued discussed. Hulk Hogan told Larry King that at one point he did stand 6’7” tall, but currently stands 6’4” tall. Hogan said the reason why he lost height is because of several surgeries to his body, including two discs removed from his spine.
In theory, Hogan’s excuse for losing height seems valid to me. I have a cousin and a friend who both lost two inches from their height because of motorcycle accidents where two spinal discs were removed. But my dad told me Hulk Hogan was 6’3” in the 90’s, before these surgeries occurred and before these wrestling cards were printed. Also, the Rent-a-Center commercials show Hulk Hogan appears to be shorter than the 6’4” Troy Aikman.
Hulk Hogan is not alone when it comes to lying about heights. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a wrestler whose height was listed as 6’5.” This seemed reasonable, since Dwayne Johnson played football for the University of Miami in college, where his height was listed as 6’5.” But when Hulk Hogan wrestled The Rock, we clearly saw Hogan was noticeably taller. Of all the universities participating in football, one of the worst known for violating rules and being penalized for it is the University of Miami. In other words, it wouldn’t be surprising if Dwayne Johnson lied about his height in college. If you look at the Internet Movie Database, Dwayne Johnson’s height is listed at 6’4” right now (looks like someone may have lied to try and cheat someone else out of a college scholarship).
Recently, I received several emails from TNA wrestling. I was invited backstage to meet some of the wrestlers. Hulk Hogan wasn’t there, so I can’t verify his height relative to mine. However, I can tell you there definitely are some problems with the way several professional wrestlers claim to be certain heights.
Based on my observations, it appears the height of a wrestler is dependant on which large organization the wrestler first billed his height. For example, Rob Van Dam is currently listed as 6’ 0” tall, which I believe is accurate. This is probably because RVD was originally billed as 6’ 0” tall. But Jeff Jarrett is currently billed as 6’1” tall by TNA, which is definitely wrong! At best, Jeff Jarrett is 5’10” tall, as the Internet Movie Database currently lists him at.
I believe this may have to do with the fact that the WWF originally said Jeff Jarrett was 6’1” tall. From that point on, Jeff Jarrett was obligated to bill himself as 6’1” tall. This form of exaggeration was something the WWF could get away with because they did it with all athletes. The Ultimate Warrior was billed as 6’4” tall, but really was only 6’1” tall (even though the Internet Movie Database says he is 6’3” tall). Hulk Hogan was billed as 6’8” tall, but was obviously shorter. Andre the Giant was bill as 7’4” tall, but really stood only 6’10” tall.
Once these wrestlers switch from one organization to another, those lies come back to haunt them. I want to show you a couple pictures which prove my point. I stand just under 6’3” tall with my shoes on, so keep that in mind.
In this picture with Rob Van Dam in the middle, I’m on the left – a TNA Elite guest! My mother is on the right, since she was one of the people I brought with me. As you can tell, RVD really is 6’0” tall, just as he claims to be. My mom is 5’4” tall and RVD towers above her. By the way, Rob Van Dam is an EXCELLENT human being and a nice guy. I truly hope he didn’t lose his tooth, as it appeared he did in this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
In this picture with Jeff Jarrett in the middle, the picture is a little blurry but you can clearly tell Jeff Jarrett is a little shorter than RVD. This is ironic, because Jeff Jarrett’s height on TNA is billed as 6’1” tall – one inch taller than Rob Van Dam! Jeff Jarrett was very nice to my family; he is a great guy. I think the lesson to be learned is that Jeff Jarrett is a phenomenal person as long as you don’t get on his bad side the way Kurt Angle has. This is why I’m convinced Jeff Jarrett and his lovely wife, Karen, must be telling the truth about all the bad things Kurt Angle has done.
Abyss is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. He is billed as 6’8” tall. I believe he may in fact be this tall. In fact, Abyss is so tall I was not able to get a picture with him because nobody I brought with me had the intelligence to take a picture vertically instead of horizontally. Here is a picture I took of my 5’4” mom next to Abyss. Notice how Abyss is leaning down over my mom (reducing his height by about three inches), yet he is still well over a foot taller than her.
For the record, I’m very sorry RVD kicked out all four of Abyss’ teeth. When this picture was taken, Abyss had all of his teeth! Also, Abyss is a great guy and is very polite. My family and friends enjoyed spending time with him.
There were several other wrestlers I got to spend time with, but I was not able to get a picture with them. I can tell you AJ Styles bills his height as 5’10” tall, but is probably not that tall. Eric Young bills his height as 5’11” tall, but he wasn’t close to that tall. Generation Me – a tag team made up of Jeremy Buck and Max Buck – bill their heights as 5’10” tall. Those guys were the shortest ones in the room; they were only slightly taller than my mom! I believe both members of Generation Me are probably 5’7” tall.
With this in mind, there’s no doubt some of the wrestlers in the wrestling industry do not honestly reveal their height to the public. Some wrestlers, such as RVD and Jay Lethal, tell the truth about their height. Other wrestlers, such as Jeff Jarrett exaggerate slightly. Other wrestlers such as Andre the Giant and Eric Young exaggerate quite a bit.
Most of the time, exaggerations in the wrestling industry don’t matter. But there’s always a group of hardcore people who want to know the truth. When the numbers don’t line up, controversy is born. Thankfully, I – Michael Zoran, and my good looking friend – Kim Naroz, have solved this particular matter!
Next month, Kim Naroz will be interviewing several people from the videogame industry in an exclusive report. Just click “Add me to your TypePad people list” on the right-hand side of the screen below my picture in order to make sure you receive these high-profile controversial interviews answering dozens of questions asked by thousands of people over the last five years!
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