Bollea’s second tenure in WWE lasted approximately one year, beginning in 2002 and ending by the summer of 2003. Following his departure, he made a return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in October 2003, where he competed against Masahiro Chono at the Ultimate Crush II event held in the Tokyo Dome.
Tiger Mask IV, who was also featured on the card for that NJPW event, recently recounted conversations with Bollea and Jimmy Hart regarding the proposed new company. Tiger Mask IV described a meeting that took place the day after Ultimate Crush II:
The day after, there was an all-hands meeting with the boys at the office. At time, Hogan was talking about starting his own company, and he was trying to book the New Japan guys. I was just minding my own business and I got a tap on the shoulder, ‘Can you have a word with Hogan?’ I went in a room with Hogan and Jimmy Hart there and they just went, ‘We want you’, and all of a sudden we’re taking promo photos together, and Hogan goes, ‘Oh, you should come over. You can stay at the house’ and I have images of staying at the Hogan house running through my head,” he laughed. “In the end, the new company talk fell through and nothing happened. But I grew up watching Hogan and Inoki and that whole rivalry, so it’s wild to have those stories.
Despite these extensive plans and direct recruitment efforts, the new promotion ultimately did not come to fruition. Bollea eventually returned to WWE in 2005. He later passed away in the summer of 2025 at the age of 71.
Featured names
- Reveals Hulk
- Launch Wrestling
- Promotion After
- Hogan Wanted
- Talent Involved
- Terry Bollea
- Masahiro Chono
- Ultimate Crush
