Everyone Loves Raymond Brad Garrett’s First Role Was Playing a WWE Legend

Before his lucrative stint as a star on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” actor and comedian Brad Garrett spent a full 15 years paying off his debts. Garrett was bitten by the stand-up comedy bug when he was young and began touring local Southern California comedy clubs in the 1980s, when he was 20 years old. In 1984, Garrett won an impressive $100,000 in the talent show “Star Search,” becoming the first comedian to win the prize. That led directly to a night on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” which, in turn, gave Garrett a long run of gigs opening for some of the hottest musical acts, artists and lounge singers of the day; opened for Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Liza Minnelli and David Copperfield.

To supplement his income, the deep-voiced Garrett also took on many voice roles for various animated shows. He played the robot Trypticon in the 1986 series “Transformers,” but made his debut as a professional voice actor with a fairly prominent role, playing the legendary strange Hulk Hogan in the strange animated series “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling.”

It’s important to remember that the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) was huge in the mid-1980s and had become a legitimate entertainment empire. The first Wrestlemania event debuted in 1985 and more than 19,000 people gathered at Madison Square Garden to witness it. It featured star wrestlers of the era such as Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and, of course, Andre the Giant. The main event was Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. T, an event for all ages. Hulk Hogan was pretty much the “main character” of the WWF.

“Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” debuted the following September. It was a success.

Just like in the WWF, “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” featured a team of colorful good guy “faces” who often clashed (sometimes literally) with equally colorful bad guy “heels.” The heroes of the series were Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Hillbilly Jim, and Captain Lou Albano. The villains were led by the irascible “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and included Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, The Fabulous Moolah, and Big John Studd.

None of these fighters provided their own voice. Brad Garrett played Hogan, while cartoon luminary Charlie Adler played Piper. James Avery of “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” played Junkyard Dog. Jim Steinman wrote the theme song, which Hulk Hogan would use as entrance music at live events. The opening title sequence was the only place where Hogan appeared in live action, as a way to close out the animated adventures we were about to see. If the theme song sounds familiar, it’s because Steinman rewrote it for Bonnie Tyler, making it her 1986 single “Ravishing.”

The series was the height of nonsense. The stories were simple comedy plots about racing cars, professional jealousy or first dates. In one episode, André the Giant needed a suit, but he was too big to fit any traditional outfit, requiring a special suit made from camping equipment. In another, a gorilla infiltrates the wrestlers’ costume party. In yet another, Lou Albano becomes Hulk Hogan’s roommate for a time, and becomes the neglected Oscar to Hogan’s Felix. Most episodes were full 30-minute stories, although some were split into two 15-minute segments.

The series mostly took place in the real world, but occasionally veered into pure fantasy. This was fine, since WWF wrestlers were already oversized fantasy characters to begin with. Some episodes featured aliens, genies, or ghosts. Mostly the stories were about kidnappings, failed business deals, or, uh, ballet performances? Anyway, Nikolai Volkoff had to replace his dancing niece in a recital. Because the characters were so varied and plentiful, “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” was successful enough to last 26 episodes over two seasons. The show sucked (the writing was bad and the characterizations were broad) but it was on the coattails of a popular wrestling franchise, so people tuned in in droves.

On the WWE website In 2013, Garrett talked a little about playing Hulk Hogan, recalling the excitement of landing the role. He watched old-school wrestling with his grandfather as a child, mentioning John Tolos, Porkchop Cash and Pampero Firpo. When asked if Garrett ever met Hulk Hogan, he responded:

“No, I didn’t. I never met him. I always wanted to do it. He wasn’t really involved in the production as far as the recording, or the writing or anything like that. (…) I have no idea (if Hogan liked my performance). I hope it was okay, because I’m still alive.”

The WWF eventually became WWE, but it never forgot its history. In fact, most of “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” is available on the WWE Vault YouTube channel. Wrestling fans will definitely want to check it out.

Meanwhile, Garrett has continued his prolific career as a comedian and voice actor. He recently played a character in the Pixar film “Elio.”