Celebrities and outside ventures have gone hand-in-hand for decades, with famous faces always looking to capitalize on their star power in other areas of business. With professional wrestling creating some of the biggest names in show business, it’s no surprise that someone like Hulk Hogan would cash in and open…an Italian restaurant?
The world of professional wrestling and the restaurant industry has had many crossovers over the years, from the likes of the famous Ribera Steakhouse in Japan, WWF New York in Times Square, and WCW’s own Nitro Grill. Of the bunch though, none of them seem to flounder and fail quite like Hulk Hogan’s own PastaMania.
UPDATE: 2023/10/27 07:30 EST BY MICHAEL CHIN
Pastamania was ultimately a failed business venture for Hulk Hogan as a combination of factors kept it from ever achieving the high hopes he and his business partners had for the concept restaurant. The Hulkster’s endeavors away from the wrestling business didn’t begin or end there, though, as he has pursued more than his share of projects from the world of major motion pictures, to reality TV, to retail and other restaurant launches. Indeed, Pastamania has become largely a footnote or a humorous aside for wrestling fans of the era, and particularly Hogan critics who find that he didn’t succeed in every endeavor he tried out. Nonetheless, it also coincided with an interesting time in his wrestling career and is worth taking a look back on.
Hulk Hogan’s PastaMania Opens In The Mall of America
Quite notoriously, when it comes to fast food, the world of Italian cuisine has been a very hard nut to crack, with pizza being the only real dish able to be translated into the quick-turnaround-focused fast dining experience. Having already had his face on a multitude of products from his signature vitamins to workout equipment, and even more coming in the later 1990s and 2000s, Hulk Hogan took the opportunity to become the face of pasta. With the likes of Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock Café enticing crowds with their all-star gimmicks, surely The Hulkster was the next bankable star to shake the culinary world.
Half-Italian from his father’s side, the all-American, bleach-blond, orange-tanned Hogan might not have been the most obvious mascot for Italy’s favorite dish. Either way, 1995 saw the first (and only ever) PastaMania location open in Bloomington, Minnesota’s Mall of America during Labor Day weekend, with the debut episode in the mixed history of WCW Monday Nitro the following day. The first episode of Monday Nitro is fondly remembered for its unique appearance inside the mall, as well as the opening bout of the one of a kind talent Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Brian Pillman and the shock arrival of Lex Luger in WCW as the highlights of the night. But, the night also saw Hogan cutting a promo from the heart of the PastaMania restaurant.
Surrounded by his so-called ‘PastaManiacs,’ Hogan delivered one of his usual over-the-top promos on his opponent in the main event, Big Bubba Rogers, better known as the Big Boss Man in WWE. Hogan boomed that he had ‘PastaMania runnin’ through my brain’ and that he would give Rogers ‘a dose of my Hulk-aroos’ off of the menu, a fate surely worse than the Atomic Leg Drop.
PastaMania offered a selection of pasta for its customers, opting to go for the ‘mix and match’ route where PastaManiacs could pair a selection of five kinds of pasta with five different sauces. The menu also boasted ‘The Hulkster’s Favorite International Pastas From Around The World’, with Hogan’s supposed picks being Beef Stroganoff, Swedish Meatballs, Turkey Tetrazzini, and Pasta Mexicana.
For the kids coming to order Hulk Hogan’s signature pasta, the children’s menu offered ‘Hulkaroni and Cheese’ and ‘Hulkios’, shaped in the image of the man himself. From him flexing his famous pythons to a portrait of the wrestling icon, who wouldn’t want a taste of The Hulkster himself?
Sadly, there are scarce accounts of anyone having visited the PastaMania restaurant. But, on an episode of the What Happened When podcast covering the debut episode of Monday Nitro, famed commentator Tony Schiavone shared his own memory of PastaMania’s food, boldly going so far as to proclaim, “It was okay.”
PastaMania Becomes A Total Flop
Unsurprisingly, Hulk Hogan’s PastaMania was not long for this world. It was only a matter of months until PastMania was closed, just another side venture of Hogan’s that ended up in the garbage pile, residing there alongside the microwaveable Hulkster Burgers, Hogan Energy drinks, the Hulk Hogan Thunder Mixer, and who knows how many even worse projects that didn’t even make it off of the ground. Now, PastaMania resides as one of the great wrestling oddities in the hearts and minds of wrestling fans.
Hulk Hogan’s Other Business Endeavors
Hulk Hogan is that rare professional wrestler who truly, and without any debate crossed over from the world of sports entertainment into pop culture. He was an actor, starring in major motion picture productions like No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando, and Mr. Nanny, and later doing better with bit parts in other film projects. He had a reality series, too, and has claimed to have been approached about endorsing what eventually became The George Foreman Grill.
Hogan’s Beach Shop was another oddball endeavor apart from wrestling that yielded mixed results. In the end, The Hulkster and his various business partners can’t be blamed for trying to capitalize on his name recognition and global fan base with these projects.
Dissimilar from figures like The Rock and John Cena who’ve found their places in Hollywood, Jesse Ventura who succeeded in politics, or Diamond Dallas Page who found a second life in the fitness industry, Hulk Hogan never came close to as much success away from the ring as he did in it. Just the same, the Immortal superstar remains a part of the fabric of pop culture for many, and probably isn’t done yet cooking up new ideas.