{"id":223169,"date":"2026-10-02T12:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T17:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=223169"},"modified":"2026-10-02T12:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T17:16:26","slug":"top-five-wrestlers-inspired-by-pop-culture-that-actually-succeeded-from-hulk-hogan-to-jushin-liger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/10\/02\/top-five-wrestlers-inspired-by-pop-culture-that-actually-succeeded-from-hulk-hogan-to-jushin-liger\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Five Wrestlers Inspired By Pop Culture That Actually Succeeded, from Hulk Hogan to Jushin Liger"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3820729455\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>When wrestling is done well, it mirrors the culture of its time. Be it the muscled up hero of the \u201880s in Rambo and Hulk Hogan, or the \u201890s anti-hero who did things their way. That decade had the rise of The Punisher as a bigger hero in comics, main antagonists on television like Tony Soprano in &#8220;The Sopranos,&#8221; rebellious music that required a Parental Advisory label, and in wrestling, \u201cStone Cold\u201d Steve Austin.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes characters are inspired by a character in another medium. The Undertaker has opened up about studying the great slasher films, and emulating Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhies. You have examples of characters who were directly influenced by another medium, but you change the name to keep from being sued. Glacier in WCW comes to mind. He was a martial arts character who\u2019s look and presentation was Sub-Zero from the Mortal Kombat game that was a smash hit bringing people back to arcades again. Looking back to Memphis, Japan, and in many indies, you\u2019d seen someone in a mask and apron carry a chainsaw to the ring and be announced as Leatherface.<\/p>\n<p>For the most part in the current era, you\u2019ll mostly see homage to pop culture through cosplay. Usually just a one off, you\u2019ll see Alexa Bliss come out like she\u2019s Harley Quinn, The New Day as Dragonball Z characters, or recently Jade Cargil and the Baddies Prince tribute was fun. But you still see tribute like Will Osprey calling himself the \u201cArial Assassin\u201d in a tip of the hat to Assassin\u2019s Creed, and in AAA, El Carnicero is a blend of Leatherface, Jason, and Michael. Almost as if the booker there knows how well that character can work.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, most of these flop. Arachnaman being a Spider-Man rip off for kids, or the outdated Jeff Jarrett ideas of Rhaka Kahn or The Governor (a Sarah Palin impression, who was a former Vice Presidential candidate in the 2000s). But there were ones that became bigger than the character the homage was to. I\u2019ll even assume there\u2019s one or two you had no idea the origin. Are you a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/govip\/\">PWTorch VIP member<\/a>? Add your favorite pop culture homages in the conversation there in the <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.pwtorch.com\">PWTorch VIP Forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">Honorable mention, as not a wrestler\u00a0&#8211; Paul Heyman<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Paul Heyman began as Paul E Dangerously, an homage to Johnny Dangerously, the main character in a criminally underrated movie starring Michael Keaton. Believe it or not, at one point, there were similarities between Keaton and Heyman. Johnny was a lawyer who worked for the mob, constantly in over his head based on lies and decisions he made who kept digging a hole bigger and bigger for himself.<\/p>\n<h3>Mil Mascaras<\/h3>\n<p>The hardest part for me was choosing which Lucha legend to highlight. From Blue Demon, to El Santo, to Rey Mysterio\u2019s early masks, to an entire promotion in Lucha Underground borrowed from the popular culture of centuries ago. If you look at many Lucha masks, you can see the designs of Aztec gods and warriors. To the degree that these early Luchadors were the heroes against the evil Rudos. They would come in, empowered by the gods to overcome the evil and stand up for what was right.<\/p>\n<p>Mil Mascaras was chosen because of his name when translated was referred to as \u201cMan of a Thousand Masks.\u201d With his embrace of the different masks, he was able to celebrate a wide variety of influences in the Mexican culture that was given tribute.<\/p>\n<h3>The Road Warriors<\/h3>\n<p>A name taken directly from the Mad Max movies of the 1980s, Mel Gibson was in a post-apocalyptic era having to stand up against the evil people who were setting their own territories in this area of anarchy. Taking the shoulder pads and mohawk idea, and calling themselves Hawk and Animal, they road that look all the way to being one of the legendary tag teams<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3562949474\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3>La Parka<\/h3>\n<p>Another Lucha character, La Parka again borrows from Mexican culture, and how ancestors who have passed are celebrated. Coming out as a skeleton with a Dia De Los Muertos skull as a mask, his charisma will uniquely connect to the core audience in Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Embracing truly being a character, versus just a wrestler, La Parka is technically dead. He was revived during Vampiro\u2019s retirement match, bringing that glimpses of that feeling alive for a new generation who celebrate their lost relatives on the Day of the Dead.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;Worse or Better&#8221; with Josh White, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/worse-or-better-days-of-plunder-josh-white-adam-kidd-talk-about-the-violent-history-of-foreign-objects-in-wrestling--75414995\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Worse or Better (Days of Plunder) - Josh White &amp; Adam Kidd talk about the violent history of foreign objects in wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=75414995&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Jushin Liger<\/h3>\n<p>The pop culture crossover in Japan with wrestling has been very connected over the years. Anime like Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E. inspired wrestling characters and is where Somoa Joe first saw the Muscle Buster. Big Van Vader was an animated character in addition to being a large American wrestler. Then there was a show being developed called Jushin Liger.<\/p>\n<p>A man named Go Nagai created this design and when New Japan partnered with Nagai, they were able to use the character likeness to co-promote both brands. While the show didn\u2019t go as planned, the suit design was reworked to be used in a show called Ky\u014dry\u014d Sentai Zyuranger, which came to America under the name Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.<\/p>\n<h3>Hulk Hogan<\/h3>\n<p>Announced as \u201cThe Incredible Hulk\u201d Hogan, there became a dispute between Hogan and Marvel Comics. With the popularity of the CBS Television show starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, and the size of Hogan, he had adopted the moniker. Eventually every bit of merchandise or media that Hogan was credited on also carried a copyright for Marvel Comics.<\/p>\n<p>Hulk would move away from the \u201cIncredible\u201d prefix for the Immortal one, but still used phrases like \u201cHulking up\u201d in his presentation. Hogan outgrew his start with a name taken from comic books, but it\u2019s still the roots of his enduring character.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nerdstalgia.shop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/nerdstalgia.shop&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1790798659627000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3fQva-v6b3KSk37XpvpmkS\">http:\/\/nerdstalgia.shop<\/a><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2869925502\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (9\/30) - AEW Dynamite w\/Keller &amp; Lansdell\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OhgIzDNHjxc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-741131156\"><div id=\"pwtor-217436829\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>When wrestling is done well, it mirrors the culture of its time. Be it the muscled up hero of the \u201880s in Rambo and Hulk Hogan, or the \u201890s anti-hero who did things their way. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/10\/02\/top-five-wrestlers-inspired-by-pop-culture-that-actually-succeeded-from-hulk-hogan-to-jushin-liger\/\" title=\"Top Five Wrestlers Inspired By Pop Culture That Actually Succeeded, from Hulk Hogan to Jushin Liger\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":201647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,27,4488],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists","category-top-five-lists"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-24-at-2.06.00-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223170,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223169\/revisions\/223170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}