Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling was an American reality television program, which ran for eight episodes on CMT in 2008. The first episode aired on October 18. In Australia, it premiered in July 2009 on the FOX8 channel. It was also shown in the UK on Bravo and Viva. It was co-produced by Hulk Hogan and Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment. It featured celebrities being trained to become professional wrestlers.[1] The finale aired on December 6, when Dennis Rodman was declared the winner.

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling
Directed byBrian Smith
StarringHulk Hogan
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
ProducersEric Bischoff
Jason Hervey
Hulk Hogan
Brian Smith
Release
Original networkCMT
Original releaseOctober 18 (2008-10-18) –
December 6, 2008 (2008-12-06)
External links
Website

Cast

Judges
  • Hulk Hogan – Hogan held multiple championships in his career during his tenures in the WWF/WWE and WCW, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. Additionally is known for his acting outside of the wrestling area and serves as the host, creator and executive producer (the latter two duties credit him as "Terry Bollea") of the series. He is the main judge and dismisses the eliminated contenders in the competition by declaring "You're a jabroni, get out of my damn ring!".
  • Eric Bischoff – Known for being the Executive Producer and later President of WCW and an occasional on-air personality during his tenures with both the original WCW and WWF/E. He appeared as an announcer, a member of Hogan's nWo faction in WCW and as the general manager of the WWE Raw brand. Bischoff is also credited as creator and executive producer of the series alongside business partner Jason Hervey and Hogan.
  • Jimmy Hart – In-ring manager who worked for several different promotions including WWF/E, WCW, TNA, and others. Best known to fans as the "Mouth of the South" with his signature megaphone, he accompanied several wrestling stars like Hulk Hogan to the ring as manager.

Other

The trainers included Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Brian Knobs (who are best friends of Hogan), and Tom Howard. Bubba the Love Sponge was the special commentator.

Former professional wrestlers also made special appearances in the series. Bill Goldberg, a film actor and former WCW World Heavyweight Champion and WWE World Heavyweight Champion, guest starred in the sixth episode. Rob Van Dam, a former ECW World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion, guest starred in the fifth episode.

Contestants
Name Elimination # Elimination week
Todd Bridges 9 8
Trishelle Cannatella 5 6
Dustin Diamond 7 8
Danny Bonaduce 6 7^
Eric Esch 8 8
Erin Murphy 3 3
Dennis Rodman Winner
Frank Stallone 2 2
Tiffany Darwish 1 1
Nikki Ziering 4 4

^ Bonaduce was originally eliminated in week 5 because of an injury, but he was brought back in week 6. He was later eliminated in week 7.

Episode recaps

Week 1
Team Nasty Faces (Erin Murphy and Dennis Rodman) def. Heels (Frank Stallone and Dustin Diamond) with Nikki Ziering
Team Beefcake Faces (Trishelle Cannatella and Butterbean) def. Heels (Tiffany and Danny Bonaduce) with Todd Bridges

The moves learned were the forearm smash, clothesline, and a kick to the midsection. Team Nasty won the match.

Week 2
Team Beefcake Heels (Trishelle Cannatella and Danny Bonaduce) def. Faces (Todd Bridges and Butterbean)
Team Nasty Heels (Erin Murphy and Dustin Diamond) def. Faces (Nikki Ziering and Frank Stallone) with Dennis Rodman

In week two, the moves learned by the celebrities included the headlock take down, schoolboy pin, and shoulder tackle. Originally, Dennis Rodman was going to wrestle for Team Nasty, with Stallone managing. During practice, however, Rodman injured his arm attempting a flying clothesline on Coach Nasty. Team Beefcake won the match.

Week 3
Gimmick
Butterbean One Mean Bean
Danny Bonaduce "Dangerous" Danny Bonaduce
Todd Bridges Mr. Not So Perfect
Trishelle Cannatella Red Hot Redneck
Dustin Diamond The Winner
Erin Murphy Mistress of Mayhem (M.O.M.)
Dennis Rodman Rodzilla
Nikki Ziering Candy Girl
Team Nasty Faces (The Mistress of Mayhem [Erin Murphy] and Rodzilla [Dennis Rodman]) def. Heels (Candy Girl [Nikki Ziering] and The Winner [Dustin Diamond])
Team Beefcake Faces (Red Hot Redneck [Trishelle Cannatella] and "Dangerous" Danny Bonaduce) def. Heels (Mr. Not So Perfect [Todd Bridges] and Mean Bean [Butterbean])

The basic tie up, as well as the techniques for working the arm and working the ropes, were the moves of the week. The challenge in week three was for the individual celebrities to create for themselves a gimmick, which is a character or persona. Team Beefcake won the match.

Week 4
Team Beefcake Heels (Mean Bean and Red Hot Redneck) def. Faces ("Dangerous" Danny Bonaduce and Mr. Not So Perfect)
Team Nasty Face (Rodzilla) def. Heels (Candy Girl and The Winner)

The moves learned included the hip toss, taking the turnbuckle, and the elbow smash. The two teams tied for best match.

Week 5
Finishing moves
Dennis Rodman (Rodzilla) Diving clothesline
Butterbean (Mean Bean) Powerslam
Trishelle Cannatella (Red Hot Redneck) Inverted STF
Todd Bridges (Mr. Not So Perfect) Diving sunset flip
Dustin Diamond (The Winner) DDT
5-person battle royal

Red Hot Redneck def. Mean Bean, Rodzilla, The Winner and Mr. Not So Perfect

In week five, the celebrities learned the "Over the Top" and "Duck and Boost" techniques. They also created their own finishing moves. "Dangerous" Danny Bonaduce was going to be in the match, but he had to withdraw due to an injury he sustained during practice. The two teams merged into one team, Team Hogan.

Week 6
Hardcore tornado tag team match Red Hot Redneck and Rodzilla def. Mean Bean and Mr. Not So Perfect
Falls Count anywhere grudge match The Winner def. "Dangerous" Danny Bonaduce

The celebrities learned how to hit the head, back, and gut of their opponents with weapons (Trash cans, chairs, etc.) in week six. Danny Bonaduce returned because his injury was not as bad as originally thought. Because he was not eliminated face-to-face, Hogan allowed him to return.

Week 7
Triple Threat match The Winner defeats Mr. Not So Perfect and "Dangerous" Danny Bonaduce
No-Disqualification match Mean Bean defeats Rodzilla

The last three professional wrestling moves were taught to the celebrities in week seven. The three moves of the week were the arm drag, basic chop, and body slam.

Week 8
Tag team match Rodzilla and Mr. Not So Perfect defeat The Winner and Mean Bean
CCW Championship Rodzilla defeats Mr. Not So Perfect

In week eight, there were four remaining contestants. Diamond and Butterbean were eliminated after the tag team event. Bridges was eliminated in the final episode after the final main event. Dennis Rodman was declared the winner and the first CCW Champion.

References
  1. "Casting Call: Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Wrestling". Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
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