Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling
Directed by	Brian Smith
Starring	Hulk Hogan
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Producer(s)	Eric Bischoff Jason Hervey Hulk Hogan Brian Smith
Release
Original network	CMT
Original release	October 18 – December 6, 2008
External links
Website

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling was a short-lived American reality television program, which ran for eight episodes on CMT in 2008. The first episode aired on October 18, 2008.^[1] In Australia, the show premiered in July 2009 on the FOX8 channel. It was also shown in the UK on Bravo and Viva. The show was co-produced by Hulk Hogan and Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment. The show featured celebrities being trained to become professional wrestlers.^[2] The finale aired on December 6, 2008, where Dennis Rodman was declared the winner of the competition.

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 ring!".
• Eric Bischoff - Known for being both a wrestling entrepreneur and occasional on-air personality during his tenures with both the original WCW and WWF/E, most notably as Executive Producer and a member of Hogan's nWo faction in WCW and being a 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 having been involved with several different promotions including WWF/E, WCW, TNA, and others. Always best known to fans as the "Mouth of the South" and carried a megaphone with him as a manager.

Other

The trainers included Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Brian Knobs (who are best friends of Hogan), and Tom Howard with assistant trainers Joseph Meehan, Kevin Martenson, Tommy Williams, Tommy Wilson and Sam Culver. 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	Description	Elimination #	Elimination week
Todd Bridges	Former child actor best known for playing Willis on Diff'rent Strokes.	9	8
Trishelle Cannatella	Reality television star and Playboy model best known for her appearing in the MTV reality series The Real World: Las Vegas.	5	6
Dustin Diamond	Former child actor best known for his appearances in the Saved by the Bell franchise and Celebrity Fit Club.	7	8
Danny Bonaduce	Former child actor best known for The Partridge Family and is now more known as an adult for his VH1 reality series Breaking Bonaduce.	6	7^
Butterbean	Professional Super-Heavyweight boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist.	8	8
Erin Murphy	Actress best known for playing Tabitha Stevens in the classic comedy series Bewitched.	3	3
Dennis Rodman	Former professional basketball player best known for his unique hair styles, off-court behaviors and marriage to Carmen Electra. Rodman has had past wrestling experience as he was once with WCW as a member of the nWo, a faction that was led by Hogan.	Winner
Frank Stallone	Actor and singer who has been in four of the six Rocky films starring his brother Sylvester.	2	2
Tiffany	1980s singer teen pop star best known for her hit song "I Think We're Alone Now". In the past few years Tiffany posed for Playboy magazine and also participated in the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club.	1	1
Nikki Ziering	Playboy model and former The Price Is Right model. Ziering is also the ex-wife of former Beverly Hills, 90210 actor and Dancing with the Stars competitor Ian 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. "Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff's Wrestling Project Gets The Green Light". Lords of pain. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
2. "Casting Call: Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Wrestling". Cynopsis Media. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-03-12.

External links

• Official Site - Official Website of Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Wrestling.
• Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling at the Internet Movie Database
• Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling at TV.com