“Hulk Hogan’s Rock ’n’ Wrestling” Returns to the WWE Vault: Saturday Morning SmackDown for a New Generation
WWE is digging deep into nostalgia with a move that might surprise even longtime fans — the Hulk Hogan’s Rock ’n’ Wrestling animated series is coming to the WWE Vault on YouTube starting September 6, 2025. This isn’t just retro fluff: the cartoon helped pioneer the “Rock ’n’ Wrestling Connection” in the mid‑1980s, introducing Hulk Hogan, André the Giant, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and their fellow WWF superstars to younger audiences in Saturday morning homes across America. With WWE leaning heavily into legacy content and expanding the Vault, this series rollout is both a smart play and a reminder of how far the brand has come.
What We Know
- The series originally aired on CBS Saturday mornings from September 14, 1985 through October 1986, with reruns continuing into 1987.
- Produced by DiC Enterprises in partnership with the WWF, the show combined cartoon adventures with live‑action interstitial segments featuring real WWF wrestlers.
- WWE Vault’s plan: release four episodes every Saturday morning, at 6 AM, 8 AM, 10 AM and 12 PM EST.
- Voice actors included Brad Garrett as Hulk Hogan, James Avery as Junkyard Dog, Charlie Adler as Roddy Piper, Ron Feinberg as André the Giant, and many others.
Why It Matters
While the series rarely featured realistic wrestling matches (most plots involved Hogan and crew thwarting Roddy Piper’s hijinks or rescuing a kidnapped gorilla), it played a crucial role in WWF’s broader pop‑culture reach in the mid‑1980s. Characters like Wendi Richter, Captain Lou Albanio, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, Tito Santana, Hillbilly Jim and Junkyard Dog were given cartoon personas, further solidifying their place in American kids’ television.
Many of the heel stable villains — including The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Mr. Fuji, Bobby “the Brain” Heenan and The Fabulous Moolah — were featured in exaggerated, comedic roles, often as bumbling adversaries to the heroic Hogan-led team.
One fun behind-the-scenes tidbit: although Hulk Hogan was the title character, he didn’t voice himself. Brad Garrett provided Hogan’s voice in the cartoon, long before his breakout role on Everybody Loves Raymond.
What to Expect on the WWE Vault
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Start Date | Saturday, September 6, 2025 |
| Release Schedule | Four episodes per Saturday, at 6 AM, 8 AM, 10 AM, 12 PM EST |
| Episodes | Two seasons, 26 episodes (39 segments) |
| Main Faces | Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog, Wendi Richter, André the Giant, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Hillbilly Jim, Tito Santana |
| Main Heels | Rowdy Roddy Piper, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, The Fabulous Moolah, Mr. Fuji, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan |
| Animation Style | 1980s Saturday-morning cartoon, exaggerated character tropes, comedic adventure plots |
Read More: Hulk Hogan Dies at 71 — Wrestling Icon Leaves Behind a Legacy Larger Than Life
Final Thoughts
The return of Hulk Hogan’s Rock ’n’ Wrestling to the WWE Vault is more than just nostalgia — it’s a bridge between the Rock ’n’ Wrestling fighter era and WWE’s modern content strategy. For fans old and new, it offers a chance to revisit (or discover) a seriously wild piece of wrestling pop culture history. Saturday mornings just got a lot more cartoon-wrestle fun.
