Hulk Hogan is dead: Please DO NOT try this at home

Memory sometimes deceives us. It makes us believe that certain things have always been there, or it gives us the illusion that certain things haven't always been there and that we had some influence, perhaps infinitesimal, in making them exist. Take the " Please DO NOT try this at home" sign on TV during wrestling shows . Maybe it's always been there. Maybe not. Anyone who's watched the broadcasts of the matches has undoubtedly seen it. And there's a good chance they thought that if they saw that sign, it was because they themselves had contributed, in one way or another, to making it appear as a superimposed sign.

Those were the days when English was still somewhat of a mystery, but that writing was easy to understand. And even more easily, entire generations of kids, who until then had witnessed grandma-like exultation over thugs punching each other with boxing gloves, found irresistible those muscular, oil-slicked men who didn't just punch each other, but used any method and anything to keep the person in front of them from getting up. You can never be too smart as a kid. But what the hell, some things had never been seen before, and what is forbidden is always more interesting and appealing than what is permitted.

Of course, it was clear to all those kids that what the TV was showing was on the edge of reality, that it was something untrue. But it was okay anyway. And we imagined what it might be like to do those things, the ones we saw on TV.

Among the many ringside hustlers, the most colorful of them all was a blond guy with a handlebar mustache, sculpted muscles, and a Riccione lifeguard tan, but who, when he got pissed, would rip his vest . And when he ripped his vest, it was trouble for everyone. That guy's name was Hulk Hogan , and he was good for those rock album covers stacked next to the living room stereo. He was America. Far better than Michael Knight, MacGyver, or the lifeguards on Baywatch, he could be on the A-Team and aspire to hook up with Pamela Anderson . Those were strange times.

And that writing, that Please DO NOT try this at home , seemed like an injustice.

That's why we didn't respect her.

Because, it must be said, we've all tried to do what Hulk Hogan did at least once. And often with some unfortunate person, or a friend who was just as stupid as we were.

I've tried to be Hulk Hogan a few times. One time, a good friend of mine from back then, and still, and I almost hurt ourselves terribly. We climbed up the railing and started jumping on each other. It was absolutely hilarious for dozens of minutes. Then he climbed with more energy, the railing buckled, he couldn't jump, and he fell over it, cutting himself from knee to ankle. Then the railing fell on me.

I never understood why we didn't end up in the hospital or the cemetery. We assumed that Hulk Hogan had protected us.

We were lucky, but they stopped us from watching wrestling on TV. But when there's a ban, there's always a way around it, and we continued to watch wrestling on TV.

Only then did we really notice the Please DO NOT try this at home sign. For a long time, we thought we were the cause of the Please DO NOT try this at home sign appearing as an overlay. We knew it, but deep down, we hoped so.

Ever since then, when we look back at the wounds of that day, still etched on our skin, we can only think of Hulk Hogan, wrestling, and how idiotic we were.

When I learned of Hulk Hogan's death , the first thing I did was look at my wound. Then I texted my friend. "Maybe they really did put that sign up for us," was his response.

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