2007 has been a rough year for professional wrestler and reality star Hulk Hogan.

His son, Nick Hogan, is facing charges of reckless driving stemming from an August 26 crash that placed 22-year-old John Graziano in critical condition, while his wife, Linda Hogan, recently filed for divorce after 24 years of marriage.

With all this looming over his head, Hulk Hogan, the star of VH1's top-rated reality series Hogan Knows Best, can only “hope that the final result will be for everybody to be happy and my family back on track.”

"I just hope and pray things will work out," Hogan said in a telephone conference.

His plans for New Year's Eve is to keep a low-profile, saying that at the age of 54, he no longer wants to go drinking and partying on that night.

On the upside, the Hogan Knows Best star's television career still has some life in it, what with the upcoming launch of NBC's revival of American Gladiators, of which Hogan is a co-host.  The debut season contains 12 episodes, all of which were filmed in less than three weeks.  Co-hosting with Hulk Hogan is former Dancing with the Stars finalist and female boxer Laila Ali.

The opportunity to host the revival came at a time when Hogan was in the midst of figuring out which direction to take for his career now that Hogan Knows Best has run its course.

"Sometimes you get in situations career-wise where you get to reinvent yourself, and sometimes you run into a dead end.  There are highs and you ride them, and there are lows that you have to survive,” he explained, adding that American Gladiators, which will premiere on January 6, is a “logical extension of Hulk Hogan” and that he realized “that there is a longer life span left for his career.”

Of his co-host, Hogan said, "She gives me the freedom to bounce around and be the Hulk,” clarifying though that he tones “it down a few notches.”

In February, Hogan will take a trip to New Orleans in order to serve as the annual Bacchus Parade's celebrity king.  The parade is a fundraiser for a children's hospital, and Hogan is expected to pay a visit to the children there.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Tampa Tribune
(Image Courtesy of the Associated Press)