Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Copyright: Titan Sports Inc., which does business as the World Wrestling Federation, filed suit to protect the copyrighted names and likenesses of two star wrestlers, Hulk Hogan and Randy (Macho Man) Savage. The U.S. District Court suit claimed that Montebello-based 3-D Productions and 3-G Home Video released "The Missing Matches" videotapes, featuring short 1980 bouts between the wrestlers.

There is a woman I know in Saugus who will never let me forget that I once ate pizza with Michael J. Fox. She is his ultimate fan and every time I see her she says, "Tell me about The Day You Had Pizza With Him." I capitalize the phrase only to indicate the manner in which it is delivered, with the same level of awe and reverence one might expect from a nun discussing the Last Supper. "Greta," I say, "I've told you that story a hundred times and I'm tired of it." Greta is not her true name but everyone calls her Greta the Groupie and that's good enough for me. "It won't hurt to tell her once more," my wife says.

Say it ain't so, Hulk. A state assemblyman from Hawthorne says there's no need to license wrestlers or have a physician present when they perform because their bouts are nothing more than show business exhibitions. "It ain't a sport, it ain't an athletic contest," said Dick Floyd, whose bill to deregulate pro-wrestling was approved by the Assembly, 50 to 2, Thursday and sent to the Senate. Floyd is chairman of the Assembly's Governmental Organization Committee, which oversees the state athletic commission.

Just 12 days in release, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" has grossed a whopping $77.4 million. (Can it pass the $100 million mark in its third week? It's possible.) Over the weekend, ticket sales for the last episode of this popular trilogy about a rogue archeologist's exploits declined to a still stunning $21.2 million, or $9,123 per screen.

Pro wrestling phenomenon Hulk Hogan is the main attraction of the garish, sub-"Rocky" action-satire, "No Holds Barred" (citywide), and he has a peculiar Jekyll-Hyde persona during the movie. Outside the ring, he's quiet, gentlemanly and deferential. While wrestling, his face becomes distorted and maniacal: eyes bulging, neck muscles taut, mouth stretched into a silent but leonine scream. It's the beast unleashed, the hulk unbuckled. The movie itself is about the war of nerves between a gentle but heroic wrestler and a raving madman who runs a national TV network.

Summertime--and screen fare is already on the light side. the just-released "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is only the beginning. En route are ghosts (and ghostbusters), guys in bat suits, star-trekkers, underwater thrills, wise-cracking cops and perennial chill-sters named Jason and Freddy. There's some serious and semi-serious material, too. A note of caution: The list of titles that follows is subject to change--and studio strategies. "THE ABYSS"-- James Cameron ("The Terminator," "Aliens")

Saturday night at the Sports Arena, with 8,000 screaming fans of the World Wrestling Federation. This is the other San Diego County, the one not mentioned in tourist brochures or Chamber of Commerce ads or the intro-jingles to television news shows. Forget the beach, the zoo and nouvelle cuisine. This is shot-and-a-beer San Diego, hard muscle and hard luck, east of state college, and south of downtown.

George Bush and Dan Rather are no longer the only ones embroiled in a controversy about television ambushes. An even bigger American hero, Hulk Hogan (6 feet, 8 inches; 302 pounds) walked into what looked like a setup here Friday night in the first wrestling match on prime-time network television since Eisenhower was in the White House (1955).