Lou Ferrigno - The WBF/IFBB Battle of the Hulk
Lou Ferrigno
The WBF/IFBB Battle of the Hulk!
The upcoming IFBB/NPC Ferrigno Legacy contest being promoted by bodybuilding legend, Lou Ferrigno in Santa Barbara on November 28th and 29th, sparked memories of the great superstar and a tug-of-war for his services between the IFBB and the WBF back in the day.
In the spring of 1991 Joe Weider, proving there was life in the Old God yet, had a brainwave. He wanted to bring Lou Ferrigno back into Mr. Olympia competition: an arena Big Louie had not graced since third spot at the 1975 rendition. Lou achieved worldwide fame due to The Incredible Hulk TV role that came his 6'5" 275 pound way in 1976, the profitable rewards of the four-year Hollywood venture necessitating his retirement from competition at the premature age of 23.
The Master Blaster’ s plan was to negotiate a contract with Lou which would enable the New York giant to train for a solid 18 months with the specific goal of making his first competitive appearance since 1975 at the 1992 Mr. Olympia as the main challenger to then Mr. Olympia Lee Haney (see accompanying poster). Ferrigno, who had long nurtured a desire to fulfill his bodybuilding potential, reacted favorably to the principle of the project and thus financial discussions were mooted.
The news that Lou, then 39, would actually consider a comeback, quickly came to the attention of World Wrestling Federation (WWF) President Vince McMahon, who in January had launched the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) as a direct rival to the IFBB. (In 2002 the WWF changed its title to World Wrestling Entertainment: WWE.) The WBF had signed 13 former IFBB athletes (Aaron Baker, Mike Christian, Vince Comerford, David Dearth, Berry DeMey, Johnnie Morant, Danny Padilla, Tony Pearson, Jim Quinn, Mike Quinn, Eddie Robinson, Gary Strydom, and Troy Zuccolotto) and their first ever contest was slated for Atlantic City on June 15.
McMahon was not slow to perceive that Lou’s Incredible Hulk status (which made him immediately identifiable to a global audience) would represent a great PR signing for his federation. Irrespective of Lou’s placing in future contests, the worldwide mainstream publicity surrounding the comeback of the second best-known bodybuilder on the planet would guarantee more ink than found in a dozen biro factories.
THE BIG GREEN ONE AND THE BIG GREEN ONES
In early March McMahon dived in, before Joe and Lou had agreed the financial nitty-gritty. Sources suggested that McMahon proposed that Lou’s signature would merit a hulking $500,000 per year WBF contract. (That figure is equivalent to $875,000 today). Almost immediately the bid was matched in total by Joe Weider. His cash figure was equal to half the WBF offer; the remainder was made up of $250,000 worth of advertising in the Weider publications for Lou’s PSI sportswear company and other products. WBF policy was to assume all rights for the merchandising potential of assigned athlete (photos, apparel, books etc.). That included film roles as well, a pertinent factor in Lou’s case.
With Lou always having sustained a yearning to take the Olympia it seemed, by mid-– April that the bodybuilder in him had decided to sign with Joe and taste 1992 Olympia action. That prospect sparked talk of a movie documentary (à la Pumping Iron) being made that would cover both Lou’s buildup and the event itself.
But begorah, bejesus and behave yourself in late April McMahon increased the WBF offer to, it was said, to a staggering $700,000 (Worth $1.2 million today) the package made more appealing by the WBF waiving the rights to control Lou’s other business interests. The buzz was that to great pomp and ceremony Lou would sign a WBF contract in Essen, Germany, at the FIBO 91, the world's largest fitness Expo, which was taking place from May 1 to May 5.
“TO IFBB, OR NOT TO IFBB, THAT IS THE QUESTION?”
In those days all the top bodybuilders in the world appeared at FIBO to guest pose and man booths. The Weider Company always sent their full stable of athletes and the WBF promised to do the same. Thus FIBO 91 had loomed for some months as the arena in which the IFBB and the WBF contingents would meet head on for the first time to indulge in a PR posedown. Prior to late April, the IFBB were confident that the German setting would prove that they were still the number one federation in world bodybuilding. But they realized that there was no way they could combat the PR coup of Lou Ferrigno signing for their mega-bucks rivals. There was just no other personality available who could attract the publicity that would surround Ferrigno announcing his return to competition.
When news broke of the WBF’s fresh offer to Lou, during the weekend April 27th and 28th, preceding FIBO 91, the IFBB/Weider monolith was caught off guard. Joe Weider was incommunicado due to being hospitalized for a foot operation and Ben Weider was in Austria for the European Championships. The 20 strong IFBB squad flew to Europe not knowing whether their function at FIBO would simply be to act as embarrassed witnesses as their arch rivals dealt them a mortal PR blow. What was alleged was that Lou Ferrigno was booked on a flight, courtesy of the WBF, out of Los Angeles headed for Essen at 7.00pm on Tuesday, April 30.
SMOKING JOE
By that fateful Tuesday morning Joe Weider was back in harness at his LA office and showing the operation was a success was about to execute some fancy eleventh hour footwork. Lou and his representatives visited Joe in his office and throughout the day negotiations continued, terminating at 9.00pm, with Lou and Joe exchanging handshakes, but not exchanging signatures. The agreement was that Lou would consult with his lawyers to fine tune the detail of a contract that seemingly matched the WBF. Suffice to say that Lou did not attend FIBO 91. At that event the WBF guys were persistently asked if Lou was joining them, their response being a shrug of the shoulders. In fact they shrugged their shoulders so much Bertil Fox asked them what they did for traps!
LOUIE: THE SIGN OF THE TIMES
With negotiations between Lou and Joe Weider seemingly needing only some minor adjustments to facilitate an agreement, the word is that the WBF made one last bid to recruit Mr. Ferrigno’s services. What else can be construed by reports of Lou being ensconced at the WBF headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, for several of days in early June? These reports spoke of Lou being offered a WBF contracts in excess of $1 million. Whilst in Stamford Lou took part in a photo session with Gary Strydom, during which the December 1991 cover for the WBF magazine Bodybuilding Lifestyles was shot: see accompanying photo.
With no one being able to contact Lou, the IFBB were fearful that the hottest 275 pounds in bodybuilding was destined for the WBF arena. A cat-and-mouse game ensued for the next two weeks or so, by which time Louie was back at his Santa Monica home.
With his lawyers still poring over the contract offered by Joe, The Hulk met the Master Blaster on Thursday, June 20 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. This was the occasion of the Los Angeles Area Council of Boy Scouts of America holding a tribute dinner for Joe to present him with their 1991 “Distinguished Citizen of The Year” award.
Also present at the dinner was Ben Weider who informed me that Lou told Joe, “You’ve always been like a father figure to me. I would never have enjoyed the success I've had without your support and encouragement. I'm not going to let high-powered lawyers spoil our relationship. It's my ambition to compete in the 1992 Mr. Olympia. And I'd never compete in any other organization." And that was that.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
Besides his Olympia ambitions, Lou probably preferred Joe's offer for other reasons
1.) He could keep control of his own clothing company. And with his contract containing substantial ad space in Muscle & Fitness and FLEX, the potential wardrobe worldwide sales would be enormous.
2.) Signing with Joe meant Lou would get extensive coverage in Muscle & Fitness and FLEX, ensuring that his image, and his clothing, reached the widest possible audience.
3.) Lou would remain free to do movies.
4.) The WBF would have given him a persona similar to The Incredible Hulk (Marvel Comics own imaging rights to The Incredible Hulk) in line with their policy of attaching superhero like characters to their bodybuilders: e.g. Tony Pearson, The Jetman; Aaron Baker, The Dark Angel. Lou is a proud man, who having overcome a speech defect caused by hearing loss in infancy didn't want to be portrayed as a cartoon character.
The original plan was that Louie would represent a hulking challenge for Lee Haney at the 1992 Olympia. Of course Haney retired after his 1991 and eighth Olympia victory, but Louie still went ahead to the ’92 event finishing 12th (although two judges had him first) as Dorian Yates secured his first Sandow. At the 1993 Olympia he finished tenth and then ended his career at age 42 in 1993 with second place at the inaugural Masters Olympia. Due to celebrate his 63rd birthday this coming November 9th, Lou Ferrigno is a true bodybuilding icon and as crazy about training as he’s ever been.