Introducing Hulk Hogan: the Muscle Pokémon Legend

Fans of all shapes and colors came today at Bryant Park in New York City to witness the 10 year anniversary party of Pokémon release upon the Japanese market. The peculiar thing is that playing host to the day's festivities was the famous professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. It was reported by World Wrestling Entertainment that a foot injury prevented him from fighting in the Monday Night Raw matchup. But now I guess we all know what he’s doing in his spare time. No heads to rip off from their rightful place tonight? Great, let’s do Pikachu!

Pokémon official site was running a live video web cast of the event. It mostly consisted of a Pokémon tournament, where selected players from specific age groups battled against one another on the big screens. The tournament was divided into 12-and-under and 13+, with most of the latter category being adults. When Nintendo next holds an event like this, I suspect there will be a separate 18+ category, to give teens a chance. The Pokémon Day pretty much took over the entire park with kids and parents packed in close under the blistering hot sun. But the action was also hot, with lots of characters acting in costumes, a rock band singing Pokémon themes and various contests. Pokémon gamers could test out and see upcoming DS Pokémon games as there were different tents set up for whatever Pokémon activity you enjoyed most.

Pokémon is a newer trend, mostly popular for players below their teens while Hulk has a different target audience. One would have to be well over the age of 20 to really remember his prime days, not to mention that gaming types are not regulars of the wrestling bash tournaments. Hulk Hogan is widely known for his vicious attitude in front of the camera, a showman who played some indisputably strong publicity stunts, so this might very well be one of them. In order to keep the franchise alive through the years, Nintendo started the Pokémon saga with cute Pikachu and might as well end it with Pokémon Death Brawl 2010. It would be tough to pull off, but it'd be neat if someone would try. After all, Hulk Hogan seems to enjoy being there, so why not combine the two for a quick buck?

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