WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has launched his own beer through his company, Real American Brands, and is now looking to acquire the Hooters restaurant chain.
TMZ Sports was first to break the news, and the attempted acquisition is reportedly part of the company's bid to reinvigorate established American brands that represent "freedom, grit and good times," with the goal being to bring Hooters "back to relevance."
According to a representative for Real American Brands, "Hooters is more than just wings and nostalgia — it’s part of the American story."
"We see enormous potential to modernize the brand without losing its bold identity. Under our umbrella, Hooters will return to the spotlight as a symbol of unfiltered Americana — fun, fearless, and proudly American," they added.
For those of you who may not realise, Hooters is struggling and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2025, seeking to restructure its debts. The chain's restaurants have remained open, but debtors would no doubt be pleased to see a company like Real American Brands swoop in to purchase it.
It sounds like if Hogan's bid is successful, it would be for Hooters' intellectual property. That means Real American Brands would be responsible for licensing the "Hooters" name back to restaurant operators, as Hogan supposedly isn't interested in directly owning or managing the physical restaurant locations.
The plan from there would be to relaunch Hooters "in a ton of different ways — from consumer products to digital content to gaming and more."
WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan got her start in Hooters before signing with the company and previously told Chris Van Vliet this about the experience of working there and how it led to her becoming a WWE Superstar:
"So with a little backstory, everyone at Hooters knew I loved wrestling. I’d be doing my bar shifts I’d put WWE on the TV. I’d be serving with WWE on the TV like everyone kind of knew was my thing. And apparently before my time, there was a wrestler who will not be named that used to manage this specific Hooters. So anytime they came around in town they would go to Hooters. Me being the big WWE fan that I was I saw this wrestler coming to Hooters and I knew who they were exactly and I introduced myself. My manager was like, Hey, we have this girl. She just like loves wrestling and because you’re a wrestler, like maybe, you know, talk to her."
"So I talked to this wrestler for a while, and I was like I want to wrestle and they’re kind of just like, Haha, yeah. I kind of just spent all my wrestling knowledge to them. So they introduced me to this man, Joe DeFranco, he is like a world-renowned strength and conditioning coach, he only trains professional athletes, and he actually trains Triple H on a weekly basis. And so I went to his gym and he threw me right in with his NFL guys. I’d never worked out a day in my life before that. I didn’t even know what workout gear was, I think I wore sweatpants and a sports bra. And he’s like, Go, and I was like, Okay. So in my mind, this is my WWE tryout. So I’m giving it my all and I worked out with him for a couple of days."
"And I guess he just was impressed by my resilience, I don’t know, because I’m struggling through everything, but I wouldn’t quit. And so he reached out to WWE for me, it was like the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me so shout out to Joe DeFranco. He reached out to WWE for me and was like, Hey, we have this girl, I just think she’s worth a look. And I actually just missed the try-out camp and they were like, we have another one in six months. So keep training with her, then we’ll fly her in. And so I trained with Joe DeFranco every single day for hours a day, I train with him in the morning, and then go to my Hooters shifts."
"Then my trial finally came and I was very well prepared. Not in wrestling, of course, because I had no wrestling training. But as far as strength and conditioning I absolutely killed those cardio drills. And I got signed and it was just the craziest blessing in my whole entire life. It was bizarre."