Gold in Them Thar Hulks

The World Wrestling Federation, which brings you such avatars of culture as Wrestlemania’s Hulk Hogan, seems to have an earlock on the pay-per-view television market.

According to research by Paul Kagan Associates, WWF special events claimed four of the five top-grossing events of 1990 on pay-per-view TV. Only the Buster Douglas-Evander Holyfield heavyweight boxing championship grossed more last year than the WWF shows.

The specials that grabbed those top-grossing spots were, in rank order, WWF Wrestlemania VI, WWF Summerslam, WWF Survivor Series and WWF Royal Rumble.

“The WWF generated over $55 million dollars for the industry this year,” said Dick Glover, WWF’s senior vice president for pay-per-view, adding, “our research shows a very high level of consumer satisfaction with our special events.”