Why A Law & Order Star Sued Hulk Hogan Over A Talk Show Appearance

A professional wrestler gives a TV host a nasty head wound while filming an episode of a talk show and gets sued. It sounds almost like something from a police procedural show, but that is in fact what happened to "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" star Richard Belzer when Hulk Hogan rendered him unconscious and dropped him to the ground on live television. The incident took place years before Belzer made his debut as John Munch in "Homicide: Life on the Street" (the character made his way to the "Law & Order" universe permanently in 1999 after a handful of crossover episodes).

Belzer, who died in 2023 aged 78, was hosting the short-lived talk show "Hot Properties" on the Lifetime network when his injury happened. It was March 20, 1985, and he had Hogan (who died a few years later aged 71) and Mr. T on the program to promote the first ever WrestleMania event. Belzer was a comedian first and foremost, and his interviewing style appeared to irk his guests. When he asked Hogan to show off a wrestling move, Hogan obliged after telling Mr. T he wanted to "make him squeal."

Hogan put Belzer in what turned out to be a very effective front headlock and didn't seem to notice when the comedian went totally limp. When Hogan released him, Belzer fell straight to the floor and split the back of his head open. Belzer came around and shot back to his feet after a few seconds, looking kind of dazed with blood visibly running down the back of his neck. He smiled and said "we'll be right back," but he later revealed that he had no idea where he was at the time.

Richard Belzer didn't reappear after the hastily announced commercial break. He was sent to a hospital, where he got eight stitches in the back of his head. Tom Leopold, the head writer on "Hot Properties," stepped in to finish the episode and Hulk Hogan was apologetic, admitting that it was his mistake for using a pro wrestling move on an amateur. "It's a situation where you need to be a professional at all times and the type of move, when I would put that on a professional wrestler, I would apply probably 10 times as much pressure," Hogan explained. "I didn't realize that apparently he doesn't do any physical training at all. I'm not saying that in a smart way. I really apologize."

Hogan's apology didn't stop Belzer from taking legal action. In 1990, he sued Hogan for $5 million in a case that went all the way to the New York Supreme Court before the two parties settled. The reported $400,000 Belzer got allowed him and his wife to buy a farmhouse in France that they called Chez Hogan. However, the fact that Belzer was able to buy the idyllic property because of what happened on "Hot Properties" that day did not mend things between him and Hogan. When Vulture asked if he and the Hulkster were on good terms during an interview in 2008, Belzer said: "He split my head open. I haven't spoken to him in 23 years."

Hulk Hogan choking out Richard Belzer was not the first instance of a professional wrestler injuring someone from the media in the mid-1980s. On December 28, 1984 — less than three months before Hogan split Belzer's head open on live TV — "20/20" reporter John Stossel was backstage at Madison Square Garden doing a segment on pro wrestling. While speaking to wrestler David Schultz, Stossel stated that he believed pro wrestling to be "fake." The wrestler, who famously never broke character, slapped Stossel to the ground twice in quick succession, asking him if the blows felt fake.

Mr. T actually brought up this incident when "Hot Properties" returned from a commercial break following Belzer's head injury with Tom Leopold in Belzer's place. "I don't know if you seen the piece a while back on '20/20' where the reporter asked one of the wrestlers was wrestling fake or for real, so the wrestler slapped the interviewer twice upside the head," Mr. T told Leopold. "The guy wanted to know was it fake or for real. I think he found out it's for real."

Stossel sued following the incident and the WWE paid out as much as $425,000 according to reports. "I think something should be done to encourage him not to go around assaulting people,” Stossel told The New York Times when explaining why he took legal action. Marvin Kohn, a deputy commissioner at the New York State Athletic Commission who was present that evening, suspended Schultz on the spot. The WWE later fired him, with Schultz claiming that he was axed because he refused to sign papers that would have held him legally responsible for the Stossel incident.