Bigger Stronger Faster*

January 23, 1984.

It was a day that changed my life forever.

...The muscle, the moral courage that built

the greatest, freest nation the world has ever known.

Ronald Reagan was our President

and there was trouble brewing in Iran.

I was just a kid,

but I knew who was behind it.

His name was The Iron Sheik.

From Tehran, Iran,

weighing 258 lbs,

The Iron Sheik!

They have a lot of hate in their hearts for this man.

Iran-- number one! U.S.A.-- ( spits )

You see, Reagan may have freed the hostages

but The Sheik still had the championship belt.

There was only one man

that could save us.

# I am a real American... #

From Venice Beach, California,

the incredible Hulk Hogan!

And the Hulkster rips off that shirt.

But three minutes into the match

Hulk Hogan was locked in the dreaded camel clutch.

It's over for the Hulk.

This move would snap the back of a normal man,

But this wasn't a normal man.

This was Hulk Hogan

and he was fighting for our country.

The Hulkster got out of the camel clutch

with the Sheik on his back,

dropped the big leg

and he pinned the Sheik.

Hulkamania was born and the message was clear--

You don't mess with Hulk Hogan

and you certainly don't mess with America.

I must break you.

Look what happened to Ivan Drago.

He tried to mess with America

and Rocky kicked his ass.

And then when the Vietnamese were holding P.O.W.S

Rambo went in and he kicked their ass.

And in the spirit of Rambo

let me tell you we're gonna win this time.

Then came Arnold Schwarzenegger,

The ultimate ass-kicker.

I never saw "Gone With the Wind" or "Casablanca,"

but I can tell you every line of every Arnold movie.

"Crush your enemies, see them driven before you

and hear the lamentations of the women."

"Dylan, you son of a bitch."

And they go bam! And they're all oiled up and their veins are popping out.

I have the power!

Better, Stronger, Faster.

I was just 12 years old

and there was an explosion of ass-kicking in America.

And like our Olympic athletes

we set our sights on the stars

and we're going for the gold.

# the eye of the tiger. #

I wanted to tear off my shirt

and be ripped, tanned and larger than life.

But in reality

I was a fat, pale kid from Poughkeepsie.

You see, I come from an overweight family.

My parents were always a little on the heavy side.

I couldn't ask for a better mom.

She did everything for her three boys.

We went to church three times a week

and she even taught Sunday school.

My dad was always there for us too

and he even coached our little league teams.

I love my dad, but he was never really my hero.

I didn't want to be like him.

I wanted to be like Arnold.

Problem is, I was always too small, too short.

People would say, "Hey, Little Bell. What's up, Little Bell?"

And I didn't want to be Little Bell.

I wanted to be Big Bell.

My older brother Mike was a little chubby

and every morning when he went to school

he'd get on the bus and the kids would call him Pugsley.

He didn't like that too much,

so he beat some of those kids up.

That's where he got the nickname "Mad Dog."

Mark was the baby of the family.

He had a hard time in school.

He was separated from his friends

and put in the class with the special kids.

It didn't make him feel very special at all.

He hated school,

So he spent all of his time playing sports.

He'd come to the dinner table dripping with sweat.

Mad Dog and I nicknamed him "Smelly."

So I was the short kid, Mad Dog was the fat kid

And Smelly had a learning disability.

Okay, I get it. We're never gonna make it, right?

But for us, we knew muscles were the answer

and the Hulkster showed us the way.

Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins.

Be true to yourself, true to your country.

Be a real American.

So we started training in the basement.

We'd body-slam each other,

drop elbows, D.D.T.S

Double noggin knocker, the abdominal stretch,

the iron claw, the Boston crab

the piledriver.

And when Mad Dog was too tough for me

I would break out the steel chair.

My mom's brother John was a bodybuilder

and he gave me and my brothers our first muscle magazines

and showed us how to work out.

And the next Christmas instead of video games

we got the Hulkamania workout set.

- Are you ready to feel the power? - ( crowd cheering )

Ladies and gentlemen, we are

the power team!

Mad Dog became the captain of the football team

and Smelly and I both started competing in power lifting.

Chris Bell is next at 425.

Soon I was the strongest kid in my high school.

Then I broke the New York State record.

And that's when I first got accused of using steroids.

I knew guys who used them, but they were losers.

If my heroes didn't need steroids then neither did I.

By the time I was a senior

I was one of the strongest kids in the country.

Hulk Hogan was always talking about

"hanging and banging down at Gold's Gym, Venice Beach, brother."

I thought, "that's where Arnold trains.

that's where I need to be."

I was gonna be an American hero

And I was willing to do whatever it takes.

It's been 15 years since I got to California

and now I'm 33 years old.

When Arnold was 33 he'd already won

the Mr. Olympia seven times.

Stallone had already made "Rocky I and Rocky II."

And the Hulkster had already been

the heavyweight champion four years in a row.

I really thought muscles were gonna be the answer.

But all they got me was a job selling gym memberships.

I still train every day at Gold's,

But the only thing left of Arnold is a cheap mural on the wall

and a bunch of guys telling stories about the old days,

like my buddy Paul.

It's changed a lot in all these years, you know.

How long have you been here?

Since 1980.

Of course, Arnold was on the scene and Arnold--

Nobody had ever seen anybody who looked like Arnold.

Sylvester Stallone had just done the "Rocky" movies

and he was the type of guy that I could relate to.

Paul even got a chance to work with Sly in "Over the Top."

I should be able to blow them away real easy.

I couldn't believe the dream was coming true.

And did you get a chance to do it again?

No, but I'm hoping to get back in shape

to be able to make that a reality.

You can be on the street one day

and you can be in the penthouse the next.

Anything's possible.

This is my humble abode.

- Your humble abode right here? - Yeah.

So do you actually live in the van?

I actually live-- well, I sleep in it,

let's put it this way, yes.

You sleep in it. And then you train over here.

I train here, yeah.

You would see vans like this--

Guys would come from all over the world,

sleep in their cars, this and that--

Anything to get a chance to train at Gold's Gym

because we had something special here.

What would you say to people that say,

"the dream's over, man. You're 50 years old."

What would you say to those people?

They're the ones that are short-sighted.

Now in six months I could still be in the van,

but if I can outlift everybody,

I can outsquat them, outbench them, out-dead-lift them,

- Who's the king? - ( chuckles )

Guys like you and me

Can fulfill our dreams.

We can train.

Game ain't over. The sun is shining.

And it ain't over.

Is that gonna be me in 20 years?

I did everything my heroes said--

I trained, I said my prayers,

I had my vitamins. Where did I go wrong?

- Hey, good morning. - Good morning.

How are you?

I always make the cookie bars 'cause cookie bars are important.

What teams did you make these for?

I made them for Arlington football teams

first time ever they won a ball game.

They used to call them "Rosie's cookie bars"

and they really believe that they help them win all the games.