Alabama will host perhaps one of the more pivotal personalities of the 2024 campaign later this week, and it’s neither Vice President Kamala Harris nor former President Donald Trump.

It’s Hulk Hogan, the professional wrestling legend who returned to the public spotlight at the Republican National Convention in August, and whose wrestling antics helped underscore Trump’s appeal in rallying the so-called “bro vote.”

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, will make appearances through the heart of MAGA land in Alabama, among the most supportive states for Trump during past elections. And while his visit is strictly to sell his “Real American Beer,” the intersection of wrestling and politics cannot be ignored a mere 24 hours after the election.

Hogan, who kicks off the tour in Baldwin County Wednesday, isn’t the only grappler pitching a candidate endorsement or muscling their way into the electoral conversation. This campaign season, it’s been a battle royal of endorsements from mostly retired wrestlers and continues a trend during the Trump era of merging of sports entertainment and politics.

“I think the intersection of pro wrestling and politics in this particular race is more about the specific people involved than anything about wrestling in general,” said Michael Altman, a professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama and author of a forthcoming book, “Wrestling with Religion: Working Theories of Culture.”

“Donald Trump has had a long relationship with the (World Wrestling Entertainment) and Vince and Linda McMahon, who built the WWE as an international entertainment company,” Altman said.

Linda McMahon was in Trump’s cabinet overseeing the Small Business Administration from 2017-2019. Trump, whose casinos hosted Wrestlemania IV and V in the late 1980s, was a performer during the “Battle of the Billionaires” match at Wrestlemania 23 in 2007.

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, less than two years before entering the presidential political arena.

“In many ways, Trump brought WWE into politics with him,” Altman said.

Differing endorsements

Trump isn’t the only candidate with a wrestler endorsement. Indeed, Hogan, The Undertaker (real name, Mark Calaway), and Kane (real name, Glenn Jacobs, a mayor of Knox County, Tenn.) are all-in on their support for the ex-president, but a host of other ex-wrestlers – Mick Foley, actor Dave Bautista, and Jesse Ventura, the former Minnesota governor – are backing Harris.

Related: 10 wrestling legends and the presidential candidates they are endorsing

Whether it’s through a podcast, on Instagram or another social media channel, a small but recognizable group of wrestling legends are delivering wrestling-like promos to encourage voters to side with their preferred candidate.

“The wave of endorsements and prom-like postings to social media in favor of Kamala Harris seems to be in response first to the way Hulk Hogan has been performing – not just at the RNC, which really was a well-scripted blast from the past, but also on various platforms including his return to Madison Square Garden,” said Sharon Mazer, a professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at the Auckland University of Technology based in New Zealand, and author of the 1998 book, “Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle.”

Altman said Hogan’s allegiance to the Trump campaign could have something to do with re-establishing relevancy in the wake of Vince McMahon’s ouster from the WWE.

McMahon, the 79-year-old sports entertainment executive, resigned in January from TKO Holding Groups – the company that owns WWE and UFC, following a merger approved last year – amid allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault with a former WWE employee.

“Without McMahon to platform him, Hogan needed a new patron to remain in the public eye,” Altman said. “Trump is giving him that. He’s been on television more in the past month than he has been any time since his 2002 Wrestlemania XVIII match against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.”

Altman said the surfacing of other wrestlers to the discussion provides a wrestling contrast to Hogan, particularly in Foley who was once among the most hardcore and violent competitors in industry but also has long had a reputation as a kind-hearted ambassador for the business. Foley is also a dedicated Santa Claus, portraying Kris Kringle during the holiday season, and a popular novelist.

Foley, in social media posts and during an interview on CNN, said there is nothing fun about the way Trump demeans people and how he “talks down to women.” Foley added that in his experience, “real men respect strong women, they don’t live in fear of them.”

“Foley stands in contrast as the pudgy avuncular liberal trying to respond to the Hogans and Undertakers,” Altman said. “Foley has always been likeable and seen as a thoughtful wrestler. His books are among the best books actually written by a wrestler and not ghostwritten. He presents a very different picture of American masculinity. He’s not musclebound Hulkster or a giant tattooed undead Texan (Undertaker). He wore dirty sweatpants and a sock on his hand most of his career. He’s a wrestler that a non-wrestling fan liberal might listen to out of curiosity.”

Defining masculinity

The battle among the wrestlers appears to be with differing narratives on masculinity – such as the one Foley is pitching — with which Trump has exploited during the campaign to a polling advantage.

Mazer, among the first scholarly researchers of pro wrestling and performance dating back to the early 90s, said she has been impressed with the counter narrative by Foley, Bautista, and retired manager Jim Cornette “in the ways they’ve picked up on the ‘real men’ argument and turned it against Trump and Vance.”

Bautista, who is best known as Drax the Destroyer in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, began his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” bit last month pleading for “fellas to listen up” and to note that “a lot of men seem to think Donald Trump is some kind of tough guy. He’s not.”

Trump’s largest constituency are white men, and his use of wrestlers, male podcasters and UFC’s Dana White is aimed to court them to his side. While Harris overwhelmingly appeals to female voters, Trump is leading by wide margins with men:

Michele Ramsey, an associate professor of communication arts and sciences and women’s studies at Penn State Berks in Reading, Penn., said she’s not surprised to see wrestlers backing Trump in an era when the idea of 1980s and 90s masculinity is fading.

She said it is not surprising to see some wrestlers “double down on the control and violence that is linked to masculinity” as a means to protect their own egos, and a sense of self “which are very much tied to domination, violence, and sexualization of women in and out of the ring.”

“Thus, given Trump’s history and attempts to construct himself in traditionally masculine and ‘tough’ ways, it’s not surprising that so many wrestlers would support him publicly,” Ramsey said.

Altman said Trump continues to hit at a message of masculinity that Hulk Hogan has long personified.

Hogan’s wrestling theme song is ‘Real American,’” Altman said. “The message is not subtle.”

Influenced by wrestling

Altman said he believes the rise of pro wrestling and politics could fade with Trump no longer on the ballot after Tuesday’s election, though Mazer said the behavior from celebrities like Elon Musk reflects upon wrestling showmanship.

The roots, she said, are in pro wrestling.

“What McMahon did for Trump in 2007 was shower money from the rafters in the lead-up to Wrestlemania 23,” Mazer said. “It set Trump up as a babyface to be cheered by the fans, and the patterns of performing he adopted then influenced his approach to his rallies, many of his other appearances while president, and his current campaign.

Now, Elon Musk seems to have stepped in much the same way, throwing money at voters whom he wants to behave like fans both in the arena and in the voting booth. Amazing, really.”