Back in the 1980s, Hulk Hogan teamed up with Randy "The Macho Man" Savage to form a super tag team the likes of which the world had never seen: The Mega Powers. No one thought this pairing could ever be topped—until, that is, Hulk Hogan teamed up with Peter Thiel to take down the most terrifying menace the world has ever seen: Gawker Dot Com.
The now-shuttered New York City-based web log was a noted hive of scum and villainy, one that tended to be run by editors who cracked jokes about publishing the sex tapes of four-year-old celebrities and aided gay escorts in their schemes to blackmail closeted executives. The much-loathed gossip blog found itself in hot water after publishing a private sex tape starring the Hulkster, who sued the site with the financial backing of tech billionaire and American hero Peter Thiel.
Thiel, an adherent of the ancient Klingon proverb that revenge is a dish best served cold, had nursed a grudge against the site since it had outed him many years before. The PayPal founder had quietly backed numerous suits against Gawker, hitting pay dirt with the Hogan case: a Florida jury ruled against the hated site, holding its founder Nick Denton personally liable for $10 million of the $140 million judgment. Denton would file for bankruptcy and the various pieces of the Gawker "empire" were sold off for scrap.
For dropping a $140 million leg right on Gawker's stupid, prissy face, we are honored to name Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel Free Beacon Men of the Year.
