Crusher Hogan was the top star of his wrestling league. Never interested in a staged fight, Hogan was a "shooter," a genuine athlete who knew all the body's weaknesses and was prepared to exploit them, but the crowds had fallen off and Bobby, his boss, advised him to abandon the group and join the wealthy Global Wrestling. His wife Marie also pushed him to take a job with real money but Crusher was too loyal to change. Instead, he came up with a way to bring back the audiences and save the failing league. Taking the microphone after a match without informing Bobby of his plans, he refashioned his image into a bad guy by disrespecting the fans and offering a reward to anyone who could last three minutes in the ring with him. The promotion worked and fans lined up for tickets. Unfortunately, Crusher had borrowed the prize money from the mob and then had the misfortune to be confronted by a young man he sarcastically referred to as "a little Masked Marvel." The young man was Peter Parker in his first formal use of his spider-powers. After Peter picked him up and carried him up a pole, Crusher quickly conceded.
Presumably the gate from a full house was enough to keep the mobsters at bay, but Bobby had put up his house to cover expenses and his league was dissolved. Crusher's marriage to Marie apparently ended as a result of the encounter as well. A ruined Crusher took a job as a custodian at a local gym where he regaled people like up-and-coming boxer Bobby Chance with tall tales about training Spider-Man, creating the web-shooters and providing the costume. When gym owner Madame Fang and her enforcer Manslaughter Marsdale discovered that Bobby planned to sign a contract with someone else, they schemed to put the young boxer out of commission. Crusher overheard these plans and joined the fight on Bobby's side. It was destined to be a losing battle until Spider-Man, passing by, joined the fight and defeated Manslaughter. Afterward, Spidey played along with Crusher's stories, making the washed-up wrestler a hero in the eyes of all the gymrats.
