Lars Ulrich denies offering Metallica bass gig to Hulk Hogan

© Robb D. Cohen/Retna Ltd./Corbis

Lars Ulrich has played down reports that he once offered the Metallica bassist gig to Hulk Hogan.

The vest-destroying power-slammer (Hogan, not Lars) told the Sun earlier this year: "I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler. I played bass guitar. I was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn't work out."

As amazing as that sounds, Ulrich has gone and nixed any chat on the most unlikely musical link-up since Lulu. The drummer told the Howard Stern Show: "That one, when that showed up two or three months ago, I was scratching my head over that one.

"Unless he went by… I don't know Hulk Hogan, I don't know enough about him… I'm not a huge wrestling [fan]… Unless he went by, like, his Christian name or something, and I don't know if anybody knows what his Christian name was — Dave Smith or something — if there was a whole thing that we had with him under a different name, but I certainly have no recollection of doing anything with 'Hulk Hogan'. That one, I was scratching my head on that one, too."

Quite how Hulk and the Hulkamaniacs will react to Ulrich's denial remains to be seen. Watch this space.