Rob Ford says he was channeling Hulk Hogan in famous rant video

I you were told the mayor of a Canadian city was recorded threatening to murder someone while playing make-believe as a professional wrestler, how many chances would you need to guess who it was?

Yes, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford claimed this week that a video of him, animated and allegedly inebriated, threatening to murder someone in graphic detail was cheap heat.

The video is the subject of a lawsuit launched by the ex-partner of Ford's sister, who had alleged he was the target of a jailhouse beating ordered by Ford in an attempt to keep him quiet.

Here's a story on the details of that lawsuit. In short, Scott MacIntyre alleges that in 2012, Ford ordered a former football player who was being held in the same detention centre to lead a vicious attack on MacIntyre to compel him to stay quiet about Ford's personal life.

The lawsuit says the video is evidence of that.

Ford filed his statement of defence on Thursday, claiming that he had no connection to the attack. More poignantly, the statement claimed the video in question showed a "private, jocular discussion" in which Ford was "imitating, as a joke, the pre-match rant of a professional wrestler."

[ Related: Rob Ford imitating wrestler, not targeting sister's ex-boyfriend in video: mayor ]

The claim suggests the comments were part of a discussion about a potential charity event in which Ford engages a professional wrestler.

In 2013, Ford "defeated" former wrestling great Hulk Hogan in an arm wrestle, but it was not a charity event. But even Hogan has never been known to use the language Ford did in the video.

All comment about the veracity and details of the lawsuit and statement of defence aside. If someone were to say Ford was spotted pretending to be a professional wrestler, would you be surprised?

If Ford were to admit tomorrow that the past three years had been an elaborate publicity campaign executed to launch his wrestling career, would you be surprised? (Aside from the idea that Ford would admit something without first denying it for months, of course. That would be a surprise.)

[ Related: Apologizing for apology: McGill uproar reflects growing oversensitivity on university campuses ]

Consider. In August, Ford holds a nearly-impromptu arm-wrestling match with the Hulkster. During the bout, Hulk claims he is going to take Ford's job. This prompted Ford to unleash a Herculean burst of strength that left his muscle-bound opponent near tears.

In November, the Iron Sheik, a 71-year-old former wrestling heel, who faced drug problems in his real life, wanders into city hall demanding to speak with Ford.

"I just want to know: Is he a real man, or no?" he shouts at one point during his disruptive appearance. "The man eats the cheeseburger and smokes crack. What kind of mayor is he?"

The next day, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake makes his own appearance at city hall, claiming he wanted to be Ford's "angel of mercy.

The sides have been drawn up, the trash talk is flowing. Ford’s larger-than-life wrestling personality is almost complete.

It has seemed from the outside that Ford was set on turning Toronto into a three-ring circus, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that his actual goal was to make it into the squared circle – the colloquial name for the wrestling ring.

Introducing, The Great Ford: Destroyer of Cities. The promotional campaign is nearly complete.

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