CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon {of professional} wrestling who turned the game into a large enterprise and stretched his cultural affect far past the ring, died Thursday in Florida at age 71.
Hogan was pronounced useless at a hospital lower than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his dwelling to reply a morning name a couple of cardiac arrest, police mentioned.
“There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity,” Maj. Nate Burnside advised reporters.
Hogan, whose actual identify was Terry Bollea, was maybe the most important star in WWE’s lengthy historical past. He was the principle draw for the primary WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, dealing with everybody from Andre The Large and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.
Hogan received no less than six WWE championships and was inducted into the WWE Corridor of Fame in 2005. WWE matches are actually held in skilled sports activities stadiums, and tens of millions of followers have watched the corporate’s weekly reside tv program, “Raw,” which debuted in January on Netflix.
“He was a trailblazer, the first performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into a global phenomenon,” McMahon mentioned of Hogan.
Hogan’s personal model of ardour
“Hulkamania,” because the vitality he created was referred to as, began operating wild within the mid-Nineteen Eighties and pushed skilled wrestling into the mainstream. He was a flag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, purple and yellow gear and large arms he referred to as his “24-inch pythons.” Crowds had been hysterical when he ripped off his T-shirt within the ring — a trademark transfer — revealing a tan, sculpted physique.
Hogan was additionally a star exterior the wrestling world, showing in quite a few films and tv exhibits, together with a actuality present about his life on VH1, “Hogan Knows Best.”
In recent times, Hogan added his movie star to politics. On the 2024 Republican Nationwide Conference, he merged traditional WWE maneuvers with then-candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric to passionately endorse him for president.
“Let Trumpamania run wild brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!” Hogan shouted into the raucous crowd.
He ripped off a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of himself on a bike to disclose a vibrant purple Trump-Vance marketing campaign shirt beneath. Trump stood to applaud the transfer.
“We lost a great friend today, the “Hulkster,”” Trump mentioned Thursday on Reality Social. “Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.”
Hogan currently started to spend money on alternate options to theatrical, skilled wrestling, asserting plans in April to function the primary commissioner for the Actual American Freestyle group, which describes itself as “the first unscripted pro wrestling” leagues on the planet. The primary occasion is Aug. 30 at Cleveland State College.
“The idea was so exciting that I get a chance to be involved with all these young people and help guide them in any way, especially to make them huge stars and create a future for them,” Hogan mentioned. “People might be surprised, but wrestling is wrestling, brother.”
Damaged leg and a brand new perspective
Hogan was born in Georgia however lived a lot of his life within the Tampa, Florida, space. He recalled skipping college to observe wrestlers on the Sportatorium, an expert wrestling studio in Tampa.
“I had been running my mouth, telling everybody I’m going to be a wrestler, and in a small town, the word gets out,” Hogan advised the Tampa Bay Occasions in 2021. “And so when I went down there, they were laying low for me. They exercised me till I was ready to faint.”
The outcome: a damaged leg and a subsequent warning from his dad.
“Don’t you ever let anybody hurt you again,” Hogan recalled his father saying. “So I went back four or five months later with a whole new attitude. The rest is history.”
Hogan first turned champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and professional wrestling took off from there. His reputation helped result in the creation of the annual WrestleMania occasion in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff in the principle occasion.
He slammed and beat Andre the Large at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage – maybe his biggest rival — carried professional wrestling even additional.
Hogan was a central determine in what is named the Monday Night time Wars. The WWE and World Championship Wrestling had been battling for scores supremacy in 1996. Hogan tilted issues in WCW’s favor with the beginning of the Hollywood Hogan character and the formation of the New World Order, a villainous steady that put WCW forward within the scores.
He returned to the WWE in 2002 and have become a champion once more. His match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8, a loss throughout which followers cheered for his “bad guy” character, was seen as a passing of the torch.
Hogan was maybe as well-known for his larger-than-life character as he was his in-ring exploits. He was beloved for his “promos” — hype classes he used to attract followers into matches. He typically would play off his interviewer, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, beginning his interviews off with, “Well, lemme tell ya something, Mean Gene!”
Outdoors the ring
He crossed over into films and tv as effectively. He was Thunderlips within the film “Rocky III” in 1982.
In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in a lawsuit towards Gawker Media after which added $25 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 posted a video of him having intercourse along with his former finest buddy’s spouse. He contended the publish violated his privateness.
However there was different fallout exterior the courtroom case. WWE for a time minimize ties with Hogan after it was reported that he used racial slurs on the tape. Hogan apologized and mentioned his phrases had been “unacceptable.”
Throughout the three-week trial, Hogan smiled and wore black.
“Everywhere I show up, people treat me like I’m still the champ,” he mentioned of the assist from followers.
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White reported from Detroit. AP author Safiyah Riddle contributed from Montgomery, Alabama.
