Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has died at age 71.
Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea, was found dead in his Florida home on Thursday morning.
In Clearwater, authorities responded to a call Thursday morning about a cardiac arrest. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital, the Clearwater Police Department said in a statement on Facebook.
His manager, Chris Volo, confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that Hogan died surrounded by family.
“WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away. One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s,” WWE said on X.
It gave no cause of death.
In recent months, there had been reports that Hogan was ill, but those close to him said he was recovering from neck surgery he had in May.
Hogan was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years in its signature event, facing everyone from Andre the Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even company chairman Vince McMahon.
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He won six WWF/WWE championships and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 by Sylvester Stallone.
He was able to transcend his “Hulkamania” fan base to become a celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, including a reality show about his life on VH1, Hogan Knows Best.
In 2024, he appeared at the Republican National Convention to endorse the presidential bid of Donald Trump, who in the 1980s had played host to Hulk-headlined WrestleManias. Hogan said he made the decision to support the Republican candidate after seeing his combative, fist-pumping reaction to an attempted assassination on the campaign trail.
Hulk Hogan tears off his shirt while speaking on the final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.
J. Scott Applewhite / The Associated Press
“Let Trumpamania run wild, brother!” Hogan bellowed to a cheering crowd, ripping off his shirt to reveal a Trump tank top. “Let Trumpamania rule again!”
Becoming ‘Hulk’
Born in Augusta, Ga., on Aug. 11, 1953, the future Hulk and his family soon moved to the Tampa, Fla., area. After high school, he played bass guitar for area rock bands, but felt a pull to the Florida wrestling scene in the 1970s.
Many of the details of his career were show business exaggerations, representative of the blurred lines between fact and fiction in wrestling.
His first trainer reportedly broke Hogan’s leg to dissuade him from entering the business, but he kept at wrestling, weight training and – he later admitted – anabolic steroids. He gained notoriety as his biceps turned into what he dubbed the “24-inch pythons.”
The “Hulk” moniker came from comparisons to the comic-book hero portrayed on TV at the time. He would end up paying royalties to Marvel Comics for years. “Hogan” was the invention of promoter Vincent J. McMahon, the owner of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), who wanted Irish representation among his stable of stars.
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His appearance as wrestler Thunderlips in Rocky III, where he dwarfed leading man Stallone, rocketed Hogan to the mainstream. Upon a return to the WWF, now controlled by McMahon’s son Vincent K., he defeated the Iron Sheik in 1984 to claim the world championship, a belt he would hold for four years.
Hogan became a household name, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine and performing alongside pop culture stars like Mr. T. The WWF came to dominate wrestling, anchored by its annual WrestleMania pay-per-view events.
In this April 3, 2005, file photo, Hulk Hogan fires up the crowd between matches during WrestleMania 21 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Chris Carlson / The Associated Press
Facing The Rock
Later, Hogan joined competitor World Championship Wrestling, swapping his trademark yellow tights for black and taking on a persona as the villainous “Hollywood” Hogan, the head of a gang of rulebreakers known as the New World Order. The gimmick reinvigorated his career.
Hogan eventually returned to the WWF, now known as WWE, and faced Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WrestleMania in 2002.
“I’m in better shape than him,” Hogan told Reuters at the time, five months shy of his 50th birthday. “I’ll stand next to The Rock and pose down with him if he wants to.”
The Rock ultimately won the match.
Hogan was inducted twice into the WWE Hall of Fame, and referred to himself as the “Babe Ruth” of wrestling, after the New York Yankees’ famed baseball player.
But Hogan’s support of Trump in 2024 did not go down well with all wrestling fans, and he also faced other controversies. Gossip website Gawker was shuttered after it posted parts of a sex tape between him and a friend’s wife and Hogan sued on privacy grounds, winning a US$140-million judgment.
In 2015, he was suspended by the WWE after another surreptitious recording revealed that Hogan had used a racial slur. He was reinstated in 2018.
Hogan is survived by his ex-wife Linda Bollea and their two children, Brooke Hogan, 37, and Nick Hogan, 34.
— with files from Reuters
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