Wrestling Legend Hulk Hogan Passes Away at 71

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan dies at 71 after allegedly experiencing a heart attack at his Clearwater, Florida residence; the wrestling world, including WWE officials, and local authorities have confirmed his death.

First responders arrived early Thursday morning, yet despite their effort, Hogan, whose given name is Terry Gene Bollea died later at Morton Plant Hospital.

Hogan, who was 67in tall, an icon, with his trademark blonde mustache and bandana, represented the golden age of wrestling of the 1980s.

His collosal character, Hulkamania, made the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) an entertainment heavyweight around the world. Hogan, who used the catchphrase, Whatcha gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild on you?

Rocked eight out of the first nine WrestleManias including the landmark 1987 match with Andre the Giant, which sold a record 93,173 spectators. His rematch against Andre in 1988 on NBC was seen in 33 million homes making him a pop culture phenomenon.

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In addition to wrestling, Hogan has appeared on films (Rocky III, No Holds Barred) and televisions (Baywatch and Hogan Knows Best) among others. His 1996 heel turn with the New World Order (nWo) in WCW as the Hollywood version of Hogan helped him rewrite the rules and turned WCW into the leader of the Monday Night Wars in terms of ratings. Hogan has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice, in 2005 and 2020 (with the nWo) and his legacy is incomparable.

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But scandals characterized his later career. Hogan was briefly thrown out of the WWE hall of fame in 2015 following the leak of a sex tape showing him using racial epithets. In 2018, he was reinstated with apologies made publicly. Hogan was recently seen backing Donald Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention, which came with both applause and backlash.