Hulk Hogan Pro Wrestler Who Became a Household Name, Dies at 71

This article was last updated on July 25, 2025

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…Fueled by Hulkamania, he played good guys and bad in the ring, starred in movies and had his own reality show and Saturday morning cartoon.

“The Hulkster” headlined WrestleMania eight times, with perhaps his most memorable bout in the WWE’s signature event coming in 1987 against the 520-pound Andre the Giant — his mentor — in the Pontiac Silverdome before a then-record crowd of 93,173.

He won the World Wrestling Entertainment championship six times during his career.

Six-foot-7 and 320 pounds in his prime, Hogan — born Terry Bollea — would enter the ring in yellow trunks, boots and a bandana, his muscles bulging, his body glistening. Accompanied by his “Real American” theme music, he would rip apart his singlet and cup his ear to the roaring crowd.

Post-match, the crowd got their money’s worth, too. Hogan would cup his ear once more and pose, flexing his “24-inch python” arms and often waving a large American flag. It was all part of “Hulkamania.”

“When we say ‘Hulkamania will live forever,’ it’s immortal,” he said.

Inside the ring, he started out as a baby face, a hero, only to reinvent himself as a rule-breaking heel.

His over-the-top acting skills naturally led him to Hollywood, where he portrayed the wrestler Thunderlips in Rocky III (1982) in his big-screen debut. Sylvester Stallone, who would induct Hogan into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, said that the wrestler sent four stuntmen to intensive care after he jumped into the crowd in one scene.

Hogan went on to star in such other films as No Holds Barred (1989), Suburban Commando (1991), Mr. Nanny (1993) and Santa With Muscles (1996) and in the 1994 syndicated series Thunder in Paradise

He also appeared as himself in everything from The A-Team and Baywatch to Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Spy Hard (1996) and Muppets From Space (1999), and he lent his voice to episodes of Robot Chicken and American Dad!

In 1985, Hogan co-hosted (with Mr. T) Saturday Night Live and was the star of the CBS Saturday morning cartoon Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling. He faced Jay Leno in a PPV tag match — and lost! — and starred alongside his first wife and two kids in the reality show Hogan Knows Best.

In his heyday, he was the most requested celebrity for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.