Hulk Hogan, icon in professional wrestling, dies at age 71

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CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his influence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act, died Thursday in Florida at age 71.

Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his home to answer a morning call about a cardiac arrest, police said.

“There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity,” Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.

But outside the the ring, Hogan also found trouble. WWE in 2015 cut ties with him for three years, even removing him from its Hall of Fame, after it was reported that he was recorded using racial slurs about Blacks. He apologized and said his words were “unacceptable.”

Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and millions of fans have watched the company’s weekly live television 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 said of Hogan.

Hogan’s own brand of passion

“Hulkamania,” as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid-1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a flag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his “24-inch pythons.” Crowds were hysterical when he ripped off his T-shirt in the ring — a trademark move — revealing a tan, sculpted body.

Hogan was also 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 recent years, Hogan added his celebrity to politics. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he merged classic 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 a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump-Vance campaign shirt underneath. Trump stood to applaud the move.

“We lost a great friend today, the “Hulkster,”” Trump said Thursday on Truth Social. “Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.”

Hogan lately began to invest in alternatives to theatrical, professional wrestling, announcing plans in April to serve as the first commissioner for the Real American Freestyle organization, which describes itself as the “first unscripted pro wrestling” league in the world. The first event is Aug. 30 at Cleveland State University.

“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 said. “People might be surprised, but wrestling is wrestling, brother.”

The league released a statement, saying it is now part of Hogan’s legacy “and we intend to honor it.”

Broken leg and a new attitude

Hogan was born in Georgia but lived much of his life in the Tampa, Florida, area. He recalled skipping school to watch wrestlers at the Sportatorium, a professional 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 told the Tampa Bay Times 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 result: a broken 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 became champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and pro wrestling took off from there. His popularity helped lead to the creation of the annual WrestleMania event in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff in the main event.

He slammed and beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage – perhaps his greatest rival — carried pro wrestling even further.

Hogan was a central figure in what is known as the Monday Night Wars. The WWE and World Championship Wrestling were battling for ratings supremacy in 1996. Hogan tilted things in WCW’s favor with the birth of the Hollywood Hogan character and the formation of the New World Order, a villainous stable that put WCW ahead in the ratings.

He returned to the WWE in 2002 and became a champion again. His match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8, a loss during which fans cheered for his “bad guy” character, was seen as a passing of the torch.

Hogan was perhaps as well known for his larger-than-life personality as he was his in-ring exploits. He was beloved for his “promos” — hype sessions he used to draw fans into matches. He often would play off his interviewer, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, starting his interviews off with, “Well, lemme tell ya something, Mean Gene!”

Outside the ring

He crossed over into movies and television as well. He was Thunderlips in the movie “Rocky III” in 1982.

In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in a lawsuit against Gawker Media and then added $25 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 obtained and posted video of him having sex with his former best friend’s wife. He said the post violated his privacy.

Hogan ended up settling the case for millions less after Gawker filed for bankruptcy.

There was other fallout. The litigation led to the discovery that Hogan had used racial slurs on the tape.

“It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it,” Hogan said.

After Hogan was booed at the premiere of Netflix’s new WWE show in January, former WWE wrestler Mark Henry, who is Black, said that the scandal was a “dark cloud” over Hogan’s career.

Henry said he believes in second chances but that Hogan “never wanted to go forward and fix it.”

Outside Hogan’s Hangout, his restaurant in Clearwater Beach, people talked about their admiration for Hogan as news of his death spread. Rich Null of St. Louis said the two men worked out together.

“Thirty minutes into our workout in the gym, he said, ‘cut the Hulk Hogan crap, call me Terry,’” Null said. “He was a really super nice guy, and we’re gonna miss him.”

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White reported from Detroit. AP writer Safiyah Riddle contributed from Montgomery, Alabama.