Hulk Hogan dead at 71

• Hulk Hogan has died at 71.
• Hogan was one of wrestling’s first superstars.
• He was so popular that he branched out into movies and later even had his own animated TV show.

Wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan, whose larger-than-life persona, shirt-ripping theatrics, and catchphrases made him the face of the 1980s wrestling boom, has died at 71.

The Clearwater Police Department confirmed his death early Thursday afternoon.

“Clearwater Fire Department and Clearwater Police Department personnel responded to a medical call at 9:51 a.m. today in the 1000 block of Eldorado Avenue on Clearwater Beach, the department wrote on Facebook. “The nature of the call was for a cardiac arrest. A 71-year-old resident, Terry Bollea, also known as Hulk Hogan, was treated by Clearwater Fire & Rescue crews before being taken by Sunstar to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.”

Chris Volo, Hogan’s manager, told NBC Los Angeles that Hogan was surrounded by loved ones at his home.

Hogan was one of wrestling’s first superstars. In 1979, Hogan began wrestling for the American Wrestling Association in Minnesota. At the time, he printed his own shirts at a Minneapolis bar, the beginning of what would later become Hulkmania.

In 1979, the then-unknown Vince McMahon lured Hogan away to join his wrestling venture. Together, the pair would turn a once-regional entertainment sport into a nationwide spectacle.

Wrestling is now a billion-dollar industry, in large part due to Hogan. The WWE, the successor to what McMahon started in the 1980s, merged with Dana White’s UFC in 2023. The combined entity was estimated to be worth $21.4 billion.

Hogan was so popular that he branched out into movies and later even had his own animated TV show.

In recent years, Hogan has been increasingly open about his political views. In 2015, he joked that then-candidate Donald Trump should name him as his running mate. Hogan gave a primetime speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention, doing his signature shirt rip to reveal a Trump-Vance T-shirt.

Hogan said he didn’t normally discuss politics, but after Trump’s near assassination, he felt compelled to speak out.

“I’m here tonight because I want the world to know that Donald Trump is a real American hero, and I’m proud to support my hero as the next president of this United States,” Hogan said during his speech.

In a statement on Thursday, Trump, a fellow WWE Hall of Fame inductee, called Hogan “a great friend.”

“Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “He gave an absolutely electric speech at the Republican National Convention, that was one of the highlights of the entire week.”

Hogan returned to wrestling multiple times, including in 2002 when he squared off against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In 2014, Hogan returned to WWE for WrestleMania 30, the company’s yearly signature event. Just two years later, WWE fired Hogan and removed all references to him from its website after a tape was published where he reportedly went on a racist rant. Hogan later apologized for using “offensive language” and said he was not a racist.

Hogan sued Gawker in 2013 after the website published portions of a reported sex tape of the wrestler. It was unknown at the time, but billionaire Peter Thiel later admitted to secretly funding the suit that eventually led to Gawker’s bankruptcy and the site’s demise.

Outside of wrestling, Hogan never stopped marketing himself. Last year, Hogan launched “Real American Beer,” a bid to disrupt the alcohol industry when many conservatives were turning away from Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light amid a boycott due to a brief partnership the brand had with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Hogan’s most recent venture involved Real American’s bid to purchase Hooters’ US business as the restaurant brand navigates bankruptcy, assembling a team to handle matters like real estate, franchising, brand building, and social media marketing.
A source familiar with the deal previously indicated to Business Insider that Hogan was set to play a key role in the plan.

“Cheap beer and fattening wings aren’t the food or drink of the younger generation,” the person told BI. “Hulk can solve that.”

The proposal faced several hurdles before Hogan’s death, but Real American Beer CEO Terri Francis told BI on Thursday that the company would move forward with the plan.

“Real American Beer will carry forward his vision and mission with the same passion and purpose — and that includes his desire to bring Hooters into the Real American family,” she told BI in a statement. Francis also said she was “heartbroken” and that Hogan’s spirit “lives in this brand.”

His love for wrestling grew early on.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was born in Augusta, Georgia, on August 11, 1953. His family moved to Florida, where, as a high schooler, all he could think about was the ring.

“My whole senior year of high school, I lined up my study hall, shop class, and physical ed were classes where I could hide with my friends and wrestle,” Hogan told Sports Illustrated in 2024. “We’d hide in shop and wrestle, imitating Dusty and Dick Murdoch and the Great Malenko. Those are some of my favorite memories of high school.”

By 24, Hogan would make his wrestling debut. It wasn’t until a later encounter with Lou Ferrigno, the star of the “The Incredible Hulk” TV series, that he would give himself his famous stage name. In 1979, Hogan met McMahon, and by 1984, he would win the WWF’s title.

One of his signature matches took place just four years later, when a record 33 million people watched Hogan take on Andre the Giant on NBC.