WWE icon Hulk Hogan has died at the age of 71.
The news was first reported by TMZ on Thursday, July 24. WWE confirmed the news.
‘WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away,’ the company said in a statement. ‘One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans.’
The Clearwater Police Department in Florida said in a statement it responded to a medical call at a residence on Clearwater Beach at 9:51 a.m. for a reported cardiac arrest. Fire and police personnel responded to the scene, and he was treated at the scene before he was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
The death of Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, comes days after rumors circulated on social media about his health. Hogan’s close friend Jimmy Hart said on July 22 he was ‘doing phenomenal.’
Hogan was influential in the rise of wrestling worldwide and was WWE’s first major star. After a brief stint in WWE in the late 1970s, he re-joined the company in 1983 after Vince McMahon took ownership of the business. Then, ‘Hulkamania’ ran wild as he soon became the most popular star in the company, and arguably all of wrestling. His All-American persona along with his hero-like abilities made fans cheer for him, and he was one of the first wrestlers to have a larger-than-life feel. His entrance song ‘Real American’ became one of the first known wrestling songs.
Hogan’s popularity extended outside of wrestling, with him appearing on TV shows and movies.
As WWE’s became the dominant wrestling company, Hogan’s stardom only grew. He headlined the first nine editions of WrestleMania, with his most iconic moment coming at WrestleMania 3 in 1987. Defending the World Heavyweight Championship against longtime rival Andre the Giant, Hogan picked him up and delivered ‘the bodyslam heard around the world’ before he hit his iconic running leg drop finisher to defeat him in one of the most memorable wrestling matches of all-time.
Hogan made waves outside of WWE when he helped catapult World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to popularity, eventually competing with WWE. There, he was part of the famed New World Order that was among the greatest factions in wrestling history.
After WWE acquired WCW, Hogan returned to WWE and adopted the ‘Hollywood’ Hogan persona as a heel, which included a famous showdown with The Rock at WrestleMania 18 in 2002. Hogan later had stints in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but returned to WWE on several occasions.
McMahon memoralized Hogan Thursday in a statement shared on social media.
‘The world lost a treasure today,’ McMahon said in the statement. ‘Hulk Hogan was the greatest WWE Superstar of ALL TIME, someone who was loved and admired around the world. … He gave everything he had to the audience whom he appreciated, respected and loved.’
Despite all the accomplishments in wrestling, Hogan was involved in several scandals in and out of the ring. He testified in the United States v. McMahon lawsuit in 1994 where he admitted he took steroids, but McMahon never distributed them. In 2015, he was caught on tape making racial comments that severely tarnished his popularity and legacy. WWE distanced itself from Hogan in the fallout, and but he eventually returned to making appearances with the company in 2018.
He made his last appearance for WWE in January at the Netflix debut of Monday Night Raw in Inglewood, California.
He was a six-time WWE Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice, once in 2005 and in 2020 as part of the New World Order.
(This story will be updated with more information.)