Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan died on Thursday, July 24, 2025. It is being reported that medical personnel arrived at his home to find Hogan in cardiac arrest. He was 71 years old.

Hogan was one of the most popular and well known WWE (formerly WWF) wrestlers in the 1980s. He had a signature look with platinum blonde long hair and handlebar mustache, an imposing muscular physique, and yellow ring gear. His popularity inspired Hulkamania which saw him wrestler mostly as a good guy figure, but he also ventured into the heel role during his career.

Hogan was born Terry Gene Bollea on August 11, 1953, in Augusta, Georgia. He was a fan of wrestling as a child, and years later, wrestling scouts spotted him at a gym in Tampa, Florida, and he started training for his career. His early in-ring names included Super Destroyer, Sterling Golden, and Terry “The Hulk” Boulder before landing on Hulk Hogan. He wrestled with a few regional programs, then he met WWE head Vince McMahon in 1979 and he moved over to his company.

He was known for calling everyone “Brother,” for hulking out in the ring, and cupping his hand to his ear to encourage the audience to get loud. Hulkamania began in early 1984 when Hogan delivered a leg drop to the Iron Sheik and claimed the heavyweight championship. Hogan headlined WrestleMania eight times including an iconic match against Andre the Giant in which Hogan body slammed the 520-pound wrestler. He headlined the first WrestleMania in ’85, teaming with Mr. T in a match against Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. He was a WWE champion six times during his career.

After 14 years with WWE, Hogan moved over to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). With the new company, he switched from hero to heel as part of the bad boy group New World Order (NWO) with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. He returned to WWE in 2002, losing a match to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his finale match was at Summer Slam in 2006 when he defeated Randy Orton.

Hogan applied his exaggerated acting skills several times, notably playing a wrestler who fought Rocky Balboa in Rocky III. He appeared in live-action portions of the animated Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling, starred in No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando, Mr. Nanny, the Thunder in Paradise series, Santa with Muscles, Muppets from Space, and he loaned his voice to Robot Chicken and American Dad.

His life wasn’t without controversy. In 1994, Hogan admitted that he used steroids during his career and in 2006 he was heard making racist comments in a leaked sex video. He publicly apologized for his insensitive remarks, but he never regained his former level of fan support.

Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 as a solo wrestler and in 2020 as part of NWO. In April 2025, he and pro wrestling promotor Eric Bischoff created the Real American wrestling league with a current TV rights deal with Fox Nation.