Hulk Hogan, shirt-shredding superstar of pro wrestling, dies at 71

By Victor Mather

Hulk Hogan, whose flamboyance and star power helped transform professional wrestling from a low-budget regional attraction into a multibillion dollar industry, died Thursday in Clearwater, Florida. He was 71.

Police and fire department personnel in Clearwater were called to Hogan’s home on Clearwater Beach, where Hogan was treated for cardiac arrest, the police said in a “news alert” post on Facebook. He was taken to nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, they said.

Hogan was the face of pro wrestling for decades, with his blond hair and horseshoe mustache, colorful bandannas and massive biceps, which he referred to as “24-inch pythons.”

Even after his wrestling days were over, he remained in the spotlight, most recently when he spoke last year at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, tearing off his shirt to reveal a Trump/Vance shirt underneath. He was earlier involved in a high-profile lawsuit in 2012, bankrolled by billionaire Peter Thiel, against Gawker, the irreverent media company, after Gawker posted a video of Hogan having sex with a friend’s wife. He won the case on invasion of privacy grounds, reaping millions in damages.

Hogan’s routine before a wrestling match was guaranteed to send fans into a frenzy. He would cup his hand to his ear to encourage the roaring crowd and tear off his shirt, which was pre-ripped to ease the process. Fans loved him as much for his charm and physique as for his old-fashioned grappling ability.

Hogan was born Terry Gene Bollea, on Aug. 11, 1953, in Augusta, Georgia. His father, Peter Bollea, was a construction foreman; his mother, Ruth (Moody) Bollea, was a dance teacher. He attended the University of South Florida but dropped out, choosing the wrestling mat over the classroom.

He started wrestling in 1977. Like many in the sport, he was a big man, weighing 300 pounds in his prime. He was also exceptionally tall, 6-foot-8, helping to further a trend toward very big men in wrestling.

He adopted the name “Hulk” because of comparisons to the muscular comic book character on the CBS television program “The Incredible Hulk.” In 1979, he made it to the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) and took on the alliterative last name Hogan.

Those were the days when wrestling’s good guys, or “faces,” were clean-cut all-American types, and a savvy fan could guess that a wrestler was going to turn bad by noticing his hair grow a little longer. In that environment, the longhaired, edgier Hogan clearly fit the bad guy, or “heel,” mode. He developed a rivalry with champion Bob Backlund, a traditional Midwestern milk-drinking good guy.

Hogan catapulted to greater fame after appearing in the movie “Rocky III” in 1982. He played a wrestler, Thunderlips, who takes on Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) in a charity wrestler-versus-boxer match. The preening, egotistic Thunderlips batters an unprepared Rocky, throwing him out of the ring and into the crowd. Despite his brief screen time, Hogan created a character that stuck in viewers’ minds, no mean feat in a film that also starred the bombastic Mr. T.

After a brief time away, Hogan returned to the WWF in 1983. His popularity had grown so great that it seemed clear he was destined to be a good guy, despite his less-than-button-down appearance. His rebranding helped pave the way for broadening the face category to include all types of wrestlers.

Hogan held the WWF’s title belt many times over the years, including a four-year stretch in the mid-1980s, an epic period of dominance in an ever-changing sport.

He regularly filled arenas around the country, and big events at which he was the headliner, like WrestleMania, could easily fill stadiums.

The thousands in the stands eagerly awaited a Hogan victory, which often involved “Hulking up”: A seemingly defeated Hogan would turn things around by absorbing the blows of his opponent, each one somehow making him stronger. Hogan’s finishing move was often the leg drop, in which he would bounce off the rope, leap in the air and land, leg first, on a prone opponent. Few foes lasted long after that move.

Wrestling stardom is never just about in-ring performance, and Hogan excelled in another key area: on-camera interviews. He would appear to be in a passionate frenzy, but remained controlled beneath the surface, delivering the story line of the day. A trademark was calling the audience “brother” in a gravelly voice.

Hogan had hit peak stardom, and crossed over into starring in movies. He played a wrestler in “No Holds Barred” (1989) and an ex-wrestler-turned-caregiver in “Mr. Nanny” (1993). He also starred as a mercenary in the television series “Thunder in Paradise.”

Once his film and television career began to fade, Hogan moved to World Championship Wrestling in 1994 and developed a whole new set of rivalries, including one with Ric Flair, the dominant wrestler for years in that organization. Wrestling mostly as a heel, Hogan formed a group of wrestlers called the New World Order and called himself “Hollywood” Hogan.

He returned to the newly renamed WWE in 2002, and later left and returned several more times, wrestling for other companies in between.

In 2005, he appeared in the reality series “Hogan Knows Best,” along with his wife at the time, Linda (Claridge) Hogan, and his children, Brooke (Hogan) Oleksy, a singer, and Nick Hogan, a race car driver. They survive him, along with his third wife, Sky Daily, and two grandchildren.