Hulk Hogan: the iconic world champion Pro Wrestler was born on August 11, 1953, and died of a cardiac arrest, at 71 years old on Thursday July 24, 2025 in Clearwater, Florida. His birth name is Terry Gene Bollea, and was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his work with the WWE, and World Championship Wrestling, and for his flamboyance and massive 6 foot, 7 inch physique, and his trademark blond horseshoe moustache and bandanas, Hogan was widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide, the most popular wrestler of the 1980s and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
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 a 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.” The Shirt-Shredding Superstar of Pro Wrestling, was a charismatic wrestler who helped build an entertainment on the margins into a cultural behemoth. His flamboyance and star power helped transform professional wrestling from a low-budget regional attraction into a multibillion-dollar industry!
Hulk Hogan was on our TV show: Entertainment & Sports Today, during a big movie convention: The Video Software Dealers Association in Las Vegas. In the below photo, that was taken by the award-winning Photographer: Dean McKeever, our Entertainment & Sports Today Producer, and TV Show Host: Steve Taylor, interviews Hulk Hogan: 
The Superstar Hulk was extra friendly, giving me an in-depth interview about his great career, and a movie that he was starring in, and joked around with me, as if to chock me with his hands around my neck, as he was so kind as to do a TV Promo for us, asking people to watch our TV show! I will always remember meeting him !
This a big loss to the wrestling and Entertainment worlds! I am sure that Hulk Hogan is up in sports heaven now, in a big wrestling battle, and looking down on us, and with one hand cupped to his ear, he is calling out for all of his Hulkamaniacs to yell all the way up to the heavens to cheer him on in battle to victory! Hulk may just be at the pearly gates of heaven right now, as he is greeting the legendary singer: Ozzy Osbourne (in the above photo). 
Hulk Hogan who died of a cardiac arrest, at 71 years old on Thursday July 24, 2025, and legendary singer: Ozzy Osbourne who died July 22, 2025 in the UK, at the age 76 years, who was called the “Prince of Darkness”, and was a heavy metal icon and the lead singer of Black Sabbath. Although his family did not release a cause of death, he had been battling a range of health issues over the years, including a variant of Parkinson’s disease. However, soon after his death, rumors spread that the COVID-19 vaccine caused his illness. They are both together now up in heaven:
& Actor: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who is best known for his role as Bill Cosby’s son Theo on “The Cosby Show” and who died from drowning at the age of 54 years on July 20, 2025 in Limon, Costa Rica; all died within a few days of each other! They all passed away this week! RIP to the legends:
“In blasé Manhattan, where the likes of Jackie O. and Mr. T have been observed walking the streets unhindered,” The New York Times wrote in 1984, “Hulk Hogan cannot go 10 feet.” The W.W.F. gave Hogan a patriotic persona: He developed rivalries with the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, who represented the United States’ global rivals Iran and the Soviet Union (never mind that Volkoff was actually Croatian). Hogan started arriving at matches accompanied by the song “Real American” by Rick Derringer and began urging fans to take their vitamins. 
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. 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 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. 
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.
After winning the title in 1984, Hogan told the interviewer Gene Okerlund: “It is the dream of a lifetime, daddy. This is like going to the mountaintop 1,000 times over. I feel the energy. Hulkamania’s running worldwide!”
Shortly afterward, he was doused in champagne by Andre the Giant. But their friendship would not last forever. In 1987, in perhaps Hogan’s most memorable match, at the height of Hulkamania, he was matched up against Andre at WrestleMania III, at the Silverdome in Michigan. Andre, a longtime fan favorite, had recently turned heel. 
Andre was said not to have lost in the ring for 15 years. But Hogan defeated him. The result of the match, like all pro-wrestling bouts, was predetermined, but that did not diminish the impact of the bout’s biggest moment: Hogan body slammed the 500-pound Andre.
Hogan began his professional wrestling career in 1977, but gained worldwide recognition after signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in December 1983. There, his persona as a heroic all-American helped usher in the 1980s professional wrestling boom, where he headlined eight of the first nine editions of the WWF’s flagship annual event WrestleMania. Hogan also was a regular headliner of Saturday Night’s Main Event and its spin-off The Main Event. During his initial run, he was a five-time WWF Champion, with his 1,474-day reign being the longest of the WrestleMania era ever. He was the first wrestler to win consecutive Royal Rumble matches, winning in 1990 and 1991. His match with André the Giant on WWF The Main Event on February 5, 1988, still holds American television viewership records for wrestling with a 15.2 Nielsen TV rating and 33 million viewers.
In 1993, Hogan departed the WWF to pursue a career in film and television. He was lured back to the ring when he signed with rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times, and holds the record for the longest reign. In 1996, he underwent a career renaissance upon adopting the villainous persona of “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, leading the popular New World Order (nWo) stable. As a result, he became a major figure during the “Monday Night War”, another boom of mainstream professional wrestling. He headlined WCW’s annual flagship event Starrcade three times (in 1994, 1996, and 1997), in which the 1997 edition was the most profitable WCW pay-per-view in the company’s history.
Hogan returned to the WWF in 2002 following its acquisition of WCW the prior year, winning the Undisputed WWF Championship for his record equaling (for the time) sixth reign before departing in 2003. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, and inducted a second time in 2020 as a member of the nWo. Hogan also performed for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he headlined the inaugural AWA closed circuit supercard, Super Sunday in 1983, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) – where he was the inaugural winner of the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship – and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
During and after wrestling, Hogan had an extensive acting career, beginning with his role in the sports drama film Rocky III (1982). He starred in several other films (including No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando, and Mr. Nanny) and three television shows (Hogan Knows Best, Thunder in Paradise, and China, IL), as well as in Right Guard commercials and the video game Hulk Hogan’s Main Event (2011). He was the frontman for the Wrestling Boot Band, whose sole record, Hulk Rules, reached No. 12 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart in 1995.
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