Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan dies at 71
Hulk Hogan was the inescapable face of wrestling in the 80s as he crossed over from being a WWE (then WWF) Superstar to a pop culture icon thanks to his larger-than-life persona and stature. People.com reports that Terry “Hulk” Hogan, whose birth name was Terry Bolea, had suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Florida and died at the age of 71. TMZ broke the news today that medics were sent to his residence and he was carried out in a stretcher. More details are sure to be revealed as the story develops.
Hogan brought attention to professional wrestling as the 12-time world champion and is credited with inspiring generations of younger wrestlers. He transcended the profession when Sylvester Stallone cast him in Rocky III as a fictitious wrestler named “Thunderlips.” This appearance would be the earliest of Hulk Hogan’s film resume. He would go on to star in a number of movies, including No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny. There was even a planned biopic for Hogan with Chris Hemsworth attached to star.
Hogan glowed when he read the screenplay, “The script was amazing. Scott Silver, who wrote the script for Joker, Wolf of Wall Street, a bunch of other movies, said, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever written.’ When I read it, I’m like, oh my god, this is really good. At the time, I was in a space where I told him the positive stuff about wrestling.”
The Hulkster had been wrestling for 35 years and retired in 2012, with some extra appearances peppered in. He boasted about his “24-inch pythons” as part of his persona and famously told young fans to say their prayers and take their vitamins. Hogan became synonymous with the sport entertainment world and would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 by Stallone. One of the matches that fans talk about to this day is his showdown with Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III, where it was punctuated by Hogan doing the impossible and body-slamming the 500+lb. wrestler.
Hogan would also revitalize the brand in the late 90s when he not only went to wrestle for WWE competitor WCW, but he would turn heel as Hollywood Hogan and start the villainous faction — the NWO.
Sports Illustrated said Hogan is “what Babe Ruth was to baseball. Hogan pushed the industry to new levels and created the multi-billion dollar business it is today…. Without ‘The Hulkster,’ wrestling wouldn’t be where it is in the modern era.”
Audiences got to peer into the private life of Hogan on his VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best, and he explained in an episode, “People are locked into this one-dimensional view that Hulk Hogan is just a wrestler with a bald head that screams and body-slams people. (They) don’t realize that I go to soccer games, play frisbee, watch The Lion King and start crying.”
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