Hulk Hogan passes away at the age of 71

TMZ first reported that Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan passed away at the age of 71. He passed away of cardiac arrest at his home in Clearwater, Florida.

Hogan became a cultural icon during his stint with the World Wrestling Federation (n/k/a World Wrestling Entertainment) in the 1980s. He then signed with WCW in 1994 and revamped his career as a bad guy with the New World Order.

Hogan’s success in WWE crossed over to movies and television.

His out of the ring controversies began to surface making him a polarizing figure in later years. Early on he let WWE know, that Jesse Ventura was attempting to put together a wrestler’s union. Video revealed Hogan using racial epithets against African Americans.

Hogan also prevailed in a unique lawsuit in which he sued Gawker for invasion of privacy after it published a sex tape of Hogan with the former wife of his friend.

His last public appearance before WWE fans was during the debut of RAW in Los Angeles. He was booed.

The appearance was to promote a Hulk Hogan branded beer. Hogan was teaming with Eric Bischoff to promote a new freestyle wrestling league which just landed Fox Nation as the exclusive broadcast partner.

I’ll have more on Hogan in the coming days, but this is a case where one’s personal life overshadowed his persona before the cameras.

Source via Wikimedia Commons – Petty Officer 1st Class Kristin Fitzsimmons, USN