Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea passed away on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Arguably, he had the most success as a pro wrestler in the modern time to crossover into mainstream pop culture.
Too bad the character was not the same as the person.
As many people found out later in his life, Hogan had a polarizing history which makes his death less celebrated than it would, if he was the same squeaky-clean “Real American” that he portrayed in the 1980s.
Hogan rose to fame in the WWE and was Vince McMahon’s meal ticket for many years. After he defeated the Iron Sheik in Madison Square Garden in 1984 to win the WWF (prior to WWE) Championship, the era of “Hulkamania” began in earnest.
Hogan’s stardom skyrocketed with the championship and he was the ultimate face to team with a mainstream star to headline McMahon’s “go-for-broke” (literally) extravaganza, “Wrestlemania.”
Teaming with Mr. T, they defeated Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in the main event and launched the Wrestlemania franchise for the McMahons. And the rest is history.
Hogan went on to have successful title defenses including one of the biggest at Wrestlemania III against Andre the Giant at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan.
Hogan went on to lose, regain and then lose the title on three separate occasions.
In 1994, he bolted for WCW and eventually revamped his career with a surprising heel turn and join the New World Order. While Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were the true leaders of the faction, Hogan’s star power still commanded top billing. But, Hogan’s time in WCW ran its course and he left the company after creative battles with WCW’s head writer Vince Russo.
Hogan’s run in WCW eventually ended and he found himself in TNA along with other WCW castoffs in a forgettable period of time during the mid-2010s.
Hogan’s pop culture status gave him the opportunity to star in movies and television. Eventually, he starred in his own reality series, “Hogan Knows Best” where America got to meet his family.
Hogan had issues. Early on he told WWF officials that Jesse Ventura was attempting to create a wrestler union. Allegedly, he refused to relinquish the title to Jeff Jarrett in WCW when he was asked by Russo. The most heinous issue was a racist rant caught on tape in 2007. The tape, released in 2015, he expressed disgust that his daughter was dating a black man. Despite an attempt to plea for forgiveness, the damage had been done.
There was also the lawsuit by Hogan in which he sued Gawker for publishing the sex tape which showed him with his friend’s ex-wife. Hogan won the lawsuit against Gawker based on invasion of privacy claims. Hogan was awarded $115 million by a jury. Notably, the lawsuit with Gawker reached a settlement of $31 million.
His last WWE appearance was on the first episode of RAW streaming on Netflix in Los Angeles. He was booed loudly by the crowd as he tried to get over with fans and sell his “Real American” beer.
Hogan’s legacy as a wrestler is hard to separate from Terry Bollea. Hogan’s heroic character in the ring and mantra of “say your prayers and take your vitamins,” resonated with middle America and was an easy figure to look up to while growing up. Hogan evolving into “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan was a classic example of the evolution of a character.
But for many who grew up with Hogan, his personal life negated the heroic facade he portrayed. Hogan’s edge as “Hollywood Hogan” wore on many wrestling fans. His constant exaggerations also were hard to swallow. For those that do not like mixing politics with wrestling, his love for Donald Trump made wrestling fans on edge.
In the end, Terry Bollea’s character as a right wing apologist, racist and liar showed up instead of the Hogan character most grew up with watching on television.
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