Pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan has died, police and World Wrestling Entertainment said Thursday. He was 71.
First responders were called to the Clearwater Beach, Florida, home of Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, around 9:50 a.m. Thursday, police said.
“The nature of the call was for a cardiac arrest,” the Clearwater Police Department said in a statement. He was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away,” WWE said in a statement posted on social media. “One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans.”
He’d become a fixture in Republican politics in recent years and appeared at last year’s GOP convention, ripping open his shirt to hype then-candidate and former President Donald Trump.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, paid tribute to him on X with stars and stripes emojis alongside “R.I.P to a legend.”
Hogan — whose real name was Terry Gene Bollea — earned fame for his theatrical wrestling performances, but became a household name after making appearances in several films and television shows.
He famously appeared in the third installment of the “Rocky” film franchise in which he took on the title character, played by Sylvester Stallone, in a fight between wrestler and boxer.
Hogan’s family had a reality series on VH1 in the mid-2000s named “Hogan Knows Best,” following the lives of his then-wife, Linda, and their two children, Brooke and Nick.
The show was canceled in 2007 after his son was seriously injured in a car accident in Clearwater and was charged with reckless driving.
Linda Hogan filed for divorce the same year, ending more than two decades of marriage.
Written with agency reports
