Hulk Hogan, whose vibrant charisma and larger-than-life presence turned professional wrestling from a regional, low-budget spectacle into a global multibillion-dollar phenomenon, has died at 71.
World Wrestling Entertainment confirmed his passing in an email on Thursday, July 24, 2025, providing no further details.
Post-wrestling, Hogan stayed in the public eye, notably in 2024, when he energized the Republican National Convention by tearing off his shirt to reveal a Trump/Vance shirt beneath.
For decades, Hogan defined wrestling with his blond hair, horseshoe mustache, colorful bandannas, and self-dubbed “24-inch pythons”—his massive biceps.
Born Terry Gene Bollea on August 11, 1953, in Augusta, Georgia, his father, Peter, was a construction foreman, and his mother, Ruth (Moody) Bollea, was a dance teacher. He briefly attended the University of South Florida but left to pursue wrestling.
Medics were dispatched to #HulkHogan's Clearwater, Florida home early Thursday morning ... with operators stating it was regarding a "cardiac arrest."
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) July 24, 2025
🔉: Pinellas County Fire and EMS pic.twitter.com/6Gzrmq5tWt
Hogan began his wrestling career in 1977. A towering figure at 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds in his prime, he contributed to the sport’s trend toward larger athletes.
Inspired by comparisons to the muscular comic book character from the CBS show The Incredible Hulk, he adopted the name “Hulk.”
By 1979, he joined the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), taking the surname Hogan for its alliterative appeal.