Hulk Hogan

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Birth Date:
11.08.1953
Death date:
24.07.2025
Length of life:
71
Days since birth:
26292
Years since birth:
71
Days since death:
12
Years since death:
0
Person's maiden name:
Terry Gene Bollea
Categories:
Actor, Wrestler
Nationality:
 american
Cemetery:
Set cemetery

Terry Gene Bollea (/bəˈleɪə/; August 11, 1953 – July 24, 2025), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, was an American professional wrestler.

He was best known for his work with WWE and World Championship Wrestling. Known for his flamboyance and massive physique, and his trademark blond horseshoe moustache and bandanas, Hogan was widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide, the most popular wrestler of the 1980s and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Hogan began his professional wrestling career in 1977, but gained worldwide recognition after signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in December 1983. There, his persona as a heroic all-American helped usher in the 1980s professional wrestling boom, where he headlined eight of the first nine editions (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) of the WWF's flagship annual event WrestleMania. Hogan also was a regular headliner of Saturday Night's Main Event and its spin-off The Main Event. During his initial run, he was a five-time WWF Champion, with his 1,474-day reign being the longest of the WrestleMania era ever. He was the first wrestler to win consecutive Royal Rumble matches, winning in 1990 and 1991. His match with André the Giant on WWF The Main Event on February 5, 1988, still holds American television viewership records for wrestling with a 15.2 Nielsen rating and 33 million viewers.

In 1993, Hogan departed the WWF to pursue a career in film and television. He was lured back to the ring when he signed with rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times, and holds the record for the longest reign. In 1996, he underwent a career renaissance upon adopting the villainous persona of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, leading the popular New World Order (nWo) stable. As a result, he became a major figure during the "Monday Night War", another boom of mainstream professional wrestling. He headlined WCW's annual flagship event Starrcade three times (in 1994, 1996, and 1997), in which the 1997 edition was the most profitable WCW pay-per-view in the company's history.

Hogan returned to the WWF in 2002 following its acquisition of WCW the prior year, winning the Undisputed WWF Championship for his record equaling (for the time) sixth reign before departing in 2003. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, and inducted a second time in 2020 as a member of the nWo. Hogan also performed for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he headlined the inaugural AWA closed circuit supercard, Super Sunday in 1983, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) – where he was the inaugural winner of the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship – and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

During and after wrestling, Hogan had an extensive acting career, beginning with his 1982 role in Rocky III. He starred in several films (including No Holds BarredSuburban Commando, and Mr. Nanny) and three television shows (Hogan Knows BestThunder in Paradise, and China, IL), as well as in Right Guard commercials and the video game, Hulk Hogan's Main Event. He was the frontman for The Wrestling Boot Band, whose sole record, Hulk Rules, reached No. 12 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart in 1995.

Hogan dies of cardiac arrest on July 24, 2025, at the age of 71.

Hogan was born in Augusta, Georgia, on August 11, 1953, the son of construction foreman Pietro "Peter" Bollea (December 6, 1913 – December 18, 2001) and homemaker and dance teacher Ruth V. (née Moody; 1922 – January 1, 2011). Bollea was of Italian, Panamanian, Scottish, and French descent; his paternal grandfather also named Pietro was born in 1886 in Cigliano, Province of Vercelli. Bollea had an older brother named Allan (1947–1986) who died at the age of 38 from a drug overdose. When he was one and a half years old, his family moved to Port Tampa, Florida. As a boy, he was a pitcher in Little League Baseball. Hogan attended Robinson High School. He began watching professional wrestling at 16 years old. While in high school, he revered Dusty Rhodes, and he regularly attended cards at the Tampa Sportatorium. It was at one of those wrestling cards where he first noticed "Superstar" Billy Graham and began looking to him for inspiration; since he first saw Graham on TV, Hogan wanted to match his "inhuman" look.

Hogan was also a musician, spending a decade playing fretless bass guitar in several Florida-based rock bands. He went on to study at Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida. After music gigs began to get in the way of his time in college, he dropped out of the University of South Florida. Eventually, Hogan and two local musicians formed a band called Ruckus in 1976. The band soon became popular in the Tampa Bay region. During his spare time, Hogan worked out at Hector's Gym in the Tampa Bay area, where he began lifting. Many of the wrestlers who were competing in the Florida region visited the bars where Ruckus was performing. Among those attending his performances were Jack and Gerald Brisco, two brothers who wrestled together as a tag team in the Florida region.

Impressed by Hogan's physical stature, the Brisco brothers asked Hiro Matsuda—the man who trained wrestlers working for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF)—to make him a potential trainee. In 1976, the two brothers asked Hogan to try wrestling. Hogan eventually agreed. At first, Mike Graham, the son of CWF promoter Eddie Graham, refused to put Hogan in the ring; according to Hogan, he met Graham while in high school and the two did not get along. After Hogan quit Ruckus and started telling people in town that he was going to be a wrestler, Graham finally agreed to accept the Brisco Brothers' request. During the first session in training, Matsuda broke Hogan's leg. After 10 weeks of rehab, Hogan returned to train with Matsuda and blocked him when he tried to break his leg again.

Family

Hogan married his first wife Linda Claridge in 1983; they have a daughter Brooke and a son Nick. Hogan was featured in the reality television show Hogan Knows Best, with Claridge and their children.

According to an interview in the National Enquirer, Christiane Plante claimed that Hogan had an affair with her in 2007 while the Hogan family was shooting Hogan Knows Best. Plante was 33 years old at the time and had worked with Brooke Hogan on her 2006 album.

On November 20, 2007, Linda filed for divorce in Pinellas County, Florida. In November 2008, Linda claimed to the public that she made the decision to end her marriage after finding out about Hogan's affair. In his 2009 autobiography, Hogan acknowledged that Linda on numerous occasions suspected he was having infidelities whenever he developed friendships with other women, but denied allegations that he ever cheated on her. Hogan only retained around 30% of the couple's liquid assets totaling around $10 million in the divorce settlement. Hogan considered committing suicide after the divorce and credits Laila Ali, his co-star on American Gladiators, with preventing him from doing so.

Hulk Hogan began a relationship with Jennifer McDaniel in early 2008. The two were engaged in November 2009 and married on December 14, 2010, in Clearwater, Florida. On February 28, 2022, Hogan stated on Twitter that he and McDaniel divorced.

Hogan became engaged to yoga instructor Sky Daily in July 2023, proposing to her at actor Corin Nemec's wedding reception. They married on September 22, 2023.

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