Renowned professional wrestler, Hulk Hogan, is dead. He was 71.
His death was reportedly confirmed by promoter Eric Bischoff, his partner in the recently launched Real America Freestyle amateur wrestling league.
TMZ magazine reported that medical personnel were sent to his home in Clearwater, Florida, early Thursday morning, with operators stating it was regarding a “cardiac arrest.”
Hulk Hogan headlined WrestleMania eight times, with perhaps his most memorable bout in the WWE‘s signature event coming in 1987 against the 520-pound Andre the Giant — his mentor — in the Pontiac Silverdome before a then-record crowd of 93,173.
Born in Augusta, Georgia, on Aug. 11, 1953, Terry Gene Bollea was the son of a pipefitter and a U.S. Navy secretary. He idolized wrestler Dusty Rhodes and convinced his father to take him to the Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, to watch the matches.
Bollea was a Little League pitcher and later a guitarist for Florida rock bands before he was spotted at Hector’s Gym in Tampa by wrestling scouts and urged to train with Japanese star Hiro Mat.
Hogan is survived by his wife, Sky, whom he wed in 2023, and his children, Nick and Brooke, from his first marriage to Linda Claridge (they were married from 1983 until their 2009 divorce). He also was married to Jennifer McDaniel from 2009 until a 2021 separation.
