Six-time WWE champion and ‘Hall of Famer’ Hulk Hogan passed away in Florida at the age of 71 on Thursday night.
It is the end of an era in WWE or World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as it was once called when we were growing up. For the quintessential 1980 and ’90s, there was no bigger superstar than Hulk Hogan. No one knew him as Terry Gene Bollea, he as always Hulk Hogan to the world.
A part of our childhood has come to an end on Thursday night when the shocking news of Hulk Hogan’s death filtered in on Florida as the WWE Hall of Famer did at the age of 71. It was Hulk Hogan’s ‘Hulkamania’ which gave birth to the biggest pro-wrestling event in the world these days – ‘Wrestlemania’ back in the 1980s.
But Terry Gene Bollea wasn’t always know as Hulk Hogan. It was Vince McMahon Senior who first identified his talent and back in 1979 he was know as ‘Sterling Golden’. McMahon Sr told his son and former CEO of WWE McMahon Jr that ‘Sterling Golden’ will not work with the WWF fans and thus, the ‘immortal’ Hulk Hogan was born.
The legendary Hulk Hogan ❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/3daG7IDznf
— WWE (@WWE) July 24, 2025
Hulkamania first ran wild in AWA
After his initial stint in WWF, Hogan had walked away to the more local AWA wrestling before Vince McMahon Jr went hunting for the one true superstar who could put WWF on the world map. ‘Hulkamania’ first ran wild in the AWA before Hulk Hogan’s much publicized return to WWF in 1984.
Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik on his return to the WWF to be crowned champion for the first time and didn’t look back then. Banking on Hogan’s charisma and star power, Vince McMahon Jr bet it all, in fact, mortgaged his house and properties according to his daughter Stephanie McMahon to make ‘Wrestlemania 1’ a success.
WWF champion Hulk Hogan teamed up with ‘Mr T’ to take on ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and ‘Mr Wonderful’ Paul Orndoff as the main event for ‘Wrestlemania 1’ in front of a sold-out crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1985. Hogan and ‘Hulkamania’ ran wild and ‘Wrestlemania’ and WWF never look back from that.
Hulk Hogan won it all
Hulk Hogan won at least six WWE championships in his illustrious career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018 after controversially thrown out due to alleged ‘racial’ slurs at blacks in USA.
“He was a trailblazer, the first performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into a global phenomenon,” McMahon Jr said of Hogan.
WWE would not be where it is today without the larger-than-life characters that compete in the ring … and few, if any, loomed larger than Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea.
He was the archetype of what it meant to be a “Superstar” – a global sensation that inspired millions to work… pic.twitter.com/wXpgFvAhHA
— Triple H (@TripleH) July 24, 2025
‘Hulkamania’ represented true American sentiment
Before the world saw Eric Bana, Edward Norton or Mark Ruffalo as Marvel’s famous character – ‘The Hulk’ – it was Hulk Hogan who was the true superhero. He was the US flag-waving hero with a horseshoe moustache that America needed in years that came after Cold War and preceded the Gulf War.
Crowds all over the world, even India, went wild when he ripped off his T-shirt in the ring — a trademark move — revealing his chiselled, toned body. Hogan also turned into celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, including a reality show about his life on VH1, ‘Hogan Knows Best’ before foraying into Hollywood. Many other WWE wrestlers like ‘The Rock’, John Cena and Dave Bautista have made the move to Hollywood but Hulk Hogan was the first pioneer who achieved the feat in making a successful transition.
He crossed over into movies and television as well. He was Thunderlips in the movie ‘Rocky III’ with Sylvester Stallone in 1982.
Hulk Hogan’s in-ring achievements
Hulk Hogan incredibly slammed and beat Andre ‘the Giant’ at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. It was Hogan’s move which later inspired the likes of Lex Luger, who slammed Yokozuna, but this win will remain iconic in WWF history.
His feud with the late ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage carried pro wrestling and WWF to greater heights. The WWE and the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) were battling for ratings supremacy in 1996 and it was Hogan tilted things in WCW’s favor with the birth of the ‘Hollywood Hulk Hogan’ character and the formation of the ‘New World Order’ (NOW) with Razor Ramon and Kevin Nash.
The wrestling world has lost a true legend. His contributions to our business are immeasurable and for that I am appreciative.
Thank you, Hulk Hogan. pic.twitter.com/aV4gdTcq4S
— Undertaker (@undertaker) July 24, 2025
He returned to the WWE in 2002 at the ‘No Way Out’ PPV event and became a champion again. His match against The Rock at WrestleMania 18, a loss during which fans cheered for his ‘bad guy’ character, was seen as a passing of the torch.
For the fans in India, Hulk Hogan remains the number one pick in the ‘WWE Trump Card’ we used to have in our childhood. We will all remember his with ‘Watcha gonna do, when Hulkamania runs wild on you!’
