Professional wrestler Terry Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, died on Thursday at the age of 71, according to World Wrestling Entertainment.
Bollea is widely recognized as the biggest wrestling star of all time and helped WWE become the behemoth that it is today. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bollea’s larger-than-life personality in and out of the ring made him a household name and a crossover mainstream star, starring in movies and recognized around the world.
WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away. One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s,” the company said in a post on X. “WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans.”
The city of Clearwater, Florida, said in a statement that police and fire personnel were dispatched to Bollea’s home after a report of an individual in cardiac arrest. Bollea was treated by fire and rescue crews when they arrived and was transported to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. TMZ was first to report the news.
Police said in a news conference that there were no signs of suspicious activity in his death and an investigation is ongoing.
With his boasts of possessing “24-inch pythons” for arms and his reminders to “say your prayers and eat your vitamins,” Bollea was instrumental in wrestling’s 1980s “golden era.” Bollea’s popularity and his rivalries with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, André Rene Roussimoff – known as André the Giant, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and scores of others made professional wrestling a multi-billion-dollar industry in the 1980s and early 1990s.
