Hulk Hogan, a true icon of American pop culture and an absolute wrestling legend, has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 71. His death occurred in Florida, where the former champion had retired years ago, leaving a void among millions of fans who grew up on the myth of the man with the blond mustache, sculpted muscles, and fierce gaze.
Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea, was born in Augusta, Georgia, to a father of Italian descent, Peter Bollea, a bricklayer, and a Scottish and French mother, Ruth Moody, a dance teacher and homemaker.
Unlike other colleagues, he never publicly claimed his Italian roots: his image was all-American, a star-spangled hero, the living embodiment of a Marvel comic-book patriotism that over time transformed into a symbol of the most identitarian conservative right.
A central figure in the “golden age” of wrestling in the 80s and 90s, Hogan was much more than an athlete: he became a symbolic figure, an icon of cable TV and pop consumerism, with his ripped t-shirts in the ring, his evangelical preacher-like shouts, and his pagan Eucharistic gestures.
His every entrance into the arena was a ritual, every "Brother!" uttered a call to a muscular, virile, '80s-style brotherhood. A media-rich force that for years embodied the American dream in its most testosterone-fueled and spectacular guise.
Behind the mask, however, lay a silent tragedy: Hogan was never able to separate himself from the character he had created, becoming a prisoner of his own legend. The man had become a legend, and America—the most nostalgic and in need of simple, invincible heroes—never allowed him to be anything else.
In recent years, he had returned to the spotlight for his political ties to Donald Trump: in 2024, he took the stage at the Republican National Convention in Florida to support the former president's candidacy, with a speech as spectacular as it was controversial. A final showman's act, halfway between wrestling and propaganda, which definitively sealed his name with that of Trump's America.
But his career wasn't without its ups and downs. In the 90s, he was embroiled in the wrestling doping scandal and admitted to using anabolic steroids, tarnishing his superhero image. Later, a stolen sex tape and some racist comments surfaced from old recordings led to his expulsion from WWE, from which he was only reinstated in 2018, after a long period of "purgatory."
Hogan also had a parallel career in film and music: he appeared in “Rocky III” alongside Sylvester Stallone, and starred in cult films such as Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny. He even recorded an album, “Hulk Rules” (1995), an unlikely mix of hard rock and motivational rhetoric, perfectly in keeping with his larger-than-life figure. He also starred in a reality show, Hogan Knows Best, which took fans inside his family life.
In the end, Hulk Hogan was everything and the opposite of everything: hero and controversial, pop icon and living parody, undisputed champion and lonely man in the dressing room. The news of his death hit like an unexpected twist: sudden, dramatic, definitive. Just like the endings of the great wrestling legends.
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Hulk Hogan was a major figure in pop culture and wrestling, but his life was full of contradictions. His death surprised many, even though we knew he had health issues. He will live on in our memories.