Hulk Hogan, a WWE Hall of Famer, passed away at the age of 71. He was credited with taking professional wrestling to the national mainstream and becoming the biggest money-making draw in the industry’s history. Hogan, who was born Terry Bollea, had been struggling with health issues, including a lingering back injury from his wrestling days. He had not wrestled since 2012 but had been in the news recently as a founder of the new Real American Freestyle wrestling promotion and the owner of an upcoming New York City bar opposite Madison Square Garden.
In 1985, Hogan headlined the first WrestleMania, teaming up with 1980s TV star Mr. T to take on Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. WrestleMania I, at MSG, drew an audience of around 1 million on closed-circuit television and is credited with taking professional wrestling, specifically the then-WWF (now WWE), into the national zeitgeist. Hogan’s grudge match with Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III took the wrestling business and Hogan’s career to new heights.
Hogan won the WWF World Heavyweight championship six times, including a reign of 1,474 days. In 1996, with interest in him as a hero waning, Hogan pulled off the biggest heel turn in wrestling history as a second act. Working for WWE competitor World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Hogan became a bad guy, leading a dastardly group of invaders called the New World Order (NWO).
Hogan returned to WWE in 2002 to face The Rock at WrestleMania 18 in Toronto. His character was the NWO bad-guy version, but the more than 68,000 in attendance cheered him over The Rock, then WWE’s biggest good guy. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
