Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has passed away at the age of 71, with reporting from TMZ claiming a cardiac arrest as the cause of death.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) described the star as “one of pop culture’s most recognisable figures”.
Off the Ball’s Richie McCormack said Hogan “led the industry he was in to unparalleled success”.
“He is what most people who were born after 1980 identify pro wrestling as being,” he told The Hard Shoulder.
“He was to such the forefront of the industry that he was featured on Sports Illustrated, which would have been a very rare thing around the mid-80s for somebody from the world of wrestling.
“He was in movies, he was in TV shows – by the early 80s, [WWE] were filling out stadiums in the likes of Toronto and in Michigan and all the United States."
View this post on Instagram
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson paid tribute to Hogan, calling him his “childhood hero” in a post on Instagram.
Ric Flair, one of Hogan's biggest wrestling rivals, said his former competitor “was always there for me even when I didn’t ask for him to be”.
I Am Absolutely Shocked To Hear About The Passing Of My Close Friend @HulkHogan! Hulk Has Been By My Side Since We Started In The Wrestling Business. An Incredible Athlete, Talent, Friend, And Father! Our Friendship Has Meant The World To Me. He Was Always There For Me Even When… pic.twitter.com/rOWLakMjr4
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) July 24, 2025
However, there are parts of Hogan’s legacy which may be less comfortable for fans to remember.
“In the 90s he did make a lot, the contracts – and they’re out there for all to see – that he had at WCW (World Championship Wrestling) were exorbitant, he was getting paid money just to wear t-shirts on TV,” Richie said.
“That clearly had begun to dry up for whatever reason by the mid-naughties.
“So, he turned, in essence, to pimping out his family on TV and having them become stars around him and [he tried to] generate stardom for his daughter through a singing career.
“Which, in effect, lead to his downfall and the downfall of his public persona.”
Hulk Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea,testifies in court on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, during his trial against Gawker Media, in St Petersburg, Fla. Image: (John Pendygraft/Tampa Bay Times via AP, Pool)A sex tape of Hogan’s was also leaked in 2012 and generated huge controversy, in part because of his use of racist language in the video.
“He subsequently went on the publicity trail after that, he asked for forgiveness but was never really apologetic about the use of the n-word within that,” Richie said.
The wrestler was also a supporter of US President Donald Trump, who remembered him in a post to Truth Social as having been “MAGA all the way”.
Main image: Hulk Hogan in the 90s. Image: Universal Images Group North America LLC
