Today has become one of the saddest days in this generation of pro wrestling because of the death of Terry Bollea, known to generations of fans and more over the last 45 years as Hulk Hogan. He was 71. The reported cause of death was cardiac arrest.
It can be easily argued that not only WWE but pro wrestling in general would not be what it is today without Vince McMahon Jr. taking Hogan and turning him into a superstar attraction in the early 1980s, and he became perhaps the first wrestler to cross over from wrestling into mainstream entertainment, including starring in the movie “No Holds Barred” opposite the iconic Mr. T. He also competed in Japan in these days, as New Japan noted in their news report that Hogan first visited Japan in 1980 and that year also challenged Antonio Inoki for the NWF Heavyweight Championship. He returned to Japan in 1983 and won a tournament by beating Inoki (although a championship match this was before the creation of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship) then won a tag league by teaming with him. After this he came back in 1990 for a joint WWF/New Japan/All-Japan produced event at the Tokyo Dome and also competed at a pair of major events in 1993 and at the Tokyo Dome in 1994 at the annual January 4 event. When he jumped to WCW in 1994, the formation of the nWo which Hogan was a prominent member of helped lead Masa Chono to form the nWo Japan spinoff in New Japan. He made one last trip to New Japan in 2003 for a match against Chono.
I remember Hogan going back to when I first saw WWF on TV in 1988 at a child, during the build to what was WrestleMania 4, my introduction to pro wrestling. When I really became a fan in the early 1990s I was enthralled by the Survivor Series match that saw Hogan lose to WWF newcomer The Undertaker after taking a Tombstone Piledriver on a steel chair after Ric Flair interfered because Hogan wouldn’t stay down after a Tombstone, and I was glued to my TV every Monday night in the WCW era and just as shocked as everyone else when Hogan turned heel to join the nWo.
I could go on and on, and despite his burning a lot of bridges with fans this last year or two because of politics he was not only one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but perhaps, irrregardless of titles won, THE greatest WWF/E superstar of all time. There is no WWF/E of today without Hulk Hogan. And at least we know Sheiky Baby is waiting in the heavenly squared circle to PUT HIM IN CAMEL CLUTCH BREAK HIS NECK AND HUMBLE HIM FOR ETERNITY.
Take your vitamins and especially now say your prayers. RIP and GOD BLESS…
(And as The Iron Sheik always said…Then, Now, Forever, **** THE HULK HOGAN. And yes, Hogan went along with it and the truth is they always got along quite well although it did make Sheik one of the greatest social media follows)
8/1/25 UPDATE: Official cause of death was heart attack, but he also had leukemia which he may not have known about.