
Hulk Hogan, the flamboyant showman who turned U.S. professional wrestling into a global spectacle in the 1980s with “Hulkamania,” died on Thursday at age 71 after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home on Florida’s Gulf Coast, his family and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) said.
Paramedics answered a 9:51 a.m. emergency call at Hogan’s Clearwater residence and rushed him to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:17 a.m., Clearwater Police Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters. Authorities said no foul play was suspected.
“Hulk Hogan has passed away,” WWE said in a statement, calling him “one of pop culture’s most recognizable figures.” His family said on social media they were “heart‑broken” but grateful for “the millions of fans whose lives he touched for more than four decades.”
Born Terry Gene Bollea in Augusta, Georgia, and raised in Tampa, Hogan began wrestling in 1977 and captured the then‑World Wrestling Federation heavyweight title in 1984, launching a run of six reigns that helped drive the fledgling WrestleMania franchise into mainstream entertainment.
After reinventing himself as the villainous “Hollywood Hogan” in the rival WCW promotion, he returned to WWE in 2002 for a celebrated match against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Away from the ring, he starred in movies such as “Rocky III” and the reality series “Hogan Knows Best.”
His later years were marked by controversy: a landmark invasion‑of‑privacy lawsuit against the website Gawker won him a $140 million verdict in 2016, and a 2015 tape containing racist remarks led to a temporary WWE suspension.
Hogan is survived by his wife, Sky Daily, whom he married in 2023, and two adult children from his first marriage, Brooke and Nick. Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.