Hulk Hogan James Atoa/Everett Collection Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Hulk Hogan, the blond and boisterous body-slammer who brought pro wrestling into the mainstream in the 1980s while becoming one of the most recognizable celebrities of his generation, died Thursday. He was 71. Hogan's death was confirmed by promoter Eric Bischoff, his partner in the recently launched Real America Freestyle amateur wrestling league. TMZ reported that medical personnel were sent to his home in Clearwater, Florida, with operators stating it regarded a "cardiac arrest." "The Hulkster" headlined WrestleMania eight times, with perhaps his most memorable bout in the WWE's signature event coming in 1987 against the 520-pound Andre the Giant - his mentor - in the Pontiac Silverdome before a then-record crowd of 93,173. Related Stories News Michael Ochs, Pop Culture's Preeminent Photo Archivist, Dies at 82 TV Rose Leiman Goldemberg, Who Wrote 'The Burning Bed,' Starring Farrah Fawcett, Dies at 97 He won the World Wrestling Entertainment championship six times during his career. Six-foot-7 and 320 pounds in his prime, Hogan - born Terry Bollea - would enter the ring in yellow trunks, boots and a bandana, his muscles bulging, his body glistening. Accompanied by his "Real American" theme music, he would rip apart his singlet and cup his ear to the roaring crowd. Post-match, the crowd got their money's worth, too. Hogan would cup his ear once more and pose, flexing his "24-inch python" arms and often waving a large American flag. It was all part of "Hulkamania." "When we say 'Hulkamania will live forever', it's immortal," he said. Inside the ring, he started out as a baby face, a hero, only to reinvent himself as a rule-breaking heel. His over-the-top acting skills naturally led him to Hollywood, where he portrayed the wrestler Thunderlips in Rocky III (1982) in his big-screen debut. Sylvester Stallone, who would induct Hogan into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, said that the wrestler sent four stuntmen to intensive care after he jumped into the crowd in one scene. Hogan went on to star in such other films as No Holds Barred (1989), Suburban Commando (1991), Mr. Nanny (1993) and Santa With Muscles (1996) and in the 1994 syndicated series Thunder in Paradise. He also appeared as himself in everything from The A-Team and Baywatch to Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Spy Hard (1996) and Muppets From Space (1999), and he lent his voice to episodes of Robot Chicken and American Dad! In 1985, Hogan co-hosted (with Mr. T) Saturday Night Live and was the star of the CBS Saturday morning cartoon Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. He faced Jay Leno in a PPV tag match - and lost! - and starred alongside his first wife and two kids in the reality show Hogan Knows Best. In his heyday, he was the most requested celebrity for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Hulk Hogan battled Sylvester Stallone in 1982's Rocky III. United Artists/MGM / Courtesy: Everett Collection Not everything went smoothly for Hogan. In 1994, he admitted that he had used steroids for 13 years. Twelve years later, he was ostracized by the WWE and removed from its Hall of Fame after he was heard making disparaging racial comments in a leaked sex video. In 2016, the wrestler was awarded $140 million by a Florida jury after he sued the celebrity website Gawker, which had released a clip of the video. (Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal, backed Hogan's case.) After losing in court, Gawker filed for bankruptcy protection and sold itself to Univision in 2016. Hogan eventually wound up with $31 million in a settlement. He was welcomed back into the WWE fold and the Hall of Fame in 2018. In April, Hogan and Bischoff launched the Real America league, and it landed a TV rights deal with Fox Nation this month. Born in Augusta, Georgia, on Aug. 11, 1953, Terry Gene Bollea was the son of a pipefitter and a U.S. Navy secretary. He idolized wrestler Dusty Rhodes and convinced his father to take him to the Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, to watch the matches. Bollea was a Little League pitcher and later a guitarist for Florida rock bands before he was spotted at Hector's Gym in Tampa by wrestling scouts and urged to train with Japanese star Hiro Matsuda. "The wrestlers were like Greek gods to me," he wrote in his 2002 autobiography, Hollywood Hulk Hogan."They were giants, larger than life, and the combination of entertainment and physicality that I saw in the wrestling ring was something I had never seen in other sports. And that, I guess you'd say, was where it all started for me." He wasn't always Hulk Hogan; his earlier character incarnations were the masked Super Destroyer, Sterling Golden and Terry "The Hulk" Boulder. That last nickname came during a morning talk show interview in Mobile,