The Life And Legacy Of Hulk Hogan: A Wrestling Icon

Hulk Hogan, born Terry Eugene Bollea, is arguably one of the most famous names in professional wrestling. With a career spanning over three decades, he became a household name, leading to the phenomenon known as "Hulkamania." His larger-than-life persona and charisma attracted millions of fans worldwide and earned him numerous accolades, including 12 world titles. However, Hogan's journey has not been without its challenges, including battles with personal demons and public controversies that have shaped his legacy.

As one of the most recognizable American wrestlers, Hulk Hogan amassed such a crazed following that the sensation became known as Hulkamania. The enthusiasm was well warranted during his 33-year career, when he won 12 world titles — six with World Championship Wrestling and six with World Wrestling Entertainment, making him at one time WWE’s highest-paid athlete. The admission of drug abuse ended his career — and started a new path for him, a rocky roller coaster that included an autobiography Hollywood Hulk Hogan, a reality show Hogan Knows Best, and a return to wrestling. But it also included family drama with his son imprisoned for a reckless driving accident and his wife filing for divorce. Scandal followed with a sex tape where Hogan was caught making racist and homophobic remarks, and he later won a $140 million in a defamation lawsuit from Gawker, who had published the footage.

Here are 10 things you may not know about the larger-than-life wrestler:

His Wrestling Name Originated Because He Was Bigger Than the Incredible Hulk

Born Terry Eugene Bollea, Hogan wrestled under various names including Terry Boulder, Super Destroyer, and Sterling Golden in his early days in the late 1970s. But when he was on a talk show with the actor who played The Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, the host recognized that the 6-foot-7, 300-pound Hogan was actually bigger than Ferrigno, thus dubbing him The Hulk.

When WWE promoter Vincent McMahon Sr. asked him to take on an Irish personality in 1979, he became Hulk Hogan. His first reaction to McMahon’s suggestion was, “Wow, Hulk Hogan sounds like a Hulk Hoagie or something,” he said. “But the name stuck. It worked, and it’s just incredible the name stood the test of time.”

Baseball Was His First Love

As a kid in Tampa Bay, Hogan had his eyes set on a career as a big league pitcher. His Interbay Little League team even played in the national regional finals in 1966, though he gave up the game-winning home run, so his team didn’t get to go to the Little League World Series.

MLB scouts soon had their eyes on him, but he injured his throwing elbow during his final year of high school, putting an end to his pitching days. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me because I segued into wrestling,” Hogan told the MLB. “Once my arm wasn’t what it was, I started chasing the wrestling dream around, and it finally happened. But baseball was the first love.”

He Also Started a Music Career

Hogan started playing guitar when he was in junior high. “I wasn’t a big sports guy,” he told Vice. “I was into music and had long hair.” He soon started playing bass guitar in bands, including one called Ruckus. They played rock ‘n’ roll covers and also had about five original songs. “Our band was so tight,” Hogan said. “The whole building would move when we played.”

They were clearly on the right track toward musical success. “We were out there playing for money to get on our feet and get ready to do what we needed to do,” he said. They had the chance to tour with Mother’s Finest and Blackfoot, but the other guys in the band had families and chose not to.

Hogan Used to Be Scared of Wrestlers

Though he was always a “huge” wrestling fan, he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the scene. “As a kid I was scared to death of them because back in the day wrestlers were very protective, and if you called wrestling fake, they would punch you in the face,” Hogan told Vice.

But a funny thing happened. A handful of wrestlers started showing up at his music gigs. “All of a sudden, before I knew it, there were a bunch of wrestlers at our gigs,” he continued. So I finally got enough guts to start talking to Oliver Humperdink, who was managing superstar Billy Graham, and I told him I wanted to try out to be a wrestler. He was like, ‘Yeah, sure, come on down, we’ll give you a try-out.’ CRACK, broke my leg.”

His Parents Finally Approved of His Career When He Won His First Title

When he won his first title in 1984 by famously escaping the “camel clutch” of the Iron Sheik, it was a great moment in wrestling history, but for Hogan, the victory was more important because his parents were in the audience.

He had gone from studying finance and management at the University of South Florida to quitting and playing music back and forth several times. “I finally quit for good to be a professional wrestler,” he said. “It just killed both my parents. It just ruined their hopes and dreams for me. So, we had a very strained relationship for quite a long time.”

His WrestleMania III Match Against Andre the Giant Changed the Industry

Often hailed as one of the most notable match-ups in wrestling history, Hogan took on Andre the Giant in 1987 in front of 90,000 fans in the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, which Bleacher Report called the “first truly epic match in WrestleMania’s long and illustrious history.”

While Andre had a far longer tenure than Hogan, it was the newbie who won with a bodyslam and leg drop. “When I got that 7-foot-4, almost 700 pound, big, stinky giant up over my head and slammed him down in front of 93,000 people, it sent tremors around the world,” Hogan said.

He Put Three Guys in the Hospital While Filming 'Rocky III'

Hogan made his film debut as Thunderlips in the 1982 movie Rocky III — and the first-time screen star may not have recognized his own strength, as star and director Sylvester Stallone recounted in a 2017 Instagram post.

He wasn’t the only one to experience Hogan’s power firsthand. “When he jumped into the audience to fight with the stuntmen, three of them had to be treated at the hospital,” Stallone revealed, adding, “Great guy, great friend, his presence made the film very, very special.”

'Hogan Knows Best' Was an Instant Hit

The reality show following his family — then-wife Linda, daughter Brooke, and son Nick — Hogan Knows Best broke records when it debuted in the summer of 2005, becoming VH1’s highest-rated series premiere.

The show ran for four seasons through October 2007. What they didn’t predict was that the show would end up following Hogan and Linda’s marital troubles, with the two filing for divorce in 2007.

He Tried to Join The Rolling Stones and Metallica

Well into his wrestling career, Hogan started contemplating other career options. “I always still loved music,” he told Vice. When he was in the UK for an awards show, he overheard Mick Jagger’s then-wife Jerry Hall say they needed a bass player.

Later he heard Metallica had an opening for a bass player. “I was writing letters, made a tape of myself playing and sent it to their management company,” he said. “Kept making calls trying to get through. I tried for two weeks and never heard a word back from them either.”

Randy Savage Rapped a Diss Track About Hogan

In Savage's 2003 song "Be a Man," he laid it right into Hogan, adding more fuel to their real-life feud. “The story goes that Hogan ended up stealing [Savage's ex-wife Miss Elizabeth] away, and she died of a drug overdose, and he blamed it on Hulk,” Bill Edwards, founder of Big3 record label, said.

“Hot diggity damn Hulk I’m glad you set it off (set if off) / Used to be hard Hulk