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Report: Hulk Hogan, wrestling legend, dead at 71

by: Alex Byington07/24/25_AlexByington
Syndication: USA TODAY
Hulk Hogan talks up the Hulkamania on Dec. 6, 1994, at the Hard Rock Café in Nashville during a press conference promoting the Dec. 27’s Starcade ’94, a pay-per-view wrestling bonanza at Municipal Auditorium. Hogan will battle archrival Butcher in the main event.

Legendary professional wrestler Hulk Hogan — whose real name is Terry Bollea — has died, according to TMZ. He was 71 years old.

TMZ reports medics were dispatched to the Clearwater, Fla., home of the former WCW and WWE superstar early Thursday morning. It was described by emergency operators as a “cardiac arrest.”

A “slew of police cars and EMTs” were reportedly parked outside Bollea’s home as the wrestling icon was carried out on a stretcher and into an ambulance. Police told TMZ that officers responded to the call at 9:51 am ET and Bollea was treated by Clearwater Fire & Rescue personnel before being transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

This comes just weeks after Bollea’s wife, Sky Daily, declared her husband’s heart was “strong” after recent surgeries, shutting down rumors he was in a coma. Last month, TMZ previously reported speculation that Bollea was on his “deathbed” but later clarified he was simply dealing with symptoms following a neck procedure he underwent back in May.

The WWE released a statement shortly after TMZ broke the news of Bollea’s death.

“WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away,” the WWE statement read in a social media post Thursday. “One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans.”

After nearly four decades in professional wrestling, Bollea/Hogan has been effectively retired from in-ring wrestling since 2006, when he faced Randy Orton in the main event of WWE’s SummerSlam that year. Hogan did participate in a couple of matches for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling in the early 2010s, but has mostly appeared on pro wrestling programming as a promotional figure.

Hulk Hogan is considered among the biggest and most recognizable stars in the extensive history of professional wrestling and WWE specifically, including headlining the main event in the first WrestleMania in 1985, when he paired with actor Mr. T to defeat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff, also known as “Mr. Wonderful.” Hogan’s legendary match vs. Andre the Giant in 1988 still holds TV viewership records with a 15.2 Nielsen rating and 33 million viewers.

Hogan was also a well-known actor himself, famously appearing in 1982’s Rocky III as “Thunderlips,” a wrestling champion who fights “Rocky”/Sylvester Stallone in a charity bout at the beginning of the third installment of the long-running movie franchise. Hogan later participated in a VH1 reality series “Hogan Knows Best” alongside his then-wife, Linda, and two children, Brooke and Nick.