How Hulk Hogan weathered wrestling fame and racist scandal to become a right-wing mouthpiece

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2 days ago

At the height of his career, Hulk Hogan was the bleach-blonde, suntanned, moustachioed face of professional wrestling.
Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, donned his all-American persona to turn the spectacle into a multi-billion-dollar industry.
By the time he died, he had taken this persona into the realm of conservative politics.
A life of signature wrestling moves and catchphrases gave way to racist rants, lawsuits bankrolled by venture capitalists and shirt-tearing displays on the Republican campaign stage.
US President Donald Trump mourned the loss of 'a great friend' on his Truth Social platform following the 71-year-old's death.
"Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart."
Born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1953, Hogan aspired to wrestling glamour from an early age.
His childhood hero was "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, a star performer in the early days of professional wrestling.
In his 2010 autobiography, Hogan described being "totally blown away" watching Rhodes live at 10 years old.
"There was blood everywhere before the match even started," he wrote.
"It was the wildest thing I'd ever seen."
Later, Hogan went on to play in multiple rock bands, studying at the University of South Florida for a time before dropping out to pursue music.
"There was something about being in a band and being onstage and having that interaction with the crowd," he wrote.
"I thought about Dusty Rhodes and how he could pump up the crowd, and the bad guys yelling at the ref, and the boos and the ire they'd inspire.
"And I knew I could do it. I just knew it.
"I had spent so much time watching Dusty … that I had this vision of just stealing a little something from all the best wrestlers and rolling it all into one character."
He took to wrestling under various names from mid-1977 onwards.
In late 1979, Terry Bollea met with World Wrestling Foundation (WWF) owner Vince McMahon, who was keen to give him an Irish name.
Hogan accepted the name change but declined to dye his hair red, and that November, "Hulk Hogan" made his WWF debut.
Hogan soon became a household name, appearing on the cover of magazine Sports Illustrated and performing alongside pop culture stars like Mr. T.
The WWF came to dominate wrestling, anchored by its annual WrestleMania pay-per-view events.
Hogan was "larger than life", according to wrestling reporter Mike Johnson.
"What he had at that time period was an incredible amount of innate charisma," he said.
"He had the gift of the gab … He had glistening muscles. And there was just a great act that he had in terms of good versus evil."
In an industry that thrived on delivering an engaging narrative and colourful characters to its gleeful audience, Hogan thrived.
Early on, he appeared in the 1982 film Rocky III, then in a series of family movies and TV advertisements.
"He was the great American hero in the United States, he was the ultimate good guy," Johnson said.
"Especially during that time period around Hulk Hogan vanquishing the many villains like Rowdy Rowdy Piper and King Kong Bundy.
"But it was Hogan, he was top of the pyramid, and everyone else was beneath him."
But being top of the pyramid did not make Hogan an advocate for his fellow wrestlers.
Professional wrestlers have long been regarded as independent contractors — meaning they largely are not able to access health benefits or unemployment compensation.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Famer and former Minnesota governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura has previously said he was threatened by WWE promoter and co-founder McMahon after pushing the cast to unionise.
Ventura had given a speech in the locker room prior to a WrestleMania appearance — he never knew who had told organisers of his plans.
Later, during legal proceedings, McMahon told a courtroom it was Hulk Hogan.
"It was like someone punched me in the face," Ventura said later.
"This was my friend. And I thought, 'Hogan betrayed me? Hogan called Vince and ratted me?'
"Hogan made more money than all of us combined, including Andre [the Giant]. So naturally, he didn't want a union."
Hogan would not admit to his involvement in union busting until a 2024 docuseries focused on McMahon's life.
By this time, Hogan had been the face of WrestleMania 2 in 1986 — defending his heavyweight title against King Kong Bundy.
The event earned an estimated $US5 million ($7.6 million), or $US14.7 million ($22.3 million) in today's currency.
He had already been the event's main drawcard in 1985 and would go on to feature heavily for several years to come as it evolved into a large-scale, family-friendly attraction.
His return to the WWF, after a brief stint with other franchises and appearances in film and TV, saw the dawn of "Hulkamania" in the 80s.
His character in the ring changed accordingly — ditching the yellow tights, he became "Hollywood Hogan".
Hogan was a deciding figure in what became known as the Monday Night Wars, when the WWF — now rebranded to World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE — and World Championship Wrestling battled for ratings supremacy.
Over the following decade, Hogan returned to the ring at every opportunity.
While he continued to play out fabricated feuds and complicated storylines in the wrestling arena, Hogan was plagued by a series of high-profile controversies.
In 2012, celebrity blog Gawker published a two-minute excerpt of a 2006 sex tape featuring Hogan and a friend's wife.
Hogan later filed a civil lawsuit against the website for $US100 million, stating he was unaware the encounter had been recorded.
Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel would later admit to secretly bankrolling the lawsuit.
Hogan was awarded $US140 million by a judge, and later reached a $US31 million settlement with Gawker Media.
In 2015, a newspaper published an anti-black rant made by Hogan during the sex tape.
In the recording, he expressed disgust at the idea of his daughter dating a black man and repeatedly used racial slurs.
At one point in the transcript, he admitted to being "a racist, to a point" towards African Americans.
In a statement to People magazine, Hogan apologised and said he was "disappointed" with himself.
The WWE announced it had cancelled its contract with Hogan, and references to him disappeared from its website.
Hogan's lawyer said Hogan had chosen to resign.
Mattel stopped making his action figures. His merchandise was removed from shelves at Target, Walmart and at toy shops.
More scandals followed.
In the weeks following the initial recording being made public, it was revealed he had also used homophobic language on the tape.
In another recording, this time speaking with his son in 2008, Hogan again repeatedly used racial slurs.
He could be heard telling his son, who was serving an eight-month jail sentence at the time: "I just hope we don't come back as a couple, I don't want to say it, blizz-ack gizz-uys, you know what I'm saying?"
In an interview with Good Morning America, Hogan blamed growing up in Florida for his use of racial slurs.
Former neighbours of Hogan would later dispute this claim.
One South Tampa woman, Linda Bryant, told media she had grown up with Hogan.
"That was not the culture when Terry grew up here," she said.
"Terry was the first guy to ever be a role model for this neighbourhood, and he had the kids wrapped around his finger.
In 2018, he was reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Hogan offered his name to everything from light beer to blenders to grills to a Minnesota pasta restaurant.
He appeared in documentaries, announced online gambling and mobile games, and co-founded freestyle wrestling promotions.
In 2005, he and his family became the focus of a reality TV series, Hogan Knows Best.
The show, which focused on Hogan's efforts to raise his two children, was cancelled in 2007.
According to the Wrestling Figure Checklist, there have been more than 170 different Hulk Hogan action figures since the 80s.
In January 2025, Hogan was booed at the premiere of Netflix's latest WWE show.
By then, he had become known to a new generation for a different reason — lending his celebrity status to endorsing Trump.
At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he merged classic WWE manoeuvres with Trump administration rhetoric.
"Let Trumpamania run wild brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!" he shouted into the raucous crowd.
He ripped off a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump-Vance campaign shirt underneath.
Trump had twice hosted WrestleMania — and following his election win, he chose former chief executive Linda McMahon to serve as his secretary of education.
Hogan said he made the decision to support the Republican candidate after seeing his combative, fist-pumping reaction to an attempted assassination on the campaign trail.
That January appearance, his thank you message to fans, drowned out by a booing crowd, would prove to be his last professional wrestling event.
Emergency services were called to Hogan's Florida home on Thursday, local time, after he suffered a cardiac arrest.
He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 71 years old.
Some fans told Reuters it was like losing someone who had "been around forever".
"I mean, he's what I grew up watching," Iowa resident Andrew Hegewald said.
"My grandpa introduced me to professional wrestling when I was young, and then he switched over to WCW and you had the dark Hulk Hogan.
"Such an icon. Such a loss for the sport."
Others, including Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and TV personality Piers Morgan, also paid tribute to the wrestler.
"From my childhood in the 80s, to campaigning with him last year, I always saw him as a giant in stature and in life," Johnson wrote.
"May he rest in peace."
ABC/AP/Reuters