The most famous performer in WWE and professional wrestling history, Hulk Hogan, has died at the age of 71.
TMZ Sports broke the news on Thursday morning about the wrestling icon’s passing. “Medics were dispatched to the 71-year-old WWE legend’s Clearwater, Florida home early Thursday morning … with operators stating it was regarding a ‘cardiac arrest,'” the outlet revealed.
In a follow-up report, PW Insider added, “Hogan had what was described as a ‘massive cardiac arrest’ earlier today. He was rushed to a local hospital, but they were unable to save him.”
The news comes weeks after a report from radio host and former friend turned enemy, Bubba the Love Sponge, claiming the WWE Hall of Famer was near death at a Florida hospital following recent surgery on his spine. And that friends and family were being called to the facility to say their goodbyes.
However, that rumor was debunked by multiple sources close to the “Hulkster.” Including close friend and former WCW President Eric Bischoff, who claimed he just had complications from anesthesia. And his wife, Sky, in a recent post on social media.
“No, he’s definitely not in a coma!” she said in a response she posted on her Instagram Story. “His heart is strong, and there was never any lack of oxygen or brain damage. None of those rumors is true. He’s been recovering from a major four-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF), which is an intense surgery with a long and layered healing process. If you look it up, you’ll see what the last six weeks have involved.”
Yet, Hogan never made any public statements of his own to counter the news, and has not been seen in public for weeks. It now seems those original reports did have some truth after the wrestling legend passed this week.
Despite not being an active wrestler since the early 2000s, Hulk Hogan remains one of the most famous professional wrestlers of all time. He rose to national fame during the 1980s when WWE was known as WWF, and became a global icon of the industry in the decades since. During his career, he was a multi-time WWE/WWF and WCW champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice, in 2005 and then in 2020 (with the NWO).
He started the new amateur wrestling-geared promotion All American Wrestling earlier this year. It is unclear what the future of the company is without his backing. Likewise, for his successful beer brand, All American Beer.
