You may not have liked Hulk Hogan, either inside the ring or out, but you can’t deny he was an American original.
America is pro wrestling. That’s an assessment that went from insightful analysis to obvious verdict to, now, gospel truth. Showmanship, attitude, endless conflict and strife, all for the delight of the masses … that’s where we are now in 2025, and Hulk Hogan is a prime reason why.
Hogan, who died Thursday at the age of 71, embodied America in all its vast, contradictory glory. He was a balding, swollen sex symbol, a patriotic badass who nonetheless switched allegiances, a braying madman who conveyed all his emotions in primary colors, a superhero whose body was broken by decades in the ring.
The Hulkster taught three generations of wrestling fans that you could solve every problem — at home, at school, at work — with a well-timed leg drop, if only you had the guts to do it, brother. He reminded us that shirts are disposable, and sometimes the best way to show your heart was to rip off anything between it and the world. And he demonstrated that the power of the crowd can inspire you to unimaginable feats of strength, like hoisting the massive Andre the Giant into the air at Wrestlemania III in one of wrestling’s greatest moments ever.
It’s almost impossible now to get across just how huge Hogan was in the 1980s. Imagine Taylor Swift spending her concerts throwing opponents out of the ring, and you’re on the right track. TV shows, magazine covers, movies, albums — Hogan, his snarl and his pythons were everywhere, and he wrapped himself around the DNA of entire generations.
The kids who watched Hulk dominate the ring grew up to carry his attitude forward in adulthood. You can see echoes of ‘80s-era wrestling — a time created by Vince McMahon, executed by Hogan and so many others — all throughout American popular culture today. Violence, attitude, catch-phrases, an us-vs.-the world mentality — it’s all right here. Wrestling isn’t the reason Donald Trump got elected president twice, but being a member of the WWE Hall of Fame and studying the ways that wrestlers maintained a chokehold on their audience didn’t exactly hurt Trump, either.
What’s fascinating is that unlike any other wrestler of his era, Hogan remained a constant, if erratic, presence on the edges of American pop culture. He starred in reality shows, a perfect reinterpretation of his in-ring skills. He sued Gawker Media, one of the most notable and notorious media companies of the early 2000s, into oblivion after one of its blogs published an unauthorized Hogan sex tape.
He also demonstrated an uncanny ability to rise above controversies that felled many other public figures, like a recording of him flinging around the n-word that got him removed from — and then reinstated to — the WWE Hall of Fame. Late in life, he leaped into politics too, most recently at the 2024 Republican National Convention, when he tore off his shirt once again to the delight of thousands of conservative Hulkamaniacs.
There are so many Hulk imitators, now in sports, in entertainment and — most cringingly — in politics, all spouting attitude and patriotism and a never-give-up, never-give-in ethos. You may not have liked Hulk Hogan, either inside the ring or out. You may not have agreed with his worldview or his politics. But you can’t deny that the man was an American original, brother.
Category: General Sports
