Face of the Day

Terry Bollea, the Florida wrestler who shot to superstardom as Hulk Hogan and whose tabloid-centric private life became a legal battleground over the First Amendment, has died in Clearwater Beach, Florida, the Clearwater Police Department and World Wrestling Entertainment said. He was 71.

Emergency personnel responded to a call for a cardiac arrest and took him to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Clearwater police said.

For a generation of professional wrestling fans, Hulk Hogan reigned supreme. During the peak of “Hulkamania” in the 1980s, the 2m, 133.8kg grappler was the face of Vince McMahon Jr’s company, then known as the World Wrestling Federation. Bollea’s likeness touched every corner of pop culture, including movies, television, video games, merchandise and even a chain of pasta restaurants.

With his deeply tanned skin, thinning blond locks, Fu Manchu moustache and red bandanna, Bollea flexed his “24-inch pythons” – the nickname he bestowed on his biceps – ripped off his shirt and preached words of encouragement to hordes of fans known as Hulkamaniacs: “Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins, be true to yourself, true to your country. Be a real American!”

NZ Herald