Opinion Hulkamania will live on

In the early 2000s, a pair of heels (unsympathetic wrestlers) might be taking turns to pound on an unfortunate babyface (sympathetic wrestler) in the ring, or Mr McMahon, the promoter of WWE, might be getting too full of himself. And then the opening notes would ring out, and the wrestling fan could whoop in joy; it was what one didn’t dare hope for. As the lyrics of his entrance music followed, Hulk Hogan in all his roaring, shirt-ripping, bandana-ed glory would emerge. Someone was about to get leg-dropped. This was an American icon, and the macho righteousness that he and his theme song, “Real American”, projected, stood in stark counterpoint to the alternative representations on offer: Green Day’s “American Idiot”, or Team America: World Police. It also foreshadowed his later political trajectory. As US President Donald Trump posted after the news of his death on Thursday, Hogan was “MAGA all the way”.

This wasn’t the peak of Hulkamania, the great fan craze that had its first wave in the 1980s, or the time of his most famous feats, such as body-slamming André the Giant — supposedly weighing 520 pounds. Terry Bollea, the son of a construction worker, got the nickname “Hulk” thanks to his size and 24-inch biceps even before he joined what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1979. He would go on to become the best-known face of professional wrestling worldwide.

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Hogan also tried his hand at other ventures, including acting, with a filmography ranging from Rocky III to low-budget ’90s films. In the 2000s, there was the inevitable reality TV series, Hogan Knows Best, in which he appeared alongside his family. There were scandals, too, such as a leaked sex tape of him with a friend’s wife, which led to a legally consequential case against media site Gawker that pitted freedom of speech against the right to privacy. As far as sports entertainment is concerned, though, few would dispute fellow wrestler Sting’s characterisation of Hogan — “the greatest of all”.