Wrestler Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea) did much more than catapulting WWE (then WWF) to a global phenomenon with his towering ring presence and larger-than-life attitude in the ’80s and the ’90s — he paved the way for future wrestling legends like Dwayne Johnson and John Cena to enter Hollywood, and attain stardom.
It was in 1982 that he made his acting debut with Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky III. Hogan was already a wrestling star then, and his cameo in the film — as a hot-headed wrestler — was one of the most-talked-about sequences of the blockbuster.
“I knew he was a star the minute I laid my eyes on him,” Stallone, now 79, said in his speech while inducting Hogan into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
Hogan died following what was said to be a cardiac arrest at his Florida residence on Thursday at the age of 71, a development that sent shockwaves across the wrestling and entertainment community.
“He was absolutely wonderful and his amazing skills made Rocky III incredible,” Stallone said in his tribute to the wrestling legend on Thursday.
In 1996, Hogan added the prefix Hollywood to his name — he officially adopted the ring name Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
While the exact reason behind the change in his ring name wasn’t disclosed, the development happened almost seven years after Hogan starred in the 1989 movie No Holds Barred as a wrestler named Rip.
In 1993, Hogan played the lead in Mr. Nanny. The film featured him as a former wrestler-turned-bodyguard to a little girl.
Hogan’s career as an actor wasn’t confined to movies. He made his stardom felt on the small screen, with a documentary series exploring his life and an appearance in Baywatch: Bash at the Beach in 1996. The same year, he also starred in the Christmas movie Santa With Muscles.
“To millions of little kids you were a childhood hero - myself included. In 1984, I gave you your Hulkster headband back, in the locker room in Madison Square Garden - I was the lucky kid who caught it when you threw it in the crowd,” said Dwayne Johnson in his tribute to Hogan on Friday.
Johnson shared glimpses from The WrestleMania 18 bout in 2002, billed as Icon vs Icon. It saw Hogan face The Rock in front of a deafening crowd of 68,000 at Toronto’s SkyDome. WWE ranks it as the third-greatest WrestleMania match of all time.
Johnson started his acting career in 2001 with The Mummy Returns.
John Cena, who plays Peacemaker for DC, made his acting debut with the 2006 film The Marine. Earlier this month, Cena’s spy thriller film Heads of State, co-starring Idris Elba and Priyanka Chopra, dropped on Prime Video.
