Hulk Hogan, the professional wrestling star who has died at the age of 71, was basically Donald Trump with muscles and a mustache.
Hogan, who was born Terry Bollea and was a champion for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and other wrestling promotions, also appeared in movies such as “Rocky III” and “No Holds Barred.” He was a big supporter of Trump and right-wing politics in general.
Hogan was a surprise guest at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in June 2024, giving a wild speech in which he ripped off his shirt just as he did before wrestling matches, but this time to reveal a Trump-Vance singlet promoting the presidential candidate and his running mate, JD Vance.
On stage, Hogan raged about the moment “when they took a shot at my hero” (this was shortly after the July 13, 2024 attempt on Trump’s life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania) and asked the baying crowd: “What are you gonna do when Donald Trump and all the Trumpamaniacs run wild on you, brother?”
Not long after his RNC appearance, Hogan suggested that President-elect Trump might give him a role in his administration. Speaking to Fox News, Hogan said Trump had told him at an event in New York: “You know something, you’d be great to run the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.”
Trump ultimately didn’t give Hogan the job but did promote the wrestler’s Real American Beer brand on his Truth Social network, even though the tycoon doesn’t drink alcohol. “Hulk Hogan is doing a beer, and if he’s doing it, it must be good. Great looking can and logo. Give it a try!!!” he wrote. Hogan launched the beer not long after Bud Light faced a conservative backlash for sponsoring an Instagram post by a transgender influencer.
While they encountered each other of late in the political sphere, Trump and Hogan’s paths would have crossed many years earlier.
Trump famously appeared at WWE’s flagship Wrestlemania 23 in 2007. Hogan wasn’t with the company at the time, but was a star in 1988 and 1989 and performed at Wrestlemanias 4 and 5, both of which Trump hosted in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Hogan for president!
Hogan once had presidential ambitions of his own (kinda).
In November 1998, when wrestling for the Ted Turner-owned World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Hogan told a crowd in Long Island, New York: “If I can get America behind me … we shall turn the page, we shall give America a brand new start. All my people that love America shall take us into the new millennium on a brand new start. I am here not only to serve but to protect my country.”
A few weeks later, Hogan appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and announced his retirement from wrestling. (Spoiler: He didn’t retire.) He then said: “The fans have been great. I love you guys and thanks for sticking with me. And this really helps me segue into being the next president of the United States.”
Hogan never did make a run for president but did tell Larry King in 1999: “ It’s something that’s not out of the question … The way I look at it, if [former wrestler] Jesse Ventura could become governor of Minnesota, I mean, I basically beat Jesse at everything he’s done anyway in his life, so I might as well run for the president.”
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