A day after learning of Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea’s death, the wrestling world is still collectively processing it, with some in the online contingent taking up sides on either side of one of the internet’s favorite unwinnable debates: the right way to remember someone with a “complicated legacy”.
Two pro wrestlers who share history with Hogan recently shared some of their processing publicly. In posts on Instagram and X, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson chose to express gratitude for Hogan’s drawing ability,
using their iconic 2002 match at WrestleMania X-8 as an example of the Hulkster’s allure:
View this post on Instagram
Rest in Peace, Terry Bollea aka The Immortal Hulk Hogan ️
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 caught it when you threw it in the crowd. You were wrestling “Mr Wonderful”, Paul Orndorff that night in the main event. You were shocked and so happy after the match because you told me that was your very last headband and if it weren’t for me, you’d have no way of getting that exact one made again. You promised me that you would get more made and give me a Hulkster headband of my own as a thank you gift.
A month later in Madison Square Garden, you did just that. You kept your word, with a handshake and a “thanks kid”. And that meant the world to that little 12 year old boy.
Just 17 years later, and still a kid at the age of 29 years old — I’m standing in the middle of the ring and facing you - one of my wrestling heroes in the main event of WRESTLEMANIA.
The match was to decide who would go down in history, as The Greatest of All Time.
When you kick out of my Rock Bottom finisher - just listen and FEEL that crowd go ELECTRIC…all for you. I’ve never felt anything like that in my entire wrestling career. It takes two to tango, but that historic crowd reaction was all for you.
You may have “passed the torch” to me that night, but you, my friend….
… you “drew the house” meaning you sold out every arena and stadium across the country in your prime as Hulk Hogan, on your way of becoming the greatest of all time.
From deep in my bones, and on behalf of this wild and crazy world of professional wrestling that we love, I say to you now, and forever…
Thank you for the house, brother…
Thank you, for the house.
RIP Terry Bollea aka Hulk Hogan ️
#goat
Mick Foley didn’t share a ring with Hogan, but they feuded outside the ring. Hulk was among those who’ve criticized Foley for his weight and hardcore style. After he did so on a talk show, Foley fired back on another that Hogan’s matches were obviously fake and could be embarrassing to the profession.
But asked about Hogan’s death during a convention appearance in North Carolina yesterday, Mick said Hulk apologized:
“Yeah, it was a really nice moment. I mean, it was a show [A&E’s WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures], but I believe he was 100% sincere, because he not only apologized to me for something that was said at least 25 years earlier, but he insisted on apologizing to me a second time. I mean, I accepted it. I considered him a friend before that, but it definitely helped bond. That was a nice bonding moment for us.”
Foley said there were two other things that helped him bond with Hogan:
“The two things I think of is that I had a really nice talk with his daughter at one of these conventions, and got to know her dad through her. Also, from reading his book, where I was like, ‘You know, we’re actually quite a bit alike.’
“The second memory is not something I saw, but it’s something that a friend of mine, who worked with Hulk in WWE before I got there, saw, and I told Terry or Hulk, because this was the one thing that mattered to me, like anything else is just commentary, but that Hulk Hogan, ‘My friend said, ‘Those kids from the Make-A-Wish and other wish organizations, they’d go in there and they’d just be beaming.’ You can’t feign the type of joy that Hulk brought to those kids. Like that was real in his heart, which is why it seems so effortless. But he was great at it. He made a lot of people happy above and beyond what he did in the ring, and for wrestling in general, he was great to those children.
“That’s his legacy to me.”
Mick shared his initial reaction upon learning of Hogan’s death...
“He was one of those guys who was larger than life. He just assumed, and he didn’t appear to age. So you never thought that the last time you saw Hulk Hogan to be the final time you saw Hulk Hogan.”
... and how he’ll remember him:
“I’ll be thinking about the times that I went to Madison Square Garden, not as a Hulkamaniac, per se. I was going to see a couple of the other matches, but when that music hit, I was all in. I was a Hulkamaniac for those few minutes, but he electrified a crowd like no other. The lessons that we learned from him, we’ve passed down to the next generations, and so his legacy is alive and well in wrestling and beyond.”
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