# RIP Hulk Hogan **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** boxing-wrestling-mma\ **Created:** [July 24, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276 "2025-07-24T16:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/21 "2025-07-24T18:18:06Z")
I can try to remember him as how he looked to me as a kid in the 80’s, but I don’t think I can set aside the rest of his life, especially what we’ve learned the past 10-15 years. Shame. I hoped he was better guy than he ended up being. Still, 71 is young. Steroids? Other stuff? I don’t know any drug history with him. No clue. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/22 "2025-07-24T18:38:25Z")
Hulk Hogan was the most famous wrestler of all time for no other reason than because he was chosen to be. Vince McMahon saw something in him that could be marketed and he was right. That’s it, that’s the only reason we remember this douchebags name, because some other douchebag decided he was it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/23 "2025-07-24T18:46:52Z")
He was great at the hamming it up portion of wrestling, the self-promotion, yelling, etc. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/24 "2025-07-24T18:46:55Z")
Honestly I’m surprised he lived this long. I’ll take a vitamin and make a donation to the DNC in his name. ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/25 "2025-07-24T18:50:03Z")
I think it was Gary Shandling who said that he (Shandling) had reached the age that nobody says you’re young unless you die. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/26 "2025-07-24T18:50:28Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’m not. First, he was in his 70’s. That’s not instantly fatal but it’s getting up into the age range where death is not exactly a shock. Perhaps, but actuarial tables say the median age for a reasonably healthy male is in the mid-80s. Even my brother, who had a leg amputated due to diabetes, made it to 78. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/27 "2025-07-24T18:59:12Z")
I watched _Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling_ as a kid in the 80s and enjoyed it. It was a cartoon, and the cartoon version of Hogan was entertaining. The real thing was a different story. (Also, Brad Garrett of _Everybody Loves Raymond_ was the person who actually voiced Hulk Hogan in that cartoon.) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/28 "2025-07-24T19:00:00Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > He made millions of wrestling fans with Hulkamania and the nWo. He dazzled the world with his WrestleMania matches Indeed. He was the right _frontman_ for the show at the right time and place (and Vince saw that). Can’t be denied. Not objectively the best wrestler on the canvas and apparently a d¡¢k off of it, but did he ever fill that spotlight. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/29 "2025-07-24T19:00:50Z")
At least [one study](https://www.renalandurologynews.com/conference-highlights/american-urological-association-annual-meeting/aua-2016-misc-urinary-problems/mortality-rate-higher-among-bodybuilders/) found that body builders have a 34% higher mortality rate than that of other males their age. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/30 "2025-07-24T19:04:11Z")
The BBC has an article about professional wrestlers in particular. > **[Why do wrestlers so often die young?](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33817959)** > > Wrestling superstar "Rowdy" Roddy Piper died last week at 61 - older than some, but still too young. Why do so many wrestlers go to an early grave? > He points to [research by academics at the University of Eastern Michigan](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0109945) who studied a group of 557 former wrestlers. > > Of the 62 wrestlers in this group who died between 1985 and 2011, 49 died before the age of 50. Furthermore, 24 of the 49 died before the age of 40, and two even died before the age of 30. > > Mortality rates for wrestlers aged between 45 and 54 were 2.9 times greater than the rate for men in the wider US population, the study found. > > Cardiovascular disease was the most common cause of death. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/31 "2025-07-24T19:10:03Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Of the 62 wrestlers in this group who died between 1985 and 2011, That right there is a red flag about that statistic, because obviously the ones who didn’t die would bring up the average. For comparison, of people born in the 1980s who have died, 100% have died before the age of 46, but that doesn’t mean that being born in the 1980s was bad for your health. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/32 "2025-07-24T19:10:14Z")
Ditto Randy Poffo (the Macho Man). He went of a heart attack at 58 while he was driving. They found he had an enlarged heart. It’s common for people taking lots of steroids and/or HGH. Stallone and Schwarzenegger are reportedly concerned about their hearts as well for that reason. That it was a heart attack is not surprising at all. It’s a bit more surprising Hogan made it to his 70s. He was comparatively lucky. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/33 "2025-07-24T19:13:50Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Stallone and Schwarzenegger are reportedly concerned about their hearts as well for that reason. Schwarzenegger, as well, also had a congenital heart condition, which has necessitated several surgeries over the last 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/34 "2025-07-24T19:37:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That right there is a red flag about that statistic, because obviously the ones who didn’t die would bring up the average. It’s not going to be extremely reliable, and the article concedes the shortcomings. > “Yes the statistical evidence is quite strong when we look at the mortality rate for wrestlers compared to other sports and the general population,” says John Moriarty of Manchester University. > > Researchers like Moriarty face some difficulties getting hold of data, as no official body collects statistics about the deaths of those who have spent a career in the ring. > > His approach has been to aggregate the findings of others who have studied the problem. It suggests that there’s something there, but I don’t think there’s enough to draw any real conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/35 "2025-07-24T19:53:15Z")
There are several, although many didn’t spend most of their careers in WWF/E. Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Dory Funk Jr., Ric Flair, Tony Atlas, Jerry Lawler, Bob Backlund, Bob Orton Jr., Bret Hart, and Barry Windham are some off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/36 "2025-07-24T19:54:23Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Ric Flair Wow, the Nature Boy **is** still alive. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/37 "2025-07-24T19:57:18Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Dory Funk Jr., Ric Flair, Tony Atlas, Jerry Lawler, Bob Backlund, Bob Orton Jr., Bret Hart, and Barry Windham are some off the top of my head. And Jesse Ventura. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/38 "2025-07-24T19:59:24Z")
Also Tito Santana and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. Plenty of them who took fewer steroids are still kicking. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/39 "2025-07-24T20:24:06Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Wow, the Nature Boy **is** still alive. Whooooooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276/40 "2025-07-24T21:39:07Z")
We spent many happy recess periods running wild; practicing sleeper holds, camel clutches and pile drivers on our friends. I’m guessing this is no longer a thing. We even knew most of the crappy lyrics to Wrestlemania. Sometimes love _is_ like a slow dance. Hulk has nostalgic value. Trump he can keep^. The Gawker Thiel thing was weird. But I’m still saying my prayers and taking my vitamins. What’cha gonna do? ^ _Volkoff_: Shiek! Number one! Russia! Number one! USA? Pthoooooie! _WWF Crowd_: BOOOOOOOOOOO! _Smithers_: Did you say Booooo-urns? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-hulk-hogan/1021276.md?page=3)