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Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan died earlier today. He was 71.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was the biggest professional wrestler of the '80s and '90s and helped bring it into the mainstream.

Tributes for the "Hulkster" have poured in from around the world. Here are a few of them:

• WWE co-founder Vince McMahon had a complicated relationship with Hogan, and says he was "the greatest WWE Superstar of all time", and calls him a "global phenomenon"

• Wrestling legend Ric Flair says Hogan's friendship "meant the world to me", adding: "Hulkster, no one will ever compare to you"

• Sylvester Stallone, who acted alongside Hogan in Rocky III, says the wrestler was "absolutely wonderful and his amazing skill made Rocky three incredibly special"
• President Donald Trump sends his condolences to Hogan's family, saying he was "MAGA all the way - Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart".

Hogan will also be remembered for his controversies, such as being caught saying a racist slur on tape, and taking aim at Kamala Harris during the 2024 election campaign.

You can read more about Hulk Hogan's life here. And we also have a look back back at the highs and lows of Hogan here.

This live coverage is now ending. Thanks for joining us.

Ian Youngs
Entertainment and Arts reporter

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• See more: Blood, sweat and tears: Look back at the highs and lows of Hulk Hogan

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"Hulk Hogan was a true legend," one of WWE's superstars, Glenn "Kane" Jacobs, writes.

"I was fortunate to work with him a couple of times... It was easy to do a Hulkster impersonation when, like millions of guys my age, I'd practiced it in the mirror a thousand times growing up."

Following his professional wrestling career, Jacobs went on to be elected mayor of Knox County in 2018.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Hulk Hogan was a wrestling hero for the first two decades of his career – a golden boy with long blond-hair and cheering crowds on his side.

Then, in 1996, he did what in the wrestling business is called a "heel turn". He went from hero to villain – in the course of an evening match betrayal of his former ally, Randy Savage.

Fans, initially stunned into silence, began pelting the ring with trash. It made for high drama, with Hogan’s colourful yellow and red outfit subsequently replaced by one that was a villainous all black to match his new black-dyed beard.

Hogan had similar dramatic reversals and course-changes over his lengthy public career. Backing Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and then throwing his support behind Donald Trump in 2016 being one of the most notable.

In the last years of his life, Hogan had embraced Trump’s Make America Great Again mentality – an affinity that was returned by Trump and his followers, who celebrated Hogan’s wrestling machismo.

By the time Hogan spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, a shirt-tearing, testosterone dripping performance from a veteran showman, his journey from the left to the right was complete – a political heel turn for some, but the arrival of a new champion for others.

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A professional wrestling peer, Sting, shared a tribute to the late Hulk Hogan, calling him a "the greatest of all".

"Can’t thank you enough for all that you did for me and for wrestling fans all over the world. I loved you and I will miss you. My friend, Terry Bollea, RIP," Sting, whose real name is Steve Borden, wrote on X.

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The Undertaker, whose real name is Mark Calaway, has shared a post on X to commemorate his former opponent in the ring, saying he was a "true legend".

In the span of both men's wrestling careers, Hogan and the Undertaker squared off for three televised singles matches.

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Hulk Hogan is survived by his third wife, Sky Daily, who he married in September 2023.

He leaves behind two adult children Brooke and Nick. The children are from his 26-year marriage to Linda Hogan, which ended in 2009.

They were featured in Hogan Knows Best, a reality television show about their family which ran from 2005 to 2007.

In January, Brooke and her husband Steven Olesky welcomed twins.

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Hogan was born as Terry Bollea on 11 August, 1953 in Georgia and was raised in Tampa, Florida.

He was the son of a construction foreman and a dance teacher.

Hogan loved music growing up, and played guitar and bass guitar for several rock bands. One of them, Ruckus, went on to be come a popular act in the Tampa Bay area.

He was eventually tempted by the wrestling scene in the United States. He recounted a story of how he broke his leg on the first day of training in a Vice interview in 2014.

He gained fame in the 1980s and 1990s and eventually became a symbol of WWE - then known as WWF.

Clearwater Police Department have issued an updated timeline of events surrounding Hogan's death.

They were first called at 09:51 local time and dispatched within the same minute.

Medical teams arrived on site at 09:56, with the police arriving at 10:23.

He was transported to a Florida hospital at 10:32, and confirmed dead at 11:17.

Linda McMahon, who Hogan knew well as she was the co-founder of WWE with her husband Vince, has posted a tribute to the late wrestler.

"I had the privilege of knowing and working with Hulk Hogan for over 40 years," she writes.

She describes him as a "dear friend" with a wrestling legacy that "will always been remembered".

"He was one of a kind!"

Linda McMahon is currently the United States Secretary of Education as part of the Trump administration.

Hogan also had strong ties to President Trump, and famously spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2024.

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"The world lost a treasure today," Vince McMahon writes of Hogan.

The WWE co-founder and close friend of Hogan says: "Hulk Hogan was the greatest WWE Superstar of all time".

He describes him as a "trailblazer" and "global phenomenon".

"His grit and unbridled thirst for success were unparalleled", he adds.

"He gave everything he had to the audience whom he appreciated, respected and loved."

McMahon and Hogan had a very public and complicated friendship for decades.

It's McMahon that started WWE, and helped get Hogan to stardom. However, they also had sour moments, including when Hogan testified against him in an illegal substance case in the 1990s.

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Wrestling fans will always remember Hulk Hogan's body slam of Andre the Giant during their WrestleMania III match in 1987.

The two wrestlers faced off in front of more than 93,000 fans in Michigan in what remains one of the most iconic matches in history.

Hogan appeared to struggle with Andre's overwhelming size and strength for much of the match, but the tide eventually turned when he was able to lift the 2.2m-tall (7ft 4 in) behemoth off his feet and deliver a body slam, retaining the WWF Championship.

The spectacle solidified Hogan's status and cemented WrestleMania as the biggest event in the industry.

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Actor and professional wrestler John Cena posted a tribute to Hulk Hogan on Instagram.

The photo shows Hogan in the ring with Andre the Giant, holding his hair, with his fist cocked and ready to punch.

Cena's post didn't include any text, but nearly 2,000 comments have since flooded in with fans sharing their condolences.

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Professional wrestler and WWE chief content officer, Triple H, calls Hogan the "archetype" of what it means to be a WWE Superstar.

In other words - "a global sensation that inspired millions to work hard at whatever it was they wanted to accomplish and a look that made him recognizable to fans around the world".

Otherwise known as Paul Michael Levesque, his tribute labels Hogan as "iconic".

"There was no one like The Hulkster and there very well may never be another," he says.

"It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that we confirm we have lost a legend," a post on Hulk Hogan's official Instagram account says.

Hogan passed away "surrounded by his loved ones," it reads.

"At this time of grief, we ask that everyone please respect the privacy of his family and friends."

He will be missed "but never forgotten", it adds.

Image source, John Shearer/WireImage)

Hulk Hogan will be remembered for his wrestling stardom, but also for many, they will remember the various controversies surrounding him.

In 1994, he testified in the case of Vince McMahon, WWE co-founder, after getting immunity from prosecution. The infamous case saw prosecutors accuse McMahon and WWE of providing illegal steroids to wrestlers.

Hogan's testimony was key in the government losing the case - success for McMahon. But it was seen by some as a betrayal that Hogan even testified against McMahon.

As we reported earlier, Hogan was removed from the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015 over a racist slur he was caught saying on tape. He was reinstated three years later.

In 2024, he took aim at the then vice-President Kamala Harris: "Do you want me to body slam Kamala Harris?" while speaking at an event for his new beer.

A one-off appearance at the start of 2025 saw him receive a deafening amount of boos from the crowd, not the entrance expected for one of the greats of WWE.

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For the 2008 US presidential election, Hulk Hogan endorsed Barack Obama, who would go on to become the first black US president.

But just three years later, like his shirts, Hulk Hogan had ripped apart this support.

“I was a big Obama supporter and kinda believed everything he said he was gonna do,” Hogan told Fox News in 2011. But Obama hadn't delivered on his campaign promises, he said.

Hogan was also unhappy about Obama opening his 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner speech with Hulk Hogan's "Real American" song. It was tongue-in-cheek: As the song played, screens showed a copy of Obama's birth certificate proving that he was born in the United States. False claims that Obama wasn't American had been promoted by Donald Trump.

By the time of the 2016 election, Hogan had made a hard turn towards Trump, endorsing him then, and again in 2020. He even floated the idea of being Trump's vice-presidential nominee, and even contemplated running for the White House too.

Last year, he took to the stage at the Republican National Convention, where he once again endorsed Trump, days after he had survived an assassination attempt.

"After everything that's happened to our country over the past four years, and everything that happened last weekend, I can no longer stay silent," he said.

"I'm here tonight because I want the world to know that Donald Trump is a real American hero, and I'm proud to support my hero as the next president of this United States."

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Trump has posted on Truth Social sharing his feelings about Hulk Hogan, who he called "a great friend" and the "Hulkster".

"Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way - Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart," Trump wrote.

"He gave an absolutely electric speech at the Republican National Convention, that was one of the highlights of the entire week. He entertained fans from all over the World, and the cultural impact he had was massive."

Trump gave his condolences to Hogan's family and said the wrestler will be missed.

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Hogan was known for his wrestling, but also starred in several movies.

He began his acting journey in Rocky III (1982), in which he played pro wrestler Thunderlips alongside Sylvester Stallone.

He is also remembered for his performance as the lead character, Rip Thomas, in No Holds Barred (1989).

Hogan also acted in several others during the 1990s, such as Suburban Commando, Mr. Nanny and Santa with Muscles.

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake - who once headlined a WCW PPV in a title match against Hogan - has said he is "devastated" by today's news.

There had been reports of a falling out between the pair in recent years.

"Through the good times and the bad, I always loved my brother Terry!" Brutus says now.

"I only wish we had time to mend our broken friendship before his passing. Until I see you Brother, in the big squared circle in the sky!"