Hulk Hogan’s Legacy Shows Americans Can...

Shortly before he died earlier today (July 24) at the age of 71, Hulk Hogan was doing what so many out-to-pasture celebrities from the 1980s and 1990s do: He was a pitchman.

In April, Walmart began stocking Real American Beer, a brand Hogan started in 2024. “Americans deserve a real American beer, and now they can grab Real American Beer at Walmart—America’s store,” Hogan announced in a prepared statement. “Real American Beer is made for summer. And now, it’s easier than ever to get some, brother.”

Odds are that a PR person wrote that line for him, but only Hogan himself could have supplied the beer can’s branding element—a stylized rendering of the professional wrestler with his signature bandana and handlebar mustache, gritting his teeth while waving an American flag.

That’s how Hogan loyalists will doubtless remember the man, whose decades of fame inside and outside the ring didn’t just make him a national figure, but one alluring enough to prompt brands to come running with endorsement contracts.

As is the case with many a celebrity, however, Hogan’s legacy is mixed, and paradoxical too: Hogan ultimately became more famous after he retired from wrestling in 2012—and it was his mouth, not his muscles, that got all the attention.

Born Terry Gene Bollea in 1953, Hogan grew up in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood in South Tampa. After dropping out of college, a 300-pound Hogan dropped into the wrestling circuit. The World Wrestling Federation (today World Wrestling Entertainment) added him to its lineup in 1977, giving him a moniker inspired by The Incredible Hulk. (A displeased Marvel Comics sued, settled, and eventually let Hogan have his name for $750,000.)

A winner of six championships, Hogan became a brand within a brand for WWE, enjoying fame that transcended his trade and turning thousands of Americans into “Hulkamaniacs.” A natural ham for the camera, Hogan stepped effortlessly into advertising, appearing in spots for brands big (Arby’s, Cheerios), small (Pumax cleaning wipes) and occasionally questionable (Rent-A-Center, 10-10-220.)

It  all came to a screeching halt in 2012, when the gossip site Gawker posted a sex tape of Hogan in flagrante with Heather Clem, wife of on-air personality Todd Alan Clem, better known as Bubba the Love Sponge. Americans can forgive a sex tape, but it was Hogan’s language that wound up being the curb stomp. In the video, Hogan goes on an expletive-fueled rant about people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.

Hogan apologized, but not before the WWE kicked him out of its Hall of Fame and many fans walked away.