Terry Gene Bollea (born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, entrepreneur and musician. Hogan is regarded by many as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. According to IGN, he is "the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 1980s". Hogan enjoyed considerable mainstream popularity between 1984 and 1993 as a face in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), which continued for the remainder of the 1990s in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he turned heel in 1996 and performed as the villainous New World Order (nWo) leader "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan.
A regular pay-per-view main eventer and box office draw in both organizations, Hogan headlined the premier annual events of the WWF and WCW, WrestleMania and Starrcade, multiple times; against Sting, he closed the most profitable WCW pay-per-view ever at the 1997 edition of Starrcade. Aside from those promotions, he has notably performed for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is a twelve-time world champion: a six-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion/WWF Champion (with his last reign being as Undisputed WWF/WWE Champion) and a six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He was the first wrestler to win consecutive Royal Rumbles, in 1990 and 1991, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, by Sylvester Stallone.
During and after wrestling, Hogan had an extensive acting career, beginning with his 1982 antagonist role in Rocky III. He has starred in several movies (including No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny) and three television shows (Thunder in Paradise, Hogan Knows Best and China, IL), as well as in Right Guard commercials and the video game, Hulk Hogan's Main Event. He was also the frontman for The Wrestling Boot Band, whose sole record, Hulk Rules, reached #12 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart in 1995.
Championships and accomplishments
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
IWGP League Tournament (1983)
MSG Tag League Tournament (1982, 1983) – with Antonio Inoki
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
Class of 2003
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Comeback of the Year (1994, 2002)
Feud of the Year (1986) vs. Paul Orndorff
Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1983, 1999)
Match of the Year (1985) with Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff at WrestleMania I
Match of the Year (1988) vs. André the Giant at The Main Event
Match of the Year (1990) vs. The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI
Match of the Year (2002) vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1996, 1998)
Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1985, 1989, 1990)
Wrestler of the Year (1987, 1991, 1994)
Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991
Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Ranked No. 44 and No. 57 of the top 100 tag teams of the PWI Years with Antonio Inoki and Randy Savage in 2003
Southeastern Championship Wrestling
NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (1 time)
NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Southern Division) (2 times)
Tokyo Sports
Best Foreigner Award (1983)
Match of the Year (1991) vs. Genichiro Tenryu on December 12, 1991
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Edge
WWF World Heavyweight Championship[b] (6 times)
Royal Rumble (1990, 1991)
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Babyface (1982–1991)
Best Box Office Draw (1997)
Best Gimmick (1996) as a member of New World Order
Feud of the Year (1986) vs. Paul Orndorff
Most Charismatic (1985–1987, 1989–1991)
Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000)
Most Obnoxious (1994, 1995)
Most Overrated (1985–1987, 1994–1998)
Most Unimproved (1994, 1995)
Readers' Least Favorite Wrestler (1985, 1986, 1991, 1994–1999)
Worst Feud of the Year (1991) vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Worst Feud of the Year (1995) vs. The Dungeon of Doom
Worst Feud of the Year (1998) vs. The Warrior
Worst Feud of the Year (2000) vs. Billy Kidman
Worst on Interviews (1995)
Worst Wrestler (1997)
Worst Worked Match of the Year (1987) vs. André the Giant at WrestleMania III
Worst Worked Match of the Year (1996) with Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson, Meng, The Barbarian, Ric Flair, Kevin Sullivan, Z-Gangsta, and The Ultimate Solution in a Towers of Doom match at Uncensored
Worst Worked Match of the Year (1997) vs. Roddy Piper at SuperBrawl VII
Worst Worked Match of the Year (1998) vs. The Warrior at Halloween Havoc
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)