Jerry "The King" Lawler answered the phone and Jimmy Hart was crying on the other end.
They had known Hulk Hogan as long as anyone in the pro wrestling industry, dating back more than 40 years ago when Hogan had some of his earliest matches at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. Now they were grappling with his death.
So two legends of pro wrestling started talking about perhaps the biggest legend of them all, and about the Hulk Hogan they knew. "Stuff that nobody knew about him," Lawler told USA TODAY Sports. "It’s just a sad situation."
WWE confirmed that Hogan died Thursday, July 24 in Clearwater Beach, Florida at the age of 71. The Clearwater Police Department in Florida said in a statement it responded to a medical call at a residence on Clearwater Beach at 9:51 a.m. for a reported cardiac arrest. Hogan was treated at the scene before being taken to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, became WWE's first major star and he’s credited with helping fuel pro wrestling’s worldwide popularity beginning in the 1980s with "Hulkamania." His stardom eventually transcended the wrestling ring into movies, television and pop culture.
