Hulk Hogan gave one of the 2024 RNC’s most memorable speeches last November when he tore off his shirt and declared, “let Trumpmania run wild, brother!” The full-throated endorsement of his longtime pal President Trump came after he ditched the Democrats over a petty slight by former President Barack Obama.

The WWE Hall of Famer, who died on Thursday at the age of 71, had supported former President Barack Obama in 2008.

President Donald Trump’s decades-long friendship with Hulk Hogan was forged over a love of professional wrestling but developed into a political alliance that eventually culminated in Hogan earning a spot in the president’s trusted circle.

Hogan didn't publicly endorse Trump until the convention, citing the assassination attempt against Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as the reason for his announcement.

When fame tips over into long-running ubiquity, an alchemical transformation occurs. The star goes from being a remote, aspirational figure to an avatar. Which is what happened to Hogan. He became a totem for Real America.

The late Hulk Hogan was a real American, but it’s a whole lot more complicated than that. (Especially, if you’re Black.)

Hulkmania has been raging my entire life. It’s rare for an entertainer to stay relevant as long as Hulk Hogan has—let alone for reasons as diverse as the wrestler-turned-reality-star-turned-sex-tape-scandal-turned-digital-media-destroyer-turned-MAGA-political-figure.

Years Ago, 'Hogan Knows Best' Premiered. Read Our 2005 Interview With Hulk Hogan They were icons of the 1980s, known for their outlandish exploits onstage and in the ring, who later redefined their images in the 2000s by starring alongside their families in reality shows.