Professional wrestler and over-the-top showman Hulk Hogan passed away last week at the age of 71. If you’re not familiar with his persona, this 8-minute clip from Rocky III captures it well.

I wouldn’t be writing about it except a pastor writing for World Magazine wrote Remembering Hulk Hogan on July 25, 2025. The tag line is:

The Hulkster showed that it’s never too late to repent and believe in Christ. – David Mitzenmacher, pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla.

The article is worth the read in its entirety, but here are a few snippets.

As a boy, I counted Hulk Hogan among my heroes. He told me (and millions of others) to say our prayers and take our vitamins, and I listened. I was the only son of a single mother, and Hulk Hogan offered a picture of manhood (cartoonish as it was) that taught me to protect the weak, work hard, and be courageous. Those exhortations were simplistic, but they pointed me to virtues much more real than the world of wrestling kayfabe.

When I was 18, working at a Kinko’s, Terry Bollea (his real name) came in several times to get copies made. I was always struck by the fact that if a family with kids came in, he would immediately stop whatever he was doing, step fully into the Hulk Hogan character, and spend time talking to the kids (always encouraging them to obey their parents and work hard). That momentary theater seemed, for him, a kind of joyful duty. It was clear that he understood the weight of his position of influence. Hulk Hogan was a character, but Terry Bollea was a genuine human being.

In December 2023, Bollea and his wife were baptized at Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Largo, Fla. He called it the greatest day of his life, describing the event as one of “total surrender and dedication to Jesus.” …Some doubt the sincerity of such professions, or point to past scandals as disqualifying. But the gospel does not operate according to our suspicions or cynicism. Scripture calls every sinner to repentance and faith, and it promises mercy to those who come. 

…His death is a sobering reminder that no man, however strong, can escape mortality. It is humbling to consider that the man with the 24-inch pythons who beat Andre the Giant, The Iron Sheik, and Yokozuna could not defeat death. But neither physical strength nor fame nor fortune can conquer the grave. That victory belongs to Christ alone.

…We can be thankful for the good we received from a flawed man without whitewashing his failures. Hogan’s public record includes sin, scandal, and foolishness. So does yours. So does mine. But the proper response is not to highlight moral failures as if grace were a reward for the worthy. It is to marvel that God saves sinners, even in the eleventh hour. 

Amen.

And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23.42, 43, ESV)