Terry Gene has been dedicated to being involved with non-profits like the Make-A-Wish Foundation throughout his career (Hulk Hogan/Facebook).
If you’re a 90s child like me, you likely remember the reality show Hogan Knows Best that ran from 2005 to 2007. Besides glimmers of early memories of wrestlers throwing chairs at each other and knocking each other off the ring, that was about the extent of my knowledge of Hulk Hogan and wrestling.
Who is the actual man behind the muscle and fake tan? Let’s find out!
Terry Gene “Hulk Hogan” Bollea
Terry Gene was born in Augusta, GA, in 1953. But you knew that he was a southern baby based on his first name and middle name fitting together so well.
Terry Gene’s father, Pietro Bollea, was a construction foreman. His mother was Ruth Bollea, a dance teacher.
It seems as though Terry Gene has two brothers: a half brother, Kenneth Wheeler, and his older brother, Allan Bollea. Allan passed away in the 1980s after being shot. There’s very little other information available on either brother.
Childhood
Hulk Hogan gets real about childhood memories. His most scarring experiences were framed around his weight.
Bullied
In a conversation with Marc Mero, Hogan was quoted as saying:
“When I was younger, I was very fat. Everybody from my brother to everybody in the neighborhood teased me. And said everything from your head is too big or you need a bra. They really came down strong on me and tease me. Even when I was playing baseball, I knew in my mind that if I didn’t hit a home run, if I kicked the ball inside the park anywhere, even hitting the ball in the center field fence in the middle of the fence I still couldn’t run past the first base.”
Holy moly. Sorry, Terry Gene, that’s awful. It is an interesting source of inspiration to hit the ball really far, though.
Bollea was a fantastic baseball player, despite the negativity. He was a pitcher in little league and was being scouted by teams like the Yankees and the Reds in 10th and 11th grade.
Baseball To Wrestling
Terry Gene kissed his baseball career goodbye when he broke his arm. He got demoted to the outfield and lost his love for the sport. He would move on to wrestling. And playing bass guitar in bands. It’s not hard to picture Hogan as a tortured musician.
As a high schooler, he looked up to Dusty Rhodes and Billy Graham. He wanted to match Graham’s inhuman physique. That says more than it should about where his head was as a teen.
Shockingly (I kid), the Bollea parents were hardly thrilled by their son’s career change into wrestling.
Terry Gene Goes To College
Kind of. Until it got in the way of his budding music career. Then college had to go.
Apparently, Terry Gene had vision. He was on the music scene for over a decade. It was his gig in a band called “Ruckus” that propelled his wrestling career. The Brisco brothers saw Bollea perform at a bar and thought he had a good physique for the ring.
In 1976, Terry Gene agreed to become a wrestler. The wrestler brothers connected Bollea with THE Hiro Matsuda. The rest is history.
Well, kind of. Hulk Hogan had a successful and eventful career from 1977 to 2012. And we will talk about that. But not in this article. This is about Terry Gene. Hulk Hogan has to sit on ice for a minute.
Terry Gene’s Wrestling Era
Because Terry Gene and Hulk Hogan are the same person (mostly), things that point to Bollea being more than a bottle of fake tan will be pointed out.
The Demandments
Hulk Bollea had four “demandments” for himself that his “hulkamaniacs” also lived by.
- Training
- Saying Prayers
- Eating Vitamins
- Believing in oneself
- Balding gracefully
I’m just kidding on that last one. But Hogan could do a masterclass on that. The quintessential dad haircut of his time.
All Of The Beef
Hogan Bollea had controversy with basically everyone. Randy Savage beefed with Terry Gene after working with him when he thought The Hulk was trying to steal his girl, “Miss Elizabeth.”
Hulk Hogan feuded with “Earthquake” after his 400-pound opponent broke his ribs in a sneak attack, inspiring his fourth “demandment.”
Hogan was tied to a doctor around 1982 who was allegedly juicing him and many other wrestlers up.
Bollea had a defamation lawsuit against Vince Russo that was dismissed in 2002 due to some underhanded alleged “work.”
One of his most recent moments in hot water was his 2006 racist rant, in which he repeated racial slurs repeatedly. Hogan dropped some tears and had some introspection on “Good Morning America” regarding his racial biases that resulted from his childhood in 2015. He self-identified as racist, to a point.
This rant was part of Hogan’s leaked adult-themed videos with married couple Bubba the Love Sponge and Heather Cole, showing off their triangular arrangement. Along with way too much discussion about Hogan’s personal life.
And of course, one of Terry Gene’s biggest regrets. Not endorsing the “George Foreman” grill before it was George’s in 1994. He missed out on hundreds of millions.
Terry Gene’s Other Endeavors
Terry Gene was a bit of a foodie. He’s had a few restaurants along the way, as well as an energy drink and food item line sold by Walmart. Most notably, he had an establishment at the Mall of America named “Pastamania” in 1995 that sold dishes like “Hulk-A-Roos” and “Hulk-U’s.”
Hulk Hogan has also dabbled in video games representing his likeness, random appearances on TV shows and radio shows, music production, and commercials. He also had over 100 different action figures of himself between 1980 and the 2010s.
Hogan has made a name for himself in the acting world as well. He has been on 20 different TV shows and movies from 1982 to 2011.
Who could ever forget “Hogan Knows Best?” This is probably incredibly curated to make Terry Gene look like an emotional, supportive father and not the Hulk Hogan most people have gotten to know.
The Husband
Terry is used to being a husband. He’s been one twice, and is planning on being one again soon.
Sky Daily
Hulk Hogan proposed to his fiancé, Sky Daily, in July 2023. Sky is 25 years younger than her soon-to-be husband and is a yoga teacher.
Jennifer McDaniel
Makeup artist Jennifer McDaniel married Hogan in 2010. She is also over 20 years his junior. The couple divorced in 2021, shared no children, and had a relatively quiet marriage.
Linda Hogan
Linda is the only wife born in the same decade as Hogan. The couple was married for 26 years, uniting in holy matrimony in 1983 and finalizing their divorce in 2009.
Hulk’s first wife was the mother of his two children, Brooke and Nick.
Linda reports that Hogan was physically abusive on many occasions and felt her life could have been in danger during some of his rage sessions.
Hogan’s sleeping with his daughter’s close and similarly aged friend in 2008 put the nail in the coffin of his and Linda’s marriage.
Linda got her revenge, though—she dated Charley Hill for a few years. Charley was 19 and she was 48 when the couple initially got together.
The divorce was so difficult for Hulk Hogan that he actually considered taking his own life. Thankfully, he appears to be in a much healthier head space now.
The Father
A lot about Bollea’s parenting style is uncomfortable, at least in Hogan Knows Best. He is way too involved with his children’s personal lives. The amount of time the reality show spends on his daughter’s body, particularly before she is an adult, is beyond disconcerting.
Weird Family Dynamics
Terry Gene is highly protective of his daughter, but it’s on a weird level. And inconsistent. He was fine with his underage daughter dating a 22-year-old college student who was also her 14-year-old brother’s best friend (Chris Hansen, where are you at?).
At the same time, he will police her dance moves and magazine articles and tear up with his daughter’s love ballad that she sings to him during a concert; that whole scene screamed codependent relationship.
He also recruits his son to keep an eye on his sister, showing just how deep the double standards are in this family. And how off the boundaries are. Bollea discussing how hot his son’s underage girlfriend was? Super weird. Encouraging his son to date older women when he was a teen? Extra, extra weird.
Brooke Hogan
At the same time, Hogan was a mostly present father, and allegedly he did the entire reality show in the first place because he wanted to help his daughter Brooke create a successful musical career. That’s literal love and sacrifice. For something that didn’t work.
Bollea’s racist rant over Brooke’s former African-American boyfriend leaked along with his nasty time tapes. The tapes being released were an inexcusable violation of privacy and will give you the ick for life.
However, Terry Gene’s racism is inappropriate, and he needs to be held accountable, no matter how the conversation came to light.
Brooke addressed the rant by saying to People:
“What he said was not right, but I know that’s not who he is, he has told me that he made some really bad choices, but that it never changed that I was his baby girl and he loved me and be would lost without his kids. Maybe the positive of this whole situation is shedding light on the need to eliminate hateful words from our vocabulary altogether.”
Nick Hogan
Nick’s teenage years were hard for him. He was a chronic speeder and was in a serious crash in 2007. His close friend, John Graziano, was a passenger in the car and sustained brain damage as a result of the accident.
As a result of his behind-the-wheel shenanigans, Nick was charged with felony reckless driving and sentenced to eight months in jail, many years of probation, and a suspended license.
Nick has turned things around and has stayed out of the limelight for the most part. He was the first male to be directly targeted by the infamous celebrity photo leaks of 2014. His mother’s photos were also leaked.
What is with this family? Brooke has to comment on her dad’s leaked adult film tapes, and Nick is in the same celebrity leak with photos of his half-naked mother. These poor kids.
Nick has been dating adult film actress Tana Lea since 2019.
Terry Gene – Where Is He Now?
Terry Gene is living out his days in sunny Florida, hopefully with some financial comfort. His poor money choices and divorces nearly bankrupted him at some point. Due to his recent engagement, I assume there’s still plenty somewhere socked away.
Hogan mentions his body is giving out on him; he was wrestling as recently as 2021, and he is 70 years old. There’s a difference between bodies wearing out and the aging process, Terry Gene.
The wrestler has had 26 surgeries in the past two years, addressing the long-term impact the sport has had on his body.
Terry Gene’s Legacy
It’s hard to say. Terry Gene is a complicated man. His flaws as a man, father, and husband are obvious. Bollea’s sins are no worse than most; his are just more public.
That being said, with notoriety come expectations for behavior, and Terry Gene is not the ideal role model in most ways.
Hogan’s impact on the wrestling world cannot be overstated, and that will be part of his legacy forever.
Hulk has 12 world titles, six with WCW and six with WWE. Hogan was also the first wrestler to win the WWE championship three times in a row. And then there are his 50,000 other trophies and awards.
Hulk Hogan, Terry Gene Bollea, is one of the best to ever do it in the wrestling world. And don’t you forget it (or his demandments!).
