Summary
Hulk Hogan was an undisputed icon of the 1980s, for better and for worse. In the decade when image trumped everything else, stood this living, breathingWWEsuperhero. A conqueror of nations. The guy who played Thunderlips in Rocky 3. The personification of the American Dream, both in strength and in excess.
And much like the Decade of Decadence, the man named Terry Bollea was one thing to his millions of fans who knew him as real-life superhero and WWF mainstay Hulk Hogan, and another to many others in the decades that followed.
This duality makeshis sudden death last week at age 71a difficult subject to talk about. Plenty of people in the world only knew – or care to know – the man who extolled the virtues of saying your prayers and taking your vitamins. Sure, maybe the Hulkster became a grifter in his old age, but this sect of fans doesn’t care. To them, he’ll always just be the Immortal One who bodyslammed Andre The Giant.
And it’s that audience that always validates the decisions of modern-day WWE to mine nostalgia for all it’s worth. However, that expected audience interaction grew more and more strained over the years for Hogan. A number ofreal-world incidents involving not only his family, buthimself, spilled into the kayfabe of it all. Hogan now feels almost as known for his filmed racist rant andhis lawsuit against Gawkeras he does for his wrestling exploits.
It won’t be long until we hear about the next entry in the annualWWE 2K series. Each year, 2K releases a new WWE title, along with at least one special edition of the game – usually featuring not much more than a bunch of digital bonuses and access to future downloadable content. And I won’t be remotely shocked if we’re given the option to pre-order WWE 2K26: Hulk Hogan Edition at some point in the future.
Before that comes to pass, though, it’s hard to imagine there not being an internal discussion about the late Hogan’s public image. In his finalWWEappearance, earlier this year at Raw’s debut on Netflix, Hogan was met witha decidedly negative reactionfrom the Los Angeles crowd.
However, if WWE thinks it’ll be a big enough hit, chances are we’ll see at least one Hulk Hogan edition of WWE 2K26
Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, And Redemption
To understand how WWE sees its past and deceased performers, we need to look at and understand The Ultimate Warrior. Once known as James Hellwig, the face-painted and muscular tornado who near-rivaled Hogan in popularity had an equal number of skeletons in his closet. After his wrestling career came to an end, he spent time as a conservative-leaning speaker, touring campuses and making homophobic remarks in his speeches. In one appearance, hetold students at the University of Connecticutthat “queering doesn’t make the world work.”
WWE even did work tarnishing Warrior’s name themselves, with a documentary titled “The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior.” The overall tone of the project was a mocking one, with most of those interviewed offering negative comments and stories about the former wrestler to save face, as if wanting to distance themselves from Hellwig’s own personal views.
But like all former WWE Superstars, all can be forgiven if there’s money to be made. Ultimate Warrior was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014 and days laterpassed away from congestive heart failure. But for many, the last image of an energized and older Warrior standing in the ring at Monday Night RAW the night afterWrestleMania, and hours before his death, is all that remains - there’s even an action figure of the moment. Oh, yeah: and he was a pre-order bonus character for WWE 2K14.
And here we have the blueprint for how, if at all possible, WWE will eulogize and memorialize the departed Hulkster. After all,Hulk’s now-infamous final appearanceon WWE television involved him being booed out of the arena as he tried to promote his ‘Real American Beer’ brand. It was embarrassing for all parties involved – and one that WWE would more than love to roll back if given the opportunity. Now Hogan has passed away, what is the best route forward when it comes to presenting his legacy?
It involves a showcase of the immortals.
Showcase Mode: A Get Out Of Jail Free Card
I’ve never cared much for the WWE 2K series, except for one major exception. The annual Showcase Mode is a strange concoction of kayfabe and real-life personalities, telling the tales of its biggest performers. Interweaving real footage, interviews, and matches where players recreate historic moments. It’s one of the few things I believe the WWE games get right again and again.
I see no way at this point that WWE 2K26 doesn’t honor Hogan’s death by telling his story in such a manner. However, considering the short production cycles of each title, it might be too late for this to be a possibility.
Either way, we can expect it at some point in the future.
In actuality, I’d always assumed that 2K kept the Hulk Hogan Showcase Mode concept as a “break glass in case of emergency” backup plan. But you should strike while the iron is hot, even if the iron is caught sayingsome pretty racist things. The risk may be worth the reward for 2K and WWE, but that all depends on if casual audiences are willing to do what they’ve always done and mourn their fallen heroes while selectively forgetting the bad stuff.
I could be fully mistaken. Maybe even the legacy of Hulk Hogan is tarnished. The day of his death saw a celebration of a celebrity passing away that I don’t think I’ve seen since Henry Kissinger died. But I also swim in very specific oceans of the internet.
That ocean isn’t the real world.
What I perceive as the final legacy of Hulk Hogan will potentially not even be close to how mainstream audiences feel. This pastFriday on Smackdownmay be the best indicator, as the live show opened with a somber ten-bell salute with the entire roster assembled onstage, along with a few legends, before an extensive video package chronicling his career played out.
Despite everything, the crowd cheered, the video package played, and all that mattered was that Hogan was no more and the world was going to miss him.
I will give credit where it is due. The Hulk Hogan character may have been a facade, but it was one Bollea used to try and improve the lives of his fans. It was often reported that Hulk always made time for meet and greets with kids, often when the cameras were off.One such interactionalways stands out to me, as it feels less like the wrestler and more like Terry – being personable, and even making fun of himself. It in no way excuses his past misdeeds, though. We all have multitudes, and sometimes in wrasslin’ we’re all things at once.
Isn’t that the most professional wrestling thing you’ve ever heard?
I’ve watched the sport of kings since I was a child, and one thing has remained constant: Nostalgia never ends, and it always works. If WWE can continue to trot out the image of a man like the Ultimate Warrior, then there’s absolutely nothing stopping them from doing the same with Hulk Hogan.
The question is if fans will play along and respect kayfabe or if Hulkamania has gone to heaven and isn’t truly forever. Only time will tell. But nothing would shock me less than if the epitaph for Terry Bollea’s iconic character was one last cash grab to make all the little Hulkamaniacs run wild one last time.
