A look at Hulk Hogan’s WWF exploits in Maine in photos, archives

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Hulk Hogan, a mustachioed, headscarf-wearing icon in professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and cultural touchstone, died Thursday at age 71, Florida police said.

In Clearwater, Florida, authorities responded to a morning call about a cardiac arrest. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said in a statement on Facebook.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even company chairman Vince McMahon.

But outside the the ring, Hogan also found trouble. WWE in 2015 cut ties with him for three years, even removing him from its Hall of Fame, after it was reported that he was recorded using racial slurs about Blacks. He apologized and said his words were “unacceptable.”

Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and millions of fans have watched the company’s weekly live television program, “Raw,” which debuted in January on Netflix.

“Hulkamania,” as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid-1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a flag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his “24-inch pythons.”

Hogan made 13 WWF (WWF changed its name to WWE in 2002) appearances in Maine, eight in 1980. That year, he wrestled matches at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Lewiston Armory, Waterville Armory and Bangor Auditorium, winning each of them.

In all, Hogan went 12-1 in the Pine Tree State, his only defeat coming to Savage on June 4, 1989, at the Cumberland County Civic Center. He would avenge his defeat three months later at the same venue, pinning Savage for the WWF title.

Two noteworthy moments in Hogan’s career came against a Mainer in 1981. Tony Atlas (real name Anthony White) of Auburn defeated Hogan twice, first on March 16 at Madison Square Garden and then on April 18 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

Fans greeted Hogan’s arrivals with great enthusiasm. In a column on Oct. 28, 1987, Press Herald sports writer Mike Lowe wrote about how, despite the many acts scheduled to descend on Portland just a few days later, everything was secondary to Hogan; another by The Ellsworth American also captured the excitement, never mind the misspelling of fellow WWF legend Ric Flair’s name.

Countless advertisements for Hogan’s upcoming matches in Maine can also be found over the years. Some merely feature his name as part of a larger card, while others, such as those found in the Evening Express on March 11, 1980, and Aug. 30, 1989, feature his face and body as part of bigger promotions.

Here’s a sampling of archived photos and articles on Hogan’s competitions in Maine.