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Hulk Hogan, 71, died of cardiac arrest on Thursday, July 24, at his Clearwater Beach, Florida, home, according to Clearwater police. Emergency crews responded to a 9.51 am 911 call, and the WWE Hall of Famer was transported to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said there was no foul play. His longtime manager, Linda Bose, 58, confirmed the death, saying: "Unfortunately, we must confirm that Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, passed away this morning. We are heartbroken. He was such a great human being and friend."
But the controversy over funeral plans erupted almost immediately after news of his death broke. Hogan’s inner circle, according to sources close to the family, is now divided over how best to honor the legend's larger-than-life persona.
Some argue he should be buried in a traditional black suit, in keeping with solemn funeral customs. Others insist it would be a betrayal of Hogan's brash brand, and the fans who idolized him in red-and-yellow gear, to put him in anything other than his signature spandex.
"There’s no world where Terry would have chosen to wear a boring suit into the afterlife," said a family friend who asked not to be named. "He lived and died as Hulk Hogan, and he should be buried that way."
A source familiar with discussions between Bose and Hogan’s children, Brooke, 36, and Nick, 34, said the siblings are also at odds over the funeral plans.
"Brooke leans toward a more formal ceremony, the kind of dignity you give a national figure," the source alleged. "But Nick thinks his dad would want to go out in his ring gear, just like he came in."
Adding fuel to the fire, fans have taken to social media platform X with increasingly outlandish demands.
