A heart attack was the cause of death for the iconic pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, authorities announced on Thursday, a week after the legendary performer died in Florida.
According to the District Six Medical Examiner, which handles death investigations in Pinellas and Pasco Counties, the official cause was listed as “acute myocardial infarction,” the medical term for a heart attack.
Hogan’s manner of death was called “natural” with a pathologist noting the wrestler’s history of “atrial fibrillation” and leukemia.
Clearwater police and firefighters responded to his residence exactly one week prior for a “cardiac arrest” call at 9:51 a.m., as stated by the city in a statement.
First responders took the 71-year-old to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:17 a.m., police said.
Hogan — whose real name was Terry Gene Bollea — helped revolutionize pro wrestling, turning it from niche entertainment to mainstream monster.
His dramatic shirt-ripping and larger-than-life shows sparked the “Hulkamania” phenomenon in the 1980s, reaching its peak in 1987 when he famously slammed the wrestling icon André the Giant during WrestleMania III.
