Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan will warm-up the crowd before Donald Trump formally accepts the Republican Party’s nomination for president.
He will join a fight-themed speaking line-up on the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that also includes Dana White, chief executive of Ultimate Fighting Championship and Linda McMahon, former chief executive of WWE, the professional wrestling promotion company.
Earlier this week, Republican senator Byron Donalds referenced the WWE star when he said delegates should expect Trump’s entrance on Thursday to look like “Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania”.
The 70-year-old, who captivated millions of wrestling fans worldwide at the peak of his career in the 1980s and early 1990s, has often spoken of his interest in presidential politics.
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“We need somebody in there that’s got some common sense, you know what I’m saying?” Hogan, 70, told Fox & Friends last month. “So if you need a president or a vice president, I’ll volunteer and take this country over, and I’ll rule with an iron fist.”
Hogan is also a longstanding Trump supporter who recently joined the chorus of condemnation over the attempted assassination of the former president.
Previously, he backed then-Democrat presidential hopeful Barack Obama in 2008 but switched to Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent, in 2012.
Beyond the ring, Hogan has been involved in a string of high-profile controversies.
During the early 1990s, he was implicated in a federal investigation into steroid distribution by WWE.
In 1991, he admitted on the Arsenio Hall Show to using steroids for medical purposes but denied using them to enhance his wrestling performance.
In 2015, a video made public by The National Enquirer revealed Hogan making controversial remarks, including using a racial slur while discussing his daughter’s partner.
In the video, recorded in 2007, Hogan said: “I guess we’re all a little racist.”
WWE terminated Hogan’s contract and removed references to him from their website and Hall of Fame, but he was reinstated in 2018 after the company said he deserved a “second chance”.
In 2012, a sex tape featuring Hogan and Heather Clem, the wife of his friend Bubba the Love Sponge, was leaked, with Gawker Media publishing a portion of it.
Hogan sued Gawker for invasion of privacy, leading to a highly publicised trial.
In 2016, Hogan won the lawsuit, resulting in a US$140 million ($231 million) judgment against Gawker, which led to the company’s bankruptcy.
