--- title: Hulk Hogan Rips Off Shirt, Calls Trump His ‘Hero’ at RNC description: Hulk Hogan spoke at the RNC shortly before Donald Trump, and delivered one of the most energetic speeches of the convention. canonical: https://time.com/7000336/hulk-hogan-donald-trump-rnc/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-19T01:47:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:58:48.804Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hulk Hogan Rips Off Shirt, Calls Trump His ‘Hero’ at RNC og:description: Hulk Hogan spoke at the RNC shortly before Donald Trump, and delivered one of the most energetic speeches of the convention. og:url: https://time.com/7000336/hulk-hogan-donald-trump-rnc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17b5cfddeb591f8a/698a58f201168280fd986045/GettyImages-2162607121.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: 2024 Republican National Convention: Day 4 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hulk Hogan Rips Off Shirt, Calls Trump His ‘Hero’ at RNC twitter:description: Hulk Hogan spoke at the RNC shortly before Donald Trump, and delivered one of the most energetic speeches of the convention. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17b5cfddeb591f8a/698a58f201168280fd986045/GettyImages-2162607121.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hulk Hogan Rips Off Shirt, Calls Trump His ‘Hero’ at RNC > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jul 19, 2024 1:47 AM UTC  Professional entertainer and wrestler Hulk Hogan rips his shirt as he speaks on stage on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Professional entertainer and wrestler Hulk Hogan rips his shirt as he speaks on stage on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jul 19, 2024 1:47 AM UTC Hulk Hogan, the iconic entertainer who electrified wrestling arenas in the 1980s and '90s, stepped into a new arena Thursday night: the political stage at the Republican National Convention. Hogan spoke at the RNC shortly before Donald Trump was set to accept the party’s nomination and delivered one of the most energetic speeches of the convention, calling Trump his “hero” and a “gladiator” before tearing off his shirt. Much like his wrestling matches of the past, his speech drew an enthusiastic response from the convention crowd. Hogan’s speech came less than a week after a shooter [tried to assassinate Trump](https://time.com/6998302/trump-rally-shooting-2/) at a rally in Pennsylvania. “What happened last week when they took a shot at my hero and they tried to kill the next President of the United States?” Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, said. “Enough was enough. Run wild brother. Let Trump-a-mania rule again.” **Read More:**[_‘I’m Not Supposed to Be Here.’ Trump Gives First Detailed Account of Shooting in RNC Speech_](https://time.com/7000347/donald-trump-rnc-speech-highlights/) Hogan then ripped off his shirt, echoing his famous wrestling entrance, revealing a Trump-Vance shirt underneath. He said that the assassination attempt on Trump was the moment he decided he wanted to make his voice heard: “I tried to stay out of politics, but after everything that's happened to our country over the past four years and everything that happened last weekend, I can no longer stay silent,” he said. “Over my career, I've been in the ring with some of the biggest, some of the baddest dudes on the planet,” Hogan continued. “Donald Trump is the toughest of them all. They've thrown everything at Donald Trump, all the investigations, the impeachments, the court cases, and he's still standing and kicking their butts.” Hogan’s presence at the RNC added a dose of spectacle and nostalgia to an event already steeped in theatrics. Hogan joined a speaker lineup that also included Linda McMahon, the matriarch of the wrestling empire, and UFC President Dana White. **Read More:** [_Why Trump Chose J.D. Vance_](https://time.com/6998873/why-trump-chose-j-d-vance-for-vice-president/) Trump has long been a fan of professional wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, and said in his acceptance speech: “I consider this to be my greatest honor of all.” He’s participated in several combat sporting events over the years, including “Battle of the Billionaires” at WWE’s WrestleMania in 2007 when Trump took down Vince McMahon, co-founder of WWE. Trump showed up to a UFC fight just two days after he [became a convicted felon](https://time.com/6983196/donald-trump-convicted-hush-money-trial-new-york/) in May—and received a large ovation from the packed crowd. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7000336/hulk-hogan-donald-trump-rnc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7000336/hulk-hogan-donald-trump-rnc/"},"headline":"Hulk Hogan Rips Off Shirt, Calls Trump His ‘Hero’ at RNC","datePublished":"2024-07-19T01:47:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:58:48.804Z","description":"Hulk Hogan spoke at the RNC shortly before Donald Trump, and delivered one of the most energetic speeches of the convention.","url":"https://time.com/7000336/hulk-hogan-donald-trump-rnc/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17b5cfddeb591f8a/698a58f201168280fd986045/GettyImages-2162607121.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17b5cfddeb591f8a/698a58f201168280fd986045/GettyImages-2162607121.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2024 Republican National Convention: Day 4","caption":"2024 Republican National Convention: Day 4","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7000336/hulk-hogan-donald-trump-rnc/","name":"Hulk Hogan Rips Off Shirt, Calls Trump His ‘Hero’ at RNC"}}]}] ```