On the death of Hulk Hogan: What happened to the other cult wrestlers?

With the death of Hulk Hogan (1953-2025), pop culture loses a real icon. For many who grew up in the 1990s, the wrestler was much more than just a US athlete-he was a hero of an entire generation. At that time, the wrestling gave its way into German living room through the up -and -coming private television: shrill, loud, overthrown – and completely different from everything you had seen on TV until then.

In this spectacle, Hogan was the greatest hero that competed against villains like the undertaker – and defended the good. Now Hulk Hogan died at the age of 71. But what did his rivals and colleagues in the 1990s actually become? A look at the careers of million dollars, Ric Flair, the Ultimate Warrior or Bret “Hitman” hard.

He always appeared like from a horror film: still, tall, scary. The Undertaker (60), with a bourgeois name Mark Calaway, did not officially finish his career until 2020 after over 30 years and numerous comebacks. Again and again there are rumors to this day whether he does not dare to go into the ring again. The undertaker is currently active as a trainer at the WWE, where he has his own team. At his side, his ominous manager Paul Bearer (1954-2013, bourgeois William A. Moody), who really worked as an undertaker at a young age, became famous. Bearer died of a heart attack more than ten years ago.

He once threw beer cans through the air and distributed chin hooks. Today Steve Austin (60) lives more or less withdrawn on his ranch in Nevada, runs races with off -road vehicles and has its own beer brand. Especially in the late 1990s he became a wrestling superstar and was a total of six times the reigning champion of the WWE. Like many of his colleagues, he was difficult to let go of his sport. After a few guest appearances and smaller comebacks, he has entered the ring one last time in 2022.

He used to call himself the “Heartbreak Kid”, today Shawn Michaels (60) trains young wrestlers behind the scenes at the WWE. In 2018 he tried a comeback, which was catastrophic and brought him a lot of ridicule. In the same year, Michaels also announced that it was officially working as an author and producer for the WWE brand NXT. In front of the camera you can rarely see Michaels: after a wild life he became strictly believing and now lives calmly and withdrawn in Texas – without his famous glitter jacket.

Technically brilliant, never loud – so fans knew the iconic bret “Hitman” hard (68). His career ended abruptly after a head injury in 2000. He fell while cycling and suffered serious head injuries, which even caused a stroke. In 2016 it was hard to have had prostate cancer, but to have overcome it. In 2020 he announced that skin cancer was diagnosed and removed. To this day, Hart still appears occasionally as part of large wrestling events, but he has actually been running his own sports bar in Calgary/Canada since 2023.

His voice, his sunglasses, his outfits-“Macho Man” Randy Savage (1952-2011) was an absolute cult-and in addition to Hulk Hogan, the most dazzling personality in the wrestling business of the 90s. As early as 2011, just over five years after his resignation, he suffered a heart attack at the wheel of his car and died at the age of only 58. The death of Randall Mario Poffo, his real name, triggered great grief from fans, wrestlers and official worldwide. He was admitted to the WWE Ruhmeshalle four years after his death. To date, he is considered one of the largest fan favorites in wrestling history

In 2014, after years of radio silence, the Warrior appeared for the first time after years of radio silence and James Brian Hellwig (1959-2014), according to the man behind the art figure, gave an emotional speech. Just three days later, the athlete, who was initially called Ultimate Warrior, died of heart failure with only 54 – suddenly and unexpectedly. According to doping allegations, Hellwig retired from the wrestling scene early, in 1998, and only returned to a short comeback in 2008. After his active time, the former bodybuilder returned to the public – and only noticed with questionable statements from time to time, in which he affected homosexuals, among other things.

He appeared as a strongly overweight sumo wrestler, but was actually a quiet family man – and by the way, not a Japanese, but a Brit with Samoan roots. As early as 1998, after only six years in the WWE, the big, steep career was over for him. Afterwards he mostly tined England through smaller events in his homeland. Yokozuna, actually Rodney Agatupu Anoaʻi (1966-2000), is said to have recently weighed over 300 kilograms – and died of circulatory failure as a result of a pulmonary edema in Liverpool at the age of only 34. At his active time, he formed the counter pool to his opponents’ steel bodies.

He was already a living legend in the 1990s: Ric Flair (76), known for his loud “Woooo!”, Shiller robes and excessive appearances. Happed several times, he kept returning to the ring. In 2022, the 16-fold world champion started one last time at the age of 73. Today Richard Morgan Fliehr, according to his bourgeois name, is still in front of the camera for the competitive league AEW (but no longer as an active wrestler) and advertises, among other things, for his own energy drink. Fliehr was seriously alcoholic for many years, but was able to overcome the addiction of its own information.

His wide, arrogant laugh was his trademark – and money his stylistic device: Ted Dibiase (71) bought everything in the ring as “The Million Dollar Man”. Already in the mid-1990s he ended his great career. He later found Christianity, even founded a Christian wrestling league and also became a preacher. Today, however, his reputation in the United States is heavily scratched. In 2020, he got into a large financial scandal with parts of his family and other US celebrities to misappropriate social money in Mississippi. Until the end, however, he repeatedly asserted his innocence. He was only targeted by federal investigators because of his celebrity name.

The wrestling stars of the early 90s shaped an incredibly popular era, in the entertainment and exaggeration. Many of them have now died or have withdrawn from the public. Their stories reflect the change in an industry – and the price that some paid for fame, risk and physical stress. With Hulk Hogan, this generation has now lost its best -known face forever.