Hulk Hogan had one of the most famous and lucrative careers ever in professional wrestling. A big part of his success was his signature looks. Whether he was one of wrestling's greatest patriotic babyfaces, a dastardly heel leading the New World Order, or at various other points, he was one of the most recognizable figures in the business.

That’s not to say every look Hogan had was created equally, though. Indeed, The Hulkster had periods when he’d aged out of the look he was going for, tried an aesthetic that didn’t really work, or was transitioning between different physical stages. So when did Hogan look his best, and when was he at his worst?

10 Hulk Hogan Wasn't At His Best In TNA

The Hulkster Was Well Past His Prime

• Hulk Hogan drew attention to TNA, but it wasn't all positive.
• Hulk Hogan still got in the ring to work a few matches with TNA.
• The Hulkster didn't look like he should be in a wrestling ring anymore.

Hulk Hogan made major waves when he debuted with TNA in 2010. He’d remain a both an on-screen character and major player behind the scenes for nearly four years, in a run that was, to put it diplomatically, polarizing among fans and those working for the company at the time.

While Hogan did create buzz and surely drew in some fans who hadn’t previously followed the company, he certainly wasn’t at his best or at his most popular. The Hulkster still got in the ring to work a handful matches. He didn’t look bad for a wrestler in his late 50s, but that’s nonetheless a pretty serious curve to grade on. It really didn’t look like he had any business being physically involved in the product at that point.

9 Hulk Hogan's 1993 WWE Run Wasn't Pretty

Hulk Hogan Was Visibly Smaller Going Into WrestleMania 9

• Hulk Hogan had still been around his peak popularity in 1992.
• The steroid trial took its toll on the WWE roster.
• Hulk Hogan was conspicuously smaller for his 1993 run.

As late as spring 1992, Hulk Hogan was explosively popular for WWE. By the time he resurfaced for the build to WrestleMania 9, though, times had changed. Business had cooled off and while The Hulkster still had his fans, he came back looking older and, perhaps most importantly, like he’d lost a ton of muscle mass.

The context of the times was important as WWE was weathering one of its biggest existential threats in the form of a trial revolving around illegal anabolic steroids. While Hogan had been the face of WWE for nearly a decade, his superhero look had become deeply problematic as he seemed to embody the unnaturally massive physiques that helped the company’s business explode.

A withered Hogan seemed to represent WWE’s run-down business as a combination of legal troubles, changing times, and a struggle to build stars nearly as big as the Golden Era had fostered all settled in. When he showed up to WrestleMania 9 with a black eye, at marked the lowest of the low for him in this run.

8 Hulk Hogan's Run As Mr. America Wasn't Exactly A Career Highlight

The Character Had Its Comedic Moments

• It was an odd choice to have Hulk Hogan wrestle under a mask.
• Mr. America did get some laughs at the expense of Mr. McMahon.
• In a vacuum, the Mr. America gimmick didn't have a bad look.

It’s an unlikely proposition to take one of the most recognizable and popular wrestlers of all time and have him wrestle under a mask. That’s exactly the direction WWE moved in in 2003, though, when creative contrivances had Hulk Hogan wrestle as the masked Mr. America.

While the whole concept was silly, Hogan was in very good shape for the twilight of his full-time wrestling career and there’s a fair case to be made that this wasn’t that bad of a look for him. Moreover, while some critics have blasted the gimmick as too comedic for such a legendary and over performer, Mr. America also has his fans who enjoyed the character’s absurdities and the way he outsmarted Mr. McMahon.

7 Hulk Hogan Looks Pretty Good For A Senior Citizen

The Hulkster Has Maintained His Physique

• Hulk Hogan is, by any measure, a senior citizen.
• For his age, The Hulkster remains in great-looking shape.
• Hulk Hogan has looked good making one-off appearances for WWE.

As the old saying goes, “Father Time is undefeated.” There’s no two ways about it—Hulk Hogan turned 70 in 2023 and is, by any standard, a senior citizen. For a man of his age, though, it’s hard to deny The Hulkster looks pretty great.

A lifetime of training, good genetics, and having plenty of resources at his disposal have all helped The Hulkster stay in impressive shape. While his body isn’t made to take bumps anymore, he can still look the part of a superhero for sporadic appearances in WWE.

6 Hulk Hogan's Early WCW Run Had Its Moments

Hulk Hogan Looked Better Than He Had In His Preceding WWE Run

• When he arrived in WCW, Hulk Hogan was trimmer than he'd been at the peak of his popularity in WWE.
• Hulk Hogan had packed on some muscle since his 1993 WWE run.
• Hulk Hogan looked fit to be the face of a major promotion again.

Hulk Hogan arrived in WCW in 1994. Whereas he looked like a shell of his former self for his 1993 run in WWE, he had struck a nice balance by the time he worked his first match in a WCW ring at Bash at the Beach 1994. He wasn’t jacked to the point that he looked like had to be using performance-enhancing drugs at that point, but, nonetheless, had put back on some visible muscle.

A trim, but strong Hogan was in the right place physically to once again take his place as the franchise player for a major wrestling promotion.

5 Hulk Hogan Returned To WWE As Wrestling's Greatest Nostalgia Act

Hulk Hogan Recaptured Some Of His Old Magic In The Early 2000s

• Hulk Hogan was in good shape when he returned to WWE after they acquired WCW.
• The Hulkster tapped into nostalgia like no other star has been able to.
• Hulk Hogan looking a little older actually helped him play a sympathetic underdog.

When Hulk Hogan returned to WWE to wrestle in the early to mid 2000s, he had a pretty ideal look to play the role the company tasked him with. He wasn’t at his biggest, but did look quite muscular. Moreover, while he was showing his age, that became an asset as it spoke to his status as both a nostalgic hero and an underdog of sorts to often as not be competing with stars twenty years younger.

This run saw Hogan win his last WWE Championship, not to mention work marquee WrestleMania matches with The Rock and Mr. McMahon, and a SummerSlam main event with Shawn Michaels.

4 Hulk Hogan Looked Like A Star Pre-Hulkamania

The Writing Was On The Wall Hulk Hogan Would Be A Big Deal

• Hulk Hogan looked sensational as a young powerhouse.
• Hulk Hogan was originally miscast as a big man heel.
• The Hulkster helped reinvent the archetype of what a main event babyface might look like.

The writing was on the wall when a young Hulk Hogan got rolling in wrestling. With his long blond hair and larger-than-life physique, a young Hogan was destined to accomplish very, very big things.

Hogan did face some challenges, including arguably being miscast as a heel opposite performers like Andre the Giant and Ted Dibiase in early WWE outings. Additionally, AWA head Verne Gagne wasn’t sold on casting a muscle man as world champion, but rather wanted a traditional scientific wrestler in that spot.

Hogan was a paradigm shifter, though, whose look and charisma got him so over that he quickly emerged as one of the top draw working anywhere in the business.

3 Hulk Hogan Was Huge Early In The Hulkamania Role

The Hulkster Looked the Part Of A Superhero

• Not many men can earnestly claim to have been the face of WWE.
• Hulk Hogan was on the next level as a franchise player who redefined WWE.
• Vince McMahon built WWE's national expansion on Hogan's back.

There have been a few men who could, without any controversy, call themselves the face of WWE, including figures like Roman Reigns, John Cena, and Bob Backlund. Out of this select class, there’s a truly elite next tier of performers who redefined the largest wrestling company of the world. The length of his time on top puts Bruno Sammartino in that conversation and the explosive popularity of Stone Cold Steve Austin has to get the biggest share of the credit for making the Attitude Era such a juggernaut.

Hulk Hogan was in that class, as the mid-to-late 1980s saw him Vince McMahon build his national expansion on the back of Hulkamania. For his part, Hogan looked sensational his 24-inch pythons, flag-waving persona, shirt-ripping persona.

2 Hulk Hogan Looked Comfortable As A Megastar

Hulk Hogan Had Fully Grown Into His Role By The Early 1990s

• Hulk Hogan was a household name by the early 1990s.
• After riding the initial waves of his massive popularity, Hulk Hogan knew how to carry himself by the late stages of the original Hulkamania run.
• Hulk Hogan still had all of the signature pieces of the look he'd had at the dawn of his time as the top babyface in wrestling.

It’s tough to put a finger on exactly when Hulk Hogan was at his most popular. By the early 1990s, though, there’s no question he had settled into the role of a megastar and household name. A slightly older, more mature look to him, he still had his signature biceps, blond hair, and Fu Manchu to remain immediately recognizable around the world.

This version of Hogan knew how to present himself and was still in the thick of his physical prime, making for one of the very best looks of his career in wrestling.

1 Hulk Hogan Looked His Coolest Leading The NWO

Hollywood Hogan Marked A Complete Reinvention

• Few wrestlers have been close to as popular as Hulk Hogan at the peak of his babyface popularity.
• It was all the more remarkable Hulk Hogan could transform into an incredibly successful heel in the late 1990s.
• Hollywood Hogan simultaneously looked cool and played the cowardly heel well.

Hardly anyone in wrestling history can make any sort of credible claim to have achieved as much popularity as Hulk Hogan. On top of that, hardly anyone can say they inverted that dynamic as successfully as Hogan, becoming one of the hottest heels of all time.

As the leader of the nWo, Hulk Hogan struck a remarkable balance with his look. On one hand, putting black and white threads over one of his most cut physiques looked awesome. On the other hand, his ever receding hairline also worked in his favor in a way, as it demonstrated his age and humanity, underscoring that he’d overstayed his welcome in the business and was now an inveterate world champion fans should be all too eager to see knocked off his throne.