# Hulk Hogan filmography
The Hulk Hogan filmography covers the screen work of Terry Gene Bollea (born 1953; died July 24, 2025), the American professional wrestler who built a parallel acting and television career under his ring name [Hulk Hogan](https://www.edgepedia.org/hulk-hogan). It spans a cameo in *Rocky III* (1982), a run of low-budget starring films in the late 1980s and 1990s, television series, voice roles in animation and video games, and a large volume of self-appearance and documentary credits in the 2010s and 2020s.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First film role | Thunderlips, a wrestler facing Sylvester Stallone's character in *Rocky III* (1982)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) • [3](https://time.com/7305419/hulk-hogan-terry-gene-bollea-wwe-wrestling-trump-maga-tributes/) |
| First starring role | *No Holds Barred* (1989), the first theatrical film fully financed and produced by Shane Productions, a division of the World Wrestling Federation, with a $10 million budget[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58212-NO-HOLDS-BARRED) |
| Starring run | *Suburban Commando* (1991), *Mr. Nanny* (1993), *Santa With Muscles* (1996), and *3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain* (1998), several as actor and executive producer[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) |
| Television leads | *Thunder in Paradise* (1993), in which he played R.J. "Hurricane" Spencer, and the reality series *Hogan Knows Best* (2005)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan) |
| Voice work | The Terrafirminator in *Gnomeo & Juliet* (2011) and Abraham Lincoln in *Robot Chicken: Star Wars* (2007)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) |
| Screen credit volume | IMDb lists 275 acting credits, 240 self credits, 250 archive-footage credits, and 13 producer credits[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001356/) |
| Posthumous documentary | *Hulk Hogan: Real American*, a four-part Netflix docuseries completed after his July 2025 death[6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/hulk-hogans-broken-body-revealed-in-final-interview/) |
## Rocky III and the start of screen work
Hogan's first notable film appearance was a guest role in *Rocky III* (1982), in which he played Thunderlips, a flamboyant professional wrestler who meets boxer [Rocky Balboa](https://www.edgepedia.org/rocky-balboa) in a charity exhibition match. [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone) later wrote that he had met Hogan when the wrestler was 26 years old and called him a brilliant personality and showman.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) • [3](https://time.com/7305419/hulk-hogan-terry-gene-bollea-wwe-wrestling-trump-maga-tributes/) The appearance ran alongside his television work: he had performed in hundreds of episodes of wrestling-themed television series since the late 1970s, and guest spots in series such as *The A-Team* and *The Love Boat* followed in the 1980s.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-07-24/hulk-hogan-pop-culture)
## No Holds Barred and the WWF's film experiment
Hogan's first starring vehicle came in 1989 with *No Holds Barred*, in which he played Rip, a WWF champion. The [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) catalog records that it was the first theatrical film fully financed and produced by Shane Productions, a division of the World Wrestling Federation, that it was Hogan's first feature-film starring role, that principal photography began June 6, 1988 in Atlanta, and that [New Line Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-line-cinema) acquired domestic distribution rights for a budget of $10 million.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58212-NO-HOLDS-BARRED) The film grossed $5 million on its opening weekend.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58212-NO-HOLDS-BARRED) A retrospective account describes it as a box office bomb that fell victim to poor scriptwriting and unfulfilled hopes that Hulkamania would translate into Hollywood success.[8](https://wrkr.com/hulk-hogan-no-holds-barred/)
## The New Line and direct-to-video years
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hogan sought to turn his wrestling fame into success on the big screen, appearing as a Hollywood film performer in a series of low-cost movies that New Line Cinema produced, according to an academic examination of his career records.[9](https://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/33851/1/Hollywood%20Hulk%20Hogan_Chard_Litherland_Revised_Converis%20%281%29.pdf) The screen record includes *[Suburban Commando](https://www.edgepedia.org/suburban-commando)* (1991), in which he played Shep Ramsey and served as executive producer; *[Mr. Nanny](https://www.edgepedia.org/mr-nanny)* (1993) as bodyguard Sean Armstrong; *Santa With Muscles* (1996) as Blake; and *3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain* (1998) as Dave Dragon. He also took acting and executive-producer credits on *Thunder in Paradise* (1993), *Assault on Devil's Island* (1997), and *Assault on Death Mountain* (1999), and appeared in *Muppets From Space* (1999) as the Man in Black.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) He also appeared in *Gremlins 2: The New Batch*.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan)
Review aggregators record the critical trajectory of this run. Rotten Tomatoes lists *No Holds Barred* at 10 percent from critics, *Suburban Commando* at 15 percent, *Mr. Nanny* at 6 percent, and *3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain* at 0 percent, against *Rocky III* at 66 percent from critics and 74 percent from audiences.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan)
That screen record shaped his wrestling persona as well as his résumé. When Hogan turned villain in [World Championship Wrestling](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-championship-wrestling), his new ring name was Hollywood Hulk Hogan, a name that acknowledged, within the staged fiction of wrestling, the impact of his brief movie career on his image.[9](https://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/33851/1/Hollywood%20Hulk%20Hogan_Chard_Litherland_Revised_Converis%20%281%29.pdf)
## Television and later roles
Hogan led two television projects. *Thunder in Paradise*, a one-season action series in which he played a crime-fighting former Navy SEAL, aired in 1993 and 1994, and he also executive produced it.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) • [3](https://time.com/7305419/hulk-hogan-terry-gene-bollea-wwe-wrestling-trump-maga-tributes/) *Hogan Knows Best*, a reality series following his family life, premiered in 2005.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001356/?showAllCredits=true) He also appeared, often as himself, in sitcoms including *Suddenly Susan* and *The Goldbergs*.[3](https://time.com/7305419/hulk-hogan-terry-gene-bollea-wwe-wrestling-trump-maga-tributes/) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan)
**Voice roles** form a small but distinct part of the filmography. Hogan voiced the Terrafirminator in *[Gnomeo & Juliet](https://www.edgepedia.org/gnomeo-and-juliet)* (2011) and [Abraham Lincoln](https://www.edgepedia.org/abraham-lincoln) in *Robot Chicken: Star Wars* (2007), and did voice work for the video game *Hulk Hogan's Main Event* (2012).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001356/?showAllCredits=true)
## Documentary and self-appearance credits
The largest share of Hogan's screen credits is not acting. IMDb counts 240 self credits and 250 archive-footage credits alongside 275 acting credits, reflecting decades of wrestling broadcasts, pay-per-views, and retrospective documentaries.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001356/) From 2014 onward he appeared as himself in documentaries about wrestling and media, including *The Sheik* (2014), *Nobody Speak: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press* (2017), the subject of which was his own lawsuit against the news site Gawker; *Andre the Giant* (2018); and *Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair* (2022).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) • [11](https://cinescout.dunnesquared.dev/person/16620)
His final screen appearances cluster in 2025. He appeared in *WrestleMania IX: Becoming a Spectacle* (April 2025) and, in archive footage, in *TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan* and *Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem* (2025).[11](https://cinescout.dunnesquared.dev/person/16620) His final WWE television appearance came on the January 6, 2025 debut of *Raw* on Netflix, where the crowd reaction was hostile.[12](https://prowrestlingstories.com/?action=genpdf&id=116041)
## The posthumous Netflix documentary
A four-part Netflix docuseries, *Hulk Hogan: Real American*, directed by Bryan Storkel, was in production before Hogan's death on July 24, 2025, at age 71 in [Clearwater, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/clearwater-florida), and was completed afterward.[6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/hulk-hogans-broken-body-revealed-in-final-interview/) • [13](https://elpais.com/gente/2026-04-22/de-mediocre-a-frenetico-lo-que-dicen-los-medios-anglosajones-sobre-el-documental-de-hulk-hogan-en-netflix.html) More than 20 hours of new interviews had been filmed before his death, and the series features his final interview, in which he walks with a cane and discusses his physical decline after more than two dozen surgeries in the last decade of his life.[14](https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/hulk-hogan-netflix-docuseries-moving-forward/) • [6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/hulk-hogans-broken-body-revealed-in-final-interview/) Donald Trump, whom Hogan endorsed at the 2024 [Republican National Convention](https://www.edgepedia.org/republican-national-convention), appears in multiple episodes, filmed in the [Oval Office](https://www.edgepedia.org/oval-office) at Hogan's personal request.[15](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/trump-makes-netflixs-hulk-hogan-docuseries-all-about-himself/) A further posthumous credit, *The Life of Hulk Hogan*, was released on July 31, 2025.[11](https://cinescout.dunnesquared.dev/person/16620)
## Assessment of the acting career
Film critics and journalists, who saw wrestling as a lower form of performance, rejected Hogan's attempts to become a professional actor, and his larger-than-life persona and cartoon-like physical appearance acted as a barrier to serious film roles and Hollywood stardom, according to the academic study of his Hollywood years.[9](https://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/33851/1/Hollywood%20Hulk%20Hogan_Chard_Litherland_Revised_Converis%20%281%29.pdf) The aggregated review scores bear this out for the starring vehicles, with critics' ratings at or below 40 percent across the 1990s films.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan) Within the industry, judgments varied: [Kurt Fuller](https://www.edgepedia.org/kurt-fuller), his *No Holds Barred* co-star, called Hogan among the best first-time actors he had worked with.[16](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/kurt-fuller-hulk-hogan-among-best-first-time-actors-i-ve-worked/) The Television Academy records no prime-time Emmy nominations for his television work.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan)
## References
1. [Hulk Hogan, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/hulk-hogan)
2. [Hulk Hogan Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/terry_hulk_hogan)
3. ['MAGA All the Way': Tributes Pour In for Wrestling Icon and Outspoken Trump Supporter Hulk Hogan, Time](https://time.com/7305419/hulk-hogan-terry-gene-bollea-wwe-wrestling-trump-maga-tributes/)
4. [No Holds Barred (1989), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58212-NO-HOLDS-BARRED)
5. [Hulk Hogan, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001356/)
6. [Hulk Hogan's Broken Body Revealed in Final Interview, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/hulk-hogans-broken-body-revealed-in-final-interview/)
7. [As hero and villain, Hulk Hogan made popular culture what it is today, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-07-24/hulk-hogan-pop-culture)
8. [30 Years Ago: 'No Holds Barred' Begins Hulk Hogan's Acting Career, WRKR](https://wrkr.com/hulk-hogan-no-holds-barred/)
9. [Chard & Litherland, "'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan: Stardom, Synergy and Field Migration," University of Huddersfield repository](https://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/33851/1/Hollywood%20Hulk%20Hogan_Chard_Litherland_Revised_Converis%20%281%29.pdf)
10. [Hulk Hogan full credits, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001356/?showAllCredits=true)
11. [Filmography of Hulk Hogan, Cinescout](https://cinescout.dunnesquared.dev/person/16620)
12. [Where Wrestling History Stays Alive, Pro Wrestling Stories](https://prowrestlingstories.com/?action=genpdf&id=116041)
13. [De "mediocre" a "frenético": lo que dicen los medios sobre el documental de Hulk Hogan en Netflix, El País](https://elpais.com/gente/2026-04-22/de-mediocre-a-frenetico-lo-que-dicen-los-medios-anglosajones-sobre-el-documental-de-hulk-hogan-en-netflix.html)
14. [Hulk Hogan Netflix docuseries moving forward, F4W/WON](https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/hulk-hogan-netflix-docuseries-moving-forward/)
15. [Trump Makes Netflix's Hulk Hogan Docuseries All About Himself, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/trump-makes-netflixs-hulk-hogan-docuseries-all-about-himself/)
16. [Kurt Fuller: Hulk Hogan Is Among The Best First Time Actors I've Worked With, Fightful](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/kurt-fuller-hulk-hogan-among-best-first-time-actors-i-ve-worked/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Awards and screen reference › Individual filmographies › Western and East Asian filmographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license