Fans flock to Clearwater's Hogan's Hangout after wrestling star's death
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A statue of Hulk Hogan at Hogan's Hangout on Clearwater Beach. Photo: Kathryn Varn
Kerri and Dave Robers were getting ready to embark on the 14-hour drive from Clearwater Beach back home to Cincinnati.
- Then they saw the news on Facebook. Hulk Hogan, the charismatic wrestler they'd grown up rooting for, had died that morning.
Why it matters: Like scores of Hogan fans on Thursday, they flocked to Hogan's Hangout, the WWE Hall of Famer's restaurant and bar on Clearwater Beach.
- "It feels right to be here," Mary Walters, 53, said while thumbing through T-shirts printed with cartoon versions of Hogan, right arm curled, left arm stretched in front of him.
The big picture: Outside, passersby snapped photos in front of the shop while news crews gathered footage of the most visible footprint of Hogan's influence on Tampa Bay.
- Inside, tees, tank tops and beer steins with curled bicep handles flew off the shelves while Rick Derringer's "Real American" — one of Hogan's go-to entrance songs — played over the speakers.
What they're saying: "He was like a little hero as a kid," said Josh Gunter, 43, who grew up in Arizona watching nothing but wrestling stars like Hogan, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Jake "the Snake" Roberts battle it out on TV.
- Gunter and his friend Dominic Barraza, 31, were crossing the road toward Hogan's shop when a buddy texted him the news.
- "Wtf I am in Florida right now and just passed his store!!!!" Gunter replied. They stopped in so Gunter could buy a red durag, à la Hogan, which surprisingly wasn't a merch offering.
Zoom out: A couple of tables over, the Robers awaited a couple of Kona Big Waves with their own souvenirs tucked inside a plastic bag.
- Hogan had seemed so healthy, so energetic when he was campaigning for President Trump last year, Kerri Robers, 51, said.
- She ticked off the string of celebrity deaths this week: first, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played Theodore Huxtable in "The Cosby Show," then Ozzy Osbourne, and now this.
The bottom line: "Our generation lost a huge chunk of our childhood," she said.
