Brooke Shields remembered Hogan by sharing a photo of the duo arm wrestling as Kathy Griffin stood behind them. “Rest easy, Hulk. This moment and his entire guest episode on ‘Suddenly Susan’ was a true highlight,” she wrote via Instagram. “Sending love to all of his loved ones today.”

When Sylvester Stallone was making Rocky III, he need a monster villain to fight. He found one not in the world of boxing or even in Hollywood but in the wrestling ring. The 6ft 7in, 300lb Hulk Hogan.

The bleach-blond, mahogany-tanned behemoth became the face of professional wrestling in the 1980s, helping transform the mock combat from a seedy