Hulk Hogan's Hollywood Career Was Nothing Short Of Bizarre

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan — one of the most popular professional wrestlers of all time by a country mile — has passed away at the age of 71. Hogan's contributions to sports entertainment were legendary, having been WWE's most popular babyface during its 1980s golden age before helping the company's main competitor, WCW, become a force in the '90s. That said, Hogan might never have joined WCW if his Hollywood career had taken off the way he'd planned, but it was hampered by his tendency to star in some truly bizarre projects.

After some memorable roles in "Rocky III" and "The A-Team," Hogan decided to embark on a career as a leading man. However, his success as a wrestler failed to translate to the box office, with the grappler starring in a string of flops, some of which have become infamous in "so-bad-it's–good" circles. The first of the bunch, "No Holds Barred," sees the wrestler-turned-actor explore familiar territory, as he plays a squared-circle grappler who locks up with a menacing heel known as Zeus (Tommy Lister Jr). The movie also inspired a WWE storyline, as Hogan teamed with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake to take on "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Zeus at "SummerSlam" in 1989 — a prime example of pro wrestling's more questionable pop culture crossovers.

After "No Holds Barred" failed to set the world on fire and go down in history as an all-time great wrestling movie, Hogan pursued a variety of projects and attempted to branch out as an actor. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of these movie and TV roles.

Say what you will about Hulk Hogan's career choices, but his filmography is full of big swings (ones that, unfortunately, led to more misses than hits). In "Suburban Commando," he plays a space warrior who crash lands on Earth and tries to fit in with a regular family — sort of like "E.T. the Extraterrestrial," but only if the alien was a giant brute with a mustache and a headband instead of a glowing finger.

After that, Hogan lent his skills to "Mr. Nanny," which sees him play a former pro wrestler tasked with protecting two annoying kids after their father gets into a spot of bother. This one is similar to Vin Diesel's "The Pacifier," albeit with more muscular men wearing tutus and dogs being thrown into water. Despite its family-focused premise, however, "Mr. Nanny" wasn't a hit, though that didn't stop Hogan from trying to entertain more kids, as evidenced by 1996's "Santa with Muscles." In this one, he plays an evil rich guy who becomes convinced that he's Santa after hurting his head. While it isn't regarded as one of the best Christmas movies of all time, you'll be hard pressed to find another movie featuring a Santa with larger pythons, brother.

Of course, not all of Hogan's acting outings were duds. He had a pretty awesome meta cameo in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch," only to be replaced by John Wayne for the home video release. "Thunder in Paradise" is also perfectly fine if you're in the mood for a cheesy "Baywatch" knockoff TV series, but it's probably an acquired taste. Despite his professional (and personal) misfires, though, Hogan's impact on pop culture was enormous, especially as a wrestler, and that is how he will be remembered by all of his Hulkamaniacs.