Hulk Hogan's Marriage Out For The Count

3 months ago 29th Jul 12:00

Hulk Hogan kissed his former wife on the cheek as they finalised their divorce yesterday (28.07.09).

Following months of bitter feuding, the wrestling icon - real name Terry Bollea - and ex-spouse Linda Bollea told a court in Clearwater, Florida, they had finally reached a settlement in their bitter divorce battle and their 25-year marriage had officially ended.

Speaking afterwards, Linda admitted she would always love the grappler - with whom she has two children, Nick, 19, and Brooke, 21 - and pledged to retain contact with him.

She said: "The war is over. I still love him. He's the father of my children.

"My husband took the big step of stopping this escalating war by making the decision to put this behind us. I am grateful to him for realising that our family can be happier and stronger by working together. He and I both love our family dearly and look forward to working together to make it stronger than it has ever been. My family means the world to me."

Hulk is looking forward to moving on with his life and is very hopeful that he and Linda can maintain a friendship and work together as parents to their two children.

He echoed the sentiments in a statement, which said: "Hulk is looking forward to moving on with his life and is very hopeful that he and Linda can maintain a friendship and work together as parents to their two children."

Terms of the divorce were not made public, but it is believed that Hulk will remain in the Florida family home, while Linda is planning to move to Los Angeles.

Linda, 49, filed for divorce in 2007 because of Hulk's alleged affairs.

She and the 55-year-old former WWE star became embroiled in months of public arguments, with Hulk even saying he understood how people could be driven to murder their spouses.

Referring to O.J. Simpson - who was accused, and eventually acquitted, of murdering his wife Nicole Brown and her alleged lover Ronald Goldman in a jealous rage in 1994 - he said: "I totally understand O.J. I get it. I could have turned everything into a crime scene, like him, cutting everybody's throat."

Hulk shot to fame in the 80s as the World Wrestling Federation champion and with appearances in a string of films, including 'Rocky III' in which he fought the title character.

His most famous match against Andre the Giant - real name Andre Rene Roussimoff - at Wrestlemania III in 1987 drew a crowd of around 93,000 and several million TV viewers.