I don't like wrestling and I am very familiar with the controversies surrounding him but I think that every kid who grew up in the Tampa Bay area has a Hulk Hogan story.
I was flying from Tampa to San Diego when I was like four... Because you could put a preschooler, unaccompanied on a flight back then. I told the attendant I was bored and scared. She left, came back a moment later, and moved me to first class where I flew the rest of the trip with he and his family. When I deplaned my grandmother didn't believe me until they also came through the tunnel and we said our goodbyes.
You always saw him around at the Florida State Fair, local restraints, the beaches, etc...