Hulk Hogan has dropped his patented big leg on several opponents through the years, but on Tuesday, he hit his signature move on Gawker.
A Florida grand jury awarded "The Hulkster" a total of $140 million in his lawsuit against the company, which published a video of him having sex on its website.
Hogan was awarded $115 million on Friday in the case and then garnered an additional $25 million on Monday in punitive damages, according to the Associated Press. Following his big win, Hogan sent out quite the appropriate tweet to signify his victory:
Thank you God,I am grateful,"I AM THAT I AM". Only love HH pic.twitter.com/Y5R42C4EF7
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) March 22, 2016
The WWE Hall of Famer sued Gawker because it posted a video of him having sex with his then-best friend, radio shock jock Bubba The Love Sponge's wife, Heather Clem. Hogan had no knowledge he was being taped and the website posted the video without his consent.
The ruling was a difficult one for Gawker Media, which is worth $83 million, the Associated Press reports. The company plans to take the verdict before an appeals court to have it overturned.
Hogan, 62, believed the jury made a statement by punishing Gawker for disrupting his privacy and there is a belief it will stop other websites from doing the same in the future.
"We've protected a lot of people from going through what I went through," Hogan told the AP, adding, "everywhere I show up, people treat me like I'm still the champ."
While the lawsuit is out of the way, Hogan may have a rough journey back to the WWE. The company released the six-time WWE Champion after audio tapes were leaked of the wrestling legend once again being recorded without his knowledge, saying the n-word during a racially-charged rant nearly a decade ago.
"No I'm not, I'm not a racist," Hogan insisted on 'Good Morning America' in August. "I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I'm embarrassed by it, but a lot of people need to realize that you inherit things from the environment. And where I grew up was south Tampa and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income, and all of my friends, we greeted each other saying that word. The word was just thrown around like it was nothing."
Still, it was a big win for Hogan in the courtroom, even if it's unlikely to change his standing with the company.
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