John Cena quietly paid a heartfelt tribute to fellow professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan in the wake of his sudden passing at the age of 71.
The F9: The Fast Saga star took to his official Instagram, where he’s known for sharing captionless, symbolic posts for fans to interpret.
This time, he shared a nostalgic throwback photo of the late 12-time champion facing off against Andre the Giant in a classic WWF match that originally aired on NBC during primetime.
Cena, 48, and Hogan, real name Terry Gene Bollea, appeared to share a strong bond both in and out of the ring. In a video from the WWE Vault, the two legends once teamed up with Batista to take on Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, and JBL in a rare six-man tag match.
The three-on-three match took place on August 8, 2005, after an episode of Raw went off the air.
The Fast X actor and the WWE Hall of Famer’s partnership extended beyond the ring as well.
During WrestleMania 31 in 2015 at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area, the two teamed up to promote the event.
As part of the WrestleMania 31 Tech Tour, the WWE released a video of the two visiting major tech campuses, including Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
Like Cena, Hogan was a wrestler-turned-actor, best known for his role in Rocky III and several other films.
Hogan reportedly passed away on the morning of Thursday, July 24, after a cardiac arrest, marking an end of an era for professional wrestling fans around the world.