Hulk Hogan signed one of the most lucrative contracts in history and it included insane perks

Hulk Hogan's insane WCW contract has emerged after the wrestling legend's death at the age of 71.

The WWE Hall of Famer, real name Terry Bollea, died due to a cardiac arrest on Thursday, with police saying emergency services treated him at his home in Clearwater, Florida before he died in hospital.

Tributes flooded in social media from Hogan, one of the biggest stars in the history of professional wrestling, with President Donald Trump leading the messages of condolence.

But Hogan's death also included a raft of little-known facts about his life and career, including his astronomical and unprecedented contract signed in 1998.

In the height of the Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW, Hogan jumped ship in 1994 in a seismic move which was industry-shifting.

Hogan turned to the dark side and became the face of the iconic NWO faction with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall and earned a fortune in the process.

'The Hulkster' was WCW's highest-paid star by some distance and when he signed a contract extension in June 1998, Hogan had a slew of remarkable clauses inserted in the deal.

What was Hulk Hogan's 1998 contract?

According to the leaked five-page document, addressed to Hogan, he was handed a $2 million signing bonus which would be paid within 14 days - as well as six pay-per-view appearances as the "featured" wrestler each year.

For this events, Hogan would get 15% of the domestic pay-per-view cable sales or alternatively minimum guarantee of $675K per event - whichever was the higher figure.

Hulk Hogan's 1998 contract was unprecedented in the business. Image: Getty

He would also be entitled to a minimum bonus of $250,000 or as high as $1.75 million based on the buy rate for every pay-per-view he performed at, and three annual payments of $1.35 million as an advance of pay-per-view payments for the first three years of the contract.

Hogan was able to negotiate 25% of gross ticket sales for every episode of Monday Nitro and WCW Thunder he appeared on, with 16 appearances in his contract.

Hulk Hogan's additional perks in WCW

He earned the same percentage for non TV appearances and 50% of net receipts of any merchandise sold by WCW which contained his name and likeness.

The 12-time world champion continued to rake in money with a monthly $20,000 payment while he was in the NWO for wearing the black and white merch and was due a $100,000 "consultant fee" in the fourth and final year of the deal.

Hogan had creative control and final say over his character and matches and would get first-class travel, limousine transport, suite accommodation and $175 daily per diem.

He did not see out the deal in full as WWE bought WCW in March 2001, ending the 'Monday Night Wars'.

Hogan returned to WWE in February 2002 and faced The Rock at WrestleMania 18 in a memorable match in Toronto.

Prior to his death, Hogan had launched a new amateur wrestling with former WCW executive Eric Bischoff and has own 'Real American beer' product.