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Wrestling pinch a Hulking legacy.
Netflix’s newest docuseries, “Hulk Hogan: Real American,” covers nan WWE fable and Hollywood star’s life, career, family and controversies – featuring interviews pinch Hogan himself (born Terry Bollea), his first wife, Linda Hogan, his son, Nick Hogan, his longtime head Jimmy Hart, and President Donald Trump, who was friends pinch Hogan and lauded him onscreen arsenic a “good man” and “a bully guy.”
The docuseries (now streaming) was filmed successful early and mid-2025, conscionable months earlier Hogan died of a bosom onslaught astatine 71 successful July. His information successful it marks his last quality onscreen, and final interview.
Here are nan biggest bombshells.
At nan extremity of Hulk’s life, his boy had to thief him pinch elemental tasks
The doc covers Hulk’s wellness problems, aft his wrestling profession and years of surgeries. On screen, he’s shown moving retired successful his location gym, months earlier his death, utilizing a cane.
“I consciousness okay but it’s a pain,” he says astir his health. “I person my boy return nan tops disconnected h2o bottles for me, because I can’t move them,” he adds, referring to Nick, 35.
Depending connected Nick to return nan tops of h2o bottles disconnected for him is “kind of embarrassing,” but it “keeps maine humble,” he says.
Hulk’s dada was ‘rough’ connected him
Hulk recalls his puerility successful South Tampa, Florida, pinch “broke” parents. His begetter was an “old schoolhouse Italian” who was “rough” connected him, he says.
“They weren’t nan benignant of parents to show you they emotion you. That would ne'er happen.”
His older brother, Allan, was “dad’s favorite” and nan “tough guy.” Hulk recalls really he was “fat” arsenic a kid, and his dada utilized to show him, “you’re not for illustration your brother,” which gave Hulk a “‘big spot connected my shoulder.”
Later, erstwhile he is training for wrestling, 1 of nan trainers breaks his leg, which he says was, “minuscule, compared to what [my father] put maine through.”
Getting ‘completely naked’ with Linda connected their first date
Hulk was joined to his first wife, Linda, 66, from 1983 until their 2009 divorce. Hulk welcomed 2 kids pinch her — Nick, and Brooke, 37, who was was estranged from him earlier his decease and didn’t participate successful nan doc.
On screen, Hulk is demure astir really he met Linda successful a bar, went backmost to his flat and “hit it off.”
Linda’s recollection of their first day is raunchier. On screen, she says that erstwhile they went backmost to Hulk’s “rickety ass aged apartment,” he went into nan bath for “the longest time,” and came retired “completely naked.”
Linda remembers, “It was for illustration erstwhile you spell to nan zoo and spot a… wooly mammoth. He was huge. How galore group tin opportunity they sewage f–ked by a giant?”
He wasn’t sold connected his shape name
Hulk Hogan sewage his shape sanction from Vince McMahon Sr, nan then-head of WWE. He had been utilizing versions of nan sanction “Hulk,” owed to his stature (6’7 and complete 300 lbs.), but McMahon told him to adhd “Hogan.”
“I said, what is Hulk Hogan?” Hulk says connected screen, adding that he was Italian, not Irish for illustration nan sanction “Hogan.”
After McMahon told him that didn’t matter, Hulk said, “Yeah okay, I’ll deliberation astir it.”
Falling retired pinch Vince McMahon. Sr
Hulk’s profession arsenic a movie prima took disconnected aft he appeared successful “Rocky III” successful 1982 pinch Sylvester Stallone.
Hulk recalls telling McMahon that he needed to time off to alert to Los Angeles to movie it, and, “He goes, ‘No, you’re not, you request to thrust each night.”
Hulk had to beryllium connected TV astatine noon nan adjacent time successful Charlotte, North Carolina, for WWE promotion. He says that McMahon told him, “If you do nan movie, you’re fired.”
The “Rock III” prima says he had a “great rapport” pinch McMahon, “like a begetter boy thing,” but he “just knew” he had to do nan movie.
“[McMahon] said, ‘You’ll ne'er activity present again,’” Hulk remembers onvscreen. “I said, okay, cool.”
Hulk gets choked up complete brother’s death
Hulk’s older brother, Allan Bollea, passed distant astatine property 38 successful 1986.
“We weren’t that close. He grew up really fast,” Hulk recalls. “By nan clip he was 17, he was riding pinch a bunch of bikers.”
After Hulk’s profession took off, he recalls that Allan would often show up astatine his Oakland wrestling matches pinch “like, 10 Hell’s Angels.”
Shortly earlier Allan’s death, he showed up successful a parking batch and told Hulk that he conscionable sewage retired of rehab and needed money.
Hulk gave him nan money but “didn’t return him pinch me,” erstwhile he near for a wrestling event. Later, Hulk sewage a telephone telephone that Allan had overdosed and died.
“So I should person taken him pinch me, alternatively of giving him nan money. So that was nan past clip I saw him. It was – that was a difficult 1 to get over,” says Hulk.
Hulk “couldn’t handle” going to nan funeral.
When nan Netflix interviewer asks Hulk much astir Allan, Hulk gets affectional and says, “You person to stop.”
Hulk says it was a ‘mistake’ to dishonesty astir his steroid use
“Back then, nan mindset was steroids were safer than sugar. I first started utilizing [them] two to 3 years aft precocious school,” Hulk says connected screen.
In nan ‘90s, laws astir steroids changed, and location “were a bunch of controversies,” he recalls.
In 1991, Hulk went connected “The Arsenio Hall Show” and denied utilizing steroids.
On surface successful nan Netflix doc, erstwhile wrestler Jesse Ventura says that everyone watching astatine location knew Hulk was fibbing. “All of america watching went, ‘Jesus!’”
Hulk sewage backlash, because nan dishonesty was obvious. Reflecting connected nan scandal, Hulk says, “It’s thing that would beryllium classified successful nan ‘mistake’ category. If I could relive it, I wouldn’t do it again.”
Family man
When “Hulkamania” was astatine its highest successful nan ‘80s and ‘90s, Hulk was “gone for 12 days and past only location for 2, sometimes,” Linda recalls, adding that she was “lonely” and “unhappy.”
When he was home, “he didn’t for illustration to make a batch of speech astatine dinner…he wasn’t Mr. Personality astatine home, anymore.”
When they did their reality TV show, “Hogan Knows Best,” which aired connected VH1 from 2005 to 2007, they were excited because they thought it would beryllium for illustration “The Osbournes” aliases “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica.”
Hulk says his matrimony was “in shambles” astatine this time, and he hoped nan show would, “bring Linda and I together…we could beryllium excited astir something, and move forward.”
The divorcement and cheating scandal
“Hogan Knows Best” ended successful scandal, aft Hulk allegedly cheated connected Linda pinch their daughter’s friend, Christiane Plante.
“Having your individual problems pinch your family being aired for nationalist depletion caused each kinds of turmoil,” Hulk recalls.
Linda recovered retired he was cheating erstwhile their housekeeper recovered a hoop earring successful their bed, and it didn’t beryllium to her, she says.
He didn’t sanction Plante, aliases usage nan words “affair” aliases “cheating,” but Hulk describes her connected surface arsenic “a personification I was making love who was portion of nan grounds institution – almost for illustration a chaperone for Brooke.”
As his narration pinch Linda collapsed, Hulk says he returned from a wrestling arena successful Germany to find his location “cleaned out.”
“Safes were ripped retired of nan wall,” he says. “Everything was gone, isolated from for my clothes.”
His termination attempt
The bitter divorcement was “a very very reliable time,” Hulk recalls, adding that erstwhile he tried to telephone his kids, “nobody would ever answer.”
“It was to nan constituent wherever we virtually didn’t speak to each different anymore, astatine all,” says Linda. “So everything had to spell done lawyers. It made it incredibly difficult for nan kids.”
Linda started making love an 18-year-old who “actually went to schoolhouse pinch Nick and Brooke,” Hulk says. “I could perceive my vessel commencement up each morning, and Linda’s 18-year-old fellow would backmost it out,” he says.
At nan time, he gave an question and reply to Rolling Stone astir really he understood OJ Simpson’s motives for allegedly sidesplitting his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. It was met pinch swift backlash.
“I spent 3 days pinch Rolling Stone, I thought nan feline was my friend, we became buddies. All of a sudden, we were sitting connected my backmost porch…. and he asked maine astir OJ Simpson,” Hulk says, adding that he wished he had “never done” that interview.
Following that incident, he attempted suicide, arsenic he previously revealed.
“I started drinking and started eating pills, and I conscionable went down this rabbit spread for a mates days. Next point I know, I’m sitting successful beforehand of my bath pinch a weapon successful my rima not knowing what I was doing,” Hulk recalls.
Hulk was ‘broke’ aft nan divorce
“I gave Linda 70% of everything,” Hulk says, adding that he ne'er wanted to spot his ex-wife again, “so I gave her everything to get free of her. And aft nan divorce, I had nary money. I was broke.”
Former wrestling promoter Eric Bischoff put together a woody for Hulk to spell connected TNA – Total Nonstop Wrestling – to make money.
‘He was successful nary style to do that‘
Jeremy Borash, erstwhile TNA producer, says connected surface that they wanted Hulk to wrestle and beryllium portion of their TNA roster successful 2009, but, “it became very evident very quickly he was successful nary style to do that.”
Hulk says he had “a mates hep replacements,” and “a mates knee replacements ….my assemblage conscionable had had enough.”
Bischoff recalls that he felt “sh-tty astir myself” for making Hulk return to wrestling, and it was “hard to see.”
Bischoff says connected screen, “His backmost was successful truthful overmuch pain. I would virtually person to spell to his hotel, thief him get retired of bed, get into nan shower,” to get fresh to look astatine events, “that he was contractually obligated to do.”
‘We person ne'er seen a quality being return this overmuch fentanyl‘
Due to his wellness problems, erstwhile Hulk returned to wrestling successful 2009, he was utilizing fentanyl, he says.
“I was taking 80 milligram fentanyls, 2 successful nan morning, stuffing them nether my gums…I had 2 300-milligram patches of fentanyl connected my legs, and they gave maine six 1,500 milligram fentanyl lollipops to eat,” Hulk says.
He added that a pharmacist told him “you should beryllium dead…..we person ne'er seen a quality being return this overmuch fentanyl.”
Getting fired from WWE
In 2015, Hulk was fired from WWE aft he was caught utilizing racist slurs successful his activity portion that Gawker leaked. The ensuing Bollea v. Gawker suit led to a $31 cardinal colony and Gawker going bankrupt.
Onscreen, Hulk says, “I sewage very huffy astir a individual situation, I utilized a word. Yeah, I regret it.”
He says that he should person “remained still” and “kept my rima shut,” moreover nether “that dense crazy fire.”
He adds that he has regrets because he kept “saying stupid worldly and messing up.”
Getting ‘booed retired of nan building”‘
When Hulk appeared astatine Netflix’s WWE Raw arena connected January 6, 2025, nan crowd booed him.
WWE superstar Natalya Neidhart recalls connected screen, “I was backstage and I was for illustration ‘holy sh-t, Hogan’s getting booed retired of nan building!’”
Fellow erstwhile wrestler Kevin Nash says he thought Hogan was getting booed for his support of President Trump.
However, WWE Chief Content Officer says he didn’t deliberation that was nan only reason. “He made a batch of mistakes. For immoderate people, he hasn’t atoned for those mistakes aliases nan apologies were seen arsenic hollow.”
When asked if he was bothered by getting booed, Hulk says, “No, brother.”
He adds that nan crowd was truthful “intense” successful “coming for maine – if they had a weapon they would person stuck maine successful nan cervix pinch it.”
He wasn’t “upset” because he thought it meant he could execute arsenic “a bad guy” and “sell retired that building.” To him, that meant nan crowd would “love to spot my crippled ass get successful that ring” and get “beat and punched.”
Hulk says he was happiest pinch Linda
After his acrimonious divorcement from Linda, Hulk was joined to Jennifer McDaniel from 2010 to 2021, and to Sky Daily Hogan from 2023 until his death.
When asked astir nan happiest clip successful his life, connected screen, Hulk says, that erstwhile his kids were “young and really healthy” and when Linda was being “the cleanable mom” and “the cleanable psyche mate,” that was “probably nan happiest I’ve ever been.”
For her part, onscreen, Linda says, “My emotion ne'er faded for him. I still emotion him.”
“Hulk Hogan: Real American” is now streaming connected Netflix.
