Hulk Hogan’s maddest controversies as remaining interview to air in Netflix doc
The mustachioed, muscle-bound megastar transformed the sport from being performed in smoke-filled arenas to stadiums around the world in front of huge crowds, but his life was marred by controversy
Hulk Hogan’s final interview is to be aired in a no holds barred documentary about the wrestling legend. The flamboyant WWE Hall of Famer is to be the subject of a tell-all Netflix special that will air later this month.
The musclebound megastar was found dead in his Florida mansion last year aged 71 after being plagued by health problems. His death sparked an outpouring of grief from fans and fellow wrestlers, who credited him with turning the industry into a global juggernaut.
But he was hit by scandal outside the ring, something he appears to acknowledge in a trailer for the documentary. Hulk, real name Terry Bollea, is heard in a clip saying: “Some people hate me.”
The four-part docuseries will feature interviews with ex-wife Linda and long-time rival Bret “The Hitman” Hart as well as Kevin Nash, who Hogan joined forces with to create the New World Order stable in the mid-90s.
A teaser posted by Netflix reads: “Before he was Hulk Hogan, he was Terry Bollea. Uncover the man behind the legend — featuring his very last interview. Hulk Hogan: Real American premieres April 22 on Netflix.”
With his iconic red and yellow ring gear and muscular frame, he was beloved by fans and help the sport break into mainstream culture in the US and abroad. But here, your Daily Star takes a look at some of the controversies and scandals that might feature in the series.
Racism
Hogan was sacked from his legend’s contract with WWE in 2015 and removed from the company’s Hall of Fame when a tape emerged of him making racial slurs.
He was heard bizarrely ranting about his daughter Brooke dating a black man, in which he repeatedly used the N-word, saying: “I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f**k some n*****, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n***** worth a hundred million dollars!
“Like a basketball player… I guess we’re all a little racist. F***ing n*****.”
His reputation was further damaged when a leaked phone call to son Nick — who was in jail for a car crash that left a friend permanently disabled — revealed he said he feared the family would be “reincarnated as black people as karma”.
Political campaigning
He was later reinstated to the WWE Hall of Fame and would return to shows, but each time to a more negative crowd reaction, which reached its peak in January last year when he was loudly booed by fans in Los Angeles.
It came after he’d publicly backed Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election campaign, which alienated many fans as the political atmosphere in the US heated up from his divisive rhetoric.
Hogan took to the stage at the Republican National Convention days after Trump had survived an assassination attempt and ripped off his t-shirt — as he often did during his wrestling career — to reveal a second underneath endorsing the Trump/Vance campaign.
He had backed the Orange Manbaby in 2016 and 2020, having previously endorsed Barack Obama.
However, Hogan later said Obama had failed to deliver on campaign promised and was also unhappy about him opening his 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner speech with the wrestler’s “Real American” entrance song.
False claims
Hogan was accused of spreading false claims and his exaggerated stories are stuff of legend in the wrestling business. He once claimed to have wrestled 400 days in a year due to the amount of times he crossed the international date line.
Some of his other whoppers include that he was approached to play bass for Metallica and The Rolling Stones, a claim both hands have refuted on numerous occasions.
He also claimed to be the first person to ever body slam Andre the Giant during their huge title match at WrestleMania III and that Andre weighed 600lb and died a few days later. None of which was true and was easily proven to be false.
Among his other greatest hits were claiming Elvis was a “Hulkamaniac”, despite dying before Hogan even wrestled; claiming to have partied with actor John Beluchshi after WrestleMania 2 in 1986, four years after he died.
Steroid trial
Another lie Hogan told was on a tv show in 1990 when he said: “I trained 20 years two hours a day to look like I do. But the things that I’m not, I am not a steroid abuser and I do not use steroids.”
But in 1994, Hogan testified against against his old boss Vince McMahon, Hogan detailed over 13 years of steroid use. However, Hogan did help McMahon by stating the then-WWE owner never requested or supplied him with steroids.
Sex tape and free speech row
Hogan would be back in court again years later when he sued New York-based gossip website Gawker after it published in 2012 a short excerpt from a sex tape made which showed Hogan with the wife of his then-best friend.
He claimed invasion of privacy and demanded $100 million in damages in a lawsuit bankrolled by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who had been outed as gay by Gawker.
A white-haired Hogan sported a black bandana and a cross-shaped necklace at the trial, where his exaggerations were again laid bare after the court was played a clip of him boasting about his “10 inch cock” on a radio show.
He told the court that Hulk Hogan had a 10 inch penis but Terry Bollea did not, saying: “Well, it’s not mine, because mine isn’t that size, but we were discussing the length of Hulk Hogan’s. No, seriously, I do not have a 10-inch penis. No, I do not. Seriously. Believe that. Seriously.”
Hogan sobbed when the jury awarded him $115 million for economic harm and emotional distress, and another $25 million in punitive damages.
The verdict prompted Gawker to file for bankruptcy and the suit was ultimately settled for $31 million in what some observers called a blow to press freedoms.
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