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“When it comes crashing down and it hurts inside.”
The opening lyrics to Hulk Hogan’s WWE entrance theme, “Real American,” seem to perfectly describe the late wrestling legend’s physical pain during his split from his first wife, Linda.
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In a new documentary, Hogan admitted he was taking large amounts of fentanyl in order to manage his physical pain in 2009 while working for TNA Wrestling and going through a divorce.
Hogan — real name Terry Bollea — discussed his reliance on the addictive drug as part of the four-part Netflix documentary series “Hulk Hogan: Real American,” which premiered Wednesday on the streaming site.
The docuseries was the wrestling great’s final interview before his July 2025 death at the age of 71 from a heart attack.
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Play VideoHogan gave ‘everything’ to Linda in divorce
Hogan joined Total Non Stop (TNA) Wrestling in October 2009, debuting on its television show TNA Impact on Jan. 4, 2010. At the time, TNA was the second-largest wrestling organization behind World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where Hogan made his name.
In the documentary, Hogan said he gave “everything” to Linda during their 2009 divorce and needed the money. The wrestling organization realized Hogan wasn’t in any physical shape to compete at the level he was once known for, so he turned to fentanyl to help manage the pain he was in.
“After the divorce, I had no money. I was broke. And so TNA saved me,” said Hogan.
“I was taking 80-milligram fentanyls, two in the morning, stuffing them under my gums here … I had two 300mg patches of fentanyl on my legs and they gave me six 1500mg fentanyl lollipops to eat,” said Hogan, per TMZ.
“I went to the pharmacy, he goes, ‘You should be dead. We have never seen a human being take this much fentanyl,’” the wrestling great continued.
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Hogan said he was in so much pain that at one point he had to sleep in a chair.
“If I just twitched my finger like that, my whole back would spasm and torque,” he said.
US pro-wrestler Hulk Hogan rips his shirt off to reveal a Trump-Vance campaign shirt during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024. Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI /AFP via Getty ImagesDivorced after infidelity rumours
Hogan married Linda in December 1983. After 26 years of marriage, Linda filed for divorce in November 2007 after infidelity rumours.
The divorce was finalized on July 28, 2009.
During that time period, Hogan said his life spiralled, stating he “went home and started drinking, and started eating pills.”
“I just went down this rabbit hole for a couple of days, and next thing I know I’m sitting in my bathroom with a gun in my mouth, not knowing what I was doing,” said Hogan, per The Independent.
Eric Bischoff, Hogan’s friend and his former boss from his tenure in World Championship Wrestling, recalled that at the time of the divorce, the Hulkster was in the “darkest, most devastating point of his life up to that point,” noting he was ingesting prescribed painkillers with “a quart of vodka a day.”
“I hit rock bottom,” Hogan said.
“Hulk Hogan: Real American” covers Hogan’s life, wrestling career, family and controversies. It features interviews from family members such as Linda Hogan and son Nick Hogan, as well as longtime manager Jimmy Hart and friend U.S. President Donald Trump.
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