The king of wrestling Hulk Hogan in 2024. Image: keystone
The wrestler passed away on July 24, 2025, but he lives on as an icon in his field. He is back in the spotlight today in a Netflix documentary. He candidly shares his experiences with doping and drug abuse.
Published: 22.04.2026, 20:51 Updated: 22.04.2026, 20:51
Training hard, eating healthily, and giving thanks to God: that was the formula for success preached by Hulk Hogan, who became the global face of wrestling in the 1980s. At least, that’s what he claimed at the time.
“All of that was just a lie,” Hogan eventually admitted in his final major interview. This interview was recorded shortly before his passing last year for the Netflix documentary “Hulk Hogan: Real American.” The film sheds light on his appearance on the famous host Arsenio Hall’s show, where he was questioned about the use of steroids.
“The newspapers wrote lies,” Hogan said at the time. “I have always been strong. I have never taken steroids. Millions of children believe in me, and it saddens me to see this dark cloud hanging over everything I believe in.”
With hindsight, Hogan confessed: “Of course I lied to him.”
The vitamins he took were actually anabolic steroids and stimulants. Later in life, Terrence Gene “Terry” Bollea, his real name, heavily relied on fentanyl, a powerful opioid analgesic. A pharmacist allegedly told him, “You should normally be dead. We have never seen a human consume so much fentanyl.”
“Hulk Hogan: Real American”
Hogan details the dosage: “In the morning, I would take two 80-milligram tablets that I would slip under my gums. I had two 300-milligram fentanyl patches on my legs, along with six 1500-milligram fentanyl lollipops.”
During the last months of his life, Hogan’s health deteriorated. The man who was once the most impressive powerhouse on the planet had become too weak to unscrew a bottle cap. Hulk Hogan passed away on July 24, 2025, at the age of 71.
“The documentary, titled ‘Hulk Hogan: Real American,’ was released on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, on Netflix.”
(ram)
