The sporting community was left reeling last month when the legendary Hulk Hogan died at the age of 71.
And, on what would have been his 72nd birthday Monday, the world continued to mourn the WWE titan – none more so than the broken family he left behind.
The maverick had been larger than life in the ring, leaving behind a legacy that transcended the sport. Yet, in his final months, Hollywood Hogan had been left heartbroken.
A bitter rift had torn the icon’s family apart. At the time of his death, the man born as Terry Bollea had gone two years without speaking to his daughter Brooke, 37, while his ex-wife Linda had accused him of being behind the fractured family’s bitter feud.
Now, as he celebrated his dad’s birthday at Hogan’s forthcoming Slam Sports Bar, his son Nick, has remained tight-lipped on his own relationship with his older sister.
‘We’ve spoken,’ was all the 35-year-old offered to the Daily Mail when asked if the tragic passing of their father had strengthened his sibling bond with the TV personality.
Nick Hogan celebrated his late father Hulk Hogan’s birthday by unveiling a banner outside the WWE legend’s forthcoming Slam Sports Bar. The pair are pictured at the bar overlooking Madison Square Garden in the months before Hulk’s death
Nick, who Linda hailed as ‘such a good boy’ during her bombshell expose of the family’s private life earlier this year, toasted his father’s birthday outside Madison Square Garden, a significant landmark in Hogan’s career.
He and Hogan’s former business partner Rich Rosen gathered to unveil a banner on the corner of Eighth Avenue and 31st Street – the site of his dad’s future $7million sports bar and final project before his death.
Less than a week ago, Nick was saying goodbye to his father in an intimate funeral. Hogan’s ex-wife Linda, whom he was married to from from 1983 to 2009, was even spotted exiting the private memorial service, despite their differences in the months before his death.
In contrast, Brooke and her husband, ex-NHL player Steven Oleksy, snubbed the family’s arrangements to remember the late wrestler last week, opting against attending Hogan’s funeral at Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Largo, Florida.
Instead, the couple, who tied the knot in 2022 without her father present, chose to honor him by taking their twin children, daughter Molly and son Oliver, to Hogan’s ‘favorite place’: the beach.
Without his sister, Nick sought solace in his mom as well as his stepmother and Hogan’s third wife, Sky Daily, as they joined the devastated mourners to say their final farewells to the ‘Hulkster’ at the touching ceremony last Tuesday.
‘Everybody comes together in these moments, and it’s been incredibly difficult,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘He was such a great family man. To lose him has just been devastating for all of us, but we’ve all really tried to come together and do what we feel would honor him best, and to honor his legacy. We know that he’s looking over all of us.’
Famous WWE faces Triple H and former co-CEO Stephanie McMahon as well as musician Kid Rock and comedian Theon Von were among the grieving attendees. However, one particular sporting star had a surprisingly emotional reaction to the loss.
The wrestling legend died last month at the age of 71 after suffering a cardiac arrest
Hogan is pictured with his daughter Brooke and NBA icon and close friend Dennis Rodman
A heartbroken Dennis Rodman, the former NBA bad boy renowned for his bold personality, on-court tenacity and wild lifestyle, was reduced to tears as he said goodbye to his good friend, the Daily Mail has learned.
The five-time NBA champion formed a close friendship with Hogan after making his professional wrestling debut as a member of the ‘New World Order’ with him.
‘It was the most beautiful Memorial I’ve ever been at in my life,’ Hogan’s business partner Rosen, who was preparing to open Slam Sport Bar with the wrestler before his death, said.
‘Very sad, but touching. Incredible to see all his contemporaries and his beautiful wife, Sky, and his son, Nick, and his manager, all the people who loved him truly loved him.
‘Even Dennis Rodman was crying on top of his coffin at the memorial. It was just very touching.’
‘He’s gone, but he’s still here. His spirit is thriving. Everywhere I go, I see red and yellow,’ he added.
Nick has played a central role in the tributes to his father. He was caught trying to fight back tears during the 10-bell salute at WWE SummerSlam 2025. His wife Tana Lea was also seen wiping away tears after joining her husband on stage for the event.
The WWE’s tribute to Hogan was just one of many that flooded in following his death. Yet the most notable came from the White House.
The wrestling icon is thought to have been ‘heartbroken’ in the months before his death after a feud tore his family apart (pictured L-R: Hulk, Brooke, Lisa and Nick Hogan in 2005)
TV personality Brooke chose not to attend the WWE icon’s funeral in Florida last week
Nick, 35, and his wife Tana Lea are pictured during WWE’s tribute to Hogan earlier this month
‘My dad and the President were friends for a really long time, and he would have been so excited about that and so proud of that moment,’ Nick said of Donald Trump’s message. ‘And we thank the President very much for the tribute and the kind words that he shared about my father.’
In the months before his death, Hogan and Rosen had planned to open Slam, a bar in the heart of Manhattan, overlooking Madison Square Garden where he made his WWE debut in 1979.
And while the wrestling titan is no longer around to see the sports bar open its doors, it intends to honor Hogan by pushing forward with its opening later this year with Nick touchingly stepping into his father’s shoes.
Working closely with Hogan throughout his final months, Rosen insisted the former wrestler had shown no signs of slowing down, despite the fears surrounding his rumored decline in health.
‘His final week I received a call from him, and before he passed, he said, “I’m making a big comeback, brother,”‘ Rosen revealed. ‘He sounded tired, but he didn’t sound terrible. He sounded pretty good.
‘I believed every inch that he would be making a big comeback. I just said, just stay home for three months and Hulk up and come back and we’ll be ready for you.’
Hogan poured his heart into the project and while he tragically won’t see out its completion, both Nick and Rosen insist the bar will be a living tribute to ‘Hulkmania.’
Rodman made his pro wrestling debut as a member of the ‘New World Order’ with Hogan
Donald Trump joined the mourners paying tribute to Hogan in the hours after his death
As well as his two children, Hogan is survived by his third wife, Sky Daily
‘Hogan’s death has actually intensified it greatly,’ Rosen said of the importance of cementing his legacy through the bar.
‘We actually had a kick off meeting the morning he passed. But now, it changed everything. Everything is much more significant now. Now it’s a tribute to him, and it’s a tribute to his fans. It intensified the significance of the project immensely.’
Hogan’s life in the public eye wasn’t without controversy. He survived many a scandal in the years before his death.
There was a leaked sex-tape including a racist rant, an affair with his daughter’s best friend, and political stances which turned even some the Hulksters’ most avid fans against him.
And while have some have tried to tarnish his father’s legacy in the weeks since his death, Nick insisted he had no retort, choosing instead to reflect on the highs, rather than the lows.
‘His legacy is so broad,’ he said. ‘There’s so many great moments, and I think that’s what we want everyone to focus on, especially through Slam Sports Bar, is to celebrate those iconic moments, the WrestleMania moments, all the birth of Hulkamania, the WWE, everything that was so iconic about his career, that’s the legacy that we want all the fans to remember and to celebrate forever.’
