Hulk Hogan’s heartbreaking secret battle with fentanyl addiction has been laid bare in a remarkable final interview recorded shortly before his death last summer.
The WWE icon died suddenly last July after suffering a heart attack at his Florida mansion, and it later emerged that he had been speaking to Netflix in the build-up for a new documentary about his life.
That show – titled ‘Hulk Hogan: Real American’ – is released this week, and it features a stunning admission from the man himself about his reliance on fentanyl to manage his physical pain from years of wrestling.
Hogan – real name Terry Gene Bollea – was a six-time WWF and WWE champion during an incredible career that saw him become one of the most famous celebrities in the world, but his life was sent spiraling following his divorce from wife Linda.
The pair split in 2009 and Hogan was forced to return to the wrestling ring after giving her – in his words – ‘everything’ during their divorce.
He signed a deal with TNA (Total Nonstop Wrestling), the second-largest wrestling promotion behind WWE, but quickly realized he was in no shape to compete and turned to the opioid to help him manage the pain.
Hulk Hogan had been speaking to Netflix for a documentary shortly before he died last year
Hogan opened up on how he relied on fentanyl to manage his physical pain after his divorce
‘I was taking 80-milligram fentanyls, two in the morning, stuffing them under my gums here,’ he explained to Netflix.
‘I had two 300mg patches of fentanyl on my legs and they gave me six 1500mg fentanyl lollipops to eat.’
Hogan then went on to explain how professionals were left stunned by the amount of drugs he was pumping into his body.
‘I went to the pharmacy, he goes, “You should be dead. We have never seen a human being take this much fentanyl.”‘
Remarkably, Hogan revealed that he was in so much pain that he was forced to sleep in a chair, adding: ‘If I just twitched my finger like that, my whole back would spasm and torque.’
Hulk split from his first wife Linda in 2009 and then signed a deal to return to the wrestling ring
Hulk rose to fame in the ring and became one of the most recognizable celebrities in America
Hogan poses for a photo with his daughter Brooke at a MTV VMA Pre-Party in Miami in 2004
The wrestling icon battled through until 2012, when he stepped out of the ring for the final time shortly before his TNA contract expired in 2013.
Hogan collapsed at his five-bedroom mansion on Clearwater Beach, Florida on the morning of July 24 last year. He later died in hospital of natural causes.
According to a medical examiner’s certificate obtained by the Daily Mail, he suffered an acute myocardial infarction, more commonly known as a heart attack.
It also said he had a history of atrial fibrillation – an irregular heartbeat – and leukemia. Police have previously admitted there was no evidence of foul play in Hogan’s death.
