Eric Bischoff, the boss of WCW who managed to convince Hulk Hogan to betray the WWE, shared an insight into the wresting icon’s condition after his passing at age 71.
Hogan was rushed to a hospital after suffering from cardiac arrest at his home in Florida last week.
Speaking to the ’83 Weeks’ podcast, Bischoff says he spoke to Hogan weeks before his passing and revealed that the ‘Hulkster’ did not sound well.
‘I could tell he was weak, he sounded tired,’ Bischoff said, ‘but he still had that “What are we going to do next?” kind of underlying current of energy in his voice, even though he sounded tired, sounded weak.
‘He still had that, “What’s going on with Real American Freestyle? Where we at?” Checking up on me to make sure I’m on top of my s–t.’
Bischoff, 70, managed to capture lightning in a bottle when Hogan turned heel in the WCW and led the ‘nWo’ stable which took wrestling by storm.
Former WCW promoter Eric Bischoff says he visited Hulk Hogan in the weeks before his death
Bischoff (L) helped steal Hogan (R) from WWE and was in charge as the wrestler made the nWo
The former promoter and WWE Hall of Famer said he called Hogan after the wrestler’s son, Nick, asked Bischoff to check up on him after being released from the hospital.
Bischoff offered to visit Hogan – born Terry Bollea – in Florida, but the 71-year-old icon had some concerns.
‘He goes, ‘Man, I really want to see you, but I’m kind of embarrassed for you to see me this way because I’ve been pretty sick,” Bischoff recalled.
‘I said, “Hulk, when I look at you, I don’t see the same thing that you see when you look in the mirror. So f–k that, I’ll be down Monday.”‘
Bischoff did indeed end up visiting Hogan for about an hour, with discussions about the Real American Freestyle professional wrestling promotion they were trying to set up together.
‘All he wanted to talk about as business, but in a fun, energetic way even though he was struggling — it was just a little more effort than it should have been for him to talk at that time because of his larynx and all that stuff got moved around during surgery, so it was work for him to have a conversation. ‘ Bischoff said. ‘He was the same guy.’
By Hogan’s side was a nurse who was ‘anxious’ as she tended to the wrestler – lifting his legs and giving him oxygen.
Bischoff was set to lead a new wrestling promotion with Hogan before the icon’s passing
Bischoff eventually left to stop being an ‘obstacle’ and a ‘burden’, saying they’d try to line Hogan up for some interviews. But Bischoff admitted that was a false hope, but he wanted to give Hogan something to look forward to.
‘He said, ‘Brother, I can’t wait. I may not be able to do anything on camera for a couple of weeks, but I’ll be good on the phone. You can set some stuff up for me on the phone,” Bischoff said.
‘He was so anxious to get back to work.’
