Hulk Hogan said he was taking the most fentanyl his doctors had seen a human being take to manage “so much pain” at the end of his wrestling career.
The WWE legend, who died of a heart attack in July 2025, was candid about his substance abuse during his final interview in Netflix’s four-part docuseries, “Hulk Hogan: Real American,” which was released on Wednesday.
“I was taking 80-milligram fentanyls, two in the morning, stuffing them under my gums here,” Hogan said, while showing how he’d place the fentanyl in his mouth.
“I had two 300mg patches of fentanyl on my legs and they gave me six 1500mg fentanyl lollipops to eat.
“I went to the pharmacy, he goes, ‘You should be dead. We have never seen a human being take this much fentanyl.’”
Hogan said that he turned to fentanyl to manage his pain after he joined the TNA (Total Nonstop Action) following his 2009 divorce from his ex-wife, Linda Hogan.
He explained that he was “broke” because he “gave her everything to get rid of her” in the divorce and needed the money from TNA.
“I hit rock bottom, I gave Linda 70 [percent] of everything because I just didn’t wanna ever talk to her again,” Hogan said. “I never wanted to see her again so I gave her everything to get rid of her, and after the divorce I had no money, I was broke and so, TNA saved me.”
Hogan, who wasn’t in good enough physical shape to wrestle in TNA, explained that his body “had enough” and his opioid use helped fulfill his contract obligations.
“[I] couldn’t sleep in my bed,” Hogan said. “I had to sleep in a chair, and if I just twitched my finger like that, my whole back would spasm and torque.”
Former wrestling executive Eric Bischoff, who helped secure the TNA deal, explained that Hogan was in the “darkest, most devastating part of his life” at the time.
“Hulk was reluctant to go, but he needed the money,” Bischoff said. “Your wife’s divorcing you, your doctors are giving you fistfuls of pills that would kill a horse, and you’re chasing it down with a quart of vodka a day.”
Bischoff added, “There were times I felt really s—ty about myself for making him do that.”
Hogan, who last appeared in the ring in 2012, departed the TNA in 2013 when his contracted expired.
Hogan died of a heart attack at age 71 and was laid to rest in a private funeral in Clearwater, Fla. last August.
His manner of death was ruled natural, according to the Pinellas County Forensic Science Center records obtained by Page Six.
The report also stated that Hogan had leukemia and atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat.
Hogan and his ex-wife Linda have two children, Brooke and Nick.
He married Sky Daily in September 2023.
