Hulk Hogan was taking significant amounts of fentanyl to help deal with pain toward the end of his wrestling career.
The sports legend, who died of a heart attack in July 2025, became dependent on prescription drugs during his time in TNA (Total Nonstop Wrestling) as it quickly became clear that he was not in the right physical condition to compete in the ring at the highest level.
Hulk signed up to fight with the organization at the age of 58 after he hit “low rock bottom” after giving up “everything” to first wife Linda Hogan following their divorce in 2009.
Speaking in the new Netflix documentary Hulk Hogan: Real AmericanIn his last interview before his death, Hulk said, “I was taking 80 milligrams of fentanyl at two in the morning, stuffing them here under my gums… I had two 300-milligram patches of fentanyl on my legs and they gave me six 1500-milligram fentanyl lollipops to eat.”
“I went into the pharmacy, they said, ‘You should die. We’ve never seen a person take that much fentanyl,'” Hulk recalled.
The wrestler was suffering so much pain that he resorted to sleeping in a chair, “If I just moved my finger like that, my whole back would go into spasms and twists.”
Elsewhere in the documentary, former wrestling executive Eric Bischoff admitted that he was the one who made a deal for Hulk to perform with TNA, and said that the wrestler was in the “darkest, most devastating” time of his life in the months before signing up.
“The Hulk was reluctant to go, but he needed the money… Your wife is divorcing you, your doctor is giving you a handful of pills that will kill a horse, and you’re chasing him down to a quart of vodka a day,” he said.
Eric said it was “tough” to watch his old friend struggle with substance abuse amid contract requirements.
Elsewhere in the series, Hulk Hogan also admitted that he had contemplated suicide following the public reaction following the divorce.
