Larisha Paul
Contact Larisha Paul on X View all posts by Larisha Paul April 22, 2026
Hulk Hogan at the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024 Joe Raedle/Getty Images In his final interview, recorded prior to his death, Hulk Hogan detailed his excessive consumption of fentanyl after launching his stint on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2009. In the Netflix docuseries Hulk Hogan: Real American, the wrestling figure — who died at the age of 71 in July 2025 — recalled experiencing excessive pain during the program, which he attempted to remedy with opioids.
“I was taking 80-milligram fentanyls, two in the morning, stuffing them under my gums here,” Hogan said. “I had two 300 mg patches of fentanyl on my legs, and they gave me six 1,500 mg 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.'”
Eric Bischoff, a former wrestling executive, helped Hogan secure a contract with TNA Wrestling. Hogan had recently split from his wife, Linda Hogan, in a divorce that left him “broke.” He needed the money despite not being in the optimal condition to participate in such a physically demanding activity. In the docuseries, Bischoff attested to this. “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,” he said, noting that it was “hard to see” Hogan become so reliant on substances.
