Hulk Hogan’s longtime friend and business partner Eric Bischoff is describing his final meeting with the wrestling icon two weeks before Hogan’s death on July 24.
Speaking on a recent episode of his “83 Weeks” podcast, the former WCW wrestling executive said he visited Hogan at home in Clearwater, Florida, “a couple of weeks ago” when the star was discharged from the hospital after an undisclosed surgery.
“When I found out that Hulk had gone home from the hospital, whatever it was — three weeks ago, I think — I called Hulk. [Hulk’s son] Nick told me that he could talk and Nick asked me to call,” Bischoff, 70, said. “I got him on the phone and I could tell he was weak, he sounded tired, but he still had that ‘what are we going to do next’ kind of underlying current of energy in his voice.”
He continued, “I said, ‘Hulk, I’m coming down to see you.’ 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.’ 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*** that, I’ll be down Monday.’”
According to Bischoff, despite sounding “tired” and “weak” on the phone, Hogan was excited about the pair’s Real American Freestyle wrestling league venture, which they had been working on before Hogan’s death. (RAF is due to hold its first event in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 30 and announced a television deal with Fox Nation just days before Hogan’s death.)
Bischoff said that following the phone call, he visited Hogan at home, noting that the late WWE Hall of Famer had a nurse present, who was there to “elevate his legs” and “get him on oxygen on a regular basis, because that’s one of the challenges that he had — the CO2 levels in his system.”
Despite his ill health, the television producer said Hogan was excited to talk about Real American Freestyle and even offered to do phone interviews to promote the upcoming event.
“He was like, ‘What’s going on with Real American Freestyle?’ He’s like, ‘What’s the event look like in August? Have we got tickets on sale?’” Bischoff recalled. “All he wanted to talk about was business, but in a fun, energetic way, even though he was struggling. Not struggling — it was just a little more effort than it should have been for him to talk at the time because his larynx and all that stuff got moved around during surgery. It was work for him to have a conversation. But he was the same guy.”
“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.’ He was so anxious to get back to work,” Bischoff added.
Hogan died on July 24 at age 71 after suffering cardiac arrest at his home. He had previously been hospitalized following a neck surgery in May. A source told Us Weekly that he also had heart surgery in the months before his death.
Nonetheless, the wrestler’s death came as a “huge shock” to his family and friends, another insider told Us last week.
“He had been calling and texting as normal,” the source said, adding, “Hulk was at home in the last few weeks, not in the hospital. He was recovering well from his heart operation.”
Hogan is survived by his wife, Sky Daily, daughter Brooke, 37, and son Nick, 35.
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