EXCLUSIVE: The Hulkster's Heavyweight Habit Laid Bare — Radar Reveals How Massive Drug Addiction Was Grappler's Biggest Opponent
Hulk Hogan's massive drug addiction became the wrestling legend's toughest personal battle.
May 18 2026, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
Before his tragic death last year, wrestling legend Hulk Hogan confessed he was taking so much of the pain-killing drug fentanyl, that his pharmacist told him he "should be dead," RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 6-foot-7, 302-pound ring monster revealed his massive drug intake in the Netflix documentary Hulk Hogan: Real American, before his July 2025 death due to acute myocardial infarction, when it was also discovered he had a history of leukemia.
Eric Bischoff said Hulk Hogan turned to fentanyl while dealing with injuries and his divorce from ex-wife Linda Hogan.
The arm-twisting giant, who was 71 when he died, said he turned to the synthetic opioid fentanyl to kill his physical pain in 2009 while wrestling in TNA (Total Nonstop Action) and battling financial chaos over his divorce from wife of 26 years, Linda, now 66, mom of his kids, Brooke, 38, and Nick, 35.
Former wrestling exec Eric Bischoff noted Hogan was at the "darkest, most devastating" time in his life, saying: "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."
Hogan said he was forced to join TNA despite his injuries because he was "broke" after giving Linda "everything to get rid of her."
To quell his pain, he said he "was taking 80-milligram fentanyl, two in the morning, stuffing them under my gums here. I had two 300mg patches of fentanyl on my legs and they gave me six 1,500mg fentanyl lollipops to eat."
The 'Hulk Hogan: Real American' documentary detailed Hogan's struggles with severe pain and opioid use before his death.
Hogan recalled being told the amount could be deadly: "I went to the pharmacy. He goes, 'You should be dead. We have never seen a human being take this much fentanyl.'"
Bischoff admitted Hogan was "in no shape" to wrestle at that level, but the body-slammer needed the dough and "he wanted to do it." He said it was "hard to see" the pain-shattered Hulkster struggling with drug abuse and also going into the ring.
Hogan claimed a pharmacist warned him his fentanyl intake could have been fatal during his TNA run.
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Hogan said he was in such agony, "I couldn't sleep in my bed. I had to sleep in a chair, and if I just twitched my finger like that, my whole back would spasm and torque."
Bischoff said: "I would literally have to go to his hotel and help him get out of bed and get into the shower to get ready to go to the shoot."
