WWE icon Hulk Hogan once disclosed that doctors told him he “should be dead” after reviewing how much fentanyl he had been taking.
The claim appears in the Netflix docuseries Hulk Hogan: Real American, which ultimately became his last on-camera interview before his death in July 2025.
Over a career that stretched more than 30 years, Hogan became one of wrestling’s most recognisable names. In the series, however, he speaks bluntly about the final stretch of his in-ring run and the extreme level of opioid pain relief he says he relied on at the time.
During one segment, he tells the documentary team that medical professionals were stunned by the amounts involved, saying they had never encountered anyone taking that much of the drug.
Hogan recalls that by 2009—when he was in his mid-50s—his personal life had unravelled and he had separated from his wife, Linda. He then moved to Total Nonstop Wrestling after being left “broke”, but his health issues allegedly made it difficult to keep up with what his contract demanded.
Former TNA producer Jeremy Borash is featured describing Hogan as being in “no shape” to handle a full-time schedule. Despite that, the documentary indicates Hogan still wanted to push on, even as he struggled to meet the expectations attached to his deal.
Hogan also describes being in such severe pain that he needed assistance just to get out of bed.
“I was taking 80-milligram fentanyls, two in the morning, stuffing them under my gums here,” Hogan demonstrated in the docuseries.
“I had two 300mg patches of fentanyl on my legs and they gave me six 1500mg fentanyl lollipops to eat,” he told the cameras.
For context, the DEA warns that as little as 2mg of fentanyl can be a potentially fatal amount.
In the series, Hogan then says he was told by pharmacists that he “should be dead”, adding they had never seen anyone consume so much.
The documentary doesn’t only focus on opioid use. Hogan also addresses longstanding questions about performance-enhancing drugs, admitting he was not truthful when discussing steroids during a 1994 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show.
“Of course I lied,” the star said on the new docuseries, revealing that in fact, he started using them two years after high school.
Elsewhere, the documentary captures an especially difficult moment when the conversation turns to Hogan’s late brother, Alan. Hogan attempts to halt the questioning as the subject is raised.
Alan died from an overdose in 1986, and Hogan had rarely spoken publicly about it. When the loss is brought up in the Netflix series, he pleads: “You have to stop, you’re digging way too much for me.”
Hogan says he learned of his brother’s death in a phone call that came after one of his matches.
“It was a hard one to get over,” he said.