Hulk Hogan was 'devastated' by boos during last WWE appearance before death
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA: Hulk Hogan’s final WWE appearance left a painful mark, not just on fans, but on the wrestling legend himself.
The wrestling icon, who died on July 24 at 71 from a heart attack, was left shaken by the hostile crowd reaction during his January 6, 2025, appearance at the Intuit Dome in California.
Listen to Jimmy Hart open up about the moment at the 51:33 mark in this YouTube video.
Jimmy Hart says Hulk Hogan was rattled by political tension at last WWE event
Hulk Hogan’s longtime friend and manager Jimmy Hart was by his side that night and said the reaction from the crowd wasn’t what they had expected.
“We go out, and we had a mixed reaction. You can have 500 people cheering you, and one person booing you, but I’ll be darned if that one person doesn’t outshine [the people cheering],” Hart said during the July 31 episode of the 'Stories With Brisco and Bradshaw' podcast.
Hart admitted that the boos were louder than they thought they'd be and that the reaction crushed Hogan.
“It’s a mixed reaction, but it’s a little bit more boos than anything. That devastated him,” Hart added.
Hart also shared that Hogan questioned what went wrong backstage. “And we got in the back and he said, ‘What do you think happened?’ I said, ‘Hulk, it’s simple, blue state, red state. Boom.’”
Hulk Hogan believed his past and politics influenced crowd's reaction
Hulk Hogan, born Terry Bollea, had been known in recent years for voicing his conservative political views and support for Donald Trump.
According to Jimmy Hart, Hogan had no regrets about standing firm in his beliefs.
“He said, ‘Jimmy, I have to do it. I think this is the right thing,’” Hart said of Hulk Hogan’s commitment to his stance, even if it cost him fan support.
In a later appearance on 'The Pat McAfee Show', Hogan addressed the situation, saying he wasn’t completely surprised by the reaction.
He admitted his politics and past may have played a role, but also brought up his days as a heel in the New World Order faction.
“I think the politics had a whole lot to do with it, as you said,” Hogan said.
“You got to realize, last time I ran hard in LA. I was a bad guy, I Hollywood Hogan, man. I was riding dirty with the boys, (Kevin) Nash and (Scott) Hall, we were spray-painting people and crotch-shotting everybody and started out the ‘Too Sweet’ stuff. So, the last time I was there as a heel.”
Hulk Hogan highlighted social media impressions after WWE return sparked boos
Despite the mixed response at the arena, Hulk Hogan found a silver lining in the reaction online.
“But anyway, at the end of the day, we kind of looked at it the next day because I had like 11 billion impressions,” Hogan said of a video of his return.
He added, “And some of the other guys, some of the big stars that were on that card that night, only had like 3 billion. Don’t want to name names.”
Hogan's cause of death was officially ruled as an acute myocardial infarction. Medical records also showed that he had a history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a cancer that affects white blood cells.
