Summary

Hulk Hogan said in the new Netflix docuseries *Hulk Hogan: Real American* that he turned to fentanyl while dealing with severe pain during his time in TNA Wrestling after his 2009 divorce from Linda Hogan.

According to the documentary, Hogan went to TNA at a point when he needed income after the divorce settlement, but his body was no longer able to hold up at the level expected. The series frames that period as the point where his pain management escalated into a dangerous dependence on the drug.

The project also serves as Hogan's final interview before his death in July 2025. His family dynamics around the documentary had already drawn attention after Brooke Hogan declined participation in the upcoming Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary.

What the documentary says about Hogan's TNA years

Hogan's account puts a harsher light on that stretch of his career, because the story is not really about creative direction or nostalgia. It is about how badly his body had broken down by the time he was working in TNA, and that gives wrestling fans a different way to look at why that run never became what many expected.

It also underscores how much physical damage top stars from Hogan's era carried into later stages of their careers. In this case, the documentary ties Hogan's TNA period directly to the pain issues he says pushed him toward extreme fentanyl use.

Quote from Hulk Hogan

"I was taking 80-milligram fentanyls, 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 1500mg 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.'"

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.