In the days leading up to Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea’s death last Thursday, several people in the legendary wrestler’s inner circle disputed reports from Hogan’s former friend Bubba the Love Sponge that the WWE Hall of Famer was fighting for his life after a neck fusion procedure last month.
was Hogan’s constant companion for wrestling appearances, Jimmy Hart.The morning after losing the man he called his best friend, Hart did an interview with People and shared that to his knowledge
Hogan was doing well until things took a turn shortly before he died:
“I called [Hogan] on Wednesday night, and then Thursday morning is when everything took place. So just…just overnight it all happened, but it was so positive the day before.”
Hart specified that he didn’t get a chance to talk to his friend on that call, however:
Hart said when he called Hogan this week, he instead spoke with Hogan’s assistant who passed along the message that the retired pro wrestler was “doing great.”
“Well, tell him I love him,” Hart said he told Hogan’s assistant, while thinking, “this is great” news.
According to the People article, Hart hadn’t seen Hogan since his surgery last month:
“We didn’t go to see him at the house and didn’t go to see him at the hospital, because we wanted to make sure that he didn’t get any infections or anything else, like if anybody had a cold or brought anything in. So, that’s what we all did.”
Prior to the surgery, Hart said he and Hogan usually watched wrestling together three times a week, and did karaoke with Hogan’s son Nick on Monday nights at the Hogan’s Hangout bar in Clearwater, Florida.
Reports that Hogan was in failing health, which are now believed to have been correct, were also disputed by his wife Sky. In her remembrance of her late husband on Instagram over the weekend, Sky said she “truly believed” he would recover from his post-surgery issues.
Hart took part in WWE’s salute to Hogan on last Friday’s SmackDown. You can watch that here.
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