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- Hulk Hogan's Lies Know No End
Wrestlers and tall tales go hand-in-hand in the business. But when it comes to outrageous stories about himself, few can top Hulk Hogan. His stories, from his autobiography to various interviews, have become legendary, mostly for how laughable they are. They include Hogan claiming he could have been in Metallica; that he fought both Mike Tyson and George Foreman; lost "hundreds of millions of dollars '; and nearly killed Andre the Giant with a bodyslam.
It's astounding to see the stories Hogan has spun, many of which are easily disproved. Some just seem exaggerations of established stuff (a stable with Ed Leslie and the Nasty Boys was going to be the NWO), but others are just so outrageous, you have to marvel that anyone could say them. While many are already known, here are ten more of the most outrageous lies Hogan has ever told and yet only scratches the surface of his skill at false stories.
UPDATE: 2023/09/12 16:30 EST BY Michael Weyer
Hulk Hogan's Lies Know No End
Hulk Hogan truly knows no bounds. While promoting a line of CBD products, The Hulkster has gone on a media frenzy including a podcast episode with Joe Rogan where he is spouting a whole host of lies. Some are classic, while others have a new spin like how he said a Make A Wish child died backstage at a WWE show in Wembley Stadium while he had a match. The kicker is that in reality, Hogan didn't attend WWE's only Wembley Stadium show, SummerSlam 1992. This has made us look back at some of Hogan's most outrageous lies.
23 He Was With Kerry Von Erich Before His Death
Claiming to be one of the last people to see a guy before his death is pretty wild. Yet among his stories of 1993 is Hogan claiming he sat on a plane to Japan next to Kerry Von Erich in February. Just 72 hours later, Von Erich took his own life.
The problem with this tale is Kerry's last match was in Dallas six days beforehand. Given he was facing possible arrest on various charges, Kerry flying to Japan made no sense, so why Hogan would claim he was with the guy before his tragic end is confusing.
22 Mike Tyson Was Scared To Face Him In A Boxing Match
In his autobiography, Hulk Hogan brought up that both he and George Foreman were supposed to take each other on in a celebrity boxing match for charity in the 1980s. While that doesn't seem so farfetched, there is no concrete evidence that this dream match was supposed to take place.
However, that isn't even the biggest lie of the interview. While he was in WCW, Hogan said that a pay-per-view bout between himself and Mike Tyson was supposed to commence. Hogan’s excuse as to why it didn't happen? “Tyson was too scared.” Yeah, I’m sure that was it Hogan.
21 He Was Supposed To Be The Face Of The George Foreman Grill
The lies with George Foreman don't stop in the last slide. Although Foreman was one of the best boxers in his generation, there is no denying that he is more famous nowadays for the infamous grill named after him than his boxing career. However, according to Hogan, it was his name that was originally supposed to be there.
While there’s a real possibility that Hogan was one of the names to be considered, it is the reason why that would make you scratch your head. Hogan claimed on an episode of Hogan Knows Best that the reason he didn't get the offer was because he was out picking up his kids from school. If he was who the company originally wanted as the face of the grill, don't you think they would have waited for him to give them an answer?
20 He Once Fought Pride Fighters
A famous Hogan lie is that he was asked to join the UFC in 1993 despite the UFC founders saying they never talked to him. That's not his only case of claiming to be involved with MMA as he spoke on facing "Pride fighters" in 1977 and even beat some in legit fights.
This ignores that Pride wouldn't be established for another 20 years and MMA wasn't a thing back in the '70s. There's also Hogan's claims he never wanted to get into real fights for "worry" of hurting someone to show he truly thought he was a supreme fighter.
19 He Wanted To Turn Heel In 1990
Everyone knows Hogan's epic heel turn in 1996 changed the entire business. Yet he claims he wanted to do it six years earlier. In a 2021 podcast, Hogan says he pitched the idea that after he lost to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6, Hogan would hand the belt over, then turn heel to attack the Warrior.
He even said he would have been "Triple H Hogan" and be a major heel, but Vince vetoed it. While it's a fun idea, it's hard to imagine Hogan then would have been okay stopping being the beloved hero so this is revisionist history.
18 The "Japan Shoot"
This is one of Hogan's oldest stories that never dies. As he said on the 2002 "Hulk Rules" DVD, Hogan was defending the WWE title on a tour of Japan in 1985 and faced Tatsumi Fujinami. According to Hulk, Fujinami (pushed by New Japan bosses) tried to "shoot" on him and steal the WWE title, forcing Hogan to fight for real to keep the belt.
There is zero evidence this was the case and that New Japan would go after WWE like that. Also, Hogan claimed that in his 1983 match with Antonio Inoki, Inoki almost died, was brought back by CPR and Hogan had to flee Japan to escape the Yakuza. Yet somehow, he was able to come back many times over the years.
17 WWE Merchandising Was His Idea
There's a kernel of truth here as Hogan was with the AWA when Verne Gagne began merchandising T-shirts and such. In fact, it was a beef about those profits that led to Hogan going to WWE. As he tells it, Hogan had to personally sell Vince McMahon not just on merchandising but also entrance music for wrestlers.
World Class was doing entrance music way before that already. Also, Vince was already making headway into merchandising and didn't need Hogan telling him about it. Yet according to Hogan's words, he's the reason WWE merchandising even exists.
16 He Got A Make-A-Wish Kid To A Show He Wasn't On
To his credit, Hogan has done a lot of charity work over the years, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation. But bragging about your charity stuff does undermine it a bit. Among Hogan's tales is how he was in the United Kingdom before SummerSlam 1992, meeting a Make-A-Wish kid and making sure he had a front-row seat to the show.
Sounds great except Hogan wasn't in England, wasn't at SummerSlam 1992, and not even working for WWE at the time.
15 He Wrote His Movie Scripts
That someone would actually take credit for things like Mr. Nanny or Santa With Muscles seems crazy, but Hogan is trying. While his movie career was barely B-list, Hogan kept trying with these two horrible comedies. In his autobiography, Hogan claimed each movie has a mess of a script, so he basically rewrote them himself.
However, because he wasn't a full writer, the Screen Writers Guild of America refused to give Hogan any credit. No one has backed this up and unlikely the Guild would do this, but maybe they're happy letting Hogan claim he wrote these flops.
14 He Could Have Played For The Yankees
Hogan did play baseball in Little League and then high school that's a matter of record. But to hear Hogan tell it, he could be in the MLB Hall of Fame, not WWE's. He claims he was scouted by both the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds until a broken arm ended his major league hopes.
Neither the Yankees nor the Reds have ever claimed to have scouted Hogan and you'd think they'd be boasting about a connection to him. There's also how Hogan really wasn't into organized sports, making it hard to believe he was on the verge of baseball stardom.
13 The Undertaker Almost Broke His Neck
By late 1991, Hogan's popularity in WWE was waning a bit when he defended the WWE title against the Undertaker at the Survivor Series. Thanks to Ric Flair, the Undertaker pinned Hogan for the title after hitting a Tombstone on a chair. From that very night, Hogan complained his neck was hurting after the Tombstone.
As the years went on, the story grew to Hogan claiming he was inches away from being paralyzed. The Undertaker admits he actually believed it for a while…until he finally re-watched the match and realized Hogan's head never even grazed the chair. The Undertaker was kicking himself over the fact that he bought Hogan's claims for so long.
12 He Was The First To Praise Kevin Owens
By 2016, Kevin Owens was establishing himself as a true star in WWE, a champion, a terrific worker and shining well with his skills. This was after a solid decade of work in the indies, including ROH champion.
So just imagine the guts of Hogan to openly declare that after seeing Owens' first two matches in NXT, "I went, 'There's a brother that's got heat.' Everybody I talked to in WWE wasn't real real high on him like I was…I said, 'No, I'm telling you, you give this guy a chance to get over, he'll grind.'"
Keep in mind, Hogan was on the outs with WWE when Owens was debuting, so the idea anyone there would listen to him on a guy already established as an indie darling is laughable.
11 He Wrestled 400 Days In One Year
No, we didn't misspell the title of this slide. Hulk Hogan did claim that, back in his heyday, he wrestled in 400 days in one year. How is that possible? Aren't there only 365 days in each year? Sure there is; but of course, Hogan has a simple explanation how this was possible.
When explaining the situation in an interview, Hogan claimed that since he traveled so frequently between the United States and Japan, the time difference made the 400 days a possibility. And while it is known that wrestlers compete over 300 days per year, this would indicate that Hogan wrestled in every single day of the year.
10 He Lost “Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars”
Listen, there is no denying that Hulk Hogan is arguably the most popular wrestler of all time. Not only was he a face of a generation in terms of wrestling, but movie roles and endorsements added a nice chunk of change into his bank account as well.
But, according to Hogan, he wasn't very good at saving his money during his younger years. In an interview with Good Morning America, Hogan said that the way he used to live cost him hundreds of millions of dollars. Yes, hundreds of millions of dollars. He was obviously richer than nearly every wrestler at his time, as evidence by the leak of his WCW contract. But to waste hundreds of millions of dollars seems very farfetched.
9 He Outdrank John Belushi After WrestleMania II
WrestleMania was in its infancy stages but had already attracted celebrities such as Cyndi Lauper, Billy Martin, Liberace and Mr. T. The rock and wrestling connection made WrestleMania very popular in their early years.
That’s why it isn't so odd to hear that John Belushi not only frequented WrestleMania II, but also hung out with Hulk Hogan after the show. Not being outdone, of course, Hogan claimed that they were partying so hard that Belushi had to leave, simply because he couldn't keep up with Hogan. The story seems rather legitimate, except for one caveat: Belushi passed away in 1982. WrestleMania II took place in 1986. If we're being generous it could be that Hogan was referring to John's younger brother Jim, but given all his other lies we can't be certain.
8 How He Broke His Ribs At WrestleMania X-8
The contest between Hulk Hogan and The Rock that took place at WrestleMania X-8 was truly a once and a lifetime event. Seeing two of the WWE’s biggest stars in company history square off at the granddaddy of them all was the equivalent to having two undefeated football teams competing at the Super Bowl. After the match, it was obvious that Hogan was in pain, as he was seen grabbing his ribs.
Hogan originally said that it was The Rock’s signature Rock Bottom that did the damage to his body. And with Hogan being nearly 50 at the time, that could be plausible. Yet leave it up to Hogan to lie about something that could even be true. In an interview on a podcast with Bill Simmons, he stated that his ribs were broken in a house show match with Rikishi that happened before WrestleMania X-8. What’s the real story Hulk?!
7 Elvis Was A Hulkamaniac
Another story to come out of Hulk Hogan’s autobiography was that Elvis was a huge Hogan fan. Before joining the WWE, Hogan was a part of the professional wrestling scene in Memphis. Not only was he a part of it, but he was so popular that even the infamous Elvis Presley would come out to watch him wrestle.
That would be a really cool story - only if it was true. Similar to the John Belushi story, Hogan must have just been confused; he began his wrestling career in Memphis in 1979. Elvis died in 1977. Is this claim the reason many people believe Elvis is still alive?
6 His Fight With Randy Savage On Saturday Night’s Main Event Was Real
One of Hulk Hogan’s greatest feuds in his career was with the Macho Man Randy Savage. Starting with their team as the Mega Powers and culminating at WrestleMania V, the two had one of the most popular programs in WWE history. According to Hogan, it was their real life animosity that made it even better.
In the Randy Savage documentary that the WWE had produced this past year, the infamous backstage fight between Hogan and Savage that led to their breakup as a team was brought up. According to Hogan, however, the altercation wasn't a part of the script. He claimed that the WWE cameras happened to walk in on them while the two were engaged in a real life fight.
5 His Recollection Of The Montreal Screwjob
Although Hulk Hogan was long gone from the WWE come 1997, everyone in the world of professional wrestling knew of or at least heard about the events that transpired that would famously be known as The Montreal Screwjob. In an interview with an Australian radio host, this is, word for word, what Hogan had to say:
"Well Bret Hart was supposed to lose to Shawn Michaels at uh, uh, WrestleMania..., uh, whatever the hell it was. You know, 16 or 17, I don't know; Where all the fans were chanting "Bret screwed Bret". Bret told Vince McMahon "I'm not losing to Shawn Michaels in Canada" and Shawn Michaels went out there and pulled a fast one on Bret Hart and held him down and pinned him and Bret couldn't do anything about it and so-called Excellence of Execution, who was supposed to be the greatest wrestler of all, little-teeny Shawn Michaels held him down and embarrassed him though. Bret Hart was being a horse's ass saying he wouldn't lose and Shawn Michaels pinned him anyway.”
4 Andre The Giant Weighed 600+ Pounds At WrestleMania III
Sure, WrestleMania III featured arguably the biggest main event in the show’s illustrious history. However, there are many lies that surround the spectacle (case in point - the attendance numbers). The fabrications only start there.
Over the years, Hulk Hogan has stated that, although Andre the Giant was billed at 450 pounds, he was closer to 600 pounds at the time of the match. For the reason alone, Hogan claims that in the infamous body slam, he tore every single muscle in his back, yet never missed a day of work. Although many have said that Andre was indeed around 450 pounds at the time, that hasn't stopped Hogan from continuing to lie. In the podcast with Bill Simmons mentioned above, Hogan is now saying that Andre was over 650 pounds at the time.