Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary 'touches on' everything in his life
Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary 'touches on' everything in his life
Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAYWed, April 15, 2026 at 7:02 AM UTC
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Who really was Hulk Hogan?
It feels like everyone knows the man behind “Hulkamania.” A larger-than-life, muscular superhero that conquered evil in the ring, inspiring generations of people as he became one of the most popular entertainers of his time, forever changing wrestling in the process.
He was also a controversial figure, steeped in several storms – legally and morally – that changed the perception of a proclaimed "real American, fighting for the rights of every man."
Whether it’s negative or positive, everyone has their belief on who Hogan was, but his final interviews plan to shed light on who he really was.
Not just Hulk Hogan, but the man behind the persona: Terry Bollea.
Hulk Hogan, alongside Jimmy Hart, address the crowd during RAW at the Intuit Dome on Jan. 6, 2025 in Inglewood, California.
Netflix is releasing “Hulk Hogan: Real American” on April 22, a four-part docuseries on the wrestling icon’s entire life, peeling back the layers of the character and person that became such a polarizing figure.
“It's so comprehensive, it's so complete,” his son, Nick Hogan, told USA TODAY Sports. “This is the authority on the Hulk Hogan story.”
Hulk Hogan had always wanted to tell his complete story, his son said, but there wasn’t ever a concrete avenue for it to happen. That changed when Bryan Storkel, a director of several sports documentaries from “30 for 30” to “Untold: Hall of Shame,” approached him about it.
Storkel knew who Hogan was, but admitted he wasn’t a major wrestling fan. Maybe that’s what was needed to do it.
“I came into this kind of thinking, ‘How do I tell the human story?' That appealed to wrestling fans and to non-wrestling fans,” Storkel said. “My goal from the beginning was just, how do we get to know the man Terry, and the man behind Hulk Hogan? That was the most important thing, is just getting to know him and getting to know things that we haven't already seen in the headlines.”
Nick Hogan recalled his father being excited about the project, and his complete willingness to do the project. Storkel felt the same sentiment, with Hulk Hogan agreeing to just about anything that was asked, feeling like he wanted it to be his ultimate story.
It felt like the project was going smoothly, and they planned to do another interview with Hogan after doing a series of them. The conversation of having another discussion is included in the series.
However, it didn’t happen, as Hogan died in July at the age of 71.
“I did want, you know, to talk to him about a few more things, and the plan was to continue filming,” Storkel said. “We never could have expected him to pass so suddenly.”
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Hogan’s death did shift the ending of the series, Storkel said, but it now serves as the final interviews Hogan did in his life.
What to expect in Hulk Hogan documentary
The age-old question in wrestling is how much of the persona is the character and how much of it is really the person. Sometimes, stars can separate it. Others seem to blur the lines.
It felt like the latter often, as it appeared Bollea and Hogan were intertwined. His son said he definitely saw similarities in the two, but they were “ultimately different.” Nick Hogan said his dad knew the difference, and the documentary shows it.
“There was times where the two may have crossed,” he said. “There was always times where the character would kind of bleed into his personal life, but he was very aware of the two, and he was very good at keeping them separated and keeping that perspective.”
The eldest son of Hogan said there were things mentioned in the documentary that even he didn’t know much about, adding “everything that he did in his life, this documentary touches on.”
Yes, even the bad stuff.
It is easy to worry about this being just a glorified profile of Hogan and all the positive things that happened, especially when WWE figures like Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Lee Fitting are executive producers. (And when it’s noted to not ask his son or Storkel about any of Hogan’s legal cases, disputes or other incidents.) But the director said Hogan was much more reflective than he anticipated, and discussed the controversies of his life.
“He wasn't afraid to talk about tough things. I think that's one important thing to note, is this isn't just like a wrestling puff piece of all the highlight reels,” Storkel said. “I think we dig a lot deeper than that, and that's because he was willing to and we were able to talk about things that went well beyond wrestling.”
Of course, some will have preconceived notions about what Hogan says, given there have been some false truths he proclaimed over his life. Still, Nick Hogan believes this will give people much more perspective on what transpired.
“When you see it in detail like this, and you hear him talk about it,” he said, “it gives a lot more weight to the things that you think you may know.”
It all goes back to Storkel’s original plan of showing the human Bollea, not the persona of the Hulkster. Storkel added that, early in the series, viewers will realize it’s not exactly the same Hulk Hogan they’ve known for decades.
In it, the truth of Hogan – and Bollea – may finally be shown.
“Hopefully you lean in and want to get to know him more and stick around,” Storkel said. “You actually get to know Terry a bit, and I don't think people have seen Terry in this way before.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What will Netflix Hulk Hogan documentary reveal? Here's a peek
Source: “AOL Sports”
