83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff - Bonus Edition: REAL AMERICAN Documentary Reaction

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

On this special BONUS episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff reacts to the buzz surrounding the Real American documentary with his trademark honesty and insider perspective. Eric breaks down the documentary's portrayal of Hulk Hogan from the larger than life persona to the behind the scenes realities and weighs in on what the film gets right, what it misses, and how it shapes Hogan's legacy in the wrestling business. Joining the conversation is special guest Nick Hogan, who offers a deeply personal perspective on his father's story. Nick shares his thoughts on how the documentary captures the man behind the icon, providing unique insight that only family can bring. BLUECHEW - Right now, when you buy two months of BlueChew Gold, you get the third for FREE with promo code 83WEEKS. Visit http://BlueChew.com  for more details and important safety information, and we thank BlueChew for sponsoring the podcast. DOSE - New customers can save 35% on your first month of subscription by going to http://dosedaily.co/83WEEKS  or entering 83WEEKS at checkout. MORGAN & MORGAN - If you're ever injured, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. Their fee is FREE unless they win. For more information go to ForThePeople.Com/83weeks or dial Pound LAW (Pound 529) from your cell phone.

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Right now, when you try, when you buy two months of Blue Chewold, you get the third for free with the promo code 83 weeks. That's promo code 83 weeks. Visit bluechew.com for more details. and important safety information, and we thank Blue Chew for sponsoring today's podcast. Hey, hey, it's Conrad the Mortgage Guy, and we are live at 83 weeks.com. And of course, we're talking about all things, Hulk Hogan, Real American, the four-part documentary series on Netflix. We are live and taking your questions.

And we're joined by WWB Hall of Famer, Eric Bischoff. Eric, how are you, man? You're muted. Unmute yourself, buddy. I just I just screwed up my own plug. I said, yeah, and I'm here wearing my real American freestyle shirt in honor of a real American, the docu-series on Netflix. It's amazing, man, full-circle stuff just keeps happening every day.

We were excited to be here. I had a chance to see this documentary series the day it came out. Couldn't wait, was counting down the days on my calendar. I know you had a lot of things going on last week. You were traveling here, here there and yawn. And you finally got a chance to see it, though. All I've heard in my real life is really, really positive feedback. For instance, my mom and dad, respectfully, I couldn't tell you that they've ever watched

Monday Night Raw or Dynamite and collision is something that happens before they call Allstate. So they're not in the wrestling bubble. But man, they couldn't wait to see this. They got ahead of it. They saw it before I did. He was a big part of a lot of folks' lives. and this documentary series, I think, was fabulous. But I have seen some criticism online for the IWC.

Maybe they wanted more granular detail, but that's not who the audience was for this. I thought it was very emotional and well done. At a glance, what did you think, Eric? You know, I had different feelings throughout the four episodes. I think that I saw, what I saw was Hulk being more vulnerable and more Terry Belaya on camera than any than I'd ever seen him in the 35 years I've known him or whatever however long it's bad I mean I've seen that part of

I've seen Terry Bel Air I've hung out with Terry Belaya I've had dinner with Terry Belia the guy that you saw in the documentary that that was so vulnerable he was not holding anything back you could hear it at his voice, you could see it in his eyes. We all know. He's not going to go down as a classically trained actor, but those emotions were real because they were genuine, or they felt real because they were genuine. And I saw more of Terry Belaya on camera than I've ever seen.

That's my overriding feeling, the most important one. And I think viewers, and I was pretty close to Terry Belaya. and Hulk Hogan and the character, I have always been able to see the difference between the two and reconcile the difference between the two. It's one of the reasons why I probably have been as much of a supporter of his, professionally and personally,

as I have been, because I've seen the side that most people don't get a chance to see. And people got a chance to see that. I was really, really happy about that. I sent out a text to, I'm not going to drop names, but an executive that was very much involved in the project and just let them know how happy I was with it because of that. Now, the IWC, are they going to want to hear the controversial, the dirt, the drama, the negativity so they can all argue and fight about it like a bunch of starving piranha.

Get on the internet and argue about shit and put stuff over and see how much attention you can get by seeing how smarmy you can be. Sure, because that's what that is. But I think it was overall a really entertaining piece. I think, you know, like I said, you saw part of Hulk Hogan that you've never seen before unless you were really, really close to him. I saw a lot of footage that I had never seen before. So obviously that was entertaining for me.

I like the way they treated, you know, the relationship between Hulk and his brother. I think that was very, very important. And Hulk didn't talk about that much. I knew there was something, there was strong connective tissue there and some really strong emotions surrounding it. And he would tap into it every once in a while

and share it a little bit, but it was deeper than I knew. And I thought that was really interesting that he was willing to open up more about that than I had ever heard him. And like I said, I've been in a lot of conversations with him. about things like that. So overall, I thought it was really good. Keep in mind, this was for the broader

wrestling entertainment, the 90% of the people that watch wrestling to enjoy it, not the 10% of the people that live to criticize it or create controversy around it. So if you're looking for that kind of angle, you were probably disappointed. But if you wanted to get to know who this guy really was, and what was he really like? Like when he wasn't being Hulk Hogan and entertaining millions of people around the world and one of the most recognized celebrities of the face of the earth. When he wasn't doing that, what was he like? You got a glimpse. I was really happy about that.

You know, I've said it before here on the show, Eric, I feel like a lot of times, you know, managing expectations is the key to life. And when I saw that WWE was involved, I thought, hey, that's a good thing. That means we're going to get behind the scenes footage that we've never seen before. And we saw a ton of that, especially the early years. And I was really excited to see that and think it was fabulous. It was a great part of the documentary. some of my favorite parts.

But one of the other things that really stood out to me is, hey, if you're really going to tell this story in a way that nobody's ever heard, because my goodness, how many of these things have been made about Hulk Hogan, probably dozens. But the family footage, like from the home video recorders,

like nobody's ever seen that stuff before. And again, to all the critics out there who say, well, they didn't talk about this or they didn't talk about that, in order to get family participation and the company on board, you're going to have to strike a balance. And to your point,

you need people the casuals, the Larry and Deborah Thompson's out there to check this out, and they couldn't wait to. I've not talked to anybody who is outside of the internet wrestling bubble, who didn't absolutely love this. So every now and again, it's important for us to remind ourselves that this was not a shoot interview, if you will. But I will say this. My biggest gripe of the whole thing is that, man, I needed it to be longer.

A friend of ours, I won't say who, because they probably don't want me associating their name with his feedback. was, they said, hey, this is like the last dance level. And we all watched that during the pandemic when we were learning about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and his history. But one of the things that was really cool is they had so much time, they did allow you to get more granular. Like as a fan, I would have loved to have seen more conversation about Randy Savage and a

lot of other little wrestling nuanced things that maybe you had to sort of make a sacrifice if you're going to keep it to four hours. But I feel like there could be a part two to this, Eric. It would be very easy to do four more hours, four more episodes. But if that's not what the budget called for, that's not what the project was for, that's what everybody signed off on. I get it. But I still think there's more meat on the bone.

Maybe it's just me as a little Hulkomaniac or a bigger Hulkomaniac now. I think there's a big appetite for this. And there could be more, Eric. I mean, I think there could be you're right. I mean, as much. And I did notice in the fourth episode, there was, this is more of a production thing, format, but in time. Because four hours, you know, that's like three and a half feature films.

Yeah. Theater, right? So that's a lot of, you covered a lot of ground. And you can only hold the audience's attention for so long. But I think if there, there absolutely, there has to be enough. I'm sure there is so much left out that there are producers scratching their heads right now, chomping at the bits, waiting to be able to repackage that and do a follow-up of some sort. And certainly there would be that opportunity to get into more of the detail of relationships.

I think the Randy relationship is fascinating. It truly was a love-hate kind of a relationship. It was like an extreme one way or the other. They were like, you couldn't separate them and they were having a blast or you didn't want them in the same. locker room, right? It was just, but when it was good, it was good and when it was bad, it was bad. But I think more of that, that, the evolution of that relationship, because they did come together right at the very, very end. I remember called me and told me about how they ran into each other. I think at a doctor's office. And for the first time in a long time, kind of, you know,

said, hey, dude, what do we do it? You know, but that was, you know, towards the end of Randy's life. So I think more of that kind of conversation involving other, you know, major star, certainly, you know, Rick, you know, your father-in-law could certainly, I think, speak to an interesting perspective with Hulk, about Hulk. I love to hear, I love to hear from any number of people that I'm sure would be great content for a follow-up series. Listen, I understand why it didn't happen, and I understand that timing is everything, and there's a lot of reasons, and we don't have to get into those today.

But Vince McMahon's voice was missing from this. I would have loved to have seen Vince McMahon talking more about Hulk Cogan. Unfortunately, you and I were both there at his funeral services for the real man, Terry Belaya. And Vince just absolutely stole the show with his tribute to Hulk. And I thought as I'm seated there that day, man, I wish people could see this. And I was so grateful that they were able to film that and include that at the end. I didn't even recognize they were filming that day. Maybe if I would have it, I would have expected it.

But I was caught off guard when they showed Vince McMahon cupping his ear. But for so many people who grew up in this golden era of pro wrestling, myself included, those guys just go hand in hand. And I know in the WCW days, you know, that was you and Hulk. But way back when, when I was a little Hulkomaniac, and I really wanted to hear more from Vince, and I understand why we didn't. And yes, there were some sound bites from previous interviews, but I hope before it's too late, we get the old man on film talking about his relationship with the hawkster and granted

I understand this was put together by wb and netflix and there's a lot of reasons that couldn't happen here and i think that's probably the biggest voice i was missing on this eric yeah you know at the at the service i was i was happy that Vince was there and spoke because that's what that's what hulk that's what tary would have wanted and that's what hulk definitely would have wanted it. Hulk definitely would have wanted it. It's so it would tear it. The other thing about the documentary,

and I've kind of always known this, you know, sometimes it was more obvious than others, but the relationship between Hulk and Vince and WWE was kind of like Vince and WWE were our WWF in the early days. That was Hulk's family in his mind.

He, I think he felt much more strongly and had a much more family-like relationship. It was a one-way street, meaning, you know, Vince, it was business for Vince. I'm sure Vince liked Hulk. I'm sure they got along great. I know they did. Hulk would tell me stories. They were actually great friends at one point in time.

And Hulk always wanted that relationship back. even when he was with me and we're doing the NWO and there was still it's like the only thing I can I've never been in this situation so unfortunately so I'm probably not going to do a good job explaining it but it's like you know you're in a relationship with the woman you finally decide you you know we're going to get married and then all she ever talks about is her her old boyfriend you know yeah you know I know you're with me now but oh geez a real can you let that go And that was kind of the relationship that I always saw Hulk have with Vince. And even when they worked together, you know, what Hulk struggled with is he felt he was

Vince as equal. He felt like he helped build WWE with Vince. And Vince helped probably make him feel that way because that's Vince. And there's nothing wrong with that. He was building his business. but I think Hulk found out the hard way that it really wasn't a marriage,

it was a business relationship, and I think that hurt Paul to the very end. So I think having Vince speak at his funeral was a great thing and I was happy to see it. We've gotten this question. We should bring it in Nick Hogan. Nick Hogan is with us here today, right? He will be, yes.

I don't think he's here just yet, but he will be sure. I'm just excited. It's like keep those questions coming if you got some for Eric. before Nick gets here, I do want to ask you some questions that are coming to us live in the group chat here. And yes, this is live. So if you've got a question for Eric or for Nick, we want to hear from you. Kiwi JT, he has a great question because he drills down on something that I do think you should follow up with that Holkster said on camera here.

What's the deal with Hogan giving back some of his salary to prevent certain people getting fired when he went to WCW that was mentioned in the doco? Of course, he talks about what a great deal he negotiated. and I thought that was a fun segment. But he did mention that he had to reduce the offering. I'm curious, is this to bring in some of the Hulkster's friends or is this just a fun story for the show? No, it was, there were certain people that he went out. I don't want to drop names, but I don't think in this situation, Jimmy Hart would mind. Jimmy Hart was really the only person that was a non-negotiable as far as Hulk was

concerned. There were other people that Hulk wanted to bring in that had to be mitigated to a certain degree. Now, I don't, I didn't negotiate that part of Hulk's deal. That would have been after we got done with the basics of it. So if there was a financial mitigation on Hulk's part in order to, even if it was partial to help facilitate bringing some people in, would just surprise me at all. But I don't have any immediate recollection of it. AOTV production says, I enjoyed the doc. I was surprised they didn't go into detail about the Hulk's deal with Marvel, though.

You know, I didn't even realize that they didn't touch on that, but that could have been an interesting piece of business. I don't know how much the masses would have cared about that piece. I'm sure there's a lot that's going to wind up on the cutting room floor. Do you have an opinion on this about the Marvel? Yeah, I do. I think that was a missing piece.

And I think the audience would have been interested, because the value in the Hulk Hogan brand was the Hulk Hogan brand. That's what became, I mean, Terry Balea became the star or the character of Hulk Hogan, but that Hul Cogan brand is what generated tens, hundreds of millions of dollars and put WWF on the map as well as Hulk COVID. And that's a licensing deal that almost didn't happen. And Hulk bought the rights to Hulk Hogan directly from Marvel on his, way to WCW.

So, I mean, that could have been an interesting situation, but I think it could have been touched on it because it was a critical part of Pulse's career, really. It was a pivot point. A critical thing for all of us is dose for cholesterol. I want you to go ahead and tell us a little bit about your experience with dose, but I want you to know before Eric launches into this that dose actually uses ingredients you're familiar with, like turmeric and other plant-based and mineral, ingredients so you're not putting a bunch of BS in your body.

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Tell us about it, Eric. Absolutely. You know, I monitor my, I get a complete blood panel done three times a year, four times year, once every three months, four times year. Part of it is because I'm just fascinated. with managing my health and the whole world of longevity. But along with that interest, one of the benefits, aside from just the amount of information you can use and learn

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But I do get around to go into the refrigerator and getting my shot of dose first thing in the morning on an empty stomach because that's when I absorb it most readily. And a lot of the stuff is very easily absorbed. It's great for managing your cholesterol, but it also benefits a lot of your other core system. So big believer in it. Managing your gut health is a major. It is a monster move in the right direction. New customers can save 35% off your first month of subscription by going right now to

dose daily.co slash 83 weeks. Or you can just enter 83 weeks at checkout. That's D-O-S-E-D-A-I-L-Y dot CO slash 83 weeks for 35% off your first one subscription. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, let's welcome into the program. We almost never do this. We've got a guest, Derek, the one and only Nick Malaya. Nick, how are you, man? Thanks for jumping on with us today. Hey, what's going on guys?

Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. No, we're excited to have you, man. It's a big deal for you to be here with us. We absolutely love the documentary. And, you know, we haven't talked to you. What did you think of the final product? Are you pleased with it?

Yeah, I'm, I'm just thrilled. You know, my dad worked so hard on this project. And that's one thing that I remind people is that this was completed after he passed. But this was in the works for well over a year while he was in the last year of his life. And he worked really hard on this. And he wanted the fans to see this side of him. And he wanted to tell his story. And even for years before this, he had been working on his life story piece.

And he was excited to share that with his fans. And I'm just really happy to see this get across the finish line and to see the final product be something that I know my dad would love. And he would be so proud of it. Nick, if I could ask you, you and I have lunch. Oh, I don't remember. when it was. It was probably about a month before the doc came out, maybe six weeks. I was down on Florida. You invited me out to a Mexican joint, and we were catching up. And at that point in time, you were still in the edit process, right? Yeah. If I remember correctly. So when, how soon before it was

completed and released, did you actually get a chance to see a finished product? Yeah. So I wasn't part of the entire creative process, but there were certain parts of it that I was involved with. And they were still making some tweaks and changes like when we were at lunch. But about a week or so prior to the release is when I saw the complete and final version of it. I had seen different cuts and different edits that, you know, I had been working on with the team. And again, first of all, thanks to the amazing partners, you know, WW, Netflix, Ben Houser, Brian circle, Conichelle, everybody that was involved in getting this project done has just been absolutely tremendous to work with. And these guys made this just incredible. We're so pleased with it.

But, you know, working on this process with such a talented team made it really easy. And these guys are just phenomenal. So I was extremely pleased when I did see the final product, especially after having worked on it so hard and going, you know, over different edits and throwing different ideas. and hey, you know, have we thought about, you know, this, this piece of footage that's out there and maybe this would fit in here and this would be really cool for the fans to see this. And, you know, there was a really fun process to that. So seeing the final product early was pretty special. It was really nice.

Was it hard? I mean, because there's, I mean, to this day, there's certain scenes or I'll hear him talking about something. And when I know it's like, that's, that's the Terribalea, that people, people don't usually get to see. When I see it, I still bring serious to my eyes. Did you have to, I mean, you had to sit through and look at a lot of stuff. Yeah, it was, it was a really difficult process for me.

And even just, you know, a week and a half ago in Las Vegas and WrestleMania and everything that was there was, you know, overwhelming at the time. It was so exciting to see Dad be honored in such a tremendous way. And there was moments where, you know, even walking through the, you know, the whole community exhibit at WW World that being surrounded by so many of, you know, these moments in his life and these, you know, turning points in his career that were just such monumental things to happen to him. You become overwhelmed. And then I was kind of the same thing with the documentary is the first time that I saw it all the way through. And working on it, you know, was a little bit more

zoomed in of a process and a little bit more, I'd say like, tedious or nitpicky where you're really just, you know, splitting fine hair. So you're not, you're looking at frames really more than a sleep, right? Right. You're not, you're not digesting the whole thing. So when you do look at the whole thing in one shot, I was originally, it was late, I was going to say, oh, I'm going to watch the first episode tonight. I'll finish it tomorrow. Well, of course, I watched the entire thing all the way through. And then, you know, that night of sleep was rough because it just brought back such a flood of memories and it was just like I was just having the craziest dreams about being with my dad

and these memories coming back and it was like a roller coaster of emotions for the first 24 hours after I had seen it all in completion and that still happens. You know, even when I watch it or, you know, I watched it the other day all the way through again. And it was just, it's tough, it's beautiful. It's amazing to see so much of these moments with my dad and all of that private home. movie footage that my mom provided was just really special. It gave this a different perspective and also a view into the home life that nobody really knew about. And seeing all of it put together

in such a well-edited way and the way that these guys did this is just so brilliant. And it's just it's amazing that I get to experience that and see that of my father. I don't know if you, if you were able to hear what Conrad and I were talking about before you jump down, but one of the things that I really loved about the documentary is how much of Terribalea we saw, because most of the time when people saw your dad in public, they saw, as he talked about in the documentary, you saw Hall Cogan, because that's what people expected, right? You didn't want to let him out, brother. All over Clearwater, even though people see him every single day, they want to see call Kogan and he gives it to him or gave it to him. Did you feel that too? Or am I imagining that?

Or did you see your dad kind of show the world more of Terry Belay than perhaps he ever had? Oh yeah. Yeah, I think you nailed it. And he wanted that. That was the point of this project was for people to understand how dynamic of a person he is. And I say that a lot is that, you know, the character was dynamic. He was a good guy. He was a bad guy. And there's all these different nuances to the character, but as a person, you know, he was equally as dynamic, if not more. He was, you know, he was everything that you see as Holcogne, but he was also a terrific human being, and he was so good with people, and he took time with everybody that wanted to talk to him, and he spent so much time putting goodwill into the community, and he did

so many things for children with illnesses and the Boys and Girls Club, and I think that he really pulled back the curtain on a lot of that part of him for this documentary. Right. Okay, one more question. I'm going to hand it over to cover because I know he's just probably jumping at the bit here. But, and I just got to say this. The other thing that I put a smile on my face when I watch the doc is Linda. Yeah. She, she was great in this. And I was happy to see it because her real feelings towards your father, she opened up. Yeah. And she explained herself, but she did it in a loving way. Yeah, in a respectful way. Yeah.

And it, maybe tacky once or twice, but that's Linda, right? She was, she was herself. And the mischievousness in her smile and some of the things she said have put a smile on my face. Right. Yeah, and I was really happy that she did it. My parents had, you know, obviously gone through the ups and downs, the divorce and everything. And they had actually been on, you know, cordial terms. You know, they weren't best friends talking every day, but, you know, if they needed to communicate, they were at a point where they could.

And, you know, they both came to my wedding and they were both cordial there together. We had a really nice time and we celebrated. And that was a really amazing time for me that both of them were able to be there together and there was no animosity. There was no tension. And I think they were just at a good point in their lives where they had put a lot of the drama and the tension and everything behind them. and they were just really looking forward to, you know, what they were doing in their point of their life now, either not together, but just individually, they were both at a very good point in their lives, and they were able to be at the same place at the same time, and there was no issue.

So that was a really beautiful thing for me. And I think that with this documentary, you know, my dad had mentioned to me, you know, hey, I think it would be really cool if your mom would sit down and tell, you know, her story for this. That would be really helpful and it would be pretty cool. And when I told my mom that she was a little hesitant at first, she says, oh, I don't know if I, you know, should do that. And I said, no, I think, you know, it'd be really cool. And she agreed to do it.

And she just happened to turn up with this hard drive full of home movies, which was like incredible to have that. And I was so grateful that she provided that because it gave such a huge element to this documentary that we didn't have before. Nick, what were you surprised to see in the cut? I mean, there's a lot of stuff that happened, you know, and you've been honest about this in the documentary. A lot of the Hulkomania run, I mean, you were either too small to understand it or it was sort of pre your existence on earth. And there's probably some really cool stuff that you got to see in there.

But those whole movies, as big of a deal as they were when they're being filmed, more often than not, they just wind up on a shelf. And who really ever digs through that stuff? So what was the footage that you saw that sort of caught your attention and you thought, I've never seen this before? Yeah. Well, obviously a lot of the stuff that happened before I was born, like you mentioned, there were some really cool stuff, which I know the story in general, you know, but without really having a full zoomed-in view at every single thing, it was kind of cool to see how certain things happened that I knew about but didn't have much detail on.

Like, I knew about WrestleMania 1. I knew about, you know, dad beating the chic. I knew about all these things. And I knew how dad and Vince worked together. However, I didn't fully grasp. you know, how much they had bet on WrestleMania 1 working and how big of a deal that was that it had to work. And this documentary really shows that. And that's really cool.

Some of these things that, you know, I wasn't present for or didn't fully have a great understanding of. This really illustrates that. And the other thing that was pretty cool is seeing the home movie footage, but the stuff that even didn't get into the edit when we were combing through it, there was some really funny stuff of, you know, the kids at the house. you know messing around with you know Paul white you know big show when he was over and there were some really fun stuff that we were combing through that may not have made sense for this documentary piece but even just going through some of that was really fun and it was cool to see it again because I was too young to remember it or just it was just a blur at the time but those were really fun things to see I did want to ask you you know as a as a lifelong Hulk maniac the two

things I took away that I just had no idea or concept of is the relationship he had with his parents and the relationship he had with his brother. I think a lot of people were probably even surprised to hear that Hulk had a brother. I mean, that feels like, as Eric was sort of alluding to earlier, we're really stripping away the Hulk Hogan character and we're talking about the real life Terry Belaya. And I was really glad that they decided to leave it in the edit where your dad pushed back and said, nope, you're going too deep for me because I think that's a common defense mechanism

that we all would want to see. Were you surprised that they left that in there? Are you glad that they shared that? I wasn't surprised. You know, and it's for me, it's, it's neither here nor there.

I'm just glad that it was in the edit because my dad wanted everyone to know his life story. And that's part of it. You know, my dad did have a brother. And, you know, they were close when they were younger.

And everything that you see in the documentary about it is true. And, you know, he was, you know, big like my dad, you know, you tell the story.

You look at the pictures of them. They do look very similar. And, you know, Alan was a pretty, you know, badass guy riding motorcycles and, you know, a big tough guy. And obviously he made some choices that didn't end up the right way to go. But I'm glad that they put this in there and they're showing everyone, you know,

the truth about my dad's family. You know, what's interesting is I think every now and again, some of our heroes in the wrestling community, we don't really know the real guy and we're all sort of curious. And I'd heard my father-in-law, we know him as Rick Flair professional. say many times that when his son Reed passed away, the first person to call and to be there and to offer, you know, rehab or support or whatever was your dad. And I don't think it really clicked for Megan and I until we were watching that your brother or your dad's brother had a similar situation. And so it felt familiar. Like Hulk knew what that pain was like. Terry knew what that pain was like and wanted to be there for Rick, not as a son, but it's someone who was close. And you sort of play it through in your head and you wonder, man, I wish.

I wish things would have turned out differently. The idea that we got to see the real Terry Belaya and understand more of why he was there for the real Richard Morgan Fleer was really fascinating on a human level. Damn wrestling, just real life. That was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And that's just how he was. And that's part of it that, you know, people that knew him like, you know, Eric has mentioned that the few people that really knew the real Terry saw a glimpse into that.

And they saw how he was. And he would do that for the people. he cared about he would do that for people that he didn't even know and um he cared tremendously for Rick he loved Rick so much and there's just a glimpse of the things that he would do to try to help people and I remember even a few years ago similar but you know for people he didn't even know we were at a homeless feed and he wanted to go down there and we brought a bunch of food from our restaurant hogan's hangout down there and dad was there and we were fixing plates for people and stuff and dad went to use the restroom and they showed in the restroom they're telling oh well this stall doesn't

work and that stall doesn't work and this and that. My dad starts asking her, goes, how many your bathrooms don't work? You know, and they said, well, none of them really except this one. And then, you know, we all share one shower and there's seven showers that don't work. And dad turned around and call his buddy and said, hey, come down here this week. I want to just fix all their showers, fix all their toilets, let's put all new bathrooms in this place, you know, for our local homeless shelter here in the community. And he never asked for credit for that or asked anyone to talk about it or go share that story. He just did it because he, cared and he cared about people in general, even if he didn't know who they were. He just

cared for people in a way that I've never seen before. And that's just who he was. It was fantastic. A real look at the man, Hulk Hogan. Nope, Terry Belaya. That's who we really wanted to learn more about and we finally did. I feel like the Hulk Hogan story is going to go on forever and ever. But Nick, how much of the documentary is probably on the cutting room floor? I imagine that this was an exhaustive process that took months and months. Is there a chance that there's more content that could come to light at some point or what didn't make the edit that you wish could have? Oh, my goodness. Well, you're definitely right. There's a ton of stuff that couldn't make the edit. And that's just for the sake of, you know, I think the creative process

and the people who were making the ultimate decisions on, you know, how many episodes, how long this would be. That was up to them. And, you know, it was pretty much an impossible task to tell this great of a life story in just four episodes. So even that, I would say that the team that did this is incredible. They did such a phenomenal job doing that job of telling this story in just four episodes. But that's something that people have to understand is that this is just what would barely fit into four episodes. There is so much more to this story. There's so much more detail. There's so many more things that are part of dad's life that there absolutely could be more of this. And who knows?

It's possible. They may end up, you know, making more of this. You know, there could be more content that comes out. So I don't know about any of that, but I do know that they did a phenomenal job telling the complete story in just four episodes. They're like, you said, there could have been 10, you know, but I mean, put it in probably 20. but it's you know the four episodes were just phenomenal i think all the fans really enjoyed it too we've got a live audience here and they're giving us lots of positive feedback but one of the questions that we keep getting over and over nick and i'm sure you've been asked this forever nick do you

have any wrestling ambitions we were going to see you in the squared circle nick oh my goodness you never know i i bounced around here and there and knock the ring rust off every now and again i've i've been you know attracted to it my whole life so um i will say i'm in pretty pretty darn good shape right now and it's not unfamiliar territory. So if the time ever comes or if the opportunity ever presents itself, I would absolutely welcome that. Yeah, Conrad, I don't know if you knew it or not, but Nick trained with Garrett at Rikishi School in L.A. for, I don't know how long were you there, Nick? You were there for six months? Yeah, yeah, it was a while. I love every bit of it. And, you know, there's some places close to me here that, you know, I bounce around at and get in and, and,

make sure that all the pieces are still functioning. Nick, once upon a time there was a, I don't know if you'd call it a documentary as more of a docu drama, but there was going to be a recreation about the story of Hulk Hogan. And we've heard about Chris Hemsworth and others that were potentially attached to it. Do you think the success of this documentary could lead to those conversations bubbling to the surface again? Or do you think that ship has sailed now?

No, I definitely think there's potential for that. I think there's absolutely potential. know, when all that talk was happening about Chris Hemsworth, I thought that was really cool because I'm a huge Chris Hemsworth fan. I love the Thor movies. I love all of his projects. He just had another film come out that's fantastic, and he's just an excellent actor. And, you know, his physique and the way he looks, I mean, he would play a great Hulk Hogan. So that would be really cool.

And, you know, even if it wasn't him or it was a different project, I think that there's a lot of meat on the bone there for this story to be told in that way. And I would really love to see that. And I think it's definitely possible. I'll just so you know, I got a call from this guy by the name of Scott Silver a while back. And I think you're right. Anything is possible. Oh, fingers crossed for that. I love to hear that.

Nick, I do want to ask, you know, not to be terribly personal, but towards the end of the documentary, the interviewer asked your dad, hey, do you remember the happiest time in your life? And he didn't hesitate. Yes. And he talked about when you and your sister were young. He didn't talk about Madison Square Garden. He didn't talk about slamming giants. He talked about the core family.

when they were young. And I don't know why, man, but I got emotional just thinking about that because when we cut back to Linda, we hear, hey, he really was the love of my life and I still do have all that love for him. And I just couldn't help but wonder, man,

in an alternate universe, they should have still been together somehow. And I realized there's a lot of water under the bridge. But I thought, man, how fascinating is it to see him say, hey, that was the happiest.

That had to be weird as a kid to hear too, right? Yeah. And, you know, it was just beautiful to, you know, see everything all in one. picture with this documentary. And my dad was extremely happy.

Even at the end of his life, Sky was a fantastic partner for him. And my mom and him had a great time together. And when I was young and my sister was young, and that was that time period he was talking about where they asked him when he was happiest, I think that was just a golden moment for all of us. And I think that that was really cool.

And the career was great. And we were having a lot. a lot of fun and I just think that everything worked out and all the, you know, planets aligned at that time where it was just a really fun time in everyone's lives. So I think that probably attributes to it, but, you know, my dad has always been the type to make the best of every situation. And ultimately, no matter what, he's always been a positive person. And even towards the end of his life, he was, he was extremely happy with where he was at. He was at peace. The last time I saw him, you were kind enough to, to give me and to see him when it was. He was a piece. He was extremely happy.

was kind of difficult to get to see him. And you could just tell he was, he was positive, but he was at peace as well. Yeah. It was phenomenal. You know, I hate to say that, you know, God hasn't planned and it all works out like it's supposed to, but the timing isn't lost on me that he went almost on like a national tour meeting his fans to launch real American beer and then right behind it. Here comes real American freestyle. And this documentary happened all in the last several months of his life. It feels like, I don't know, this was divine intervention. God wanted this story to be out there and for him to feel that love from his fan base across the country. This has been a world win. And I'm glad that they got to do this interview before it was too late.

In theory, Nick, do you know, I know they sort of joke and say, hey, we'll get together in a few months. Was there supposed to be one more sit down interview and then that was it? Or what were the original plans before, you know, God intervened? Yeah. And I can't help but, you know, notice the same thing you just pointed out at the same time. And there's been conversations that I've had that when we were touring the country last year promoting Real American Beer, I was with him for a lot of those times. And we were together in New York, even when he was on the press swing talking about Real American Freestyle and the launch of that. And first of all, I just want to say, Eric has done a great job with that. My dad would be so thrilled with the success of Real American

Freestyle right now and Real American Beer and everything. So that's very exciting. But when we were going out doing that and we were promoting the beer and I was on the road with him and he was making all these stops in these different towns. In hindsight, I looked at it and I said, wow, you know, without knowing that that was almost like a farewell tour for him to go and see his fans one last time, that's almost how it worked out that he went around the country. He toured around the country and he got to go and interact with the people that loved him and supported him his whole life one last time And he got to look those people in the eye and shake their hands and spend time with them. And that's just, it means so much to me that he got to do that.

And that he spent the last year of his life touring around, visiting with his fans. It's like you said, it's divine intervention. And as far as the Netflix interview goes, he, my dad and Eric will definitely speak to this, is that my dad was probably the best in the world at timing. My dad was just absolutely phenomenal with time. things perfectly. I mean, he knew that timing was everything. And I've never seen anyone do it better than him. And maybe he knew something that all of us didn't know and he just, you know, planned things out to time it properly or however, I can't say. But, you know, the timing of him

doing this interview and the timing of him pulling this life story together, it just worked out like that. But there was plans for him to get back together with the crew and film a little bit more. They had banked, I think, five days of interview footage with him. And they were going to go back and they felt like they had enough to start and get through a chunk of the edit. And they were probably going to come back and fill in some gaps and get a little bit more. So they said, hey, such a wardrobe aside, you know, make sure you don't lose any of this stuff. We may need to do some pickup shots and we'll probably want to fill in some gaps. So I know they were planning on coming back to film a little bit more with him.

I don't mean to jump either, Carter, but if you think, think about the Vince McMahon documentary that came out, what was it a year ago? I remember. And it was almost the same, kind of the similar scenario where they started that documentary under one set of conditions, Vince, you know, running WWE. And then they had to finish it up in the midst of the transition, right? So whatever they thought they were going to finish that documentary with, they had to reconfigure it.

Same, similar thing happened here, which puts, once again, again, Hulk and Vince in a unique light from a storytelling perspective. You know, there is still story to tell there for both of them. We're getting lots of positive feedback for you and your family, Nick. Joe Bangles says, Hulkomania for life. Best wishes, Nick, for you and your family. You know, you've kind of become like the de facto spokesperson for your dad's legacy. Those are some awfully big shoes to feel.

I mean, what a pressure this is for you. I don't think people really talk about that. You've, for the most part, been a private person. And now here you are sort of representing Hulkomania for the name. next generation in a weird way. You're the, the curator and the caretaker for that. It's got to be a big responsibility, isn't it? Oh, it's tremendous. And, you know, I'm honored. And primarily, you know, I just love my dad. And, you know, I'll give anything for him to be back here with us. But, you know, the best thing that I can do is carry his legacy forward and make

sure that, like he always said, Hulkmanian will live forever. And I don't need to make sure of that. But I want to make sure that I carry this forward in a way that the fans will always feel a connection to him and to that Hulkomaniac spirit. I do want to ask, you know, as we're winding things down here, Nick, we greatly appreciate all the time. This was a real treat to have you on here. What's the one thing that you wish more people knew about your dad? You know, they learned a lot about your dad over the least last four hours when they watched this documentary, but I'm sure there's one thing or one story maybe that you wish people knew about your dad. Can you tell us that? Yeah, you know, and we've covered

that a lot already and it's about the type of person he was. and that my dad was so in tune with people and he could read people so well and he was just such a humble person and my dad behind all of the you know the muscles and the showmanship and the you know championship belts and everything that he had done in his life and all of these incredible moments and all of the times that he just kept setting the bar higher and higher he was such a humble person that he really loved being home on the beach he always said i'm the world's you know biggest beach bum or whatever he would say is. You know, he's, you know, I just want to be a beach bum.

And that's it. He just loved to be home and he loved to watch sunsets and he just love to hang out on the beach. And he loved to just interact with people and get on his golf cart and ride up and down the beach and hang out and, you know, shoot stuff with people. And that's, that's really who he was. You know, when everything was kind of quiet, he just enjoyed being home on the beach and just relaxing. And like I said, he's, you know, always said he's the, world's biggest beach bum. And what was interesting is when I first started coming down and hanging out with your dad

when you were still young and we would go out. And, you know, you think when I first got to know Hulk, you know, that he's probably hanging around with some pretty high power people like himself in that category in Tampa. And he, his, his core group of friends were barely hanging on. They're just, you know, blue collar workers and just, you know, salt. of the earth guys, the unpretentious as hell. And that's the people that your dad felt most comfortable with. Yeah.

Yeah, he was a humble guy. And that's who he liked to be around was people that were real. And my dad was one of the most down-to-earth people that I could ever imagine. And, you know, I always keep that in perspective in a way. When I see people who, you know, get a little bit egotistical or people that get a little ahead of themselves or people that kind of act in a way that, you know, maybe you could have taking a high road there or something. I always think, you know, man, my dad would have never done that. Or my dad would never have acted like that. Or my dad, you know, he did such a good job of setting that

example for me and putting things in perspective for me that, you know, you're not better than anybody. And, you know, everybody's equal here. And he would treat people that way. And I just remember him setting that example for me. And he was so humble and such a down-to-earth guy. That's the one thing that, you know, I think comes across in this documentary. But if it doesn't or, it doesn't come across enough. That's what I would really love for people to know about my dad. Nick, I got to ask, I'm a wrestling collector, and I saw your dad as one of the scenes visiting one of the different storage units,

and there's all the history of Hulkomania in there. I'm sure you've had a chance to go through some of that stuff. Was there one thing that knocked your socks off? Like, I can't believe this is in here. Does that exist? You know, there's some really cool stuff. The things that are really cool are some of the things that were from my childhood that I remember and connect with.

and like the pinball machines. You know, the pinball machines are so cool because my dad, you know, he was, he loved playing pinball. He loved bowling. He loved simple games and stuff like that. So it was really cool to see that stuff. And there was obviously like his suitcase

that he traveled with in Japan. And there's actually a photo of him standing in Japan with that suitcase that they opened up on the documentary. And he had some of his old calendars in there. And one of the calendars is the January 23rd, 1984. date when he beat Iron Sheep for the belt. And you could see that, you know, he wrote MSG for Madison Square Garden on that date and circled it.

Like it was important. And just to see that in his planner from 1984 that is still in that suitcase is like, it's almost like surreal to see it. You know, it's just crazy. Like to see it's almost like artifacts of like legacy. It's like things of legend, you know, just right there in front of you. So it, that is probably. probably the one thing that, you know,

bloom me away more than anything was seeing that. When you think about your experience in wrestling, you know, tag along with your dad, the NWO's got to be the height, right? That's when you were having the most fun, right? I got to say, the NWO was definitely my favorite era. And, you know,

I was about six years old when the NWO was formed and started. And I found some things that I drew when I was a kid. And I was so into the NWO. I was like, NWO is cool. I was drawing pictures. of my dad as Hollywood Hogan. And I think I was heavily influenced by the NWO.

So, you know, I think when I was a kid, I believed I was one of the founding members of the NWO at some point. So that was definitely the time of my life that I remember vividly that was so cool. And, you know, at that time, I think anybody would tell you that if you didn't think Hollywood Hogan was cool, you must be living under a rock or something. He was the coolest of the cool. Eric, I think a lot of times people forget about this, but the idea that Garrett Bischoff and Nick Balea are running around middle school,

and everybody, every kid that age is obsessed with this. And now, hey, their dad is the biggest ultimate villain on TV. That's kind of fun, don't you think? I mean, I can't imagine what it would have been like for Garrett Bischoff. Like, everybody hated Eric Bischoff. People still thought Hulk Hogan was cool, but there was nothing likable about Eric Bischoff. Yeah, and it was even cooler when Lori and I would bring the kids down and hang out with Hulk and Linden, the kids. And the kids got, we all got to go out and have sushi together.

And, you know, there's the half the NWO sitting there with their kids and their wife. But it was fun. It was a great time. A lot of great memories. You know, I watched Nick grow up during that time. And it's such a, Nick, thank you for being here because it's a, it seems like there's been a lot of full circle moments in my life recently. and it's so surreal in a way sitting here talking to you on this podcast because I've known you so long and given that your dad has now passed, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to still stay.

You know, I see every month at Real American Freestyle and we'll see you in Dallas in a couple weeks, but to be here and do this show and talk about your dad in such a positive way. Oh, thank you, Eric. It's my pleasure to be here, and it's an honor to join you guys today, and I appreciate it. Eric, like you said, you watched me grow up and you've always been there for my dad, there for me. You've always been so helpful and you've always been there for me, especially in this past year since my dad has passed.

You've always been to open to me. Your phone has been on anytime I need to call you or ask you a question or get some advice. And I really appreciate that a lot. And it is my pleasure to join you guys here. I really thank you for having me. Well, thank you for jumping on, Nick. We greatly appreciate all the time. You guys did a fabulous job.

All the best to your mom. and your family. You guys shares your real private life with us. And it was a fascinating journey. And we can't thank you enough for making time today too. Certainly. Thank you, Conrad. It's been a pleasure talking to you as well.

And Eric, I'll see you in Dallas, man, Real American Freestyle. See you there. There you go. May 30th, Real American Freestyle coming your way. Tickets on sale now at real American freestyle.com. Sylvia, you know what it is when you have Nick Hogan, you know, the son of royalty on the show with you. That's a power move.

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I greatly appreciate you line enough Nick to come on with us. Just a phenomenal visit and chat with him. We still got some live questions with Eric. We wanted to be brief with next time. But I don't know what people's expectation of Nick was. But man, how great was that? That was fantastic. He's such a together young man.

You know, I'll be perfectly honest with. you, you know, when this all went down, I said, Nick, if you need anything, because you're going to, you're going to get overwhelmed. I'm pretty familiar with just the amount of business that's behind the Holcogen name that your dad was juggling it. And now it's all in your lap. So if you need any help, you just call me and let me know. I'll point you in the right direction at the very least. And I was concerned. And then when I went down to visit Nick, it was really kind of a check-in to see where he was at in terms of his ability to handle the pressure he was under. And he blew me away.

I walked out of that lunch meeting with him. This kid is on top of his stuff. I think he learned a lot hanging out with his dad. He understood the basics, understands the basic. He understands even a little bit more than the basics. He's got a good instinct. And that's the one thing that Hulk had probably is much of or more than anybody I've ever worked with. Nick referred to it as timing.

Some of that timing was instinct. A lot of it was instinct. And Nick has a lot of that. So he's, the Hulk Hogan brand is in good hands. T. Dunn is with us here live and he wants to know. Eric, what are your thoughts on Guy Evans starting his Hogan book project?

Has he reached out to yourself and Nick? I know you love you some Guy Evans. What do you think about the new Hogan project he's working on? I'm excited about it. You know, I'm certainly not going to, you know, I'll only weigh in if, It asks my opinion, but you know I have a ton of respect for Guy.

I know that Guy has a ton of respect for Hulk and would treat Hulk's story in his version of the book with the utmost respect. So I hope it comes together. And guy is so good at research. Like he digs so deep. And that's, you know how Guy writes. He's going to write a 500-page book. right? When I coming in at 250 pages with pictures and shit, you're coming in at 500 pages, 400 pages and it's going to be dense because he does so much research. And I think that's

where if there's an audience that's out there that wants more granularity and specifics and detail, that's where you're going to find it. Jeremy Gerber 867 says, thank you, Eric, for getting Nick on. Joe Bangles says, Nickomania. I like that Nick's getting a positive reception here. Robo Raider wants to know, of course, this was probably a question for Nick. Was your dad close with Haku at all? Yeah, Haku was actually at the services in formal Samoan guard. So Ming, Haku, whatever you want to call him, he'll always be sir to me.

He was there and well represented last July when they laid the Holkster to rest. I want to welcome Joe Bangles to the fan club here. Greatly appreciate you being here. AOTV productions had a question for Nick and he said, hey, when you first found out they wanted to do a reality series called Hogan knows best. what was your reaction? Eric, I'll flip it and ask you. Obviously, you were in that business during that era doing a lot of reality shows. What did you think of the Holkster signing up to do a reality show?

Were you surprised he agreed to do that? Shocked. Shocked. Because Hulk, he valued his privacy. He didn't get a lot of it. You know, like once he stepped off his property, privacy was out the window. I've made jokes about that. Got the dinner, walked down the street with him.

People walk right up in the middle. You could be talking about the most important thing in the world. And people walk right up to you say, excuse me, excuse me. I hate to interrupt, but they might interrupt. So there was no privacy except for what he was at home. So the idea of opening up, and by the way, doing your reality show is an 18 hour a day gig. You're in your house setting up. They've got the windows blacked out.

They're trying to light your house for television. They're moving furniture all over the place. You got 15 people running through your house. with cameras and lights and cables and chick filet and all kinds of other crap it's a mess it's not easy and i was shocked that that hulk and linda signed up for that not surprised the kids got excited about it but kid wouldn't but man that's a lot of work big commitment it took a chunk out of the family's relationship too deep blue 8143 says i love hoagin so much i tried to watch it last night but i couldn't get through it it just hurts too much i still can't believe he's gone he is the

greatest of all time, bar none. Not to be super personal here, Eric, but did you watch this with Mrs. B? What'd she think? No, she hasn't seen it. She just got home yesterday last night. Was it last night? Yeah, she just got home last night. We were in Boston together and then Lori went from, I came home after Boston, watched in the marathon and then Lori went on to Virginia for a convention in a series of meetings that she needed to have there. So she just got home last night.

She hasn't seen it yet. I told her all about it. What were the more emotional parts for you, Eric, where you found yourself getting caught up in the moment. I can admit, you know, when when Hulkster said that when he was at his happiest is when his kids were young and Linda, he went on and started talking about a woman who we know had, I mean,

this was one of the more prominent divorce stories of modern times. I mean, it was headlines everywhere. So you wouldn't imagine that answer. But when it came, it was like, oh man, he's like being really vulnerable and really sharing. And then when when Bruce talked about hawkster passing away and his voice cracked,

I don't like to see my friends get upset. And so when his voice cracked, mine did a little too. And I wasn't even talking to anybody. What was it like for you? Were there moments? We were like, oh, I was not ready to see that. Several, but they were all such subtle, nuanced moments. Some of them were camera angles where I could, you know, just look at his

eyes when he was talking about a particular subject or moment or memory, that's what I would see that. That's the real guy. He's letting them in. He's actually letting people. Now, I'd see it in person in a conversation, even, you know, other people, you'd see him, you'd see the real terrible layout. But the minute there were, the minute he was on stage or in character, which was most of the time, that's the Terry that people, that's the whole Cogun that people, you know, they thought he was like that all the time. He wasn't. And there were times, many times throughout the four hours

that I got that look again, that's really him. That's really my friend. Because I don't think of the Hulk Hogan character when I think of my friend. I think of the guy we got to know in a documentary. That's the real guy. And I saw so much of it that I got excited about and occasionally emotional. There's a couple of things that got to me, though, like,

these are a little picky things. Obviously, they had to kind of compote WWE Netflix had to kind of compress the timeline. They didn't really talk much about WCW, which is fine. That's not what this was for. But, you know, the whole turning heel thing was kind of an important part of Terry's character. And there was no real explanation of that that I think could have made sense. And they did compress a couple of issues, you know, as far as reinstating him and the timing and WrestleMania and all that stuff.

But that's common. You have to do that. Otherwise, you'd be watching a 20-hour documentary. The other thing, though, it doesn't bother me. It doesn't make me angry. But when I see Jeremy Borash, I want to ask him, because I like Jeremy a lot, and I respect him. But Jeremy was adamant when he said that, you know, the expectation at T&A was that Alk was going to come in and wrestle. What?

Now, Jeremy was never in any of the initial meetings that I was in, and I was in all of them. And I negotiated that contract with Hulk. You know, I worked it out with Hulk and his attorney. You know, he drafted the agreement, but I negotiated the deal points. And Hulk wrestling was never a part of any conversation that Hulk had or I had or Dixie had or Guy Blake, the attorney for T&A at the time had. there was no Terry wrestling conversations going on. So the fact that Jeremy was so adamant that that was the expectation, you know,

of management of Hulk coming into TNA only to be let down. He didn't say that, but it was implied that he wasn't going to wrestle. I thought that was an interesting twist in a little bit of history that I'd never heard before. But, you know, I'll ask Jeremy about it. I'm kind of curious.

I loved it. I thought it was a fantastic documentary. I'm with you. You know, they certainly could have added more context. We could have made it longer. I'm sure there's a ton on the editing room floor. Can't wait to see what, if anything, comes of all of that. I did want to ask you, you know, there, I hesitated to ask Nick this, but it almost feels like if there was one wrestling regret for the Hulkster, it was that he didn't shut it down after WrestleMania 18. Did he ever privately mentioned to you that maybe it was in passing or over a few beers? Hey, you know what? If I had it to do over again,

That match with Rock, that would have been the last one. Do you ever have a conversation like that? No. No. I don't think so. I don't remember if we did. It certainly doesn't stand out in it. It's not something that I think Hulk would have said to me.

Now, maybe he thought it. He felt that privately. Right. Probably in retrospect. I know I felt, you know, looking back at my career, there was a couple points where I wish, you know, I was thinking about leaving and, and didn't and wished I would have because the whole trajectory of my life would have been different.

And actually, I'm glad it didn't because I'm in a good spot right now, whatever. But I'm sure there were times when Terry thought that, particularly given everything that he was going through the last few years, because the injuries were only getting worse. And I think the documentary did do a good job of capturing that. And I know people are probably going always exaggerating it. And if anything, I think it was understated, just the severity in the amount of, pain killers he was on just to get in and out of the car. So I thought that they brought that home really well.

But overall, man, I thought it was great. Glad they did it. Terry, Terry Belay and Hulk Hogan both would be thrilled with this project. Well, we hope you guys are too. We hope everybody checks it out. It was a fantastic documentary. I know they couldn't have covered it all.

I mean, it would have taken forever. And as I said, you have to strike a balance. If you want WWE's participation and family participation, like if someone would have tried to have done this story without access to the WVE footage, it wouldn't have been the same. And if we wouldn't have had access to the home movies, it wouldn't have been the same. So it was the right call. And I know there's a lot of people in the internet wrestling bubble who say, oh, they should have talked about this for that. I agree. I would have loved to have heard those things too.

But if you want those two really powerful pieces of the story to be included, then you've got to make some concessions. I mean, I'm not, I don't pretend to know what happened behind the scene. but I know that, hey, I'm not going to give you some home movies for my dad if you're just going to dump on my family for eight hours. Like, this is not going to happen. We're not going to participate. So I think it's fair and reasonable. And the result was a fantastic documentary.

And I have to admit, when I saw Jesse Ventura, I just assumed there'd be more negativity there. There wasn't. And I know there was one comment from Brett, but I'd like to think that was filmed before Perry passed away. There was a lot of really positive stuff from him otherwise sprinkled throughout the show. but there was the one interaction at WrestleMania 9 that you can tell all these years later Brett hasn't let go of. Nor will he ever, but that's just Brett.

Well, we appreciate you guys being a part of our journey today. Hit the subscribe button, turn on the notifications bell, and tell a friend about Hulk Hogan, real American, and then direct them here to 83 Weeks.com here from Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff and the son of the legend Hulk Hogan, Nick Hogan, right here on 83weeks.com.