The entire wrestling world knows about the back pain Hulk Hogan suffered for years. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer has had 10+ surgeries in his lifetime to reduce his back pain and live a happy life. The legendary wrestler had an extensive in-ring career that relied on his physical feats to showcase his trademark style of storytelling. But recently, a former RAW General Manager shared how much pain The Hulkster was in on his Hulkamania Australian Tour. Hogan really loves the sport as even though all the pain he gave a great show on Australian soil being in his 50s.
In 2009, after making a name in WWE, WCW, and even NJPW, Hogan, embarked on a journey to Australia. Along with Ric Flair and several other wrestling stars and legends, Hulkamania ran wild on the largest continent of Oceania.
However, at that point, The Immortal One was suffering from severe pain from wrestling all those years prior. Recently, Eric Bischoff shared about the same on the episode of 83 Weeks podcast.
Bischoff added, “His knees were an issue, but he could work around that. But his back was really bad. At that point in time. I didn’t I was shocked. He even agreed to go. He couldn’t sit, he couldn’t stand, he couldn’t lay down any you know, you got to 18 or 20-hour flight or whatever it is to get over there. And it was brutal. But he did it. And he was excited about doing it.”
The 12-time world champion has always loved this business more than anything. Hence even though he endured all the pain, Hogan put on a great show for the Australian audience in 2009.
As per Bischoff, this was the 69-year-old legend’s first tour in Australia in his illustrious career. Shockingly, he performed with severe pain and later once he shared having a total of 23 surgeries in his life.
The 67-year-old said, “Hulk was in really, really bad physical shape at that point. And also knew that he had to be in there with somebody that he could really trust and depend on. That could help him overcome some of the limitations that he had physically because he was in really bad shape.”
The matches were scheduled for On November 21, 24, 26, and 28 of the year 2009. Furthermore, The Immortal One face Naitch on all four dates and won the matches. Flair had defeated Hogan several times than any other wrestler, until then.