The entire wrestling world knows about the back pain Hulk Hogan suffered for years. Carrying the company on his back (pun intended) during its heyday took a massive physical toll on the WWE legend.
The two-time WWE Hall of Famer has had 10+ surgeries in his lifetime to relieve the pain and live a healthy life. The 69-year-old had an extensive in-ring career that relied on his physical feats to showcase his dominance and contribute to the psychology of his matches. Several legendary wrestlers joined hands to tour Australia in 2009 as they aimed to enjoy one last hurrah. However, a notable WWE personality revealed the truth about the pain Hogan endured during the tour in his 50s.
Hulk Hogan was in bad physical shape during the Hulkamania Australian tour
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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 talked about the issue on the episode of his 83 Weeks podcast.
“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,” Bischoff said.
The 12-time world champion has always shared an immeasurable passion for the business more than anything. Hence, even though he suffered from immense 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 this contributed to the fact that he had undergone a total of 23 surgeries in his life.
Bischoff says Ric Flair was on the tour so Hogan could have got a trustworthy opponent
The Nature Boy was also a part of this tour and had matches with The Hulkster. The reason for the same was Hogan getting an opponent who he can trust while wrestling with injuries.
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.”
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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.
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