Hulk Hogan's heartbreaking confession before tragic death at 71

Less than a year before his death at the age of 71 on July 24, Hulk Hogan sadly spoke of his regret at not listening to WWE boss Vince McMahon and instead lying when the organisation was embroiled in a steroids scandal. At the height of his fame, as an icon to millions of children around the world, the revelation that he had taken steroids would have destroyed his career. However, he found himself embroiled in controversy in 1991 when he was named as one of the wrestlers George Zahorian, a doctor who worked for the WWE, was selling illegal steroids to.

Addressing the issue at the time, he went on the Arsenio Hall Show and, against McMahon's advice, categorically stated. "I'm not a steroid abuser and I do not use steroids." However, he conceded doctors had given him some temporarily, as they were part of a synthetic male hormone used as a treatment for injuries early in his career. Speaking on the Netflix documentary, Mr McMahon in September last year, Hogan recalled: "I remember talking to Vince about going on Arsenio Hall. He thought it was a really bad idea... I self-destructed my own self. That was one of the worst decisions I ever made, not listening to Vince."

In the same documentary, McMahon confirmed he had told the star to simply come clean about his steroid use.

He said: "I held a press conference and said, 'I took steroids. Not anymore. We're going to establish protocols and procedures to make certain none of our performers do either.'

"The same day, Hulk Hogan went on the Arsenio Hall Show... My suggestion to him is to come clean. That's not what happened. It was like, 'Oh God, please. Just tell the truth.' It's so much easier..."

"When you do stuff like that and don't tell the truth, then it's an open door for people to come get you. Unfortunately, we were caught in the crosshairs as well," McMahon recalled.

It would be another three years before he confessed to taking steroids when he was called upon to testify at McMahon's trial, where the WWE boss stood accused of giving his wrestlers steroids, which had been banned in the United States since 1990.

The trial lasted 18 days, and Hogan was given immunity from prosecution to testify. This led him to reveal he had indeed been a habitual user of the drugs.

He said that although he had initially taken them for physical ailments, he continued to ingest them for 14 years, and also shared them with Vince McMahon. However, he insisted McMahon had never forced him to take them nor bought them for him. "I believed it was legal because I had a prescription for it," he told the court.

He contradicted this in a 2024 interview with , he confessed he and every other wrestler took steroids even after they were banned, saying: "When it became illegal, we kept yoking up because we were out tearing biceps like this that wouldn't get fixed, and muscle tears everywhere."