NEED TO KNOW
Eric Bischoff detailed his final meeting with close friend Hulk Hogan before the wrestling icon’s death on July 24
Bischoff said Hogan “sounded tired” and appeared “weak” during the hour-long visit in Florida
Hogan wanted to talk business and was “so anxious to get back to work” before his death, said Bischoff
Hulk Hogan’s close friend Eric Bischoff is detailing his final meeting with the WWE legend just before his death on July 24.
Bischoff, 70, talked about his visit with a “weak” Hogan in Florida on the Tuesday, July 29 episode of his “83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff” podcast, revealing that Hogan was eager to get back to work in his final months. “I could tell he was weak. He sounded tired,” the producer and wrestling booker said, noting that Hogan’s son Nick encouraged him to call Hogan.
“[Hogan] said, ‘I really want to see you, but I’m kind of embarrassed for you to see me this way because I’ve been pretty sick,'” Bischoff shared. He said he told Hogan, “When I look at you, I don’t see the same thing you see when you look in the mirror, so f— that, I’ll be down Monday.”
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Hulk Hogan on Nov. 6, 2009 in West Hollywood, Calif.
Bischoff’s final visit with Hogan lasted about an hour and the friends mostly discussed business, he said. Hogan was asking him about upcoming events and Real American Freestyle updates. “All he wanted to talk about was business, but in a fun, energetic way,” Hogan’s longtime pal shared, noting that while Hogan wasn’t necessarily “struggling” for breath, he was exerting “more effort” than usual during the visit.
“It was work for him to have a conversation but he was the same guy,” Bischoff said.
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In an effort to give Hogan “something to look forward to other than being taken care of,” Bischoff told his friend he’d look into setting up promotional interviews for him. “I knew it was going to be quite a while before he was going to be able to do interviews,” Bischoff noted. “I wanted to leave him looking forward to something.”
“He said, ‘Brother, I can’t wait. I may not be able to do anything on camera for a couple weeks but I’ll be good on the phone. You can set some stuff up for me.'”
The longtime producer and wrestling booker added that he made sure to send a text to Hogan’s wife Sky, letting her know that there was no pressure for her husband to participate in the discussed interviews, and he only had to do them if he wanted to. “She got it and she appreciated it,” said Bischoff.
Hogan was apparently “so anxious to get back to work,” before his death. “He loved the hunt, the thrill of the hunt,” said Bischoff.
On July 24, emergency services were called to Hogan’s home in Clearwater Beach, Fl. at 9:51 a.m. local time, according to dispatch calls reviewed by PEOPLE. First responders began performing CPR on Hogan, and according to the audio, CPR was still “in progress” at 10:28 a.m. as medics were “working on getting him out to the ambulance.”
Hogan was transported to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was declared dead, according to a report from the Clearwater Fire Department.
Read the original article on People
