Hulk Hogan is recovering after recently undergoing heart surgery, a source close to the wrestling legend exclusively tells Us Weekly.
“Hulk had pretty serious heart surgery a few weeks ago and was doing well afterward. It wasn’t a near-death thing,” the source explains.
Hogan has been “recovering” from the operation, but the insider clarifies he is not “on death’s door.”
Rumors about Hogan’s health started circulating on Wednesday, June 18, after radio host Bubba The Love Sponge said Hogan, 71, was in the hospital and phone calls had been made to loved ones “about getting to town to come say your goodbyes.”
Inside Hulk Hogan’s Life Out of the WWE Spotlight Amid Family Drama
The conversation about Hogan’s health comes as the WWE Hall of Famer finds himself embroiled in a bitter fallout with his daughter, Brooke Hogan.
Brooke, 37, explained why she has chosen to distance herself from her father and her mother, Linda Hogan, in a March social media post. (Linda filed for divorce from Hulk in November 2007 after more than 20 years of marriage. The exes finalized their divorce in July 2009.)
“I have completely separate reasons for going no contact with each of my parents,” Brooke wrote via Instagram. “No contact with my Mom has nothing to do with my Dad, and no contact with my Father has nothing to do with my Mother.”
Brooke said the decision was made “based purely on how they have dealt with me directly my entire life.”
After Brooke’s revelation, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that Hulk had been caught off guard by her actions.
“Terry not speaking to Brooke is [a] much more recent thing,” the insider said, referring to Hulk, whose real name is Terry Bollea.
The insider said Hulk “tells people he doesn’t specifically know why Brooke won’t speak to him.”
In April, a source exclusively told Us that Brooke’s husband, former NHL hockey player Steve Oleksy, has been trying to get in touch with Hulk for “years” about the family drama.
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According to the source, Oleksy, 39, has directly requested a “man-to-man conversation” from Hulk, 71, multiple times since he began dating Brooke.
“Unfortunately, that’s never been in the cards,” the source said.
Brooke and Oleksy got secretly married in June 2022 and welcomed fraternal twins — Oliver and Molly — in January 2025.
“The hurt is very, very heavy,” the source added. “Brooke tries to move more and more away from the letdown time and time again.”
