Brooke Hogan will always remember the fond memories she had with her late father, Hulk Hogan, despite their complicated relationship.
“Something hit me today. It may have been for a story line, it may have been fake, but I remember this moment like it was yesterday,” Brooke, 37, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, August 7. “I actually teared up when I saw my daddy emerge in a suit to walk me down the aisle — into a wrestling ring of all things. I actually got nervous and emotional, as if it were real.”
Brooke was involved in a romantic story line with professional wrestler Bully Ray in 2013. In a scripted moment, Hulk pretended to walk her down the aisle after she emerged in the ring wearing a bridal gown.
“He whispered to me, ‘Chill out, it’s a work [sic].’ But for some reason, I still felt proud,” Brooke wrote of her dad on Thursday. “Even Dixie Carter said something about it, [which] struck an emotional chord. So, although I didn’t get to achieve this experience in real life, unfortunately, I can try to fuse two happy memories into one — and make a happy ending of my own to hold on to.”
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Brooke married hockey player Steven Oleksy in June 2022, though her dad was not in attendance. (Brooke and Hulk were estranged in the years before his death in July.)
“I can officially say, ‘My dad did walk me down the aisle one time,’” Brooke concluded, adding a sad-face emoji.
Us Weekly confirmed on July 24 that Hulk died at the age of 71 after suffering cardiac arrest. His cause of death was ruled as an acute myocardial infarction, which is commonly known as a heart attack.
Hulk is survived by his wife, Sky Daily, along with his two children and two grandchildren. He shared Brooke and son Nick, 35, with ex-wife Linda Hogan. Both Linda, 65, and Nick attended Hulk’s funeral earlier this week, while Brooke, who shares twins with her husband, opted against attending the memorial.
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“My father hated the morbidity of funerals. He didn’t want one. And although I know people grieve in many ways — and I’m so grateful for all celebrations and events organized to honor him, as his daughter, I had to make my own decision to honor him the best and most genuine way I knew how … privately,” Brooke wrote in a Tuesday, August 5, Instagram post. “Daddy, we honored you in the simplest way that agreed with my soul. We took our babies to the beach, and put them in the same salty waters you loved.”
She concluded, “We love you and honor the things that made you so special. Every grain of sand and every wave reminded me of being your beach baby, and brought us closer to you. I pray you are at peace and know how dearly I love you.”
