Eric Bischoff Recalls Hulk Hogan’s Health Issues From Hulkamania Australia Tour

On a recent episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed the Hulkamania Australia wrestling tour featuring Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in 2009.

Bischoff discussed Hogan’s health, how they put organized the roster for the tour, and whether The Hulkster had any concerns regarding his injuries.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On Hulk Hogan’s physical health issues in 2009: “All back, yep. His knees were an issue, but he could work around that, but his back was really bad at that point in time. I was shocked he even agreed to go. He couldn’t sit. He couldn’t stand. He couldn’t lay down. You got an 18 or 20-hour flight or whatever it is to get over there, and it was brutal, but he did it. He was excited about doing it.”

On if he had any preconceived notions regarding Australia wrestling and fans: “No, I didn’t. Obviously, I was excited. I’ve always loved going to new countries and experiencing different cultures, and learning. That’s always appealed to me. So, I was excited just generally to go to Australia. I had never been to Australia personally at that point. So, it was exciting for me on a personal basis. On a business basis the deal that we put together on paper was a really, really sweet deal financially. I knew that the wrestling audience was large and loud. I knew that there was a big wrestling audience there, but beyond that I didn’t really have any expectations.”

On how they put together the roster for the tour: “Hulk had a couple guys that he wanted to bring over and part of it was he wanted to have fun. He was going through a lot personally, and been through a lot personally, and obviously his physical situation was bad putting it mildly and figured as long as I’m going over there I want to go over there and have as much fun as possible. Which is why he wanted the Nasty Boys. For better or worse whatever you want to say about the Nasty Boys, but they were fun to be around most of the time. He wanted people that he knew and he wanted to have a good time. But, the rest of the roster really Reno put it together.”

On if Hulk Hogan was nervous about wrestling due to his injuries: “I think he was really nervous about that beyond nervous. I think he was frightened because he didn’t know how his back was going to hold up. He wasn’t able to work out. He wasn’t able to train. He could barely freaking walk at that point. He couldn’t sit for more than 20 minutes at a time. He’d have to get up and try to move and then after about 15-20 minutes of moving around he had to sit down again because he couldn’t keep moving. It was a really bad situation for him. So, no he wasn’t able to work out. He wasn’t able to get in the ring and bounce off the ropes a little bit or take a bump. He wasn’t able to do anything. He could barely walk for more than 20 minutes. I think because he knew he was as compromised as he was physically there was a fear that he could get in the ring and he could blow his back out and not be able to continue. It was a real fear, but he did it anyway. Imagine he probably medicated. He was on a lot of medication at that time. Prescribed, nothing illegal. I’m sure he pilled up. Did the best he could and hoped for the best, but he was concerned about it.”

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