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In his last appearance for WWE, Hulk Hogan, undoubtedly the best wrestler in the company’s history, was booed.
By the time January 6, 2025, his final appearance, arrived, Hogan openly supported President Donald Trump, which disheartened some of his followers.
“But he never expressed regret. He stuck to who he was,” Brian Storkel, director of the upcoming Netflix documentary about the late wrestler, said in a recent interview with Pak Gazette Digital.
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Businessman Donald Trump and world champion wrestler Hulk Hogan at the Wrestlemania VI Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on March 29, 1987. (Jeffrey Asher/Getty Images)
Hogan had conducted five days of interviews with Netflix, totaling 25 hours. However, he will not be able to see the final product, as he passed away in July at the age of 71.
Long before becoming an outspoken Trump supporter, Hogan had been involved in some controversies in the past. But from the beginning, Storkel wanted to “humanize it and really get to know Terry Bollea, the person.”
“With all the subjects in my documentaries, I don’t like to see people in black and white terms. Even if someone has done something bad, I don’t see it as purely good or bad. People are more complex than that, and that nuance is where the story becomes interesting,” Storkel said. “You need a guy willing to get there and reflect and be open, and Terry was that.”
Hogan became more public with his support for Trump after an assassination attempt in July 2024.
“He said he had been a silent supporter for a long time, but he was embarrassed to wear that hat. He mentioned that the assassination attempt was what pushed him to speak out. Shortly after, he spoke publicly and received some backlash for it,” Storkel said.
Hulk Hogan, entertainer and professional wrestler, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum. The final day of the Republican National Convention featured a keynote address by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (IMAG Distribution: USA TODAY)
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Ironically, the last time Storkel spoke with Hogan was right after an interview with Trump for the documentary.
“I was in the White House, right outside the West Wing, on a call with Hulk Hogan, which was the strangest thing. It felt like one of those surreal moments that you imagine when you’re a kid: a made-up story that you would tell people. I had just spent some time with Donald Trump, something that Hulk Hogan had set up so that I could interview him, and then I was there talking to Hogan about it. I was so excited about what had happened,” Storkel recalled.
“At that point, he was already in and out of the hospital after surgery, so that ended up being the last call I had with him.”
Storkel admitted there wasn’t much difference between the documentary following Hogan’s death and his original plans, aside from some belated tributes and more time with his son, Nick. Storkel was doing interviews for the documentary at WWE headquarters in Connecticut the day Hogan died.
“There’s also a moment in the film where I say we’ll come back in a couple of months for another interview. He agrees and walks out of the frame, and that ends up being the last time. It becomes a powerful moment because you realize the follow-up never happens,” Storkel said.
But whatever the case, Storkel felt a responsibility to tell the story of the greatest.
Nick Hogan and Hulk Hogan during VH1 Big in ’05 – Backstage and audience at Sony Studios in Los Angeles, California. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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“With every project, I want to be fair and accurate. Of course I want the people involved to feel good about it, but I won’t change the truth to make that happen,” Storkel said. “With the Hulk, knowing him personally made it more important to properly honor him. Yes, he was flawed and polarizing, but he was also a loving person with a great personality.
“I didn’t want his legacy to be reduced to a single label or judged solely by politics or past mistakes. My goal was to show the whole human being. Regardless of how people feel when they walk in, I think they will come away with a deeper understanding of who he was. I really valued meeting him and I hope audiences have the same experience through the documentary.”
