The tally included 10 back surgeries according to a 2024 interview with Hogan

PublishedJuly 26, 2025 3:27 PM EDT•UpdatedJuly 26, 2025 3:28 PM EDT

The death of wrestling and pop-culture icon Hulk Hogan — whose real name was Terry Bollea — at 71 was a shock to many people.

As surprising as it was, Hogan was no stranger to health battles over the final decade of his career, with the wrestler himself stating that he underwent around 25 surgeries.

Hogan was a guest on social media personality and WWE superstar Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast back in 2024, and during that interview, he revealed just how much time he had spent under the knife.

Wrestling is obviously an incredibly tough profession on one's body, and while modern rings are a bit more forgiving, back problems are still pretty common.

Now, consider someone like Hulk Hogan wrestling for decades and starting his career on rings that sometimes had lumps in them or boards sticking out, and it starts to make sense that in the final decade of his life, he had 10 surgeries on his back.

In an interview just about a year before his death, Hulk Hogan revealed that he had more than 25 surgeries in the last 10 years of his life. (Getty images)

"It was horrible," Hogan told Paul, per Fox News Digital. "The equipment and jumping up and dropping the damn leg for 40 years, when I had the largest arms in the world — I should’ve been using ‘The Sleeper.’"

In addition to the back issues, the Hulkster had surgeries on both of his shoulders and both knees and both hips replaced, with those last two likely being a result of that signature leg drop he was alluding to.

Of course, there's always the question of whether you're getting beaten up that badly over the decades, then why keep getting in the ring?

Well, the answer to that was simple.

"I probably should’ve quit earlier, but I just loved doing it," Hogan said. "And the money was just crazy." 

It's a tough business, that's for sure, but Hogan told Paul he had no regrets about it.