During an interview on The Ringer Wrestling Show during SummerSlam 2025 weekend, Bret Hart was asked to speak about Hulk Hogan, who passed away a few weeks before this interview. Bret went on to talk about his dislike for the Hulkster and how Hogan never did anything for him:
“WrestleMania 8, when I fought Roddy Piper, Roddy Piper was one of the few guys that reached down and pulled me up to his level. Roddy Piper made me and contributed back to the next generation. But there was a lot of wrestlers that didn’t do that. Hulk Hogan never did that for anybody. He never pulled anyone else up. Jake Roberts never did anything for anybody else. He only did for Jake Roberts.
I always thought the day I won the belt, I always thought Hulk Hogan would come up and pat me on the back and tell me how glad he was that I was the guy that they picked to pull the sword out of the stone for him. And, you know, unfortunately, that’s not how it was. The second I won the belt, I was the enemy. I had what he wanted, and we were never really friends, ever again.
I always will shake my head and wonder what it was that why he was such a roadblock for me, like he wouldn’t do anything for me. And he made sure, and I know this to be a fact, but he made sure that, like when I was in WCW, he made sure that they didn’t do anything with me, like, ‘don’t do anything with them. Just leave them, let them sit in the bench.’ WCW would fly me down in first class, first class airfare, first class car rental, first class hotel, first class everything. And then when I got to the building, they’d tell me I was off and I’d just fly home.
When I was a little kid, you go to school and elementary school, there’s just always some kids that are bullsh*tters, that just tell bullsh*t and are just classic… that’s just the way they are. I think Hulk Hogan was a bullsh*tter.”
Bret’s latest comments are a stark contrast to what he said about Hogan during an interview with Calgary Sun in June of 2002. Here’s what The Hitman said back then:
“The first time I met Terry Bollea, we were both working for Georgia Championship Wrestling, which eventually evolved into the WCW. Back then he was known as Sterling Golden. He was very green. And very impressive. On the day I left Atlanta to come home I knocked on his door to say goodbye and told him if he ever wanted to learn to wrestle he was welcome to come up and work for my Dad any time. He thanked me, and meant it, saying he’d keep it in mind. The next time I saw him was in Japan. He’d just shot his cameo for the Rocky III movie and was on the verge of mega stardom that nobody could have even begun to imagine. Still the same guy.
When I started with the WWF, in August of ‘84, he was on his way to being, without question, the biggest name in the history of wrestling. I can remember, even during the glory days of Hulkamania, how Terry would come into the dressing room and say hi to every single wrestler. Every night he headlined there was a sell out and throughout the night all the wrestlers would come up to him and whoever his opponent was and thank them both for the house, for putting food on their tables and making wrestling something worth respecting. I can say that Hulk Hogan was not only a hero to millions of Hulkamaniacs, but to all the wrestlers too. If Vince McMahon was Julius Caesar, then Hulk Hogan was Alexander The Great.
I remember one time at an airport, in about 1987, when Hulk signed one autograph after another to the point where it took him 45 minutes to get to the gate. They were closing the doors as he was boarding the plane and this one fan asked him for his autograph. He said apologetically, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t, I’m gonna miss my flight…’ and he got on the plane. I was right behind him and I heard a bystander flippantly remark, ‘Just like I figured. I always thought he was a jerk.’ I thought to myself, that person has no idea how many autographs he just signed.
Being a hero like Hulk Hogan, it’s hard to make everybody happy but for a guy that’s been wrestling as long as he has, he’s certainly done a heck of a job.
Hulk was especially considerate of me when I joined him in the WCW. I saw him a few days ago at Davey’s funeral and despite the sad backdrop, it was nice to catch up on things. So then I opened up my paper and saw a picture of Hulk, taken in Calgary, with a 15-year-old girl named Amanda Marqniq who dreams of being a pro wrestler but needed a heart transplant. It brought back what I remember most about Hulk Hogan, even more than his feats as a great wrestler.
The countless times the office came to get him from the dressing room to make the wish of a sick or dying child come true. Despite the fact that he was pulled in too many different directions and had little time for himself or his family, Hulk always had all the time in the world for kids who needed him to be their hero. He somehow knew just the right things to say. It was never a burden to him. If anything, it gave him a sense of real purpose. I’ve always tried to follow his example.”
Also Read: Bret Hart Reveals What Hulk Hogan Told Him At WrestleMania 9
