Netflix, Words + Pictures working on Hulk Hogan docuseries prior to his death
Netflix was working on a documentary series about the life of Hulk Hogan at the time of his death last week at the age of 71.
Hulk Hogan
Pro Wrestling Illustrated Annual 1985 via CC
The unfinished project, produced by Chernin Entertainment’s unscripted production company Words + Pictures and directed by Bryan Storkel, includes more than 20 hours of new interviews filmed before his death, according to Puck News, which first reported that a docuseries was in the works.
C21 confirmed with sources the existence of the docuseries, which is being made with the involvement of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Netflix declined to comment. It is not yet clear when the project might be released.
Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, died last Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest in Florida. He is widely considered to be the most influential figure in the history of professional wrestling, helping to turn WWE (fka The World Wrestling Federation) into a mainstream global powerhouse and paving the way for subsequent generations of crossover stars to break into Hollywood.
In addition to his work in the ring, he also appeared in numerous movies throughout the 1980s and 1990s and later fronted the VH1 docuseries Hogan Knows Best, which ran for four seasons from 2005 to 2007.
Hogan participated in some of the biggest storylines, events and moments in the history of WWE and its competitor World Championship Wrestling, which he joined in 1994. He was also a divisive figure in the world of pro wrestling, with frequent accusations that he was slow to help build new stars.
He made headlines in 2013 after suing gossip website Gawker for posting a sex tape involving Hogan and a friend’s wife. Hogan won the case and Gawker subsequently went bankrupt.
He returned to WWE earlier this year for the debut episode of Monday Night Raw on Netflix to promote his beer brand, Real American Beer, though was roundly booed by the crowd at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The boos were attributed, in part, to the fact Hogan had become a prominent supporter of Donald Trump’s Make American Great Again movement, while the WWE audience, in the main, leans slightly to the left.
More recently, he partnered with former pro wrestling executive Eric Bischoff on the upcoming launch of Real American Freestyle, a freestyle wrestling promotion backed by Left Lane Capital. Just days before Hogan’s death, Fox Nation announced it would be the exclusive broadcast partner for the promotion, whose first event is scheduled to take place on August 30.
Hogan died in the same week as Ozzy Osbourne, another superstar who reached a new audience and reinvented their public persona through the world of reality television.
