Hulk Hogan representative responds to stunning claims he's paralysed

A representative for wrestling icon Hulk Hogan has refuted reports the 69-year-old is "paralysed" and has lost feeling below the waist. Reports began circulating that the WWE star and actor was paralysed after fellow wrestling icon Kurt Angle said on his podcast that the Thunder In Paradise star had lost all feeling below the waist and had to use a walking cane.

Angle said on The Kurt Angle Show: "Hogan had back surgery again. He had the nerves cut from his lower body, he can't feel his lower body. So, he has to use his cane to walk around. I thought he was using the cane because he has pain in his back.

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"He doesn't have any pain, he has nothing at all. He can't feel anything. So, now he can't feel his legs so he has to walk with a cane which is, you know, that's pretty serious.

"I mean, I really feel for Hogan. He put his heart and soul into the business and it ate him up."

Angle revealed details about Hogan's situation during the filming of WWE’s Monday Night Raw 30th anniversary episode, which aired around the world on January 23. He added about the icon: “I mean, if you’re gonna kick off the show, the 30th anniversary of Raw, [it] should be Hulk Hogan. He’s the name and face of the company. He’s the guy that revolutionised pro wrestling. I have so much respect for him."

However, a spokesperson for the WWE star and actor – whose real name is Terry Bollea - told Entertainment Tonight that Hogan is "doing well and is not paralysed". The 69-year-old's representative also insisted that the WWE Hall of Famer does not require a walking cane to get around.

“Everything is OK with him,” Hogan's rep told Entertainment Tonight. “Hulk is someone with a lot of humour."

The update on Hogan's condition will come as a welcome relief to the wrester's army of fans. Many of the 69-year-old's supporters had taken to social media to express their heartache at the news he was paralysed.

Hulk Hogan's career set to be made into a film

Hogan rose to fame in the 1980s as arguably the biggest name in WWE during an era that included other superstars such as 'Macho Man' Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior. Hogan made his first acting appearance in Rocky III in 1982 and went on to star in his own action TV series Thunder In Paradise in the early 90s.

Between 2005 and 2007 he starred with his family in their own reality series Hogan Knows Best. The American first announced his retirement from wrestling in 1998 but after undergoing knee surgery in 2001, he returned to the ring and made several subsequent comeback appearances.

In 2015, the wrestling icon admitted to being racist after a leaked sex tape emerged that showed him ranting against Black men and using the N word. WWE subsequently terminated his contract and Mattel stopped producing his action figures in response to the controversy.

He later apologised in a TV interview a month later and attributed his comments to growing up around racial bias in his neighbourhood of Tampa, Florida. Celebrities who came out in support of Hogan at the time included Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Mr. T and Dennis Rodman.

In 2019, Hogan announced he was hoping to take part in one final match, but the global pandemic delayed any such plans. However, the 69-year-old's colourful life is set to be immortalised in film, with a Hulk Hogan biopic starring Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth and directed by Joker's Todd Phillips in the pipelines.

Hemsworth revealed last year that the film was still in its developmental stage and is "a while away" from entering the production phase. The biopic is expected to centre around Hogan's rise to superstardom in the 1980s and the explosion of Hulkamania during the Rock 'n' Wrestling Era.

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