Hulk Hogan is reportedly using a cane to walk and 'cannot feel his legs' after back surgery, fellow WWE champ Kurt Angle has claimed. Angle, a retired professional wrestler best known for his performances in WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling made the astonishing remarks on his eponymous YouTube series The Kurt Angle Show.
Angle, a former collegiate wrestler and Olympic gold medalist who has also had an illustrious career, claimed Hogan had back surgery again. Speaking on the show, Angle said: "He had the nerves cut from his lower body."
Angle shared the 'serious' health update which he claims, requires Hogan to walk with a cane, reports Mirror. Expanding on Hogan using a cane, Angle said: "I thought he was using the cane because he had pain in his back.
"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, man. I mean, I really feel for Hogan.
"He put his heart and soul into the business and [it] ate him up. 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.”
Hogan, who has yet to address the claims made by Angle, last appeared on WWE programming on Raw 30 last week. He opened the milestone show along with Jimmy Hart, which also featured legends such as The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Angle himself, who featured as a special guest referee in a tag team match.
The Hulkster wowed fans for decades with his larger than life persona and incredible physique. When he delivered the famous leg drop, there was usually one outcome and that was his hand being raised in victory.
Hogan helped usher in the 1980s professional wrestling boom, where he headlined eight of the first nine editions of WWE’s marquee show - WrestleMania. During his initial run, he won the WWE Championship five times, with his first reign being the second-longest in the championship's history.
He is the first wrestler to win consecutive Royal Rumble matches, winning in 1990 and 1991. His match with Andre the Giant on WWE The Main Event on February 5, 1988, still holds the American television viewership record for wrestling with 33 million viewers.
Arguably his finest moment came at WrestleMaia 3 the year prior, when he delivered a famous body slam to arch nemesis Andre the Giant en route to retaining the WWE championship in front of a raucous crowd. In one of the most dramatic moments in wrestling’s history, Hogan switched to WCW in 1996 and joined the villainous group the New World Order.
He went on to became a six-time world champion during his stint with the now defunct promotion. His status as one of the all-time greats was solidified with his Hall of Fame induction in 2005, before receiving another induction in 2021 as part of the NWO.
