Jimmy Hart Left Shocked By Hulk Hogan’s Death – “It Was So Positive The Day Before”

WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart has opened up about the death of his long-time friend Hulk Hogan and why the news came as such a shock.

The wrestling world was stunned when news broke that WWE icon Hulk Hogan passed away aged 71 after suffering a cardiac arrest. Over the prior few months, conflicting stories about Hogan’s health had made the rounds, with Jimmy Hart telling the world Hogan was “doing phenomenal” just 2 days before he died.

Speaking to People, Jimmy Hart gave more insight into what he was told about Hogan’s health prior to his passing:

I called [Hogan] on Wednesday night, and then Thursday morning is when everything took place. So just…just overnight it all happened, but it was so positive the day before.

It just hits so fast. It was like, ‘Oh my God.’ We thought he was doing so well, you know? We didn’t go to see him at the house and didn’t go to see him at the hospital, because we wanted to make sure that he didn’t get any infections or anything else, like if anybody had a cold or brought anything in. So, that’s what we all did.

Jimmy Hart Says Hulk Hogan Will Be Reunited With Friends

Hart was Hulk Hogan’s on-screen manager and his long-time travel companion. Jimmy Hart was with Hulk Hogan when he made his final WWE appearance in January 2025. That appearance saw Hogan booed out of the building as he tried to promote his new beer company.

Despite the controversy that surrounded Hogan, with both Cody Rhodes and Tony Schiavone acknowledging his complicated legacy on WWE and AEW TV, Hart unsurprisingly focused on the good:

Hulk loved this business more than anything. And now he’s happy because he’s free of pain where he’s going. And then once he’s where he’s going, up there in heaven, he’s going to be with all his friends. He’s going to be with Andre the Giant. He’s going to be with The Wild Samoans, Sika and Afa. He’s going to be with Dusty Rhodes, who was his mentor.

He’s going to be with Randy Savage, who he and Hulk, they were so tight back in the day down in Tampa, and so many more of our people. He’s gonna be with Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon, and he’s gonna have one more interview with Mean Gene where he can come out and say, ‘You know, Mean Gene, whatcha gonna do when Hulkamania and all the little Hulkamaniacs run wild on you?