The Netflix Docuseries ‘Hulk Hogan: Real American’ Tried to Sway Public Opinion

The series is divided into four episodes, each about an hour long. The first episode is titled “The Rise,” and it goes into his upbringing and how he would ultimately become Hulk Hogan. That was followed by “Hulkamania,” which examines the risk Vince McMahon Jr. took with Hogan and Mr. T, which led to the WWF (now WWE) becoming the global juggernaut that it is today. There are personal photos and videos that hadn’t been shared that were in this episode, and Hogan’s ex-wife, Linda, provides some intimate details about their personal lives. The third episode, “Hollywood Hogan,” delves into his time with WCW (World Championship Wrestling), where Hogan has another larger-than-life run. But after the company was bought out by WWE, he began to spiral as injuries piled up, legal issues with Gawker arose, his divorce unfolded, and the audio of racial slurs surfaced.

The last episode is the one you can skip to if you’ve seen all the Hogan documentaries, which already cover what the first three episodes did in this Netflix version. The episode is titled “Hulk vs. Terry,” and this is where Hogan talks about some of his regrets and the thinking behind his involvement with Trump’s Presidential campaign, etc. Although Hogan said that when he was booed out of the building on Monday Night RAW in L.A. for his involvement in the Presidential campaign, it didn’t bother him; it did. You can tell he was trying to be Hogan, the character, to help Bollea be strong at that moment. The last few minutes, if you are or were a wrestling fan, especially of Hogan’s, were hard to watch, as you felt bad for the man who held the world on his back for so long but couldn’t manage to keep his personal life in check.

With these types of docuseries, you have to ask yourself a few things: Did I learn anything new? What was the main point of releasing this series? As a lifelong wrestling fan, I didn’t really learn anything new about Hogan. Some of the home video footage was new to me, and his ex-wife Linda’s part in this was unfiltered for the first time, which was one of the big highlights throughout the series. That was about it. It didn’t touch on his broken relationship with his daughter or on how his son’s life was a mess early on, both likely due to choices made by Bollea/Hogan.

This project seemed to be trying to repair some of Hogan’s public appeal by reminding people of his impact not only in wrestling but also as an American icon. It also briefly touched on Hogan’s major scandals, but by the end, it left the impression that Hogan the character should forever be recognized, even if Bollea the man was broken physically and mentally. Overall, it was a good watch, but I’m not sure if it will help repair the image that had been damaged before his passing in 2025. Hulk Hogan: Real American is streaming now on Netflix.