Kevin Nash never believed Hulk Hogan’s health problems would actually take him down. Even with troubling stories circulating behind the scenes, Nash remained convinced that the man known as “The Immortal” would recover and eventually call him as if nothing had happened.
Nash opened up about that belief during the Hulk Hogan episode of his Kliq This podcast, which was released on July 28, 2025, four days after Hogan’s death. Hogan died on July 24, 2025, at 71 years old, making July 24, 2026, the one-year anniversary of his passing.
While describing his reaction to the news, Nash said Hogan’s larger-than-life reputation made it almost impossible for him to believe that his longtime friend would not pull through. He had heard the warnings about Hogan’s condition, but in his mind, Hogan was still going to survive.
“They always called him the Immortal Hulk Hogan. To me, man, it was just like, even when I heard what Bubba was saying, I just knew he’d kick out. I just knew, you know? I knew I’d get on the phone with him at Big C. I mean, I just knew.”
Nash’s co-host, Sean Oliver, then explained why the true severity of Hogan’s condition had been so difficult to understand. Bubba the Love Sponge had been offering a grim assessment, but people who had recently spent time with Hogan were giving a completely different picture. Oliver pointed specifically to Jimmy Hart, who had said shortly before Hogan’s death that they had been together and even performed karaoke.
“That was part of what was confusing too, because Bubba’s reports were very, very fatalistic. Then we would hear from other people close to him that were seeing him—Bubba wasn’t seeing him at the time—that it wasn’t all that was being put out there.”
“To the point where Jimmy Hart, shortly before Hulk’s death, said that they’d gotten together, ‘Everything’s good, brother. We even did karaoke together.’ So I figure, all right, he’s at his club, he’s at the restaurant, so he must be on the mend. This was really confusing as to how bad a shape he was in.”
Nash then recalled seeing a hospital video Hogan had posted on Threads. In the clip, Hogan joked from the bathroom about needing to use the toilet before doctors would allow him to leave the hospital. The video appeared to show Hogan acting like himself and cutting a promo despite everything he had been dealing with. Nash did not see it until after Hogan had died, but the post appeared to be from only a few days earlier.
“I saw a thing on the internet that was on Threads. I’m not on Threads, but it was something that he had put on Threads. I guess he had to take a deuce before they would let him out of the hospital.”
“So he’s sitting on the toilet in the hospital, and he’s cutting kind of a promo. He kind of seemed like he was in good spirits. So I saw that, but this is after he passed, and it was dated two or three days earlier.”
Between the reassuring updates from people around Hogan and the video showing him joking in the hospital, Nash had every reason to believe his friend was recovering. That made the news of Hogan’s death even harder for him to process.
One year later, Nash’s words show just how strongly Hogan’s “Immortal” image carried over into his personal relationships. Even those closest to him had trouble accepting that he would not kick out one more time.
Do you think the conflicting information about Hulk Hogan’s condition prevented his friends from realizing how serious things had become? Let us know what you think in the comments.
