Shaquille O’Neal Says His Childhood Got Ruined Watching Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan

Shaq may be larger than life on the court, but even he had his childhood dreams crushed—and wrestling fans will feel this one.

On a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the NBA legend told a story about the moment he realized professional wrestling wasn’t as real as he believed growing up. It all happened at his own home in Orlando, during a WWE event he hosted.

“So, I did [a] WWE event at my house in Orlando,” Shaq said. “Hulk Hogan came in, a couple of other guys came in, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan… and Macho Man (Randy Savage) and all these start eating my hors d’oeuvres and talking with each other.”

That was the moment everything changed for him. “Growing up, always thought to hate each other,” Shaq said. “You know what’s crazy, it actually was a sad day for me, because I thought, even though I’m a professional, make whole bunch of money, I thought that wrestling was real.”

Shaq, who has made appearances in WWE and even AEW, is a longtime wrestling fan—but this experience showed him that behind the scenes, legends like Hogan and Flair weren’t bitter enemies after all.

What was the moment you realized wrestling wasn’t 100% real? Did it hit as hard as it did for Shaq? Drop your story in the comments.