At almost 70 years old and with a myriad of health issues, Hulk Hogan is the furthest away from the ring he’s ever been. His last WWE match was in 2006, and his last general ring appearance was in 2012 with TNA when he was 58 years old.
Despite this, he apparently wants one more match.
In an interview on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Hogan said Shane McMahon discussed the idea of a match between the two of them at WrestleMania 39. While it obviously did not happen, WWE’s original WrestleMania headliner said he’ll see how he feels in six months, as he’s always wanted a retirement match (h/t Fightful for transcription).
“You know what’s so funny, Shane McMahon called me. He goes, ‘Hey, you got one more in you, old man?’ I said, ‘Take it easy with the old man stuff, brother.’ I said, ‘What do you want to do?’ He goes, ‘All you gotta do is stand in the middle of the ring, and I’ll come do it.’ I said, ‘Right now, my back needs a little more work, but that’s something we can talk about next year.’ I’ve always wanted to have a retirement match. I’m not moving around the way I should be, so I’m going to keep working and keep training and keep doing rehab and see where I’m at about six months from now. All I found out in the wrestling business, brother, is you never say never,” Hogan said.
McMahon, of course, returned to the ring at WrestleMania 39, only to tear his quad in an impromptu match with The Miz.
Hogan also revealed that he spoke with McMahon “about three months before WrestleMania,” and prior to that, a talked about “one more [run].”
“I talked to Shane probably about three months before WrestleMania, and he happened to be at Madison Square Garden, and I guess there’s a place in Madison Square Garden where they got the Hall of Fame, and they’ve got my boots up there, and they got my tights. He took a picture standing in front of it, and Shane called me at home. He goes, ‘Hey, look at that picture I just sent you.’ I looked at it, he goes, ‘Well, you got one more in you?’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He started running storylines by me to try to ramp us into that mode. I said, ‘Those were all good storylines, whether you’re coming at me like, ‘Hulk, you quit. My father made you and you left, you walked out on my father,’ which I did. Or go the opposite way, that ‘my dad did you wrong,’ because him and his dad go back and forth all the time. ‘My dad did you wrong, I wanna revitalize your career.’ There’s several things we came up with. I told him, ‘I just need to get my feet underneath me more. Now’s not the time, not this WrestleMania, definitely not. Let’s talk about four or five months from now and see where I’m at,” he said.
It seems Hogan is hoping his body will hold up so he can have one more chance. If WWE agrees, fans who want to see him in the ring again may get their wish.
