Hulk Hogan: Feeling Lost at the Height of Fame | Praise on TBN

I just get tired of crashing and burning you know I get tired of making mistakes and getting up and moving forward I get tired of getting so many scars on me and you know I got to a point in my life before I met sky before I had the baptism where I'd had enough I was sick and tired of myself you know what I mean just two people in here my real self and the ego I was sick and tired of [Music] myself welcome to a very special edition of Praise he's one of the most recognizable men in the world he's conquered the wrestling ring he's conquered Hollywood he's conquered business and yet the one and only Hulk Hogan needed more that's why recently he was baptized in a very public profession of his faith he joins us today to share his testimony to share his journey and Hulk you wrote on X formerly known as Twitter after your baptism total surrender and dedication to Jesus is the greatest day of my life that's awesome to hear thanks so much for joining us here today in your backyard here clear water have that energy first there you absolutely I'm taking it from you hey I took it from you this is coming full circle hul I was telling you off camera June 1986 the Philadelphia Spectrum I'm a young hulkamaniac my dad we had no money but my dad somehow scres up money to buy tickets and I see you lay out King Kong Bundy live this is 38 years ago now I'm sitting here with you one of my childhood Heroes it's a blessing and even more so because of what God's doing in your life right now take us to right before Christmas 2023 you're baptized millions of people around the world see it what brought you up to that point what what brought you to this moment well it's great to be here with you and the crew has some crazy energy too they're all believers so it's nice to be in such a powerful environment my wife's in the back over there she's uh my partner in crime she walks every walk with me in the light and I got handsome Ron he's he's my crew chief you know it's kind of like Ronnie always says iron sharpen iron so I've learned a lot from him about becoming who I was meant to be so I was saved and I was 14 years old I accepted Christ as my savior with a youth group where I used to play guitar so all the kids could sing that's how I was drugg into the youth group they needed a guitar player and so I was saved when I was 14 but I basically uh derailed you know I really didn't understand um the power you know and being a Believer at that time so you know I went through my teen years and then got in the crazy wrestling business which derailed me even more uh and and um finally I just got tired of crashing and burning you know I get tired of making mistakes and getting up and moving forward I got tired of getting so many scars on me and moving forward and it was a situation I found myself deep in prayer and I got to the point where um I was married a couple times and they were the wrong parns because they weren't true believers they weren't dialed in you know and so when I met Sky everything just felt right the chemistry and everything just felt right she was baptized with you by the way right right with our kids too and so when I met her things started to change because I was very aggressive from the wrestling you know I got along great you know most of the time with people but then if things were going my way I would I didn't have patience and I had like a trigger finger you know I'd pull the the trigger really quick and so you know once I met sky and she started explaining to me how the Holy Spirit took her over on this bridge and you can see out this this window here the Clear Water Bridge and the more we talked the more I started getting she actually calmed me down with this turbulence that I have inside of me and made me feel more peace we just decided to go ahead and get baptized with the whole world know the truth that we knew and we got really close with Pastor Aaron at Indian Rocks Christian Church who will meet shortly yes I can't wait for you to meet him he's he's the main aventer brother and so that's kind of how it went down we just got to the point we wanted to let everyone know you know that and especially her children I wanted them to understand that I was just not a boyfriend I was someone that wanted to be in their life and and be a friend and kind of like a stepfather to them and and make things really positive and we just got baptized and it's it's been just a whole new deal ever since you feel it oh brother it's just amazing you know I wake feel the difference yeah I'm much more at peace with myself and when things come at me it's not um something that's urgent you know it doesn't make sense anymore to put that type of worry and stress it's just pretty much gone away now this may be after all you've accomplished in your life this may be the most exciting season of your life it may just be just beginning right now that's exciting but throughout your career I would say you were a witness for Christ in the ring as a little kid I remember and all through my teen years you would say on camera to millions of people around the world say your prayers and eat your eat your vitamins train say your prayers you would always thank God and let me tell you as a young kid that had profound influence on me if Hulk Hogan is telling me to say my prayers I'm going to get on my knees every night at bedtime and say my prayers so I want you to know the difference you made in my life and just kids around the world even before getting baptized and this is so exciting it's awesome and I can't wait to see what God's going to do in your life but the 40-year anniversary of the birth birth of hul mania January 23rd 1984 you said earlier iron sharpens iron amen but the iron Chic was your opponent on that night you win the belt and Hulkamania begins 40 years ago uh as you look back kind of looking back kind of a career retrospective almost and now you're at this moment uh tell us how that feels 40 years on and you're still going strong and the best days lie ahead well I realized that was just a platform you know to get me in the position where I could be used by my Lord and Savior to tell the truth and and spread the word so you know the Hulk Mania character of Hulk Hogan um was impeccable I mean the training prayers vitamins believe in yourself brother the four demandments um was something that was real organic coming out of me and as I said it the character was impeccable and actually made me Terry a better person as the years went along it uh attracted makewi kids with at first I didn't understand what is this role model thing why is this happening then I was happy it was happening and then in the Twilight of My Career a few years back when I got done wrestling and even today I thank God it's still happening you know you know there was Mickey Mouse and Mr T and they wanted to see Hulk Hogan more than all the other um individuals so as all that went through it brought me up to becoming a better person and you know now that we're at this point in my life I realize that it was just a setup for what I need to do now and um it's just been such a great transition because God takes people out of your life that aren't supposed to be there and he brings the right one in right people in and so at this point um I was always a Believer yeah but I didn't completely surrender I thought I could drive better than he could I thought I could make the decisions better than he could and you know he takes his hands off the wheel and says okay you think you can do you do it better go ahead and do it so like I said I get tired of crashing and burning and at this point with that 40-year career behind me and that whole platform I understand now that was just a temporary situation to set me up for this next run because in the wrestling business everything's a run you know how long were you a main event guy four or five years like some guys or how long did your career last two or three years well mine lasted almost 40 years and now that that run's over I'm getting ready to start this new run yeah and so now I realize why I'm here and what why all that happened so take us back to growing up in this area the Tampa clear waterer area uh your family your early Journey how you got into the game you're a big Dusty roads fan I know but you were a rocker you were a musician that was your maybe your first love tell us about your childhood your upbringing a little bit well I grew up right across the bridge in South Tampa and I started out going to Ballas Point Elementary school and all the kids across the street was ball Point Baptist Church so all the kids you know in elementary school would go there and we lived a little bit of a distance from the church and so I had my parents take me there one Sunday and um after that you know they didn't go back to the church but I rode my bike there every Sunday you know so that's where I kind of got in tune with with the Baptist Church but growing up around the area I went to Monroe junor High School and Robinson High School and all those were south of Gandy and when you were south of Gandy Boulevard you were called a SOG south of Gandy and when you're south of Gandy you know your career options were construction drug dealer or athlete and those were the choices you had growing up um around that area I get real interested in playing guitar mhm because my mom played the Pian piano and she taught some of the kids around the neighborhood how to play so I get interested in music but the whole time I was watching wrestling you know and so you know I got in the little teeny garage band and the first time we had a chance to play for like $200 for a birthday party oh my gosh mean I can make money doing this Bing light goes off of my head um so anyway I got better and better playing uh guitar and went through several bands made um started making really good money with the music and um the whole time watching wrestling and so after about 10 years of playing music and going the same circuits and just getting small raises year after year after year um it was a situation where I told all the guys in the band we were practicing down to eore city and there was a a guy there with a band called Blues image and they had a song called Ride Captain Ride yeah and I played the track track line for that song and I don't know if they used the track line or replayed with a in a studio with a guy that played the exact same part I did after I went and did that you know the guy Mike Panera the head of the band Blue's image was talking about they were going on the road and this and that and the other and there was an opportunity for us to open for them in Blackfoot so I went back and I told my guys there's a chance to go on the road one guy just got married another guy's girlfriend was pregnant they didn't want to leave s that's it I'm quitting I'm going to be the greatest professional I don't know why I said it but I said it I said I'm going to be the greatest professional wrestler that ever lived and all the guys in the band fell down on the ground laughing you know and that really made me mad now you were at the time look 6' 7 close to 300 lb well no I was tall he had the size I was 6' 7 you know before all the back surgery and all the stuff and I was in really good shape but I was probably about 250 or 255 maybe 260 I don't know but but um from that point you know growing up here watching wrestling being a big Dusty roads fan and being a big wrestling fan my dad would take me to the Armory um Fort Homer H Armory 3 or 4 thousand people and it just I get hypnotized when I was in there and I thought I could do it but never really thought about until I verbally said it to the band members cuz I was kind of mad at them you know cuz they didn't the road you almost spoke it into existence yeah so one thing led to another I went down for try out they broke my leg the first day wow um and said don't ever come back you know and they they got between my legs and got put his elbow on my shin grabbed my toe posted my leg and sna my leg and so you know I went home and about four months later the mindset was never let anybody hurt me again yeah so I went back and they spent a couple years training me teach me how to rustle the submission stuff and many people wouldn't have gone back I mean a lot of people would after broken leg on the first day quit the problem was I had ran my mouth so much and this is a small town and i' ran my mouth so much that I'm going to be a wrestler and which I never should have done I could have probably humbly disappeared but I'd ran my mouth so much you know I had to save face at the time for whatever that mindset was right and I went back and they spent a couple years training me how to really take care of myself and a lot of UFC stuff you know the submissions and the hooks the breaking bones and stuff which after a couple years you know of doing that and being in in the dojo with hero matsuda and they told me that this is what wrestling is all about I actually started crying I thought they were I thought they were joking because they said well Eddie Graham the promoter's coming down he's going to work out with I'm going oh my gosh you know I've been getting beat up by all these preliminary guys now Eddie Graham the promoter is going to come down he's going to kill me I'm never going to survive this he taught me how to hit the ropes and grab a headlock without hurting people and just I just broke down I couldn't believe that they had ConEd me for so long and I'd believe that this wrestling was real because you know the way they were beating on me it was real yeah so that's like the transition you know from growing up here being a fan playing music it all just parlayed one thing after another and next thing I knew I I was in Madison Square Garden man winning the belt even you were in the garden even before that yeah yeah well 78 we we sold out sha Stadium you know with me and Andre and it was it was huge back then you know and that's when I started really realizing okay I'm starting to figure this stuff out now yeah as you went along in the business how did you develop your persona uh you saw what people responded to how did you kind of because that's obviously a key element in wrestling the wrestling business you got to find your your your I don't say gimmick they use that threat a term around but your your persona your persona how did you become Hulk Hogan a lot of transitions you know started out with as a Super Destroyer with a mask on because they said oh you're a big guy you might be be something someday we don't want to beat you every night and have them see your face because you're CR Cru will be ruined before it even starts so started out as a Super Destroyer quit quit after all that went paying your dues yeah and then I became Terry Boulder for a while and then um became Terry the Hulk Boulder and that lasted for a little while then I went to Atlanta and the promoter there named me Sterling golden and that lasted for a short while I think I was wrestling 13 or 14 times a week and I think I was making $125 a week so I quit doing that and finally when I came back home a couple real popular WR wrestlers here Jack and Jerry Brisco said this's this guy Vincent man's calling you I I'm I'm not wrestling anymore I quit I don't want anything to do with this they said no New York the New Jersey area which was a territory back then it wasn't International they said this territory around New York Madison Square Garden is for all the big guys and I've been training with was I was 285 290 in really good shape and so I went up there and Vince McMahon Senor had his glasses halfway down on his nose he he was he clicks quarters together when he talks to you you know he goes well I've got Pedro Morales for the Puerto Rican Americans and I've got Chief J strongo for the Native American Americans you know however you say it and Bruno San Martino for the Italian American M and I want you to be instead of Terry the Hulk Boulder I want you to be Hulk Hogan for the Irish Americans and here's two bottles of red dye to dye your hair red oh my God I'm going baldheaded as it is if I put this red dye my hair the part's over so I told Fred blasie who they put him with me that I couldn't do it I poured it down the toilet and the holiday on 48th and 8th in New York and Fred goes that's it you're getting fired you know so when I went back to see Vince McMahon for TV the next day my hair wasn't ready he was oh don't worry about it you're fine he just let it go so that's kind of like how the whole transition went from growing up here being a wrestling fan playing music and how it morphed into this Hulk Comm Mania thing so it took several years man but your res your resilience yeah it took about eight years before I got a break you know I slept I slept in my van for the first couple years you know and uh the wild simones we were on penso they would sleep in their van on the beach I'd pull up next to them you know the wild simones AFA Anda and you know them all yeah I'm old school I'm old school yeah they took me under their wing when I first went up there cuz I wasn't I wasn't too Dependable when I was younger so they kind of guided me a little bit most of us weren't would you say Andre kind of passed the torch to you in the business in a sense he was obviously Mega star he um basically taught me this business um he straightened me out because when I get in the business I was in in my 20s and wasn't serious wasn't focused you know and just didn't have didn't understand what this business was really all about that this was wrestling was the smallest part of this business you know the image the promotion the merchandise the ancillary stuff the licensing how big this business could be and Andre was really the first sports Entertainer if he had have been a serious wrestler nobody would have ever beat him and he'd have been the world's champion until the day he passed away so you know Andre took me under his wing and kind of like made me grow up really fast so like the first eight years when I had to be around him at wrestle him if I was coming up the Philadelphia Spectrum when I'd see the building I knew I had to wrestle Andre I'd pull the car over open the door and get sick cuz I was afraid of him cuz you know he I knew it was physically going to be something that wasn't going to be fun that night you know and so finally he took me under his wing he got me correct where I respected understood this business wow and then when it came time for uh WrestleMania 3 um I would always know who would win or lose and that night we had no idea and I asked Vince man what's the finish of this match he goes well I talk to Andre and he say don't worry I'm like oh boy I'm worried and so I went through that all day with him you know and hung out with him in the back and would ask him hey you know should we do this or that other oh don't worry and what he had taught me over the years was don't talk about the wrestling match you just need to know who's going to win or lose this is an art form like dancing or playing guitar you got to listen to the crowd and listen with your heart because a lot of wrestlers will sit down and they'll talk for 20 minutes about having a three minute match on TV and what happens if the stuff you talk about doesn't work and the people don't get into it you're going to keep doing the same thing you talk about that's wrong so Andre taught taught me how to have Instinct and listen with my heart and my ear to the crowd what they wanted so when I started asking him at WrestleMania 3 what do you want to do I kind of feel now I kind of insulted him because I never had asked him before but this time I didn't know who was going to win so I was like what's going on here you know what am I getting set up for and at the end of the day he passed the torch when I slammed him and dropped the leg on him I thought for sure he'd kick out and he did you still didn't know no and he did that is crazy and believe me I was a nervous wreck and you really I mean you got him up it wasn't kind of a half slam he was he was up I got him he was up he was closer to 700 lb in cuz he was really really unhealthy at the time and cuz he went from like they said 500 lb giant he was never 500 he was between 550 and 650 but he just went through a crazy back surgery where they had to make tables they had to make instruments to work on him and he was in a lot of pain he gained a lot of weight so when he passed the torch um that night he basically made my my career and made the wrestling business and he just handed it all to me to protect it and take care of it I never knew that that even when you dropped the big leg you thought I thought he was going kick out if you look at it again I really didn't even try to cover him I was just halfway laid on him wow just a lazy cover cuz I thought he just kicked right out what did he say afterwards did he say anything did did he recognize the the gravity of the moment yeah once I rolled off I went thank you boss and he goes you're the boss and so he kind of like said that to me and you know I've only the only person I told that to was Vince you know because it was such a a special thing you I said thanks BOS you're the boss oh wow that's kind of scary so but it's official at that moment I know Andre was one of your favorite opponents anyone you liked you had so many runs with with different guys over the years feuds and all the rest anyone in particular that you enjoyed working with I love Ric Flair who's still kicking I mean in his 70s um you had some some moments with him but anyone in particular that in addition to Andre that you just say you look back and say man we just it was fire I loved working with him well the main guy that was a constant and was always there and was 247 in character and really I drew a lot of money with was Randy Savage I mean he called me up at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning yeah brother you was thinking about that finish from Philadelphia didn't like it the way you picking Li up in the corner before you body oh God Randy here we go but he was like intense 247 and I love working with him he was a little snug in the ring a little stiff yeah you know he could hurt you but that's okay Florida guy too right a I think he was from Florida from Downers Grove Illinois illo and a minor league b basb catcher for the Cincinnati Reds farm team Triple A ball and he was a heck of an athlete yeah f man top rope dropping the elbow I yeah he get some hops he'd get up yeah and and now that I listened to his interviews where I thought he was out in Space the more I listen to his interviews the more money I see in those interviews now hey you went on you know Conquering the wrestling game we could say but you know making that move into Hollywood into acting and that's another kind of doggy dog world you know the wrestling game is a doggy dog world kind of cutthroat at times for sure how was that transition into that whole new kind of Arena film film and TV new challenges well it was a logical extension of where I should go with my career yeah because once the wrestling took off and the character Hulk Hogan became as big as the wrestling business at the time um people were reaching out to me you know to do other projects commercials Super Bowl commercials Right Guard commercials all kind of stuff and the movies were a logical extension so um Vince McMahon and I sat down and basically spent 3 days over on madira beach riding nool bar and then we brought a writer in to clean it up and he pretty much got all the credit for it because we didn't know anything about writing or the screen actor's guild or the writer Guild we didn't know anything we hired a rider to clean it up we didn't know he was going to own it which it didn't matter but once I made that film and it was successful um new line Cinema wanted me to make more films and the problem I had with it was I loved wrestling so much and I was in the prime of my career it wasn't like I was on the the downside and I was picking up extra work or trying to get out of the wrestling business become an actor I was in I was the world's heavyweight champion H man was running wild and I was in front of 20 30,000 people every night now you want me to go sit in a Winnebago on the side of the Sony Sound Stage for 14 hours and you might call me at 5:00 to get in front of the camera for 5 minutes the process was hard and so I always wanted to go back to wrestling and I did but I kept bouncing back and forth making small lowbudget movies for kids and having fun with that you know and shooting him in 25 to 30 days and running right back to the wrestling business you know and I had the chance to become like the next John Wayne there's a guy named Bob Evans that ran ran Paramount and he took me in his office and there was a big picture on the wall with Clint Eastwood and John Wayne and all the big stars Dustin Hoff and everybody that was part of the contract players Paramount of the time he said you're going to be my next John Wayne wow and then he kind of like laid out the schedule and what was expected of me um on and off camera I went I'm the wrong guy for that stuff so wow I just uh decided to go back to wrestling and yeah many people would have jumped at that for sure yeah yeah hey we're talking about all the amazing things you have going on now and what's to come one more quick quick flashback 1982 Rocky 3 now for me and for many that was probably their first exposure to Hulk Hogan you start alongside of course Sylvester Stallone and Mr T and we talk about things coming full circle with some of your former colleagues here at your church counseling you hey your co-star Sylvester Stallone and Mr T are both professing Christians MH pretty cool yeah it's amazing um and they still are as we speak you know Mr T is uh probably one of the most outspoken Christians he's a TBN regular and did you see I mean this is 82 did you see a possibility at the time that these and Stallone look famous guy Mr T obviously very famous who would have thought I guess that you'd all be here now publicly professing faith in Jesus yeah it's amazing you know the the thing with T is he is what he is Mr T is Mr T and you know he blazs it right out for you yeah and just like Stallone um the same guy was back then he hasn't changed a bit you know he has his faith and he has his will and and he's the same exact guy and none of this got to him none of the success none of the you know stardom none of it changed who he was so it's really cool to see these guys love it how did your family feel your mom and your dad when you got into the wrestling business a crazy business on the road constantly where they saying Terry what are you doing well they had a real hard time with the music stuff you know because that was supposed to be a hobby yeah and then all of a sudden you know back in the day when you're playing in these rock and roll clubs and you're still in high school you know and you're playing from 99: at night till 2:00 in the morning and you're supposed to be at home room at 8:00 a.m. you're really going against the grain but and you looked older for your age thank you yeah no I didn't no but anyway yeah I mean height size me I looked like I was 21 when I was 16 right but you know when you're going against the grain um and it's even hard to explain like back in 69 7071 to be in high school and have two brand new cars in high school and when you're making $350 $400 a week that's like making 10 or 15 grand nowadays you know I was playing in these clubs at night because of the music and that was not good you know it it really didn't work out that well so when I turned 17 years old my dad asked me to leave you know and so I lived in a hotel and played music and got through high school and stuff like that and it it created a lot of lot of problems and then when I started going to the University of South Florida I kind of like it was kind of like a saving grace that I was going to go to college and my dad was kind of proud of me that I made through this little transition even though I had a a major in finance and management I had a minor in music I never graduated because I kept leaving school to play in these different bands and make money and go on the road and stuff and so then that made the relationship really bad but to answer your question once I got through the music and I got into wrestling that was the worst thing I could ever do and now you're going to be a wrestler and you thrown your life away and there were about five or six years where there wasn't much communication with my dad but my mom and I would talk every day and then finally when I made it and became the world's heavyweight champion and well the Bel Madison Square Garden my parents were there that night and my Dad pulled me aside and he didn't apologize but he said you know you did make the right decision you know with your life so it was really cool to F finally win him over yeah because I just didn't know in his eyes if it would ever be okay but then he got real good at it and then he was very proud to be Hulk Hogan's father and of course yeah I'd bring him to I brought him to the Spectrum a couple times and to different places so it was it's it was a test of faith yeah for sure but so cool that he got it he got to see it all come to fruition right and he said you made the right choice yeah he did man that's incredible you know I think of Ted debiasi the million-dollar man Shawn Michaels sting Lex Luger Nikita Koloff some of your you know ex colleagues in the game uh have also come to the Lord come to Jesus um that's pretty exciting right did you talk to any of these guys about it at all are you in touch with any of those guys still about your journeys of Faith yeah I talked to Ted you know um every so often and I just saw him at the 30th Anniversary at Monday Night Raw yeah and um I if You' to asked me 25 years ago if Ted would have found the Lord I would have said no way you know because the million-dollar man was out on a roll you know um with the character and with his lifestyle and everything and to see him come to the Lord and to change his life and help so many people it was amazing to see you know look there's there's obviously Peaks and valleys in life you know you had some valleys there of course yeah did you feel God's Presence at all did he feel distant did at times did you cry out and say God what's going on here when am I going to break through were there moments like that for you well he was with me through all that stuff and I know that now because he turned turned setbacks into setups for greatness for me simply because I was in control and I was driving the car once again crashed and burned I made those mistakes um you know you can blame situations conditions you can your rationale can have a hundred reasons why things happen but at the end of the day it's about choices and I'm not real good or I wasn't real good at making good choices because of the environment and everything that was going on and so once I decided to quit driving the car myself and surrender he took those mistakes I made I learned from him he taught me how to get up with this monster hit that I just took and be honest and truthful and move forward so all those things in the past that happened to me you know I tell Sky I'm like the old scarred up seal you know that's been in 20 million battles and I've got scars all over me and I feel you know that I'm not OPP poser because you know knowing of Jesus and knowing him are two different things that's true you know and so at this point knowing him and being one with him I think all these scars and all these things I've been through I'm not that I'm leading by example but I've been made an example of for people that think I'm not correct or I don't have my ACT cleaned up or I can't do this I think all those people that have all the excuses for being in the wrong place at the wrong time or not being good enough you don't need to be cleaned up come to him he'll clean you up so that's kind of like when you talk about those values and those low points they happen for a reason to make me who I am today so I don't regret any of it even though if I had a choice to do it over again I wouldn't you you know but all those things that happen I think they're the reason I'm sitting here today with you absolutely and you know I I I find in my own life you learn more from your failures than your successes and more from your mistakes and God uses people throughout the Bible King David people who are flawed who made mistakes God Peter I mean God uses them so it's just incredible how God works hey let's take it back to this area hold on I want to show my wife off of course okay here we go and sky thank you for letting us have him for the day this is this is my running mate here yeah so she good to have you had a crazy experience like I said right out that window on the the bridge yeah when she was running and searching for answers the Holy Spirit H how say dropped it to her knees it was so powerful wow so it's just like can you tell us about that SK please please um yes well you know I had been at a service with a friend and the pastor at that time you know asked if anyone you know was ready to have Jesus in their life and I felt that tug but then just part of me just kind of pulled back a little bit and um I think I wasn't quite ready to make it public because I hadn't fully made it private and um was a day later and I was running on the bridge as I as I did and I just asked you know if the holy spirit is there and if Jesus is there I would really like to make you part of my life I'd really like to know you and it was at that exact moment that I was overcome by this most beautiful loving and forgiving energy and tears came down my eyes and I dropped to my knees right on the bridge and it was as you've heard other people say it was like pure forgiveness but I wasn't asking for forgiveness for anything but it was just that Absolut gentle loving lifting hand and um I walked home and then sat on my porch just in you know absolute of what had happened and I think once you know the Holy Spirit and you know Jesus you can then know yourself and then life is completely different at that point I would say I don't know it was a few months later um I'd had some circumstances and I was in prayer and I prayed over and over for Faith and faithfulness when it came to a partner over and over and over and I actually just start wrote it down on a piece of paper faith and faithfulness faith and faithfulness and I met him later that night hey I heard the calling this is guys this is incredible encouraging inspiring I mean you've been encouraging inspiring me for years years Hulk Going Back 40 years but I think a whole new generation of people saw you guys getting baptized in your family and you've encouraged and inspired a whole new generation of people and I I have to tell you there's a lot of people out there just as when I was a little kid saying if Hulk says say your prayers I'm going to say my prayers right right and you said you had that hesitation Sky a little bit before you know saying okay Jesus there's a lot of people now who are saying who are watching right now around the world saying if Hulk Hogan can give his life to the Lord and get baptized then I can do it you've encouraged and inspired millions of people around the world by doing this for sure and with all you've accomplished I think this is your greatest accomplishment what you're doing for God now and that that's a big statement considering all that you've accomplished well you know to actually put in perspective I mean the things that I've done you know the Wrestlemania stuff and and the TV stuff and being the first wrestler on the cover of Sports Illustrated and slamming Onre the giant having the indoor tenants record all that stuff was huge moments in my career but I've never gotten the type of feedback or never getting the type of response that I got from the baptism it was like it it overwhelmed how many people responded to that and how many people in this country and worldwide are moving in that direction I mean there's a strong push in that direction you know because we live in dark come back to the Lord yeah brother perilous times we need need God so I think it spoke to a lot of people's hearts when you were baptized so publicly yeah well you know it's it's a situation that you know not just knowing of him but once you know him and once you surrender you know he said he'll come back and heal our people and heal heal the land so I feel that that whole push is is is happening you know there's there's a lot of stuff going on there's a huge spiritual movement right now some Revival in this land it's there sure is so um I mean I've never got a response from anything and and out of all the stuff I did that I thought was big stuff you know in the business world or in the wrestling world pales and comparison to buy to the energy and to buy the response yeah after the baptism it was it was amazing you struck a cord but how do you guys get to the point sky and Hulk where you say okay let's do this thing let's get baptized let's make it public well I would say I like that we got married in in a church and made a promise you know yeah on under Jesus that we were getting married you know it's a completely different marriage I've been married before and he's been married before and it just the union is stronger and we got baptized with kind of the same idea that we wanted to do this in Union and we had our kids there as well so it just I think that was just more what it was it's a marriage built on the Rock uh built on the on the Lord built on Jesus you know and Hulk as you said this is the time this is the right partner you know so and it's it's founded on Jesus which is awesome no doubt and by the way you mentioned you know the struggles we've had in this nation really around the world I just want to mention you've always been very public in your love of this country you love this nation and you want to see Revival in this nation you want to see God transformed this nation talk about why this has been this nation the United States of America has been such a great place for you the opportunities you've had here and why this is a nation worth saving well you know it's the land of the free in the home of the brave and I just really feel that there have been so many things that have changed over the years number one taking God out of the equation is something that we will not survive without you know so I really feel you know everything from the the the men that wrote the Constitution to the Lord's Prayer in school to you know being have the the religious freedom to be able to Worship in the the Church of your choice all that stuff that are trying to take away from us it needs to be instilled back in in this country yeah and we're the world's leader I mean everybody looks up to us as as an example and I think it's time that we understand who we are and take our position back in this world and we start by putting God first yeah and that's what this country needs just so people know at home what are you doing right now you're very active here in a clearw Tampa area you've got a lot going on as we said earlier I mean your life as hard as is to say it with with Hulk Hogan your life's just beginning and by the way you're introduced as the immortal Hulk Hogan and now you truly are Immortal because you will live in eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ so that's actually a true statement when people call you the immortal Hulk Hogan eternal life is on the way but not yet you've got a lot to do still here on Earth well the funny thing is across my back I've got a hugee tattoo from shoulder to shoulder that says Immortal on it and it's not the immortal Hulk Hogan it's because of what you just said you know I got to a point in my life before I met sky before I had the baptism where I'd had enough I was sick and tired of myself you know what I mean just the two people in here my real self and the ego I was sick and tired of myself and I decided to to turn back to my faith and one of the things I did was I put that crazy tattoo on my back IM moral meaning you know I accepted Christ as my savior and he died for my sins and I live forever so I put that on my back and so many people think oh it's the Mortal Hulk Hogan the ego trip but no it was for that reason that I did that and um I probably should add something to it like John 3:16 over to the side or something to clear things up but no moving forward um it's been just an incredible journey with the people that are around me like we spoke earlier God takes people away from you that don't belong in your life and brings people to you you know along with sky and um Ron Howard who basically got dialed into his faith quit drinking alcohol a few years ago was a huge influence on my life because he he walked in my gym one time and I had a stack I don't know if you know what white claws are yeah I had a stack of them up in my gym you know probably 10 or 12 cases and he walked in he goes who do you serve I said what do you mean he goes you serve the Lord you serve that wow I'm okay you don't have to tell me twice I got it you know so he he was a huge influence on me kind of like when I saw him get correct oh that's impossible you know there's no way you know Almost Famous Ron Howard is going to get correct but he did you know and he straightened out his marriage his life and just everything you know so to watch him get correct was something else that was push for me you know to regroup and get on track so everybody's come together you know and the time for me is just so amazing because what's going to be important to me moving forward is being the vessel to spread this message because it's the only truth there is everything else is just temporary you know everything the fame the money the ego the the physical look everything is just temporary and once you get that and you realize that it's so important that you make other people understand that that's the only truth there is so moving forward that's the first foremost thought of my mind is to being a messenger for my Lord and Savior um that's going to take me where I need to go if you don't mind we would love if the immortal Hulk Hogan could pray for us right now and look you've got that John 3:16 shirt on you wear it proudly could you invite someone watching right now might have been flipping through and saying TBN t wait a minute that's Hulk Hogan what's he doing there could you right now maybe share your heart maybe pray for us and oh i' love to that'd be great in Jesus name I pray for all the viewers out there who are hulkamaniacs and who don't know me I hope this talk today brings everyone closer to our Lord and savior and brings everyone home that is the truth that is the light that is the only way to our heavenly father thank you God for this beautiful beautiful day for this beautiful talk and I pray that everyone walks in the light and becomes saved by Jesus Christ our Lord and savior in Jesus name I pray all is well even now amen Hulk thank you so much 38 years ago sitting in the Philadelphia Spectrum watching you wrestle King Kong Bundy never did I think I'd be sitting side by side with you and praying with you God has a sense of humor I think for sure and my dad's in heaven smiling right now I can tell you that [Music] much now folks we can't come to clear water and hang out with the hulkster without visiting Hulk Hogan's wrestling shop one of the guys that makes it happen is my best friend handsome Ron come here Ron come on in Ron this is I'm going throw him in the middle in the Middle Run in but he's a Believer and he brought me so close and just made things work for me when I just really couldn't quite get there so iron sharpens iron that's his favorite statement and he's a lot of the reason I'm where I'm at today talk about your walk and as Hulk said he's got sky in his life of course he's got the Holy Spirit but you really played a pivotal role here God put you in his life playing a pivotal role in taking him to where he is now getting baptized and all these great things going on we always said that we're going to do something big you know it wasn't more than just these shops and making money and you know it was about doing fun things and loving people and caring for people and getting out in the community and doing good things well this is um I believe this is just the beginning it is um this is the beginning of a new season and um I'm so excited and so blessed and grateful and humble to be right where I'm at right now um and I he he says it all the time um you know we right where when you're walking with Lord you're walking with the Holy Spirit um and you're staying in line with the Holy Spirit you're right where you're supposed to be you think you need to rush out and you you're running around you might think you're late for something but when you're walking with the Holy Spirit you're right where you're supposed to be and if you get a little bit sidetracked because things come up I do I I failed miserably yesterday I did in my heart I can I I got so much conviction now but I went and I repented and I turned from those evil thoughts and things that have been put in my mind all these years of the way I grew up and and things like that and I'm now becoming and Hulk says this who I'm supposed to be you know we're now finally becoming who we're supposed to be and um this walk is amazing and when you do get a little Sidetrack you just jump back on the tracks it's okay ask for forgiveness and jump back on the track and little by little by little those things get less and less and less and your life life just becomes easier your relationships with people with your wives with your family and things and people are it just it's amazing God easier to get back back to Center you know just to pull yourself back in line with your lord and [Music] savior well he won WrestleMania he's won the Royal Rumble he's been in the biggest Arenas on the biggest stages for decades and decades and yet where we are sitting right now was the place where what he called the greatest moment of his life took place I'm talking about the one and only Hulk Hogan and I'm talking about Indian Rocks Baptist Church here in Florida Pastor Aaron Hulk Hulk great to see you again Pastor Aaron uh a momentous occasion to say the least in Hulk's life went down here you were a big part of that actually you baptized Hulk and his wife sky and his family recently tell us first of all how you and Hulk connected yeah well Terry and Sky showed up about um two months after I'd gotten here so I hadn't been here that long and we just developed a a friendship and uh so we started talking about baptism and Amanda my wife she and I took Terry and Sky out to lunch and and we talked about it and uh you know it's really important for us that people are following God's design and so Terry and Sky both said well we want to get baptized we really like your church family I said well well it's important for me that you guys get married first because you're a Christian man and you're a Christian woman and if you're going to live this life as a Christian you need to get married you can't be living together and not married and I was like yikes you know and so it was like on the spot you know confirmation with everything that I had already knew I was going down that path anyway but he just kind of like gave him the shove over the edge and called me out but that was already in the works so not only did he baptize us he married us which was very special yeah I kind of Buried one of the leads guys you married Hulk and Sky mhm yeah a very intimate private wedding uh but it really really special and you know one of the things that we talk about here is is pursuing God's design and so we just want to help them follow God from here you can't go backwards you can't undo your past but from right here how do you recover and pursue God's design and so even in their wedding ceremony they made promises that they're going to be together forever and we you know we certainly love that about their about their wedding ceremony why did you feel it was so important to get baptized publicly with sky and your family and Pastor why is that such an important step for a Believer to get baptized so baptism has always been the way that Believers go public in their faith I mean the been doing this for 2,000 years you see it all through the book of Acts and so it's important that when a Believer actually puts their trust in Christ that they go public this is not a private decision this is the way that they tell the whole world I belong to Christ like you said pastor someone could be watching right now who's not a Christian flip through see this interview see Hulk online getting baptized and they're going to say you know what if Hulk Hogan can do it I can do it I can give my life to Christ too and take that step and get baptized so Hulk we both salute you and every watching does too uh to take this step uh this massive step and I don't think when you did it maybe that you realize the impact it would have but as you know it went viral people were saying wow the hster got baptized this is awesome and who knows you you touch a lot of little hulkamaniacs I think with this in this age of social media where things go viral around the globe you may touch even more Hearts uh by getting baptized and coming to the lord well sometimes I forget how big the whole character is or how the awareness level is worldwide with the character and all the different foreign countries so what I've started to realize is you know i' I've approached several people since meeting Aaron about coming to Indian Rocks Christian and they want to come MH you know I you know I see a little bit of a rough character at my restaurant go let me talk to him for a minute you know but everybody I've invited to church shows up and so they actually do like coming so I think people just need a little n or a little encouragement or not to be embarrassed you know or not to be afraid to take that first step and what I realized is this Hulk Hogan guy has enough stroke to say Hey brother why don't you show up Sunday you know and they come it's really cool I don't think I told you about this it was about 3 or 4 weeks ago and I see him wander into the church and I could tell he's brand new and I said hey are you new around here and he said yeah I just I heard about Hogan on Rogan and uh never been to a church before and he comes in he sits on the front row and he gets plugged in with our Young Adult Ministry this guy's never heard the gospel never been to a church and he's here because of this guy and so it's incredible what God's doing through his testimony Pastor we'll start with you what's next for Hulk Hogan Terry B well so Terry started coming to church here in March and he has not missed not a single Sunday I mean actually there was one Sunday that you missed cuz you got sick and he texted me and said hey I need to know what Bible p Mage you're preaching cuz I want to stay up to date with our church and so the fact that he's reading God's word he's not missing Church he's around God's people is such such an encouragement to me because whatever is next is whatever God is leading him to do because he's doing all the right things he's in church he's in God's word he's around God's people and so uh I have no idea what God's going to do with all of this but I trust that God is good and he's taking all the right steps and so he's he's being discipled by godly people he's following God's word there's there's really nothing better and so whatever's next for Terry is the same thing that's next for you and I we're Believers in Christ we're just trying to submit every day and every moment to the will of God and try to follow him and whatever he's calling us to do yeah and Hulk said surrender that was the key for you surrendering Lord I want to do it your way not my way thy will be done not mine you made a pretty big decision here recently getting baptized here at Indian Rocks Church but no looking back and I I think it was probably the greatest decision of your life it was you know and when I talk about surrendering when I was doing it my way it was 50/50 at best maybe hit or miss you know and uh it just didn't work for me anymore like I said before I was sick and tired of myself and I don't know if that really makes any sense but I overthink so many things and I just got sick and tired of the situations and the people I was around in the environment I was in so it's kind of like when I talk about asking someone to come to church they may be a little tentative or at first but when you give them a little bit of a nudge you know they will follow you know and they show up and it's the same thing with this next chapter in my life you know I was wondering oh my gosh the wrestling careers over you know what's my next move yeah how do I generate Revenue am I going to be one of these washed up wrestlers that disappears or passes away early I just didn't know the the destiny from that point forward but I relate to the people I asked for to come to church because they are a little bit timid well I was that same way until I found Pastor Aaron Indian Rocks Church so that's pretty much where I see myself going from this point you know not being afraid or timid there's the Lord and uh you know being a vessel for my Lord and Savior that seems to be the perfect plan for me now and you are and you're an ambassador for Christ and we saw it earlier and your interactions at Hogan's hangout at the memorabilia shop just the way you interact with people you're shining that light and people see that I think a big part of our testimony is okay we can share the gospel with someone but our walk and the way we conduct ourselves the way we treat others so Hulk look you've got an awesome church an awesome Pastor an awesome wife by your side you've got the Holy Spirit life is good it's about to get even better and we can't thank you enough thank you [Music]

Channel: Praise on TBN

Views: 141,993

Keywords: tbn, praise, tbn praise, praise tbn, hulk hogan, hulk hogan christian, hulk hogan jesus, hulk hogan baptism, wwe, wrestling, hulk hogan testimony, joe rogan, hulk hogan joe rogan, vince mcmahon, celebrity testimony of jesus, hulk hogan joe rogan full episode, hulk hogan 2024, hulk hogan today, erick stakelbeck, erick stakelbeck interview, hulk hogan interview, matt crouch, laurie crouch, tbn praise the lord, P7R7A2I7S7E3, 7721473, EEJTKF123, 123TBN123, 8T2B6N, christian wrestler, god

Id: wk_2pK6zXMU

Length: 55min 59sec (3359 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 21 2024