Jimmy Hart Talks Hulk Hogan Netflix Docuseries, nWo Heel Turn, WWE WrestleMania in B/R Interview

WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart provided insight into the upcoming Hulk Hogan: Real American docuseries that will begin streaming on Netflix on April 22 in an interview with Bleacher Report during WrestleMania 42 week.

Prior to Hogan's death last year, Hart was among his closest friends, and he offered a unique perspective on what fans can expect from the inside look at Hogan's life and career.

Hart recounted the first time he ever laid eyes on Hogan, noting that it happened in Memphis, Tennessee, before he himself was even in the wrestling business.

When Hart's former classmate, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler, invited him to attend a wrestling card, Hart was immediately drawn to Hogan, and he saw something in Hogan that not even Lawler did.

"[Lawler] goes, 'Jimmy, come out here, look at this big guy in the ring.' He went by the name of Terry Boulder back then," Hart said. "He had blonde hair and he was bigger than life. He goes, 'What do you think of that guy?' And I went, 'Oh my God, he looks great, I bet he's gonna draw a lot of money in this business.' Lawler goes, 'Trust me, Jimmy, he'll never make a dime in this business.' Lawler to this day goes, 'I never said it,' I said, 'Yes you did, King!'

"That's the first time I got to meet Hulk Hogan back then. And then of course when I got in the business six years later, and I shot a big angle with Jerry "The King" Lawler, one of the people we brought in that I was gonna manage that night was Hulk Hogan, of course, and we became friends ever since then."

Hart pointed out that he felt Hogan possessed every attribute to become the massive star that he eventually developed into, saying, "I thought he had everything it took. He had the look, he had the talk, he had the size, he had the ability in the ring."

Hogan became synonymous with pro wrestling and WrestleMania, headlining eight of the first nine WrestleMania events, including WrestleMania I when he teamed with Mr. T to beat "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.

Hart named Hogan's WrestleMania 3 main event against Andre the Giant as one of his personal favorite moments of Hogan's career due to the massive crowd it drew and what it meant to the wrestling business.

"WrestleMania 3 was unbelievable because that kind of turned the tide in professional wrestling because nobody had ever drawn over 90,000 people like that before," Hart said. "I was telling somebody the other day, we had a lot of pressure on WrestleMania 3 because the Pope was going to be at the Silverdome a week before. Then The Rolling Stones were coming in. So everybody goes, 'Well, wrestling ain't going to draw.'

"But Hulk asked me, 'What do you think?' And I said, 'Well, Hulkster, I think we might outdraw the Pope, but I don't think we're going to outdraw The Rolling Stones.' He said, 'Jimmy Hart, you got to have faith, baby.' And I said, 'Yeah, you're right.' And you know what we did? We had 90,000, almost 93,000 or 94,000 people. So, we outdrew both of them. So, it turned out great."

While in Las Vegas for WrestleMania 42 week, Hart marveled at what WWE and WrestleMania have turned into, especially since both he and Hogan were part of the first WrestleMania.

"It was still big, but the way that this thing's involved now, it's unbelievable," Hart said. "I mean, now you've got catering 24/7. You've got the makeup artists for the ladies that wrestle and the guys, too. You'll see they've got four or five people that do the clothes for them and everything. It's just, it's so big. You got 12 or 15 semi-trucks bringing the equipment in. You got buses. You've got so much. It's bigger than The Rolling Stones tour."

Hogan enjoyed enormous success as a beloved babyface in WWE from 1984 to 1993, but when he surprisingly jumped ship to WCW in 1994, the fans started to indicate that the act was going stale.

In response, Hogan made the shocking decision to turn heel and form the New World Order with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash at Bash at the Beach 1996.

That move changed wrestling, as WCW went on to surpass WWE in the television ratings during the Monday Night War, and the nWo became one of the hottest entities in the history of the business.

Hart recalled conversations he had with Hogan leading up to the heel turn, noting that they both knew it was time for a change.

"He decided to jump over to the nWo. We talked about it," Hart said. "He goes, 'What do you think?' And I said, 'Well, look, you know the old saying, if you do what you've always done, you're going to have what you've always had.' So, if the menu and the restaurant's doing good, keep it up. If it's not, you better change the menu. The same thing in wrestling. So, we knew our sales and T-shirts were going down a little bit, the ratings were going down a little bit.

"So, we knew it was time for a change. So, it wasn't easy for him to do that. But, it worked out great, too, because from WWE, we had two major superstars coming over to join him, which was Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. And so, just something that really worked out, man. The chemistry was just great."

Hogan's accomplishments in the world of pro wrestling are well-documented, but Hulk Hogan: Real American will also take a deep dive into Hogan's life outside the ring.

Hart noted that he is looking forward to fans getting to see some of the ways Hogan gave back during his own time, including granting Make-A-Wish requests.

"Hulk would go out and do the Make-A-Wishes," Hart said. "He'd get on his hands and knees and talk to little whoever it might be and he'd rub the little boys' arms or whatever and go, 'Give me some strength tonight cuz I've got to go in the ring and fight the big bad guy, the big bad Sheik or or whoever it might be.'

"But then as soon as we got through and say goodbye to him, we'd go in the back, Hulk would go, 'Jimmy, get me the tissues,' because he'd cry like a baby back then because he realized sometimes when we go back to the same area, some of the little kids he talked to might not be around, and that really bothered him tremendously. And he had to do that before he'd go out for the main event."

Hulk Hogan: Real American will feature clips from the final interview Hogan ever participated in before his passing.

Hart is hopeful fans will gain a new understanding and appreciation for what Hogan went through later in life, including the chronic back issues he dealt with.

"You'll see some of the early footage. ... I was just looking at all the early footage and I was just looking about how we all look back then and some of it was black and white footage, but everybody was so happy, had such a great time together on the boats and playing games and just everything was so special," Hart said. ...

"Then, you know how it evolved into and a lot of the tragedy, all his back surgeries and stuff that he went through and it shows how much pain he was really in. But when it came to being in front of the people, buddy, he put that cane down and went right out there in front of them. 'Jimmy, let me put my hand on your shoulder.' 'Okay, Hulkster, baby.' And he didn't want the fans to see that. But to the end, he loved the fans and he loved professional wrestling. That's the main thing. That's what he loved more than anything."

Hogan was a larger-than-life character to so many of those who grew up watching wrestling, but Hart hopes that fans come away from the docuseries realizing that Hogan faced many of the same challenges normal people do.

"That he's just a regular human being. He's like everybody," Hart said. "He bleeds like everybody else. He cries like everybody else and things hurt him. Things are sensitive and he can be happy at times, too."

Many lost a childhood hero when Hogan died, but Hart lost a best friend, noting, "It's like the old saying, it's hard to kill a memory. So Hulk's memory will always be strong with me."

Hulk Hogan: Real American is a four-part docuseries that will drop on April 22, streaming exclusively on Netflix.