Hulk Hogan's secret heartbreak before fatal cardiac arrest: 'he thought they'd make peace'

Hulk Hogan was quietly grappling with a deep personal sadness in the months leading up to his sudden death at the age of 71, according to sources.

The wrestling icon, real name Terry Bollea, died of cardiac arrest at his Clearwater, Florida home on Thursday. But behind his towering image as an all-American hero and larger-than-life showman, Hogan was enduring the pain of a long estrangement from his daughter, Brooke.

The 36-year-old hadn't spoken to her father for eight years. While the exact reason for the breakdown in their relationship was never fully explained , Hogan reportedly held out hope that they would one day reunite.

"The last few months of Hogan's life had a lot more ups than downs," a source told the Daily Mail. "There was a little strain with his daughter and their relationship that had taken quite the emotional toll, but he always thought he would eventually be able to rectify that."

His sudden passing has reportedly left those closest to him in shock.

"He was still extremely close to his son," the source added. "It is a surprise and doesn't feel real at all to his family and friends."

Hogan's years in the ring took a severe physical toll. Back in April, a source described his condition as having "the body of a 140-year-old man." In June, he underwent major neck surgery. But even more than his physical decline, insiders say it was the fractured state of his family life that weighed most heavily on him.

Earlier this year, Brooke publicly addressed her distance from both her parents, claiming she had been "verbally and mentally abused since childhood." However, she stressed the allegations were "not pointed at either person." According to TMZ, Brooke and her father did speak before his death, and she was able to tell him she loved him.

Her husband, hockey player Steven Oleksy, reportedly made several unsuccessful efforts to mend the family divide.

While Hogan remained mostly silent on the rift, his ex-wife Linda was far more vocal. The 65-year-old accused him of being a "complete liar" and a "sex addict" in a raw online video posted in March.

"I'm just home by myself today," Linda said through tears. "Again, as usual, I'm okay with most things, but today something hit. I don't know what hit, but I look terrible because I've been crying."

Reflecting on her daughter's absence, she continued: "She's had twins, she got married, she didn't tell us. She had a huge fight with Terry. I don't know how that reflected onto me. But she cut me out, too. I haven't talked to her for seven years - almost eight years now."

Linda added that their son, 34-year-old Nick, remains a bright spot in her life: "God bless Nick."

But she saved her harshest comments for Hogan, despite his 2023 marriage to third wife Sky Daily.

"I've given him more opportunities to come back and make us a family," Linda said. "I've never put a Facebook [post] out like this with my ugly face and my crying face, but I have to be honest about what I went through in my marriage with Terry. It's been 20 years and I'm still this sad. Somebody please explain that. I don't know. It just doesn't get better."

The couple's tumultuous relationship played out in the public eye, particularly after their rise to reality TV fame in 2005 with Hogan Knows Best. Their son Nick struggled with the spotlight, and in 2007 was involved in a crash that left his 22-year-old friend John Graziano with permanent injuries. Linda filed for divorce shortly after and began dating a 19-year-old, though the relationship didn't last.

In 2012, she was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

Hogan had controversies of his own. He became embroiled in scandal after a sex tape surfaced showing him with the wife of his friend and radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge. He sued gossip site Gawker for $100 million and eventually settled for $31 million, with the help of billionaire backer Peter Thiel.

Despite all this, Hogan maintained a loud public persona. He launched a beer brand and remained a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, endorsing him at the 2024 GOP convention and even pitching himself as a potential running mate before JD Vance was chosen.

But his image suffered after a 2015 scandal in which he was caught on tape using racist language, including repeated uses of the n-word when discussing Brooke's love life. "I guess we're all a little racist," he said in the recording, made public by The National Enquirer.

Boos greeted him during a rare WWE appearance in Los Angeles earlier this year, as the backlash endured.

Still, friends say that through it all, Hogan remained preoccupied with the broken bond with Brooke.

"It has been a very trying few months for Terry," a source told the Daily Mail in April, "but he isn't allowing it to get to him, and he is living his life the way he wants to live it. He's heartbroken that he doesn't have a relationship with his daughter and would love someday to rectify that."