Even though professional wrestling is a secretive business, fans have learned a lot about the industry and its stars. For example, fans learned that Dwayne Johnson didn’t get along with a WWE Hall of Famer who is now his daughter’s boss and that he almost didn’t marry his wife. On top of fans learning that Dwayne was accused of unprofessional behavior, there were also headlines about a beloved star claiming they can’t say John Cena’s name anymore.

While headlines about Dwayne and John have been revealing, they pale in comparison to Hulk Hogan starring in a reality show. Unfortunately, part of the legacy of Hulk’s reality show is the perception that it ruined his life.

Why Some Fans Think That Hogan Knows Best Ruined Hulk Hogan’s Life

Between July 10th, 2005 and October 21st, 2007, four seasons of Hogan Knows Best aired on VH1. When the show premiered, it seemed like a no-brainer that Hulk Hogan was overjoyed that he agreed to be part of it.

While many people may not know it, Hogan Knows Best was a huge hit at the time. As a result, Hulk was thrust back into the mainstream spotlight, which is a position he has enjoyed more than almost any other wrestler. On top of that, Hulk and his family received many new opportunities.

However, after Hogan Knows Best took the world by storm, the reality show came to an end and Hulk’s life changed dramatically. Looking back at the history of the show and its aftermath, many fans now wonder if Hogan Knows Best ruined Hulk Hogan’s Life as he knew it.

Throughout Hulk Hogan’s life, he had many extremely long-lasting friendships with other people from the professional wrestling business. One of Hulk’s closest friends was named Eric Bischoff as they both repeatedly spoke during interviews about how tightly-knit their personal relationship was. On top of that, Hulk and Eric worked together many times over the years. Most recently, the friends were launching Real American Freestyle, a company they were building together at the time of Hulk’s passing.

Given their long friendship, Eric is better positioned to reveal how Hogan Knows Best affected Hulk Hogan than almost anyone. With that in mind, it is very telling that Eric stated his belief that Hulk regretted starring in Hogan Knows Best during an episode of his “83 Weeks” podcast that can be heard on Apple Podcasts.

“He had come off the Hogan Knows Best reality show, and I think he regretted ever doing that show, probably beginning five minutes after it started, and it only got worse.”

During other conversations, Eric elaborated on why he thought Hulk regretted Hogan Knows Best and how the reality show affected his family.

In July 2025, Us Weekly published a timeline of Hulk Hogan’s relationship with his first wife, Linda Hogan. According to that article, Linda filed for divorce from Hulk the month after Hogan Knows Best’s finale aired. The couple went on to engage in a bitter divorce battle that was only finalized after nearly two years.

During another episode of the “83 Weeks” podcast that was quoted by TheSportster, Eric spoke about how Hogan Knows Best made the pre-existing problems in Hulk and Linda’s marriage worse.

I’ll go back to Hulk’s own book, which is public knowledge, to answer the question, short answer, yes, I think the ‘Hogan Knows Best’ show probably exasperated an already existing problem. So it’s not like ‘Hogan Knows Best’ created a problem, but it certainly exacerbated it, probably fueled it, probably expedited the end of their relationship and all the other negative things that happened.”

During that same podcast episode, Eric went on to talk about how much pressure Hogan Knows Best put Hulk, his family, and his first marriage under.

“The kids had to participate, the schedule was intense. However, much work you think it is, multiply it by 20. However intrusive you think having cameras in your home is gonna be, multiply it by 20. However, much fun you think you’re gonna have, divide it by 100. And that’s what producing a reality show is like when it’s in your home. You can’t get away from it. And I think, again, the relationship between Terry Bollea and Linda, was such that it only made things worse. Her personal habits only really, really made things worse for everybody. And everybody suffered as a result of it.”

To the point of Eric’s comments, Hulk and his family went through a staggering amount of strife after Hogan Knows Best ended.

In August 2007, Hulk’s son Nick got into extremely serious legal trouble, as a November 2024 Nicki Swift article details. While speeding, Nick’s car smashed into a median and a palm tree. As a result of the horrible accident, Nick’s passenger, who is an Iraq war veteran while serving in the marines, John Graziano, suffered catastrophic injuries. After suffering brain damage due to the accident, John was left permanently paralyzed and requiring full-time care for the rest of his life.

Nick was initially charged with driving involving serious bodily injury, driving under the influence, drinking while underage, and having illegally tinted windows. Ultimately, Nick pleaded no contest to felony reckless driving and was sentenced to eight months in prison and 500 hours of community service. However, Nick was released after serving less than six months of his sentence.

While Hulk’s daughter never got into that kind of legal trouble, there reportedly was a great deal of drama in their relationship. In fact, TMZ reported that Hulk and Brooke had been estranged for months before he passed away.

In July 2025, TMZ reported that Brooke and Hulk didn’t speak after September 2023, citing an “insider.” According to the insider, the estrangement was as a result of many issues that degraded their relationship over a period of years. On the bright side, TMZ reported that Brooke told Hulk that she loved him and urged him to take care of himself during their final conversation.

During episodes of Hogan Knows Best, viewers saw a seemingly close-knit family. However, in the weeks and years that followed the show’s ending, that same family fell apart and went through a lot of drama. Between that and comments like the ones that Eric made, it is easy to see why fans may think that Hogan Knows Best ruined Hulk’s life.

Why Blaming Hogan Knows Best For Hulk’s Life As He Knew It Seems To Be False

From the outside looking in, it certainly seems like Hogan Knows Best ultimately brought a lot of negativity into Hulk Hogan’s life. While it does seem like the pressure that Hogan Knows Best put Hulk’s family under led to a lot of their problems, it seems like blaming the show is oversimplified and false.

Since many child stars have made bad decisions that involve drugs and alcohol, it is compelling to look at Nick Hogan’s mistakes in that light. After all, Hogan Knows Best turned Nick into a child star since he was only 14-years-old when the show premiered.

While his status as a former child star may have affected Nick’s reckless behavior, that certainly doesn’t take away Nick’s responsibility for his actions. As a result, blaming Hogan Knows Best for the role that Nick’s legal troubles had in destroying Hulk’s life as he knew it before seems like a stretch.

Hulk’s relationships with his first wife and daughter were likely made worse by the effects of Hogan Knows Best’s pressure. That said, claiming that Hogan Knows Best solely caused Hulk’s divorce and the disagreements he had with his daughter also seems like a massive stretch.

Comments that Hulk made when he appeared on Booker T’s “Reality of Wrestling” Podcast in April 2019 prove that Hogan Knows Best wasn’t solely responsible for his family life going awry. As can be heard in a YouTube video that features a clip of his appearance, Hulk admitted that the problems in his marriage were there before Hogan Knows Best existed.

“When I went into that reality show, to be completely honest with you, my brother is, my marriage was already broken really bad. My wife was real unhappy.”

Hulk also stated while talking to Booker T in 2019 that he would still decide to star in Hogan Knows Best if he could go back and change things.

Another reason to say that Hogan Knows Best didn’t ruin Hulk’s life is that his life doesn’t seem to have been ruined. While there is no doubt that Hulk went through a lot of personal and financial issues after Hogan Knows Best, he also often spoke about improving his life and finding some form of peace.