Hulk Hogan admits his infamous injury history at WrestleMania

Hulk Hogan speaks out about the reason for his black eye at WrestleMania 9 – and claims another story about a WWE Hall of Famer is false

Whenever two-time WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan tells a story, many wrestling fans doubt its veracity.

While there's no denying that Hogan is one of the greatest figures in pro wrestling history, he's also known for not always being truthful—whether it's one story or a dozen.

At WrestleMania 9 in Las Vegas in 1993, Hulk Hogan returned, teaming with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake to defeat Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) for the WWE Tag Team Titles. After nearly 20 minutes, the match ended in a disqualification, allowing Money Inc. to retain the titles.

What caused even more discussion, however, was that Hogan appeared with a clearly visible, large black eye—his left eye was almost completely swollen shut. The WWE storyline claimed that Money Inc. had attacked him. Hogan himself claimed it was a jet ski accident. However, some fans and insiders believe that a physical altercation with "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who was on commentary duty at WrestleMania 9, caused Hogan to suffer the black eye.

In a new Peacock documentary called WrestleMania IX: Becoming A Spectacle , WWE Hall of Famer Scott Steiner claims that Savage got into a fight with Hogan and injured his eye. Steiner was close friends with Savage and often traveled with him. However, Hulk Hogan denied Steiner's claim.

"I guess he believed the story Randy told him. I never fought with Randy. If they still want to believe it, even though we're telling the truth—fine by me."

Hulk Hogan tells his version of the black eye story at WrestleMania 9

The Hulkster tried to explain how the black eye came about before WrestleMania 9:

"Brutus came by, and I was riding a Sea-Doo. I climbed on the thing, and as we were jumping over the waves, I didn't realize my thumb had pressed the button that held the nose of the jet ski down. As soon as I started, the thing was like a rocket. You're going 120, 130 km/h.

I hit the first big wave and got thrown up. I flew over the front of the jet ski, and when I landed in the water, I tried to dive under because I knew the thing was after me. But my life jacket pulled me back up, and the 300-pound jet ski hit me full on the face, knocking me unconscious. I was unconscious and lying face down in the water."

WWE Hall of Famer Brutus Beefcake was with Hogan and confirmed the story:

"He was flying through the air, and the jet ski did a 360-degree spin. The front hit him in the eye socket, causing a fracture. He was almost unconscious, definitely quite dazed."

The accident led to a visit to the doctor, where Hogan said:

"I went to the doctor. 'Hey Doc, you won't believe what we're doing. We have a new storyline to fool the fans. We'll just say that Macho Man beat me up and gave me a black eye. It's all makeup, and the stitches are fake, too. Please don't tell anyone.'"

One of Hulk Hogan's infamous lies was his claim that he was originally supposed to be the face of the George Foreman Grill—the grill that earned the boxing champion tens of millions of dollars. However, the grill's inventor refuted this claim, claiming Hogan was never considered for the role.