Hulk Hogan died on Thursday, July 24, 2025 at the age of 71 years. Several promotions around the world honored the professional wrestling icon on live programming in the days afterward. WWE, TNA, NJPW paid homage on their shows. They’d also acknowledged Hogan’s death online ahead of those in-arena tributes. AEW had not, and many wondered if they would by the time AEW Collision aired live on Saturday night.
The main reason some believed AEW might no-sell the death of the most famous pro wrestler in the business is because in 2020, AEW’s second year of existence, owner Tony Khan revealed on social media that Hulk Hogan was “banned” from his promotion. Khan soon confirmed Hogan was banned because of the racist statements he made on the sex tape from his lawsuit against Gawker.
Collision didn’t open with any mention of Hogan, but after the first match of the episode lead commentator Tony Schiavone spoke about the Hulkster’s death. Schiavone of course called much of Hulk’s nWo run in WCW, which like Collision called TNT its network home. He also caught some flak online after Hogan’s death for correcting someone who referred to Hulk as his “close friend” by saying he was a “friend” and “co-worker”.
Here is Schiavone’s eulogy for the Hulkster:
Schiavone: It was quite a week for all of us, who have been in professional wrestling for a long time, with the unexpected death of Hulk Hogan.
Hulk Hogan was a man who brought professional wrestling into the mainstream in the 80s. And in the 90s, right here on this network, right here on TNT, almost 30 years ago, Hulk Hogan lit the fire that began the Monday Night Wars, and he also put WCW on the cable TV map right here on TNT.
And you know, sometimes we take a look at these stars that are bigger than life, and we forget they are just like us, human. And we forget they have families that care about them. Our condolences go out to Hulk’s family, his children Brooke and Nick, his wife Skye. And if you’ve never lost a member of your family, you have no idea what the pain they are going through right now. And believe you me, it is intense.
From all of us here at All Elite Wrestling, RIP, brother.
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