By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Hulk Hogan says "every day gets better" physically after two recent back surgeries that were the result of 30 years of wrestling taking a toll on his body. Hogan says he pushed himself hard during the Hulkamania era of the 1980s and he's paying the price now.

In an interview on WSCR in Chicago to promote today's "Hulk Hogan Appreciation Day," Hogan stuck to his belief that he worked harder than the 1990s stars, specifically Steve Austin and The Rock, because he was the lone horse carrying the load. As a result, he says he's paying the price now.

"You've got to understand that after 30 years of jumping up in the air and landing on my tailbone and all the bumps and bruises from wrestling, because I think I did it more than anybody because there was no Rock, or no Stone Cold around for the first 20 years so I was kind of running hard trying to cover all bases," Hogan said. "I beat myself up pretty good."

Hogan says he doesn't regret transitioning into a reality TV star on "Hogan Knows Best" after his wrestling career was over despite the messy divorce from Linda Bollea that ensued. Hogan says they hoped the show would mend problems that were already there.

"She and I were going in different directions. We actually looked at the show and kind of hoped and praying that it would bring us all together and kind of fix things in a way," Hogan said. "I don't regret it because I was praying and hoping the whole time that it would keep us together."

Hogan says people like WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Brutus Beefcake were in his ear that the reality show would ruin his wrestling character. He says they thought it would expose him as a "real person."

At this point in the interview, Hogan entered into revisionist history mode by equating it to McMahon exposing the business "as an exhibition" and not a real sport in the 1980s. He claims the wrestling business exploded after that because more families and kids were coming to shows.

In reality, the wrestling business as a whole was larger with several viable territories making money across the U.S. McMahon then took WWE national, gobbled up many of the existing territories, and created the perception that wrestling was in the middle of a boom period because McMahon's product became a national TV spectacle with the help of MTV.

"Back in the '80s when Vince McMahon told the whole world that wrestling was an exhibition ... so many people said 'oh, he's going to ruin the business.' What it did is that it made wrestling huge. People got curious ... Families showed up," Hogan claimed. "I felt that same way about letting my guard down and letting people into my home. I thought, 'you know what, it might just work the same as wrestling.'"

Hogan says exposing himself as a real person didn't hurt his persona, but made people "warm up more" and become interested in him as a person with "real problems." Although not too many people have roosters in their backyard, Hogan says he connected with an audience that wanted to tune into his show to find out more about the "real" Hogan.

Link: Listen to Hogan's interview on sportsradiointerviews.com

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