Eric Bischoff formed a close friendship with Hulk Hogan after they began working together in WCW in 1994. In his latest podcast episode, the legendary wrestling executive emotionally discussed the two-time WWE Hall of Famer's passing.Bischoff and Hogan played a pivotal role in WCW Nitro's television ratings success over WWE RAW from 1996 to 1998. The two men recently joined forces to launch the new Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling league, which is set to debut on August 30.On 83 Weeks, Bischoff revealed he received a text message from Mike Johnson of PW Insider on the morning of Hogan's death on July 24. Johnson heard news about The Hulkster's condition but did not want to report anything. Moments later, Bischoff went back to his hotel room and saw confirmation of his friend's passing on television."I walk into my room, I sit down on my bed, I pull out my phone, I start to dial Nick [Hogan's son], and then Fox News broke the story, and they used a clip from an interview that Hulk and I did on Fox & Friends, I think it was on May 1, whatever the date was, a couple of weeks ago, a month ago, whatever, and that's how I found out," Bischoff said. [4:08 – 4:35]Hulk Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, passed away at the age of 71 after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Clearwater, Florida.Eric Bischoff's emotional reaction to Hulk Hogan's deathDuring the podcast episode, Eric Bischoff became tearful several times while telling stories about his long-time friend.Although he has found it difficult to process the news, Bischoff knows Hulk Hogan would not want him to feel sorry for himself:"It's not just my case, losing one of my best friends. I mean, that's a big enough deal, but everywhere I look for the last two days, it's Hulk Hogan. He's all over the news, he's all over social media, and the outpouring, it's tough. It makes me smile. This is not gonna be easy. It's just starting to sink in, and it will, and we'll go about our business because that's what he would do. He'd be kicking my a** if he thought I was moping around. As he would say, 'Missing a beat.'" [4:56 – 5:45]In a separate interview, fellow WWE Hall of Famer Brutus Beefcake explained why he decided not to visit Hogan shortly before his death.Please credit 83 Weeks and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.