"You protect him more than you protect your woman!" - WWE legend says he refused to kiss Hulk Hogan's a** like other stars

In his prime, Hulk Hogan had the most power in WWE and expectedly had his favorites backstage. Jake 'The Snake' Roberts recently opened up about Hogan's inner circle and how he didn't prefer to be overly fawning over the Hulkster like a few other colleagues.

Hulkster was an extremely valuable superstar for Vince McMahon during the golden era of wrestling in the '80s, as he drew WWE a lot of money by feuding with several top legendary names. Not Jake Roberts, though, who lost out on a planned storyline with Hogan in 1992 after a live event match in which he was over with the crowd despite being a heel.

While Roberts regrets missing the chance to have a lengthy program with Hulk Hogan, he wasn't ready to be an "a**kisser" and recalled details of how Hogan operated behind the scenes during the latest episode of The Snake Pit podcast:

"He [Hulk Hogan] had his own locker room, and I wasn't one to intrude on their space. I've just never been one to kiss a**. He had a lot of people around him kissing his a** brother; I'm not going to say any names because it's just not my place to do that," said Roberts. [From 16:20 - 16:41]

Jake Roberts shed some more light and noted that people close to Hulk Hogan didn't like outsiders getting familiar with the WWE legend. The AEW personality admitted that they were protective of Hogan, and it wasn't always easy to get to talk to the Hulkster in the locker room:

Roberts continued:

"But we all know, and hell, you couldn't even get close to him because these guys would block you and all. They didn't want anybody to 'get in' with Hulkster. 'Hey, I'll ask the Hulkster. I got this. 'Excuse me, brother, damn, you protect him more than you protect your woman! You know, it's true, man! There were about four, five of them; to this day, he's still got those guys." [From 16:42 - 17:05]

How is Hulk Hogan currently doing?

The retired world champion has not appeared on WWE TV since co-hosting WrestleMania in April last year. There has been a lot of speculation around Hulk Hogan's health as the 69-year-old legend has recently undergone multiple back surgeries.

Ric Flair confirmed on his podcast that Hulk Hogan was thankfully in much better health than before. The Nature Body added that Hogan has purchased a new house and recently even began a new relationship.

Hogan can be regularly seen at his popular bar in California and also appeared in a rare interview last week during which he spoke on various interesting topics.

Did you know the two superstars refused to lose to the Hulkster? Read more on that right here.

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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Snake Pit with Jake Roberts and H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription.