Nick Hogan Honors Dad Hulk Hogan by Carrying His 'Meaningful' Final Project of Opening SLAM Sports Bar 'Across the Finish Line': 'He's Still Here'

Nick Hogan is keeping his dad Hulk Hogan's legacy alive as he works on SLAM Sports Bar, a massive wrestling-themed restaurant and entertainment destination opening this fall directly across from Madison Square Garden.

"This whole project started because our wonderful partner, Rich Rosen, was just an enormous lifelong fan of my dad. He waited for like five hours at Fanatics Fest to meet him one day. He had this location, and he really wanted to do a Hulk Hogan bar concept here. He walked up to him and said, 'You’re my new business partner.' And my dad’s like, 'All right, what do you got?' That’s just how this all started. My dad and Rich really hit it off, and I immediately met Rich. He’s just such a great person. He’s a great business partner. This concept that he had and brought to my dad was just so thrilling. It really makes sense because this is the spiritual home of Hulkamania. This is where Hulkamania was born. This is where my dad’s career really took off, right here at Madison Square Garden," Nick, 36, exclusively tells OK! while in New York City.

"So this is something for all the Hulkamaniacs. This is something for my dad. This is something to carry the legacy forward. This is something for New York. This is something for everybody who’s ever enjoyed something at Madison Square Garden. So this is for everybody, with a great purpose," he continues.

Hulk — real name Terry Gene Bollea — died on July 24, 2025, at the age of 71 in Clearwater, Fla., after suffering a cardiac arrest. Since then, Nick has been carrying on his legacy.

"I think about how now it’s been just over a year since my dad passed. In that year, there have been multiple challenges and emotional difficulties. But I think what’s come from that that’s most significant is that my perspective on his legacy has shifted a little bit. It’s not just about his in-ring accomplishments and all the things that he left behind. It’s about going forward, what he inspired people to do and how he inspired people to live their lives — and what he’s inspired me to do. What’s so cool is that we get to carry this building, this project, across the finish line for him and in his honor. That’s what gives this such an exciting tone for me — the purpose of what we’re doing this for," he shares, adding he still "feels" close to him.

"It feels like he’s still here with us," he notes.

So much so, he recalls one moment when he felt his dad's presence.

"It’s so interesting. I’m lucky that my dad and I had a passion for cars and doing car stuff together. So I have a few of my dad’s cars, which are prized possessions that were his and also mine. The other night, my wife and I were out for a drive in one of his favorite cars. We were just going to dinner, and there was this beautiful sunset. He loved sunsets. We were noticing it, and I was like, 'Man, my dad would love to be here doing this — cruising around in his car, looking at the sunset,'" he recalls. "Right then, this song that they used for his memorial video popped on the radio. Then something else happened — this red and yellow thing just popped up at us — and I was like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m starting to get a lot of signs here. This is crazy.' My wife was like, 'He’s definitely here with us.'"

Now, Nick, who is married to Tana Lea, gets to look back at some of his father's biggest moments as the space comes together.

"This location is absolutely amazing. I would be pretty impressed if you found a better location than this anywhere in New York, even in Times Square. Right here looking at the Garden is just amazing. I remember shortly before my dad passed, we were here with him, and we had a moment where he looked out these windows at Madison Square Garden and reflected on everything that he did there. Just seeing him take that in and being here meant so much to all of us. He gave us this purpose of getting this finished for him. Having this bar here has a spiritual purpose. It’s got a connection to my dad. It represents his legacy. It represents everything that he did here. Seeing this come to fruition is amazing because there are all these different sports bars here in New York, but this one is cemented with purpose and legacy. And it’s going to be top-notch. We’ve brought in ICRAVE, the design team. They did the MGM Sphere in Las Vegas. So everything here that you see, touch, smell, look at is going to be top-notch finishes. It’s going to be probably the number one sports bar in the world," he shares, adding that every room will have some sort of theme.

He adds, "So downstairs we’re going to have the SLAM Room, which is a nod to the ’80s nostalgia and the boom of Hulkamania. Our back room downstairs is going to be a nod to the ’90s bad-boy Hollywood Hulk Hogan NWO era. The room that we’re standing in now is going to be the MSG Room. As you can see, this resembles the inside of Madison Square Garden with the build-out. So if you’re in here celebrating a Knicks win or something like that, all the lighting in here is going to light up according to whoever’s across the street or what team is there. This will be a direct nod to the Garden. Then in the back we’ve got the Legends Lounge, which is going to have a lot of nostalgia, memorabilia, things that are ring-worn being displayed, trophies, belts and a podcast stage where we can have live audiences and broadcast podcasts from back there. There’s a lot of exciting stuff. The rooftop is going to be open-air. We’re going to have a lot of really cool things. It’s going to resemble a wrestling ring with our light-up ropes outside, and there’ll be an open-air bar. You’ll be able to get food on all three levels of this place."

Since the wrestler loved classic rock, the genre will be played in addition to hip-hop, electronic and country music.

"We’re going to have all kinds of music here, and it’ll probably be different in each room. This is a thrilling thing for us to be able to provide for everybody. If you’re a fan of Hulk Hogan in ’80s wrestling, or the ’90s and the NWO, or if you’re a fan of his TV and movies or Rocky III or something like that, no matter where you discovered Hulk Hogan, we’re going to have something for you. His career crossed so many different mediums, from sports entertainment to acting to music to all these different things in television and movies. So if you’re here at Madison Square Garden for a concert, you’re here for a sports game, or you’re here for any other kind of entertainment, SLAM Sports Bar is going to have something for you," he shares.

"What’s interesting is that a few years ago, he actually had a guy come and make molds of his hands, his face, his body. There’s this guy who makes these hyper-realistic silicone statues that feel like skin, but they’re actual real molds of his hands and face and stuff. We have a few of these statues, and we’re going to have some of them here at SLAM. He was like, 'Oh, it’s going to be crazy when you get the statues in there.' Because even with him not being able to be here every single night of the week, people could come and take a picture with a real life-size statue mold of him. Now that he’s not here, it means even more that people can experience that. But he thought that was so cool. He’s like, 'I’m going to have my statues in there, brother.' That was really cool for him. So we’re excited to be able to continue to do that and have that for people. They’ll be able to experience what it was like to face off with the legendary Hulk Hogan," he adds.

SLAM Sports Bar is a bit different than Hogan's Hangout, located in Clearwater, Fla.

"Florida is a bit of a sports bar, but it’s more like a beach bar meets a sports bar. It’s kind of like the duality of who he was as a person between Hulk Hogan and Terry Bollea at home. He was Hulk Hogan when he was on the beach. He couldn’t escape that, but that’s more of a relaxed environment where he would just hang out on the beach and stumble up in his flip-flops. This is much more of a serious approach to his legacy. This is Hulk Hogan, Hulkamania, the spiritual home right here at Madison Square Garden. So this is a lot more of an official Hulkamaniac experience in a way, whereas that’s a bit more of a laid-back Hulk Hogan-at-home type vibe. This is a lot more focused on the legacy in terms of Hulkamania being born right here at Madison Square Garden," he says of the differences.

Before Hulk's death, he was very "involved" in the project.

"He was here, and we actually have some great photos of him looking out these windows at the Garden. He was thrilled about this. I was with him that night that he was here, and he was so excited. He took that moment to really take it all in and look at the Garden and think about what he had built. Being able to come full circle and be right here outside of Madison Square Garden, looking at his new sports bar that he was opening, meant so much to him. You could feel it. He felt so rewarded by that accomplishment, being able to do that. So carrying that forward and being able to finish that vision for him is most important to me. That’s what I care about the most in this world — carrying out that vision for him and carrying on his legacy in a way that he would be proud of, and being able to serve that to the fans, give that to all the people and let them know how much he appreciated their fandom and their support for him," Nick says.

He continues, "I feel really lucky and blessed that I’m able to do that, to be able to make these decisions and carry it forward that way. To represent his legacy in a way that he could be proud of is so meaningful."