Hulk Hogan’s manager Darren Prince has praised the wrestler for helping him through his opioid addiction in the mid-2000s, saying his famous friend never deserted him.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, died on Thursday, aged 71 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Florida.

LA-based talent agent Darren Prince remembered Hogan as a kind person who helped him during his personal struggles.

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Opioids are a class of drug that are used for pain relief.

Common examples include morphine, heroin, codeine, oxycodone.

“As a person he was just one of the most amazing humans ever,” Prince told Sunrise on Friday.

Prince said himself and Hogan had always put “God first”.

“I have been very open. I had my struggles. I recently celebrated 17 years sober from an opiate addiction,” Prince said.

“He called me up earlier (into my recovery). He said ‘brother ... you came to the blessing a few months ago. I think it’s time you became a blessing to other people and get out there and tell your story to (help) others.

“To get that from someone like him, a cultural phenomenon, to love me and support me.

“I never forgot it.”

Despite more than 25 surgeries over the past decade, Prince said Hogan’s death was a shock.

“Hulk Hogan — you think Hulkamania lives forever,” Prince said, praising his legacy.

“He’s been very open about all the surgeries over the past 12, 13 years. There’s been over 20 of them. You’re always nervous and there were a couple of close calls (with his health).

“When you go back with someone 25 years, I was blessed to know the real Terry Bollea.

“I never looked at him like Hulk Hogan. He was a dear friend and business associate.”

Prince said the iconic wrestler loved his fans.

“It didn’t matter where he was, no matter how long it took (he made time for them),” Prince said.

“He always felt like 30, 40 years later he was still treated like the heavyweight wrestling champion of the world.

“(He always said about his fans) I will give them as much time as they need to tell them stories and memories (of my professional life).”

Tributes have been pouring in from the likes of US President Donald Trump, who Hogan supported during his presidential campaign.

“This time it was after the assassination attempt, I spoke to him a few days after, he was like, ‘brother, that’s it. I’m putting my foot down I’m going for Trump all the way,” Trump said.

Global Career

Hogan earned fame for his theatrical wrestling performances.

His career began in 1977, spending his early years wrestling in regional promotions across the US, including the World Wrestling Federation, and even competing in Japan.

Hogan’s over-the-top performances led to the Hulkamania craze of the 1980s, which reached its peak when he was pitted against fellow wrestling superstar André the Giant in a famously heated feud.

Hogan’s body slam of André at Wrestlemania III remains one of the most iconic moments in professional wrestling history.

In The True Story of WrestleMania, Hogan said he never dreamed he could have had the chance to wrestle in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

“And then once I’d made that huge step into the big leagues, WrestleMania was something that I didn’t understand,” Hogan said.

Hogan made what was considered a controversial move by leaving the WWF in the 1990s and later joining the rival organization at the time, World Championship Wrestling.

The move gave his career new life as he led the New World Order, a faction of black-and-white-clad wrestlers who played the roles of supervillains in the league.

While Hogan was well-known to wrestling fans, he became a household name after making appearances in several films and television shows that widened his appeal in popular culture.

He appeared in the third installment of the Rocky film franchise in which he took on the title character, played by Sylvester Stallone, in a fight between wrestler and boxer.

Hogan’s family had a reality series on VH1 in the mid-2000s named Hogan Knows Best, following the lives of his then-wife, Linda, and their two children, Brooke and Nick.