On Thursday afternoon, Clearwater Police Major Nate Burnside cleared up the murky details behind what actually happened that morning. Burnside explained that the Clearwater Fire & Rescue, alongside the Police Department, responded to a medical emergency call at 10:00 am. While they transported the wrestling icon to Morton Plant Hospital, Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, “died at 11:17 a.m.”

While murmurs of Hogan’s declining health were making rounds for a while, his sudden passing shocked wrestling fans. Yet, in the wake of the WWE icon’s death, a clip from one of his final public appearances surfaced, showing that the man who immortalized his legacy with ‘Hulkamania’ loved the sport till his dying day. Just weeks before his passing, the 71-year-old had called on athletes for a special event.

You see, while Hulk Hogan had spent his legendary career in the entertainment side of wrestling, for his latest venture, the WCW veteran stepped into the world of freestyle wrestling. “We’re giving these amateur wrestlers, the NCAA champions and gold medalists… an opportunity to continue on with their dream. We can pay these athletes, you know?” Hogan told reporter Adam Glyn in May.

“That’s why we’re calling it Real American Freestyle,” the late wrestler said about his venture with producer Eric Bischoff and wrestling veteran Izzy Martinez. While there’s rarely any money involved in freestyle wrestling, even at the Olympic level, RAF plans to change that. In fact, it’s so promising that former Penn State star Bo Nickal is competing; something Hogan was stoked about.

“Bo Nickal is a tremendous athlete and one of the most accomplished wrestlers on the planet,” Hulk Hogan said in a press release after Nickal signed up. And while Hulk Hogan won’t be able to see the end result of “the first unscripted pro wrestling league for the best athletes in the world,” his legacy will live on through the RAF.

Eric Bischoff’s heartfelt tribute to Hulk Hogan

Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan go all the way back to the wrestler’s WCW days, when the television producer became the catalyst behind Hogan turning heel at the 1996 Bash at the Beach. It led to Hogan joining forces with fellow icons Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the nWo. They had also reunited at TNA years ahead of founding Real American Freestyle.

“And it’s one of the things that’s most important to me now, I guess, at this point, is, I feel like I knew Terry Bollea,” Bischoff spoke of Hulk Hogan. In fact, the promoter was in Vegas for RAF business. “I’m in Las Vegas and scheduled to shoot some interviews here with some of our wrestlers from Real American Freestyle,” he said on FOX News Channel’s The Story with Martha MacCallum.

Bischoff didn’t just speak about Hulk Hogan the wrestler, but honored the man behind the larger-than-life wrestling legend. “Terry Bollea was different than Hulk Hogan. Terry Bollea, the man, was kind. He was generous to a fault. He was loyal. He just had a big heart. And until you got to know Terry Bollea, you were overwhelmed with the character Hulk Hogan. And that was his life,” added the co-RAF founder.

“But he really was one of the kindest, most generous people that I have ever met,” Eric Bischoff told FOX. And while Hulk Hogan’s passing is tragic, RAF1 will continue on schedule. After all, the WWE Hall of Famer wanted to give freestyle wrestlers an opportunity like never before. And that’s exactly what the promotion will try to do come August 30.