Hulk Hogan’s estranged daughter Brooke skipped the WWE icon’s funeral service in Florida on Tuesday and opted to privately celebrate her father’s life at one of his favorite places where she felt “closest to him.”
“My father hated the morbidity of funerals. He didn’t want one,” Hogan wrote on Instagram. “Although I know people grieve in many ways – and I’m so grateful for all celebrations and events organized to honor him.”
“I had to make my own decision to honor him the best and most genuine way I knew how… privately… the way that made me feel the closest to him,” she said.
Brooke, who is married to former NHL defenseman Steve Olesky, honored Hogan alongside her infant twins at the beach, the place where she says she felt “the closest to him”
“The only thing missing today was him in is pop up lawn chair watching the waves… and the sunset,” she captioned the post.
The 37-year-old has been estranged from her father in recent years, but shared photos of her children and husband splashing in the “same salty waters” the wrestling legend loved.
“Daddy, we honored you in the simplest way that agreed with my soul,” she wrote. “Molly loved the water. I think she’ll be a ‘little fish’ as you called me.”
Hulk Hogan was laid to rest in a private funeral attended by grieving relatives and friends at the Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Largo, Fla.
His casket was carried into the service by pallbearers sporting yellow boutonnieres – an apparent nod to the yellow costume he made famous over his decades-long career.
The wrestler, whose real name was Terry Bollea, died on July 24 at 71.
He suffered a heart attack at his Clearwater home and was rushed to the hospital but later declared dead.
“We love you and honor the things that made you so special. Every grain of sand and every wave reminded me of being your beach baby, and brought us closer to you. I pray you are at peace and know how dearly I love you,” Brooke wrote. “Rest in heaven, Daddy.”
Hulk Hogan shared two children, Brooke and Nick, with his first wife Linda Hogan.
His daughter has spoken candidly about her father since his death.
In a lengthy Instagram post on July 29, Brooke cleared up “convoluting” media narratives regarding their relationship after they became estranged in September 2023.
“My dad’s blood runs through my veins. His eyes shine through my children. And our blood has never broken, not even in his final moments,” Brooke wrote in the post.
“… We never had a ‘big fight.’ My father and I never ‘fought.’ It was a series of private phone calls no one will ever hear, know, or understand. My father was confiding in me about issues weighing on his heart, both personal and business. I offered to be a life raft in whatever capacity he needed. I told him he had my support,” she said.
Brooke revealed she had moved to Florida with Olesky to be closer to her father when she felt a “force field” blocking her and she decided to step away from the wrestler to “protect my heart.”
The last time she talked to her father was two weeks before her wedding in September 2023, TMZ reported.
At the beginning of the father-daughter rift, Brooke removed herself from his will to avoid conflicts with other family members including her mother and her father’s third wife, Sky Daly.
The wrestling great was honored by WWE during two shows on “SmackDown” and “Monday Night Raw,” the latter attended by his son Nick.
Brooke claimed an invitation was never extended to her by the production company.
“For those of you giving me crap for not attending my Dad’s tributes, @wwe did not extend an invite,” she wrote on Instagram, after the shows.
