Hulk Hogan can "feel his hands" again after undergoing neck surgery

Speaking on his '83 Weeks' podcast, Bischoff said: "They had to work on the discs in his neck, but they had to go in through the front to get to him to relieve some of the pressure and damage that he was experiencing in his legs and his hands.

"What I heard from one of the people that works closely with him on a daily basis was that coming out of that surgery, for the first time in a long time, he could actually feel his hands.

"He hasn't been able to feel his hands... as soon as he woke up, the first thing he said was, 'I can feel my hands', which I think is really cool."

Bischoff also hit out at online negativity against Hulk, 71, and says it contrasts hugely with his enduring popularity in the real world.

The wrestling ex ecutive said: "(The critics are) just bottom feeder, unproductive sheep that tend to want to be the loudest people in the room.

"You go outside of that little bubble, and as you pointed out, it's mind-boggling that kind of response he gives. It's not only at the fan level, but even now... I'm talking to networks, large ones, who are wanting to know how much we're going to be able to use Hulk."

Bischoff and Hogan are preparing to launch a new wrestling league, Real American Freestyle, this summer and he doesn't want to overexpose the retired WWE star in the venture that is separate from "sports entertainment".

He said: "I don't want to see too much Hulk Hogan on TV... because that will make the job of separating ourselves and defining our brand from sports entertainment (harder).

"So the more I see Hulk on TV as a producer, the harder my job becomes, but yet the networks I'm talking to are going, 'Yeah, but can we get a special interview... Can we get Hulk on a pre-show?'"