Hulk Hogan told a different suicidal tale four years ago

Pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan said he was suicidal when his reality show “Hogan Knows Best� was canceled in 2007.

In this past Sunday’s episode of the “Oprah: Where Are They Now?� series, Hogan said his fans saved his life.

“Everything kind of went downhill really fast,� Hogan said, getting emotional while speaking to the camera. “There was an accident that my son was involved in, and a good friend of ours was in the accident with my son. Just the marriage basically crashing and burning.

“After the show, I kind of hit rock-bottom. Everything got dark, everything happened at once. I was drinking alcohol very heavily. I always wondered how could someone possibly take their own life. I got to that point where I thought, ‘You know what, maybe this would be easy. Maybe this would be an easy way to fix things.’ �

At a New Year’s Eve party, Hogan says he stepped onto a balcony for some fresh air and was greeted by fans down below who cheered for him.

“It hit me that there is clean air and there is dirty air,� Hogan said. “Once I walked back inside again, I realized that I couldn’t take it anymore. I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.�

Now, I don’t want to cast doubt on Hogan’s story, but strangely enough, in 2009 Hogan also made the rounds of talk shows and had an entirely different story as to what saved his life, telling “Today’s� Meredith Vieira that Laila Ali, his co-host on “American Gladiators,� saved his life.

“All of a sudden the phone rang, and it was Laila, and she said, ‘Hey, what’s going on? You’re on the set. You’re all depressed. We’re worried about you. You going to be OK?’

“She called with no agenda, just to say hi and check on me,� Hogan said. “It snapped me out of it. At that moment I switched gears. I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. Her voice saved my life, it really did.�

He even uses some of the same language (“sick and tired of being sick and tired�).

Back then, Hogan, probably the best self-promoter in wrestling history, was pushing his just-published autobiography. Now? Well, WrestleMania 30 is coming up in March, and Hogan’s friend, Jimmy Hart, has made no secret of Hogan’s desire to be a part of the mega-show.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

ALSO:

Baseball, softball could return to Olympics by 2020

Lindsey Vonn suffered partial ACL tear of surgically repaired knee

A-Rod storms out of own grievance hearing, calls it ‘abusive process’