Ready to feel old for a minute?

Hulk Hogan turned 61 this week.

Yes, the same Hulk Hogan with the 24-inch pythons who made saying your prayers and taking vitamins cool during the '80s and '90s is back with World Wrestling Entertainment and showing no signs of slowing down.

Hogan isn’t currently competing in the squared circle (though keep reading for the opponent he has in mind for one last match) but instead playing the role of an ambassador for the company that made him an international icon and the face of professional wrestling.

Prior to his SummerSlam Confidential panel on Friday night in Los Angeles, Hogan chatted with Yahoo Sports about his emotional birthday tribute on Monday Night Raw, whether he’s a bigger legend than Steve Austin and how he managed to get the hookup on Air Jordans.

YS: How close were you to coming to tears during Monday’s birthday tribute video during Monday Night Raw?

HH: That was brutal, dude. They do things at WWE sometimes because I’m what they call a “veteran.” Vince [McMahon] trusts me and he doesn’t let me in on all the secrets like at WrestleMania XXX when I’m out in the ring and here comes The Rock and Stone Cold [Steve Austin]. It could have been an explosive situation. I didn’t know what these two were up to, but Vince thought that was really, really funny. It’s kind of like when I went out on Monday for my birthday and they gave me a little sheet that said you’re going to go to the ring and “Mean” Gene [Okerlund] is going to play a package.

I didn’t think about what they were going to do but the package was so compelling. It just really rocked me because it showed all these WrestleMania moments. These high points in my career like my son, Nick, and my daughter, Brooke, when I was getting inducted in the Hall of Fame. Thank goodness I had my yellow sunglasses on, bro, because they had me really off balance with that deal. I wasn’t expecting that package to be so compelling.

YS: Despite all the clashes with Vince McMahon in the past, you always find yourself back with the WWE. Is this final run the proper closure you need to end your career?

HH: Yeah, this is the period at the end of the sentence. This is where I need to be. Vince McMahon and I have always been good friends. On a personal level he would do anything for me, for you, for anyone he loves. He would give you the shirt off his back. On a business level? He’s a different animal. Cut and dry. Black and white. Sometimes I would wobble between the lines and mix up business and personal. If anyone kind of defected over the years, it was me. So for me to be back with him — I did start with his dad in the late '70s, Vince McMahon Sr. — and for me to come full circle and Vince and everybody to be gracious enough to let me end my career where I started my home in the WWE is really a great way to wind things up and just put a period at the end of the sentence. I’m really glad to be back.

YS: You mentioned your back is now pain-free and you’ve been training to wrestle again in a WWE ring. Who’s the one active wrestler you would like to step in the ring with?

View photos Who ya got: Cena or Hogan? (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images) More

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