Hey folks,
Monday night was a great night for wrestling fans, for the most part. WWE debuted Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Roman Reigns ended the Bloodline storyline by regaining the Ula Fala. CM Punk vanquished Seth Rollins. And Rhea Bloody Ripley got her Women’s World Championship back from Liv Morgan. We saw celebrities, WWE and NXT superstars, Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers. But no segment caused more conversation than Hulk Hogan’s 3-minute promo.
Hogan came out to promote the new partnership between WWE and Real American Beer, in which WWE now owns part of the brand. Hogan was booed out of the building by the disrespectful LA crowd. Even having Jimmy Hart out there with him waving Old Glory didn’t soften the negative response for the WWE icon. The biggest question is “why?”.
Hogan has publicly endorsed President-elect Donald Trump, and has been wearing MAGA merch, and even made Trumpamania merchandise (of which I own 2 shirts). However, Undertaker also publicly endorsed Trump, has merch with Nine Line Apparel, and had Trump as a guest on his podcast, Six Feet Under. Taker, however, got a positive reaction earlier in the night. So it’s not that the ultra-liberal Cali audience didn’t boo because of the political stance. Could it be that the racist remarks that Hogan was caught saying by Bubba the Love Splooge’s wife secretly recorded are still painting Hogan in a bad light?
Twix has been on fire ever since that happened. The IWC is split between the camps of pro-Hogan and anti-Hogan. However, WWE can use this to their advantage, and the word is that there are already talks to do so. I know Hogan was at the Raw Netflix debut simply to promote his new beer and the partnership with WWE, but I wish Hogan cut a Hollywood-style promo on the crowd when he heard the chorus of boos. I know he was caught off guard and he was shaken by the reception. But just imagine if he said this promo or something like it:
“Well, let me tell you something brother. I made this organization a monster! I made people rich up here. I made the people that run this organization rich, brother. When it all came to pass, the name Hulk Hogan, the man Hulk Hogan, got bigger than the whole organization, brother! And then Triple H and Nick Khan wanted to 'talk turkey' with Hulk Hogan. Nick Khan promised me millions of dollars. As far as Nick Khan, Triple H, and the whole WWE goes, I'm bored brother! For forty years, brother, for forty years, I held my head high... I did everything for the charities... I did everything for the kids... and the reception I got when I came out here... you fans can stick it, brother, because if it wasn't for Hulk Hogan, you people wouldn't be here. If it wasn't for Hulk Hogan, Triple H would be still be rolling in mud in a hog pen and if it wasn't for Hulk Hogan, all these Johnny-Come-Lately's that you see out here wrestling, wouldn't be here. I was selling out the world, brother, while they were bumming gas to put in the car to get to high school, so the way that it is now, brother, with Hulk Hogan and American Made (or whatever group), brother, me and the new blood by my side... whatcha gonna do when American Made runs wild on you? Whatcha gonna do?"
Obviously, that was edited from his Bash at the Beach 1996 promo. WWE is apparently going to be more careful with the cities that they’re going to bring Hogan to. He is slated to be at the next Saturday Night’s Main Event in San Antonio, so in Texas it may be a different reaction to the Icon. However, I truly feel that we can see a return of a heel Hollywood Hogan in the near future.
You LA fans can stick it, brother!
