THE REAL REASON THE CROWD BOOED YOU, BROTHER
Words by: Mimi aka #TheWrestlingChic
Let's not play dumb, the boos Hulk Hogan catches at WWE events ain't about heel heat, and I’m sure most of you already know that. They're not nostalgic jeers like the ones John Cena eats for breakfast. These are real emotions that come from a place of disgust, betrayal, and solid memory. When Hogan sat down in his recent interview today with Ariel Helwani, he once again shrugged off those “boos” he gets like it's all just part of the show. Nah.That's not it, and he knows it:
"There's still nipping at my heals you know I can go out there and get booed in LA or The Rock can get booed in LA or John Cena gets booed in LA, but when I get booed there's a whole different reaction media wise. For some reason, I believe I laid some type of groundwork that people are still interested in what I'm doing."
He also said:
"For those that are the haters and still have a problem with me, you know, there's nothing I can do to fix that except, you know, just keep proving by my actions that, you know, I'm still in the game, I'm still pushing hard."Huh? Yeah, no.
Let's rewind the tape. The racist rant from 2015 that leaked courtesy of a sex tape and court proceedings wasn't just a bad moment; it was a window into something ugly. In that recording, Hogan dropped the line that's followed him like a shadow in the Black community:
"I mean, I'd rather if she was going to f*** some n*****, I'd rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n***** worth a hundred million dollars!"
"I guess we're all a little racist."
He said it. No lyrical gymnastics or "cancel culture" excuses can scrub that away from our minds. It wasn't taken out of context; it was the context.
To their credit, at first, WWE swiftly removed Hogan's name from their Hall of Fame, scrubbed him off the site like a ghost, and terminated his contract, aka corporate distancing 101. But by 2018, after what were reportedly a series of private apologies to the locker room (many of which rubbed Black wrestlers the wrong way), he was back—not just back but spotlighted, like we were supposed to be Men in Black'd…. Yeah, no. We still remember.
WWE trots Hogan out like a scandal that never happened. Nostalgia is the marketing ploy. They booked him in legends spots, gave him WrestleMania hosting gigs, and even rolled him out for the Raw on Netflix debut earlier this year. They BOOED him. That boo wasn't just for what he said, it was for WWE acting like he never said it.
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are launching a new project. Bischoff is teaming up again with a man who became a symbol of wrestling's racial blind spots. For Bischoff, who's as savvy as they come, this feels like a tone-deaf choice. Maybe it's a calculated bet that controversy still sells. Whatever it is, most Black fans won't be interested. But then again, this new endeavor isn't booked for us. The truth is, most Black wrestling fans see through this. Hogan's "apologies" and interview statements never feel like ownership or accountability. They feel like PR moves with a splash of tone deaf.
He's never directly addressed the weight of his words in a way that truly reckons with the damage. There's been no community engagement, allyship, or visible work done. Just a lot of "I'm sorry I got caught."
So no, this latest project doesn't get a pop, not even a cheap one. It's not heat; maybe it's apathy. While Hogan's legacy is set in stone, both triumph and stain, the one thing we do know is that it's not written for us, and we're cool with that. We've got our own legends.
Hey Hulk… we ain't booin' for fun. We're booin' because silence doesn't mean forgetfulness, and true forgiveness comes after accountability, not instead of it.
Writer's Note: Ya'll even if he did do the work.. I'm not going back *Nene shrugs*.
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Catch Mimi, also known as #TheWrestlingChic, co-hosting #TheBuckle: #TurnbuckleTalk, every Tuesday at 6:35PM ET on X Spaces and Thursday at 8:35PM ET w/the rest of the crew on The Black Rasslin' Podcast on YouTube.
