10 Dark Secrets About WWE Legends

2. Hulk Hogan Is A Bad Man

Randy Savage
WWE.com

Hulk Hogan could have held onto his legacy forever.

He could have walked through the doors of WWE whenever he pleased as a grotesquely paid but actually welcome mascot/ambassador figure. He was never going to work a match at his age, but he could have hosted WrestleMania (without getting booed into oblivion). He could have been persuaded into half-heartedly endorsing some guy from NXT whose name he didn't know, botched on the night, and forgot about afterwards - and people would have still adored him. He was a doddering old grandad in 2014, and was endearingly bad at WrestleMania XXX.

He had it made. Everyone knew he was a mental fantasist who didn't do anything, but he was the single most nostalgic figure for the millennial fans stuck in the wrestling habit forever. Every time you heard 'Real American', every memory of WrestleMania IX and Starrcade '97 melted away.

While it's not exactly class-izz-ified information, Hogan's abhorrent racism - he was recorded saying that he'd hate it if his daughter dated a black man, using the horrific slur - slightly less known is the fact that he was a d*ck about it afterwards.

Speaking on Bill Apter's podcast (h/t Pro Wrestling Sheet), Hogan blamed other wrestlers for not forgiving him. They should be better brothers, he said.

"Outside the ring, you're supposed to protect your brother. In this case, it's a situation where 75, 80, 90 percent of the wrestlers are protecting me and they're giving me another chance to move forward. There's just a few wrestlers that kinda like don't understand the bond and the brotherhood of wrestling. If someone makes a mistake, you need to forgive them and move on and try to let them prove themselves."

Translated: if you were ever trained, you're not allowed to think I'm an a*ehole.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!