10 Dark Secrets Wrestlers Accidentally Revealed

Wrestling is in a strange place at the moment.

The big story of the late 2010s feels very naive. The romantic Revolution of the rise of All Elite Wrestling - which you can read about in immense detail here, by the by - promised to reset everything. Match quality. Storylines worthy of investment. A true meritocracy in which anybody could get over in an industry once monopolised by size bias and the dated, oppressive whims of Vince McMahon.

It feels uglier now, compromised by a return to the politicking, in-fighting and backstage unrest of yore. AEW, once a dream match factory that Excalibur used to manifest almost every single week with his run-downs of the next week's Dynamite card, feels bittersweet. Everything used to be possible in a company that once promoted Chris Jericho Vs. Nick Gage, Kenny Omega Vs. Bryan Danielson and the Young Bucks Vs. FTR.

Now, the best, most impossible dream matches are just that: increasingly naive projections that can't happen, replaced by good if bittersweet vanity wars (CM Punk interacting with Samoa Joe) or less believable emulations of the feuds people really want (the Elite Vs. the Blackpool Combat Club).

Great for an idle afternoon on Twitter, the soapy intrigue of AEW isn't quite as good as it used to be on Wednesday nights.

Then again, the idea that wrestling doesn't feel as innocent as it used to seems naive in and of itself compared to how things really used to be...

Hulk Hogan destroyed his legacy without intending to.

The man has a legendarily acrimonious relationship with the truth, so much so that it was funny. He was the ultimate wrestling carny, deeming himself capable of time travel in order to put over the number of times he made the tizzowns, brother, and claiming that he was set to play bass for Metallica before he became a wrestling superstar. He also "let slip" that he bought an ill Make-A-Wish child a ticket to watch him wrestle at a WWF pay-per-view. Let's hope that child was a fan of the British Bulldog, because Hogan was talking about SummerSlam 1992.

When Hogan did reveal the real nature of the man who lurks underneath the fantasist veneer, it was revolting. Caught in 2015 talking about his daughter's then-boyfriend in 2007 on tape, he said "I am racist, to a point. F***ing [n-word]." This, after also saying:

"I mean, I'd rather if she was going to f*** some [n-word], I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall [n-word] worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player!"

Hogan being Hogan couldn't keep track of whether he was actually apologetic or not, and receives very mixed reactions when WWE is brazen enough to drag him out for a pop.

Fated to hear that which he can't bear for the rest of his life, it's not the most deserving punishment, but for a celebrity, it could be more egregious.

F*ck him!