Does Hulk Hogan Still Have A Place In WWE?

On a subjective level, your writer gravitated to pro wrestling because Hulk Hogan, framed by lightning emanating from a purple sky, looked like a living superhero on the old WrestleMania VHS tapes. The man was so Immortal that he flexed his impossible muscles on another planet. Your writer is a white 32 year-old man who would, involuntarily, jump out of his seat the second Hogan appeared on RAW, awoken by palpable, deep-rooted nostalgia.

There is a place for Hulk Hogan on WWE television. Of course there is. It doesn’t even matter if Hogan’s hips are so knackered that he can’t even deliver the big boot or drop the leg. Go to YouTube. Type in the search term ‘Hulk Hogan Real American’. Instantly, this song, played in the key of triumph, evokes memories of the old Hogan magic, when all he had to do was tear his shirt in half and cup his ears to reassure his fans that everything was going to be okay in the end. He could throw a few fists at Curt Hawkins and send him hurtling out of the ring for a big onscreen moment at the close of a WWE Network 24 special. Fans would go bonkers. Fans of a certain age, enjoying a certain privilege.

Mark Henry was asked by TMZ about a rumoured Hogan return recently. “I think after an apology to all of the existing African-American talent the he would [be welcomed back] - we’re a forgiving world”.

This, ultimately, means far more than the opinion of a Hogan fan, even one disgusted by his reprehensible (and likely inherent) awfulness. He can work me. He works me every time I hear the opening synth swell of the soundtrack to my youth.

Only by proving himself to the victims - and not portraying himself as one - can Hogan prove to the world that he truly is a changed and better man, or at least has a desire to become one.

Hogan has spent his life in denial of truth. Perhaps if it stares him in the face, he might see it. Otherwise, a Hogan return would reinforce a grim truth we need so desperately to move away from: morality means jack sh*t, and that the all-encompassing lack of it means nothing in this systemic, relentless culture of hatred immune to change. No consequences. No responsibility. No change.

“Snowflake. It’s wrestling.”

Is that all it is, for a company that markets itself as a force for good?