One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY WWE WrestleMania
9. WrestleMania 33 | WWE Wanted Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan was exposed as a racist in July 2015, when both the National Enquirer and Radar Online made public a vile rant audible on a leaked sex tape. In addition to a liberal use of the ‘N’ word, Hogan explicitly referred to himself as a racist, before, just in case the actual confession wasn’t enough, treating himself to another slur with the word “f*cking” placed in front of it for emphasis.
Publicly, WWE distanced themselves from Hogan. He was let go from his deal. They stopped making his retro action figures. He was erased from the video games. Is it too cynical to state that WWE always knew that Hogan would be brought back eventually? Did WWE accept this in August 2015? Did they know this deep down in July 2015? Here’s another, less rhetorical question: did WWE bring Hulk Hogan back eventually?
They did.
Hogan had been reinstated to the Hall of Fame in July 2018, after which he hosted Crown Jewel that November. He was thrust through what was then the non–canon backdoor of Saudi Arabia, and then reintroduced to WWE “proper” when Gene Okerlund’s January 2019 death afforded a convenient opportunity. This was considered an inevitable disgrace - and in what is hardly a surprise, WWE might have wanted to get it over with earlier.
In late 2016, Brooke Hogan told TMZ that Hulk was in talks to appear at WrestleMania 33 (on which, incidentally, AJ Styles almost wrestled the Undertaker). Hogan was quick to deny any discussions had taken place.
Who do you believe here: a man who turned down sexual advances from Cher and Madonna in between travelling 400 days per year, or the other person?