A Look At The Hulk Hogan Backlash and The Hypocrisy

A Look At The Hulk Hogan Backlash and The Hypocrisy
January 13, 2025
By Ryan Porzl

On January 6, 2025, Netflix would broadcast the WWE flagship show Monday Night RAW for the first time. The show was treated a special episode with big matches and big appearances including from The Rock to The Undertaker to Triple H. However, one of the big appearances was that of Hulk Hogan. In perhaps the most memorable moment of the show, Hogan was booed out of the building and many celebrated the occasion. It's no surprise to know Hogan has had his critics but obviously, things have grown since a 2006 sex tape was leaked in 2015 revealing Hogan going on a racist rant. To many, it was considered unforgivable while others also believed Hogan made little to no attempt to make up for it. Many also think there is more to it from Hogan's support of controversial US President Donald Trump to all the accusations of him playing backstage politics. For the record, I don't condone Hogan's words and I do believe WWE was in the right to fire him in 2015 and have him spend the next few years in the wilderness. That said, as a Hogan fan, I do believe the backlash is out of control and even hypocritical. Is Hogan being targeted because he deserves it or is there more to it? Is it because some want to score points with the Internet Wrestling Community or come off virtuous or because Hogan is low hanging fruit while others who can be as bad are considered untouchable? In this article we'll look at the controversies and how Hogan's critics are hypocrites savaging him while turning blind eyes to other wrestling legends misdeeds which, yes, includes racism.

Note: I don't own the picture. Credit to WWE.

When you think of the biggest reason people hate Hogan these days is because they point out he's this evil racist who never atoned for his actions. Again, Hogan's words were obviously out of line but the problem is if race is really the issue then why only Hogan? Regardless of what you may believe or what others may tell you, Hogan is no where near the only wrestler with a history of racial issues. Many legends have had incidents that could be considered as bad, if not worse. Andre the Giant is one of wrestling's most celebrated wrestlers of all time and has been lionized by the WWE since his 1993 passing. However, Andre was no stranger to racial incidents and using the n word. In the 1980s, Andre had two run ins with black wrestlers with one being Bad News Brown and the other being Kamala the Ugandan Giant both of which involved the Eighth Wonder of the World using slurs. Reportedly the incident with Kamala saw Kamala even threaten Andre with a gun while the Brown incident is pretty famous with Brown even challenging Andre to a fight and in one of the few times, Andre backed off. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper is another beloved legend who had his issue with race. In 1990, Piper did a feud with Brown which culminated in Wrestlemania VI and in one of the most infamous moments in the history of the Showcase of the Immortals, Piper competed in blackface, painting the entire right side of his body black. Obviously, blackface can be as offensive as the n word. Despite living another fifteen years, I don't believe Piper gave any heartfelt apology doing it and largely swept it under the rug which is what people accuse Hogan of doing. Speaking of blackface, WWE did it several times or close to it in 1998. On the January 5th RAW, Dustin Rhodes (as The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust), wore blackface during a match vs. Flash Funk. Then on the July 6th RAW, DX did their infamous Nation parody where Triple H (more on him later), Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn darken their skin to match Rock, D-Lo Brown, and Godfather respectively while X-Pac went a step further and also wore blackface to impersonate Mark Henry. While some have expressed regret like X-Pac, as far as I know, none of them have given tear filled apologies and asked for forgiveness. According to WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long, Ric Flair is another who is no stranger to race as Long has brought up Flair pretty much bullying him in the past and even called Long the n word to his face. Each and everyone of these wrestlers did stuff as offensive as Hogan's remarks but have been forgiven and forgotten. Obviously, some would argue these incidents were in the 1980s and 1990s which is true but the problem is Hogan's sex tape was shot in 2006 which is 19 years ago as of writing. It leaked in 2015 which is a decade ago.

Others will point to Hogan's support for Donald Trump and it's not far fetched. Regardless of whether you're a Trump supporter or not (I'm not), Trump is extremely controversial with some flat out worshipping him while others want to condemn him to Hell. It should be pointed out Hogan returned from his exile in 2019 and made several appearances for the WWE between 2019 to 2023. While it is true, Hogan's appearances have gotten some boos, the crowds were usually mixed at worst and positive at best. Definitely nothing compared to what he got on the Netflix debut. Some have even pointed out Hogan's appearance at the RAW XXX Anniversary in January 2023 and the response he got was positive. So what changed between January 2023 and January 2025? The only thing people can point out was his support for Trump and the fact the Netflix debut was in Los Angeles, a very liberal city. While it is true Hogan has been more open about his support for Trump, he's hardly the only one. Kane has waved the flag of Trump for years and is actually active in politics while Undertaker and Triple H (again, more on him later) have shown support for Trump so other than Hogan being more outspoken, why boo him for that but give passes to others?

Third is people will also say they don't like Hogan because he's selfish and played backstage politics. It's no secret people have long accused Hogan of playing politics but he seems to get more blame or criticized even though just about every legend at one time has been selfish and looked out for themselves. In fact, many beloved legends have been as selfish as Hogan is, if not more, and are usually ignored. Bret Hart largely has himself to blame for Survivor Series 1997. Regardless of whether he liked Shawn Michaels or not, if he was the professional he believes he is, he would've lost and taken the high road especially since he was off to WCW to earn one of the most lucrative deals at the time. Instead, he let his ego and being a mark for himself cloud his judgement and he refused to do business resulting in Vince double crossing him at Survivor Series and changing the finish. 

Roddy Piper is another celebrated legend but what many ignore was his selfishness.  From 1984-1996 in the WWF, Piper put almost no one over during that time. Not even Hogan when he was the golden goose. In fact, the only time he help make someone was Bret Hart at Wrestlemania VIII while every other time he avoided taking pinfall losses like the plague. Even his late 90s WCW run wasn't much better with his most notable loss being to Buff Bagwell in a boxing match at Bash At The Beach 1999. 

The Undertaker is another who receives constant praise but again has rarely put anyone over. While he did put people over originally like Mabel, Mankind, and Brock Lesnar, in the last decade of his career, the only time he lost was to a golden boy like Lesnar again and Roman Reigns. Meanwhile, matches against Drew McIntyre (albeit in a tag match), Jon Moxley, Rusev, Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family, and CM Punk saw him routinely come out the winner with no one coming out better. Even in that last decade when he was wrestling only a few times a year, Taker had plenty of opportunities to make someone a star and didn't do it. To make matters worse, Taker not only avoided losing much but seemed to go out of his way to make his opponents look weak and inferior

Shawn Michaels is now a beloved figure to the current generation and considered a father figure. However, in the 90s, Michaels was a massive primadonna who again avoided losing as much as possible. Many would say he even exaggerate injuries to avoid losing such as his knee injury which led to the "losing my smile" speech in 1997. From 1992-2010, Michaels held fourteen titles with six ending in vacancy. So nearly half. If that's not enough, if you take out his last four title reigns after he reformed and became born again, he held ten titles from 1992-1998 with six vacancies. In other words 60% of his title reigns did not see him lose the title in the ring to an opponent.

Ric Flair has been seen by many "smart fans" or the Internet Wrestling Community as this great "company man" who is about business and does what is right for the good of the promotion. However, the truth is completely opposite. Flair has shown a selfish side going back to the late 1980s. There's plenty of stories of Flair getting into pissing contests with NWA booker Dusty Rhodes and NWA/WCW Vice President Jim Herd on losing the NWA/WCW World Championship, especially to a younger guy like Lex Luger. Flair's also had a track record of making himself world champion and top star during the time he's booked for NWA/WCW in 1989-1990 and 1993-1994. Flair also notably held the company up before his famous departure in 1991 as he refused to lose the WCW World Championship to Lex Luger until he got the contract he wanted and when he eventually left, he famously took the championship belt with him and showed it off on WWF TV like personal jewelry. Even his 2000s WWE run saw him in his 50s and pathetically out of shape but still beat young talent like Carlito, the Spirit Squad, MVP, and Mr. Kennedy (Mr. Anderson) to name some.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is someone on Hogan's level and is another who cared about himself at times. During his prime and later years in WWF, he rarely put anyone over or established anyone. He famously refused to lose the Intercontinental Championship to The Rock in December 1997 and just gave it to him. In retirement in non-wrestling roles, Austin had plenty of selfish moments where he buried active talent like beating them up or giving them a stunner even though he was retired and the talent gained nothing for it. Finally, there's the times where he selfishly walked out on WWE twice in 2002 and not with plenty of notice. He walked out on the promotion hours before shows that fans paid to go to and some wanted to see him just because he wasn't happy. Instead of doing business right, Austin wasn't afraid to just up and leave to go home while screwing WWE, the talent, the employees, and the paying fans.

Bruiser Brody is another beloved legend who's been memorialized countless times since his 1988 murder. Many prefer to remember Brody for his in ring talents, character work, aura, and being a pioneer in wrestling specifically in brawling and hardcore. What many don't want to talk about or brush away is Brody was also one of the all time most selfish wrestlers to ever compete. There's plenty of stories of Brody's unprofessionalism including his refusal to lose matches and even sell for his opponents thus making them look weak and pathetic. People also don't like to bring up Brody also earned a reputation of going out of his way to have horrible matches and make a promotion look bad if he didn't like the promoter even if that affected local wrestlers who made a living there. People bring up Brody being a money maker in wrestling and while he drew well for promotions, he would also proceed to bury any talent that came in his path and usually left territories worse off.

Others say Hogan got booed cause he's just downright a horrible person. It's true Hogan is no saint and once again, he was out of line with his comments. Having said that, again, Hogan is not the only one. "Macho Man" Randy Savage had very controlling relationship with Miss Elizabeth to the point where it can be argued he was emotionally abusive and he controlled her under his thumb. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Lex Luger had committed spousal abuse with Austin being accused of doing it multiple times. Shawn Michaels, Sting, and Luger have committed adultery (as has Hogan). Ted Dibiase has been accused of committing welfare fraud. Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, and Dynamite Kid were notorious for pulling cruel pranks such as committing property destruction while Dynamite was also a bully. The Undertaker abused his position as a locker room leader to bully and haze young talent with Wrestler's Court while also plastering Chris Kanyon with a steel chair which can be considered a betrayal of trust. Ric Flair, Dustin Rhodes, and Scott Hall have been accused of sexual assault. Ultimate Warrior has said many tasteless things including Homophobic stuff to calling Darren Drozdov a "cripple", and mocked Bobby Heenan when Heenan suffered from throat cancer. Antonio Inoki has had ties to organized crime. Andre the Giant has taken liberties on wrestlers he didn't like such as "Big" John Studd and Bam Bam Bigelow by roughing them up during matches. Keep in mind, as bad as these examples are these are just from Hogan's generation. That's not even bringing up all the people of this generation accused of serious stuff during the Speaking Out movement.

Then there is Triple H. Among the legends who appeared on RAW was Triple H who opened the show and got cheered. Problem is that Triple H is another that's not a saint and him getting cheered perhaps was the biggest sign of the critics and fans hypocrisy. As mentioned, people have giving their reasons as to why Hogan was booed be it racial or support of Donald Trump or being selfish. The fact is Triple H checks each and everyone of those boxes. When it comes to race, Triple H has had plenty of incidents that can be considered racist. His first incident would be on the October 13, 1997 RAW when he, Shawn Michaels, and Rick Rude would eat bananas during a match featuring Owen Hart vs. Kama Mustafa (The Godfather) which featured members of the Nation of Domination (an all black or mixed group) at ringside. On the July 6, 1998 RAW, Triple H took part in the Nation parody where he shaded his skin which could be considered a type of blackface. On the September 14, 1998 RAW, Triple H would be in the corner of X-Pac and Chyna who took on Mark Henry in a handicap match. During Henry's entrance, Triple H proceeded to taunt the World's Strongest Man by dancing like a monkey. On the January 3, 1999 Heat, Triple H faced Henry in a match and taunted him by acting like a monkey. Finally, there's his feud with Booker T in 2003 which many thought had racial tones like HHH acting like Booker and "his people" were beneath him. Then there's HHH's support of Trump. Triple H has shown his support for the controversial president on multiple occasions including recently. During Trump's first term, Triple H and the rest of the McMahon family visited him in the White House and took a picture with him in the Oval Office. In November 2024, both HHH and Trump were in the audience for the UFC 309 PPV in Madison Square Garden with footage showing Triple H greeting and shaking Trump's hand. Then in December, HHH attended a New Year's Eve Party Trump was holding alongside Stephanie and Linda. Finally there's selfishness and boy, does Triple H fit this to a T. Anybody that's followed wresting in the 2000s is well aware of Triple H's out of control ego and it was during 2002-2005 many would coin these years as Triple H's "reign of terror". During this reign, Triple H would selfishly beat and cut the legs out of many wrestlers to benefit himself including Rob Van Dam, Kane, Scott Steiner, Booker T, and Randy Orton. Working with Triple H during this period was considered a kiss of death for a career and nobody came out looking better outside of Triple H friends like Batista or someone like Shelton Benjamin. Some careers like RVD and Booker took years to fully rebuild and return to the main event. In other words, each and every reason people use to justify their hatred of Hogan, you can pin to Triple H. Yet, Triple H was cheered by the same crowd that booed Hogan. This, despite the fact, Triple H is guilty of the same stuff Hogan has been accused of and by all accounts never gave a heartfelt apology for his past though some have made pathetic attempts to defend like him "carrying himself better". The only difference is Hogan continues to be savaged by the same hardcore wrestling fanbase that have hated him for over 35 years. The same crowd who try to paint him as a horrible wrestler, who downplay his achievements, and magnify any scandal or selfish action he may commit. The same crowd who have indoctrinated fans into immediately think of Hogan whenever a wrestler gets greedy and say his "That doesn't work for me, brother!" quote whenever there's a sign a wrestler doesn't want to lose a match. Meanwhile, Triple H's rep has been successfully rehabilitated into a corporate suit who books the type of wrestling they love like NXT Black and Gold or current WWE. He's "Papa H", the legend who supposedly looks out for the current gen, is the savior of the WWE, and happily takes selfies with his talent.

Finally, let's look at another side of Hogan. The side people have downplayed. As far as many fans go, Hogan is a foaming at the mouth racist with a hatred towards black people. A modern day Imperial Wizard. Whenever we hear from black wrestlers, it's usually people like Mark Henry or the New Day. In other words, wrestlers who have almost no history with Hogan. Wrestlers who barely know him, never really got to know him or work with him or travel down the roads with him. However, what people either don't know or ignore is Hogan has had his support from black wrestlers. Specifically, wrestlers who worked with him and got to know him. While they didn't like Hogan's comments, Hogan has had support from black talent like Virgil and Kamala before their passings while both members of Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) have spoken positively regarding Hogan. Virgil had spoken highly of Hogan as a person and even credited Hogan for not only getting him employed in WCW but also going to bat for him when Bischoff wanted to release him. Kamala has also spoken of how Hogan treated him nice and was good to him when they worked together in 1986 and 1987. It was also Hogan who recommended Kamala to WCW when he briefly came in as a member of the Dungeon of Doom in 1995. Both Harlem Heat have credited Hogan for putting in a good word for them and helping getting them their first push in WCW while Stevie Ray has brought up having good conversations with Hogan over their love of cars. Of course, you never hear these stories get attention.

All in all, is Hulk Hogan a saint? No. Was he justified to say what he said? No. Is he flawed? Yes. Could he have done certain things better? Yes. That said, Hogan is not the only sinner in wrestling. He's not the only one to do something offensive or be selfish and people need to stop acting like he's the only one. You want to go after Hogan or call him out then be consistent and call out others even beloved legends for their shortcomings.