Hulk Hogan, the biggest star in the history of professional wrestling and the prominent figure during the industry’s biggest boom period, passed away July 24 at the age of 71. In wrestling, there are babyfaces and heels, heroes and villains. Hogan excelled at both in the ring, but he also played both archetypes in real life.
The term “complicated legacy” is something often thrown around after a polarizing figure passes away, with Hulk Hogan’s death being no different. Many remember the man who ripped his shirt off to thunderous applause, the all-American hero who bodyslammed Andre the Giant in front of a raucous Silverdome crowd and shocked the world by forming the nWo in WCW, WWE’s rival company at the time. But many also remember the man who went on an N-word-filled tirade and never gave a real public apology for it.
The incident came to the forefront in 2015 when his sex tape from 2007 was leaked by Gawker, a now defunct “media” operation akin to TMZ. Included in the tape was a racist rant by Hogan, real name Terry Bollea. The transcript is out there for anyone to look up. I won’t include quotes in this story out of respect for our readers, but the crux of the outburst had to do with his daughter, Brooke, allegedly dating a black man.
On July 24, 2015 – 10 years exactly before his death – Hogan was terminated from WWE and had his profile removed from the company’s website. That same day, he released an apology to People.
“Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation,” he told the magazine publication. “It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it.”
But that’s not quite the apology he reportedly gave to the WWE locker room in 2018 after being welcomed back by Vince McMahon’s promotion following a three-year absence. Reports from the meeting – and public interviews given by Hogan himself – indicated that the 12-time world champion spent more time warning the younger wrestlers to be careful around recording devices as opposed to simply apologizing for his abhorrent language.
Days after Hogan’s WWE Hall of Fame residency was reinstated, The New Day, made up of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E, released a statement on the social media platform that was then known as Twitter. In case you’re unfamiliar with The New Day but are familiar with wrestling from Hogan’s heyday, Kingston, Woods and Big E are in the same conversation as the Fabulous Freebirds, Road Warriors, Midnight Express, the Hart Foundation and any other great tag team as being considered the greatest of all time.
“On a personal level, when someone makes racist and hateful comments about any race or group of people, especially to the degree that Hogan made about our people, we find it difficult to simply forget, regardless of how long ago it was, or the situation in which those comments were made,” the tag team said, in part.
A convincing act to atone for his prior misdeeds never came across in the public eye as Hogan continued to make infrequent appearances on WWE television as an on-screen talent. He made headlines over the last calendar year by loudly endorsing Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential campaign. Draw your own conclusions about that partnership.
Hogan’s support of Trump drew so much ire that when Hogan appeared on WWE Monday Night Raw on January 6 this year to promote his brand of beer, he was booed out of the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Hogan appeared on the Pat McAfee show, the titular host serving as a color commentator for WWE, and said the fan backlash on RAW was due to Los Angeles being a liberal city. But what’s lost in that argument is the fact that this was billed as a big show for WWE, with top star Roman Reigns competing in a big-time match and rivalry matches across the show, along with celebrity fanfare as well considering it was the first WWE show on the Netflix platform. It was appointment viewing, which makes me believe the audience was more of a hardcore WWE audience than just a local California crowd.
His January 6 appearance on RAW was the last time he appeared live on WWE TV.
But despite all of this, his career does deserve flowers. After all, if you were alive in the 1980s, you knew who Hulk Hogan was. Before he exploded in popularity in the WWE, he appeared as “Thunderlips” in “Rocky III.” One year later, he re-signed with the then-named World Wrestling Federation, who, under McMahon, was making a push to surpass the established territory system and become a national brand, and defeated The Iron Sheik to claim his first world title.
His first reign lasted 1,474 days and included the inaugural WrestleMania main event, teaming with Mr. T against Paul Orndorff and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in the headline match, and arguably the most famous wrestling match of all time – Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, where the former pulled off the bodyslam heard ‘round the world. Hogan eventually lost the belt to Andre the next year on “The Main Event,” which was viewed by 33 million people – a record that still stands to this day.
“Hulkamania” was something that had to be seen to be believed. Even if you weren’t a wrestling fan, you knew the name Hulk Hogan.
Hogan feuded with the likes of “Macho Man” Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior during the rest of his run with the WWF, eventually leaving the business for acting before jumping ship to World Championship Wrestling in 1994.
Hogan shined against Ric Flair, Sting and Goldberg, as well as former foes such as Savage and Piper. He held the WCW championship six times, winning far more than he ever lost. His unwillingness to lose led to complications down the road in a dying WCW, which negatively affects his legacy in the business.
Everyone here knows that professional wrestling is an entertainment medium that simulates fights with a predetermined outcome. The industry is built on trust between performers as well as selflessness to lose when the story calls for it. The phrase “it takes two to tango” really holds true in this scripted sport.
In the WWF, Hogan was rarely called upon to lose. If he did, it was usually due to shenanigans, like in his loss to Andre the Giant. His 1998 contract renewal with WCW included a creative control clause, meaning he had final say on any match he was part of. There’s a saying in wrestling that goes, “That doesn’t work for me, brother.” That comes from Hogan.
But even before he had it written in his contract, Hogan used his influence backstage to change booking decisions. In the WWF, he was supposed to embark in a title feud with Bret “Hitman” Hart with the latter vanquishing the former. Hogan allegedly put the kibosh on that idea because he thought Hart was too small in stature. WCW’s answer to WrestleMania was Starrcade, formerly held on the week of Thanksgiving annually. The main event of the 1997 edition was to pit Sting, the hero of WCW, against Hogan, the leader of the New World Order who ran roughshod on the promotion since aligning with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in an industry-shaking heel turn in 1995. The match, which had a build-up lasting over a year, was supposed to see Sting defeat Hogan after the match restarted due to a fast count by crooked referee Nick Patrick. Instead, allegedly due to influence by Hogan and WCW booker Eric Bischoff, Patrick gave a normal 3-count, making the ensuing restarting of the match make no sense at all to those watching. The story still has yet to be fully corroborated, but one thing is for certain – Hogan was not going quietly into that November night.
The biggest example of Hogan exercising his creative control clause came at Bash at the Beach 2000. He was supposed to lose to WCW champion Jeff Jarrett, but that didn’t work for Hogan, brother. He wanted to win the title, but WCW booker Vince Russo disagreed. What followed was a complete mess, including Jarrett laying down in the middle of the ring to be pinned by Hogan, Russo calling out Hogan for real on TV later that show and Jarrett being awarded the title again only to lose later that night.
While Hogan created plenty of headaches and helped WCW get to the low point it was at, the once rival to WWE clearly couldn’t get out of its own way. WCW was purchased by WWE the following year, and wrestling hasn’t been as popular since.
But after a nearly two-year absence from wrestling, Hogan returned to WWE in 2002 alongside nWO stablemates Hall and Nash. He competed against The Rock at WrestleMania X-8 in one of the best matches in WWE history. Hogan entered the match as a heel, but the Toronto crowd had none of that. They reacted like their long-lost hero returned home, which, in many ways, was the case. Hogan and Rock changed the match on the fly so that Hogan could wrestle a similar style to his Hulkamania days, even “Hulking up” towards the end of the match to immense fanfare. Even if you’re not a big wrestling fan, just look up clips from that match and listen to the ovation. It’s quite remarkable and what the business is all about.
Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and eventually retired from in-ring competition in the 2010s, but not before ruining any positive momentum secondary promotion TNA had. I’ll spare you the details on that, for I believe we’ve covered enough of his career. I didn’t even mention some of his outrageous lies, including that Metallica wanted him to be their next bass player and it was almost called the Hogan Grill instead of the Foreman Grill.
So that’s the skinny on wrestling legend Hulk Hogan. There were no stars more popular in the industry, but there were far better people in the industry. His selfishness clashed with his star power at his occupation, and he couldn’t get out of his own way in his personal life.
If Hogan would have just made a better effort to change his ways and apologize for all of his wrongdoings, you would have seen a lot more legitimate tributes in the days surrounding his death than pieces like this one discussing his complicated legacy. I did not want to write this bashing Hogan, but I think it’s fair to find nuance in discussing the deceased and the lives they lived. He deserves praise for some things, but he deserves criticism for others. Being an unabashed racist as a public figure automatically opens you up to have detractors who are well in their right to feel that way.
Former wrestler and current WWE producer Shane Helms, once known as The Hurricane, perhaps put it best.
“I hate this s–. I can’t ignore the way Hulk made some of my friends feel. I also can’t ignore the fact that he was incredibly good to me and was a part of the puzzle that is my life,” Helms said on social media. “The only thing I’m sure of is that hate is only defeated by love, not more hate. I wish everyone had the same experiences with Hulk that I did. I’m also aware that many didn’t. I hate this s–. RIP Hulk, may you find in your passing what you missed in your journey here.”
I am not a fan of celebrating anyone’s death, save for an extreme example here and there – I’m talking about real bad people, like ones you read about in history books. I won’t celebrate, but I won’t necessarily mourn, either. In a perfect world, everyone who passes away will be praised endlessly upon their passing with negativity nowhere to be found. But this isn’t a perfect world, and Hulk Hogan wasn’t a perfect person. His legacy is what it is – complicated, to say the least.
