Hulk Hogan’s place in the wrestling world has remained a controversial topic for years, with many fans believing he should retreat from the spotlight in light of persistent backlash. Much of this stems from his political beliefs and his handling of a 2015 scandal involving a leaked sex tape that included racist remarks — an incident that has left a lasting stain on his legacy.
The controversy flared up again in January when Hogan was met with boos during his appearance on the debut episode of RAW on Netflix.
During a recent appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Hogan addressed the reaction, saying that he’s no stranger to criticism and that people have been trying to tear him down for decades. He said,
“Well, you know, they’re still nipping at my heels. I can go out there and get booed. That was the last time I was in LA, I was Hollywood Hogan with a black beard and doing the bad guy thing. I can go out there and get booed in LA or The Rock can get booed in LA or John Cena gets booed in LA. When I get booed, there’s a whole different reaction media wise. For some reason, I’ve laid some type of groundwork that people are still interested in what I’m doing. For those that are on the team and that are riding with the train to the station, that’s great. For those that are haters and that still have a problem with me, there’s nothing I can do to fix that except keep proving by my actions that I’m still in the game, I’m still pushing hard. I took a lot of time off because I had like 25 surgeries and I was down for a long time. I’ve always loved the hunt, I’ve always loved to get back in the game, but it’s always been that way with me because my whole career, I had that top spot no matter what it was, even through the 80s, it was the fastest draw. During the 80s, it was a situation where everybody was knocking me, everybody was trying to knock me off that top spot. I’ll trade that for not being on the bottom of the card, if you know what I’m saying, or being on the bottom of the pile of life. For me, it’s just part of the territory. It’s like, you know, when you get booed and you get 3.2 billion engagements and you rock that whole world in LA with how much interaction there was on the internet, I’ll take it.”
When asked by Ariel Helwani if he viewed the RAW incident as a situation where fans were just booing his character, Hogan said,
“No, no, no, no, all the above. All of the above. There are certain people that boo the character, there are certain WWE superstars that had an opinion and advice for me, but I’d like to ask those same guys when I go to New York or Chicago and the people cheer out of the rooftops. I’d like to know what their advice is then and what their opinion is. It’s a double edged sword with me and it’s always been that way. It’s a part of the character, it’s part of me personally, it’s part of my professional life and it’s part of my personal life. It’s all of the above. At the end of the day, I’m just like an old scarred up seal with a bunch of scars on me and I’m really relatable to most normal people because a lot of people have been through the stuff I have professionally. A lot of people have made the same — not the same mistakes, but have personally made mistakes and I’m still relatable to so many people. If they boo me, fine. If they’re on the team lead, that’s great too. Not hating on anybody, brother. I’m still just here. I’m still moving forward.”
Hulk Hogan is asked about being booed on Monday Night Raw in Los Angeles.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/LLWgZQoc6k
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 12, 2025
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