Hulk Hogan was initially left devastated by the crowd’s negative reaction to his surprise appearance at WWE’s Monday Night Raw Netflix debut in Los Angeles.
The wrestling icon, who has a love-hate relationship with WWE fans after a series of controversial moments outside the ring, was a special guest as the company presented the first show of its $5billion deal with Netflix.
When he entered the Intuit Dome in California he was roundly booed by the crowd, much to the surprise of fans watching on at home, and DailyMail.com can now reveal the Hulkster himself was also stunned by the reaction.
A source exclusively told us: ‘Did Hulk think he was going to be cheered? Especially bringing out Jimmy Hart, who everyone likes, and who was also waving an American flag at the time… that is a resounding yes!
‘So, when he came out, got booed, and then went to the back after his promo, he was instantly disappointed that the fans turned on him. But he wasn’t p*ssed!
‘Had it not been for him being there to promote his beer, he would have leaned into it a little more, but he just had to get through the promotion of it all. But after thinking about it, a few good things came out of it.
Hulk Hogan, now 71, was a special guest on Monday Night Raw as WWE took Netflix by storm
Despite having a flag-waving Jimmy Hart alongside him, Hulk Hogan was booed by the crowd
‘The fact that he was booed, everyone talked about it, and he’s been in the wrestling business long enough to know, that even a bad reaction goes a long way, because if they aren’t cheering for you or aren’t booing you then they don’t care at all.
‘This has actually been a great promotion for his beer and as quickly as he was disappointed, he thought about it a little more and is actually excited by how it turned out. Hulk is a businessman, and he is going to take advantage of the fans’ reaction all the way to the bank.’
When he entered the arena on Monday Night Raw, Hulk – now 71 – tried to tell the WWE audience they were the best tag team partner he ever had. Their response was to boo him out of the building.
Hogan was chucked out of the WWE in 2015 after a tape surfaced of him making racist remarks, including the use of the n-word.
In a video made public by The National Enquirer, Hogan said: ‘I guess we’re all a little racist’ and used the n-word while referring to his daughter’s love life, and includes him repeating the phrase ‘f***ing n******’ several times.
In 2015 audio emerged of a racist rant from Hogan about his daughter Brooke’s (2R) love life
At the time of the audio, Hogan’s daughter Brooke had been trying to start a music career
According to Radar, the audio features him using a number of racist remarks in a rant about his daughter Brooke, 27, who was trying to launch a music career, to Heather Clem, the wife of a friend.
He is reported to have said that ‘a black billionaire guy’ had offered to bankroll her, then speculated about her sex life’.
Hogan told Clem: ‘I don’t know if Brooke was f***ing the black guy’s son… I mean, I don’t have double standards. I mean, I am a racist, to a point, f***ing n******. But then when it comes to nice people and s***, and whatever.’
He continued: ‘I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f*** some n*****, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n***** worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player! I guess we’re all a little racist. F***ing n*****.’
He was initially kicked out of the WWE Hall of Fame but has since been allowed back in and has repaired his relationship with the power brokers at the company.
After his headline-making appearance in California this week, there is also now talk of further storylines, and them following a similar path to The Rock by making him a ‘heel’ – or bad guy.
Jimmy Hart waving the American flag did not help subside the boos that rang out
WWE bosses are considering following a similar path with Hulk Hogan to The Rock (pictured)
‘Those in the back have listened to the fans as they do with most of their storylines,’ the source continued. ‘They listen to the audience and if they have a direction they want to go with something, they will attempt that first but if the crowd reaction is so different, they will make sure to steer it the way the tide is going.
‘There has already been discussion that the next time they put Hogan on TV is to make him a heel or a bad guy, because the last time he was a bad guy, it worked wonders for his career.
‘They might base it toward what they had to do with The Rock last year. The last few times The Rock came back, they made him the hero and the fans hated it. The Rock leaned into being bad, they changed direction and now after last night, the fans like The Rock again.
‘So by giving the fans what they want, you get what you want, and for them that is the adulation. Hogan and some of the writers have since talked and whenever Hogan comes back, if he were to be booed, they are going to expect it and lean into it 100%.
‘Plans are for Hogan to be a bad guy again and to help out a future storyline with another wrestler.’
Hogan is unable to physically fight himself due to the condition of his body, but it is expected that he will make future appearances managing one of the WWE Superstars in a new role.
In the 1980s, Hogan was the driving force behind WWE’s rise from a regional promotion around New York to an international brand.
Hogan was left stunned by the crowd’s negative reaction in Inglewood, California on Monday
He is undoubtedly one of the most popular and successful babyfaces of all-time and the catalyst to what made WrestleMania so successful, main eventing eight of the first nine events.
More recently, Hogan became a celebrity endorser for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the United States, which he went on to win.
But he is adamant that he will not bring politics to the WWE, with a source telling DailyMail.com: ‘He’s open to almost anything but one story that won’t be used is anything that deals with Trump.
‘Both the WWE and Hogan don’t want to go that road and make things political. Hogan supports Trump, but he’s not going to mix that support with anything he is doing in the WWE.’
