WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan calls his racist comments a speed bump.
In 2015, Hogan was caught on tape saying the n-word in a racist rant that was recorded in 2007, and WWE terminated their contract with him. He apologized and asked for forgiveness, and WWE reinstated him into the Hall of Fame in 2018. Since then, he has made multiple appearances for the company.
Speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Hogan was asked whether he was concerned his legacy would be erased after his racial comments and other controversies. He responded by referring to them as a speed bump and stating that they weren’t indicative of who he really is.
“There was a temporary situation where I thought, ‘Okay, where’s this going to end up at? Where’s this gonna wind down? Where’s the legacy, where’s this, that,'” Hogan said. “At the end of the day, there had been so much goodwill with the Hulk Hogan brand, and people knew me so well, I mean I’ve been around over 40 years. People know me so well, from Mike Tyson to Brutus Beefcake to Vince McMahon to Verne Gagne to Bret Hart, everybody knows me so well that they knew that I would come back and I would become the person that I was.
“There was a temporary situation with the surgeries and some of the racial stuff that went down. It was a speed bump, but that’s not who I was, and everybody knew that. So it was a tough time, but the main thing that really got me were the surgeries over the last ten years. That was the thing that was in question.”
Hogan went on to describe how the back surgeries were challenging, as he was told he would never walk again at one point. Otherwise, he stated that he had a lot of people on his wide, and people stuck with him. He also made it clear that he was touched by the way fans have stayed with him.
“When you come out of a back surgery and someone tells you you’re never gonna walk again, that will really screw your head up. The rest of this stuff, I had a bunch of people on my side, I had a huge support system. People that knew me stuck with me, and it’s just been amazing to see how the fans have stayed with me.”
Hogan recently announced that he is launching his own cannabis and mushrooms brand. More information is available here.
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