On July 14, 2014, Triple H cut a promo that changed wrestling in a way no one talks about. Known as the “My Friend Mark,” promo, Triple H makes fun of fans who live online and threaten to stop watching. He could do this because we are still in an era where most fans don’t go on all the websites, or Wrestling Twitter. Most fans casually watched the product and took in what WWE produced. Triple H knew that the die-hard fans wouldn’t stop watching, because WWE was the only game in town. The ratings for WWE were starting to decline, as viewership beginning in 2014 was about 4.5 million, but ended at around 3.5 million.
We were entering an era in which more and more fans went online. The Yes Movement captured fans’ discontent with the product. CM Punk also left in early 2014, and by late 2014 he recorded a podcast with Colt Cabana. Punk’s story would gather interest from fans and eventually lead to a lawsuit. All of this is to say, that while fans were still mainly casual fans enjoying the product; slowly you started to see more fans interact with the product via the internet. And these were the people who Triple H was talking about. The same demographic of fans who subscribed to the dirt sheets.
Declining Viewership
With the decline in viewership, WWE started to see fans who were more and more niche. Often used to describe AEW fans, I’d also apply the word niche to late 2010’s WWE. From the point of Triple H’s “My Friend Mark” promo, WWE’s ratings fell in 2015 by 10%. Viewership dropped to an average of 3.7 million over the year. From that point on WWE’s viewership had decreased each year since. The “Friend Mark” fans started to look for alternatives. Many of those fans felt WWE was driving them away from wrestling, and now make up the base of the AEW fandom. As viewership decreased, WWE’s online interactions started to increase. Many fans start to watch Raw on YouTube through clips, picking and choosing the highlights they want to watch, rather than watching a whole 3-hour show.
So what does this have to do with Hulk Hogan, I’m getting there…
Background
I feel like it’s my job to give a bit of background; I grew up a HUGE Hulkamaniac. Not just a little kid who loved Hulk Hogan, I honestly idolized that man. When I was being bullied in school, by a racist kid ironically, I drew inspiration from Hulk Hogan fighting each week. When that kid called me beaner or wetback, I knew my hero Hulk Hogan would not tolerate a kid being hateful to his Hulkamaniac.
The first WWF event I attended was at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Hulk Hogan vs. Kamala, and I had my Hulk Hogan LJN toy with me to wave in the air! Over time, we all grow up. And even though Hulk Hogan was now seen as lame, I watched him in WCW. When he turned to the nWo, I lost my mind and bought a nWo shirt! The Hulkster was still cool.
The point is, none of this is an attempt at character assassination, or me being hateful and hating a White man. This is me, explaining why Hulk Hogan was booed.
The Hulkster’s Leaked Tape
In 2015, Hulk Hogan’s leaked tape from 2007 was released, and I was shocked to hear what was said. Honestly, this wasn’t the first tape from 2007 that was leaked. I had just gone to Orlando a few months prior and finally visited Hulk’s store. I bought two shirts and a mug with my hero on
them. All I could think was, how could I possibly wear these shirts in public again, knowing what he had said about Black people? And it wasn’t just what he said, it’s how he said it. He admitted to being racist, and almost using the n-word like he was proving a point. I know he was in a dark place, but as a man who’s been in very dark places, I’ve never felt the need to use racial slurs.
Yes, this tape damaged Hulk’s reputation. For years, I tried to separate Hulk from Terry Bollea. Terry Bollea said those words, and Hulk Hogan slammed Andre the Giant. But I just couldn’t. Hearing him talk about wanting Brooke to only date NBA n-words worth millions of dollars made me realize how terrible of a person Hulk is. WWE suspended Hulk but eventually, he’d be back. But what stands out to me the most, he never apologized. He said shouldn’t have used that language but never said sorry.
The Many Straws
One of the first things that happens when a wrestling fan gets online, is they start to find all of the cool stuff collected over the decades on wrestling. Old shoot interviews, articles, Dave Meltzer’s star reviews. As fans start to dig deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, there is one character that dominates the story, Hulk Hogan. Chances are, if your favorite wrestler has a shoot interview, then they have a Hulk Hogan story in there. And chances are, Hulk squashed their opportunity. As a Hulkamaniac, I overlooked this for years. I wrote it off as everyone had professional jealousy. Of course, they’re mad Hulk held them down, they all wanted the Hulk Hogan spot.
Next, you learn about the many Hulk lies. There are dozens of them, each one greater than the last. Hulk was going to join Metallica, Hulk claimed to wrestle 400 times in one year, Hulk could have had the George Foreman grill, and so many more. Defending this man online almost became a full-time job. Hulk Hogan has lived such a blessed life, that there was no reason to lie.
I should mention, that as all of this is happening, and these stories are getting online, fewer and fewer casual fans are watching WWE. Instead, WWE is quickly becoming a place where many fans are online. These are no longer stories you can hide from the audience. To give an example, the Jim Cornette video of Hulk Hogan’s lies gathered 2.1 million views, but the last WWE Raw on USA only gathered 1.6 million. More people watched Hogan’s lies than Raw.
That Doesn’t Work for Me Brother
If you have a favorite wrestler, they more than likely have a Hulk Hogan story. Even the Undertaker. The famous argument for Hulk Hogan’s boos is because of politics, is that Undertaker didn’t get booed. Undertaker did have Trump on his podcast, and did draw a decent 985,000 views. Also, ‘Taker did receive backlash from having Trump on, but that didn’t translate to the fans in Los Angeles, why? Because there are no stories of ‘Taker holding back talent. Almost to the man, every wrestler talks about the leader ‘Taker was. On the flip side, when wrestlers talk about Hulk Hogan, it’s very political. Even the Undertaker has a story.
Just the headline of this section alone, “That doesn’t work for me Brother,” has entered general wrestling fans’ vocabulary. If I was to casually talk to people, and they ask me to do something, uttering those words they know I’m a wrestling fan, and they know I am a deep wrestling fan. Those six words are what fans use now when they think of Hulk Hogan.
Why didn’t he lose clean to Sting, why did he not want to turn heel originally, why did he not want to put over Bret Hart, why didn’t he want Jesse Ventura to start a union? Insert those six words. Now, as I’ve mentioned, wrestling is a niche audience. Even the first Raw on Netflix got 2.6 million viewers in the United States. That means fewer people watched Raw than saw Triple H all their friends Mark. And I can guarantee most of those fans will know, “That doesn’t work for me, Brother.”
Why It’s Not the Politics
I’ve seen some people claim Hulk was booed because he came out and spoke at the Republican National Convention. That was only partly why fans booed Hogan. That’s a tiny straw that wasn’t the one that broke the camel’s back. If I were to judge why Hulk Hogan would be booed in LA, one, it starts with his leaked tape. That put a highlight on everything he did. Second, you move to his lying. Third, you move to his politics in terms of holding back other wrestlers. Finally, killing Jesse Ventura’s wrestlers union, and how Jesse Ventura was able to paint Hulk Hogan and Trump together.
Additionally, then there are the stories like this Mark Henry one, where it is clear Hogan doesn’t want to improve himself. And if you listen to current Black wrestlers, Henry is one of the most respected voices in the Black wrestling community. The current opinion in 2025 from Henry echoes the same opinion of the New Day in 2018. I am positive that if Hulk Hogan came out, apologized, and made a true effort to show he’s changed, he’d have been cheered this last Monday. But someone who knows him well, and is responsible for the tape to begin with, notes that Hulk Hogan will just let this blow over. That’s the problem.
Can It Change?
Hulk Hogan doesn’t realize, things are not going to change until he makes it changes. But at this point, you have to ask, can he change? He’s apologized once that I can think of, but was followed by no actions and blamed his racism on being raised in the South. Cool, I liked his words here, but what can you do to be better? You can’t just say “That’s not me,” because we heard it from you. Without action, to quote Rihanna, “And don’t tell me you’re sorry ’cause you’re not, Baby when I know you’re only sorry you got caught.”
We shouldn’t act like this is all because of Trump. The crowd in his hometown booed him before he ever came out for Trump the way he did last year. They did cheer Titus O’Neil though, rightfully. Fans today aren’t forgetful, they remember everything. These are not the fans who saw Shane Douglas in 1991, didn’t see him for four years, then acted like they had no idea who Dean Douglas was. These current fans are always online, they are always remembering every detail, and they wouldn’t let things blow over. Unless WWE attracts a huge number of casual fans and gets their weekly US viewership to over 4.5 million again, Hulk Hogan cannot let this blow over.
The Damage Might be Done
The wrestling audience loves nothing more than a good legend comeback. But let’s be very real, many of the new audience don’t see Hulk Hogan in the same light as they do Undertaker or Shawn Michaels. Hogan beat Randy Orton at the beginning of Orton’s career. Before that, it’s famous how he wouldn’t put over Shawn Michaels. The current, younger, audience doesn’t see Hogan as the man who slammed a giant, but instead as the old man who didn’t put over their favorite legends. Now, add on the racism, and Mark Henry and the New Day seeing through the Hulkster, and the current audience doesn’t trust him.
The damage I think is done. Decades of letting things blow over and letting time heal all wounds have run out. There are too many examples that the audience can point to on how Hulk Hogan is not a good person. I personally loved Hulk Hogan for his dedicated Christian values and his commitment to Jesus. So I was confused when he was baptized and rededicated his life to God. Was I lied to? Was he a hypocrite then, but now he’s saved? I’ll buy that. But what proof do I have that he’s a better person? I have a lot of proof that over the years he had done and said bad things, but no proof of improvement.
What Now?
It was the n-word tape that I stopped explaining away Hogan’s action. At first, I was like, he’s protecting his spot, he sees the bigger picture and he makes others money, blames Vince for the push, he was comforting his son. But over, and over again, I had to accept, that this was him. Terry Bollea once said in the 80s that he admires Hulk Hogan because he makes Terry want to be a better person. But over the years, Terry took control over Hulk Hogan, and now the two are the same. I cannot even say I love Hulk, but not Terry. They are the same person.
Young fans see what’s going on now, and they have no attachment to Hulk. They echo Brock’s words here. I wish it would be different. I wish Hulk listened to Mark Henry, he worked with Titus O’Neil. The audience gave Hulk the benefit of the doubt. Until now. Eventually, the audience said what I said in 2015, this is him. Hulk Hogan is who we see. And until we someone new, we take him at his word. And it’s not his politics.
