With Hulk Hogan recently signing a new deal with WWE, and his subsequent reinstatement to their Hall of Fame, we've been seeing quite a few discussions involving this. I personally feel that there are several good points to be made about the subject, as well.
Was bringing Hogan back a good thing? Was this a bad move? Should people "move on" and stop beating a dead horse? Is this even a "big deal"?
I'll admit that I've got mixed views on his return, so I'll try to go into some detail on that.
One perspective that's probably a no-brainer is Hogan's legacy. Yes, his legacy does involve him being a racist. I'll go into further detail on that during the course of this article. Right now, I want to discuss what he did as a performer. Hogan, quite simply, was WWE's top draw for many years. Even when you factor all the great talent the company had, Hogan was easily the top draw for the promotion.
Having so many talented people to work with made it easy for Hogan & WWE to keep things fresh. Put him against Roddy Piper? Paul Orndorff and Cowboy Bob Orton were worked into the feud. Problems with Bobby Heenan? Heenan had the revolving door of superstars coming & going from his stable....forcing Hogan to deal with a never ending source of problems. Randy Savage was constantly breathing down Hogan's neck, giving him many great matches over the years.
It was easy, at that time, to question if Hogan would survive. It was no wonder why people kept showing up, buying the merch, ordering the Pay-Per-Views, and so on. At a time when WWE was expanding into a major national promotion, Hogan was the biggest reason why Vince McMahon could afford to keep expanding.
His contribution to the business, as a whole, can't be questioned. I don't think many people would doubt that. He was one of the few people that could catch your attention and keep it.
As far as the racism is concerned, we shouldn't be surprised that it's still happening. If anything, I expect we'll be having problems with racism for a long time to come. Seems like every few weeks, we've got another example of people being cruel to each other. It could be stupid crap like being black in the "wrong" pool, grilling at a public park "without a permit", or selling bottled water without a permit.
There are too many examples to go through. There are probably examples that I haven't heard about yet (somehow).
Realistically speaking, this shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. I realize that Hogan made his controversial comments during a phone call that was recorded without his knowledge. Doesn't make his comments any less evil. I've heard the argument that Hogan likely wouldn't have made those comments had he known he was being recorded. If he was at a public event, many people seem to think he would've chose his words better.
Should that matter? Depends on the argument you're going to use. Those explaining Hogan's comments have mentioned that we all say stupid crap in private that we wouldn't say publicly. I'll acknowledge that point. I've said many stupid things over the years that I wouldn't normally say publicly.
Doesn't mean that any of my stupid comments in life should've been said. Same goes for Hogan or anyone else.
Now, for a point that should be mentioned. Since we've already brought up Hogan's racist comments, there are others points that should be discussed. WWE has a bad habit of selective memory. How many people forgot about Mike Tyson being in the Hall of Fame? How many people even realize Tyson is a convicted rapist?
If we're going to be upset about Hogan's comments (rightfully so), then we should start looking at Tyson's criminal record. I have to emphasis Tyson is a CONVICTED RAPIST!!! I'd consider that to be pretty freakin' horrible. I doubt anyone ever truly recovers from being raped. Some victims may learn how to live their lives as close to normal as possible.....if there is such a thing. It's not unusual for many victims to suffer so much from the crime, they end up committing suicide.
From what I understand, mental health issues like PTSD and depression are common problems for victims.
Yet, we have a rapist in the WWE Hall of Fame. How sad is that? Yet, we're still upset over racist comments.
You think that's bad? There's still more. We still have the allegations involving Jimmy Snuka, another Hall of Famer. This on, however, is a bit different then Mike Tyson or Hulk Hogan. The story involving Snuka involves him allegedly killing his then-girlfriend, Nancy Argentino.
For decades, he wasn't prosecuted due to a lack of evidence.....as the story goes. When prosecutors felt they could finally make a case, he was deemed too mentally ill to stand trial.
Legally, we'll never have the answers to his case. We'll have our suspicions, based off known evidence. That's about all we'll have is suspicions. Many people will argue that Snuka was never convicted, thus he's innocent. Speculation and actual convictions are two different things, so I'll leave it up to everyone else to make their own judgements.
Is this a case where we learn to forgive Hogan for his screw up? Do we use this as a learning experience?
For me, I think the way Titus O'Neal, Mark Henry, and New Day are all handling the situation are great examples for the rest of us. Their public statements have made it known that they're upset with Hogan while being professional about it. They're demonstrating that you can upset with someone without it interfering with business.
Seeing their public display of professionalism should be commended. It would very easy for them to go on huge tirades on social media. I wouldn't blame them for blowing a gasket, either. Yet, they've maintained their cool....at least in public. How they've reacted behind closed doors, I can only guess.
All the black performers should be applauded. I believe they're handling the situation far better then I could.
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