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Mark Henry says the black cloud that continues to follow Hulk Hogan isn’t just going to fade away on its own.
TMZ spoke with Henry after WWE RAW debuted on Netflix. Hulk Hogan appeared on the broadcast, and the WWE Legend was greeted by a chorus of boos. Some speculate the reception was due to Hogan’s association with President-elect Donald Trump, while others contend it’s related to Hogan making racist comments during an audio recording that leaked in 2015.
On the recording, part of a sex tape originally recorded in 2007, Hogan is heard complaining about the idea of his daughter dating a Black man. Hogan says the word “n*gger” multiple times and admits to being “racist, to a point.”
Mark Henry didn’t seem too surprised that Hogan was booed on Monday night, noting that although Hogan is considered an all-time great in the ring, he never atoned for his actions.
Mark Henry says Hulk Hogan never wanted to make things right after his racism scandal
“I mean, that’s arguable. Any time that you consider the ‘Mount Rushmore’ and the top ten of [all-time pro wrestlers], Hogan is always going to be in that [group]. But right now with the social climate and the things that he’s said and done, and the lack of effort to try to fix it, people are going to come down on it,” Henry explained.
“I never had an issue with him before I heard all of the stuff. But even then, I believe in giving second chances. Anybody that knows me knows I’m a fix-it person. I’m not going to dwell on the negative. I’m not going to talk about the past, we’re going forward,” Henry said. “And he never wanted to go forward and fix it. So that’s what happens when you think that everything is going to go away. It’s not going to go away.”
Henry said he’s never spoken to Hulk about the incident, reiterating that “he thinks it’s going to go away.” Henry said he even offered to help Hogan rehab his image, but Hogan declined.
“[He thinks] it’s not going to be this dark cloud over his career. I have not said — I offered to say, ‘Hey, let’s do a tour of the black colleges, law schools, and explain what happened.’ He didn’t want to do that.”
WWE cut ties with Hogan, but brought him back in 2018
Hogan was released by WWE and removed from the company’s Hall of Fame in response to the incident. Hogan was eventually reinstated in 2018, and addressed the WWE locker room ahead of that year’s Extreme Rules event. Multiple WWE stars, including The New Day and Titus O’Neil, issued statements at the time of Hogan being reinstated.
The New Day said they chose not to associate themselves with Hogan, but their opinion might change if he made a genuine effort to change. O’Neil noted that he was a proponent of second chances and supported Hogan being in the WWE Hall Of Fame. However, he did not support Hogan’s “apology” because he didn’t believe Hogan was remorseful about his actions.
Hogan has not publicly commented on his RAW appearance, but he was reportedly “surprised and disappointed” by the reception.
