Hulk Hogan was the first guest on Bill Apter’s new podcast, The Apter Chat. During the conversation, Hogan spoke about being reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame and the backstage reaction to his return.
After it was announced that WWE was welcoming Hogan back into the fold, the reaction from WWE’s locker room was mixed. Several performers, including The New Day and Titus O’Neil, issued statements that indicated they weren’t ready to forgive Hogan for his past racist remarks.
Hogan was backstage at WWE Extreme Rules and issued a formal apology to the locker room. Hogan does not understand why some wrestlers aren’t welcoming him back with open arms.
“A lot of people accepted my apology,” Hogan said. “And a lot of people heard what they wanted to hear and a lot of the narrative that came out of the meeting was on point. A lot of the narrative was really different. I was surprised to hear some people interpreted what I said that I was just sorry I got caught. I’m on camera, whatever they interpreted, but I never said that.”
It’s not hard to understand why certain people would not be ready to forgive Hogan yet, if ever. Hogan says those people simply “don’t understand the bond and brotherhood of wrestling.”
“Outside the ring, you’re supposed to protect your brother. In this case, it’s a situation where 75, 80, 90 percent of the wrestlers are protecting me and they’re giving me another chance to move forward. There’s just a few wrestlers that don’t understand the bond and the brotherhood of wrestling.”
Hogan said if someone makes a mistake, “you need to forgive them” – a point that is certainly up for debate. In response to New Day and Titus O’Neil issuing statements on social media about the situation, Hogan says if anybody has a problem with him, they should say it to his face.
“If anybody had any questions or anybody had anything to say at that time, I really just wanted them to say it to my face so I could address it,” Hogan said. “Hopefully understand the issue and get them to understand me.”
You can listen Hulk Hogan’s chat with Bill Apter over at Stitcher.com.
H//T to Fightful for the transcribed quotes
