On Monday, I examined how Hulk Hogan returning to WWE for a WrestleMania appearance may not be as cut and dry as WWE welcoming him back once his lawsuits against Gawker are officially settled. The sex tape leak itself had never really damaged Hogan; the publication of his racist comments in July 2015 was what made him a pariah. In May, he filed a lawsuit against everyone who he believed was involved with blackmailing him with the recording of his comments and later leaking the transcript to the National Enquirer, including Gawker. In light of settling both cases with Gawker, the big question becomes whether or not Hogan wants to keep the second case going against the other defendants, since that would keep the story of the racist comments alive in the media.
Early Tuesday afternoon, we got the answer, as David Houston, Hogan’s personal attorney, confirmed via email that “Gawker will be settled in both cases[,] not the other unrelated defendants in case two.” “Case two” is the aforementioned lawsuit over the extortion and leaking allegations. The remaining defendants include those named by FBI & Tampa Police as being involved the alleged blackmail scheme along with various associates in the radio community who he believes were also involved with the Enquirer leak. Thanks to Gawker’s bankruptcy, the lawsuit had been on hold since about a month after it was filed.
Analysis: This really feels like a miscalculation on Hogan’s part. With the Gawker settlement, the story about the racist remarks was going to fade away to a mainstream media who largely conflated the two cases. Now? He’s keeping it alive and literally in the public record. While it’s understandable that he would want to go after his alleged blackmailers, as he wanted them prosecuted and they weren’t (for reasons that have not been made public), it’s a potentially disastrous calculation from a public relations point of view.
With this in mind, does WWE continue easing him back to the company, or do they avoid going further than recording WWE Network documentary talking heads with him, like they have done recently? The safer route is the latter, or maybe even outright cutting ties again.
