After being showered with boos from a raucous WWE crowd in Los Angeles one week earlier, wrestling legend Hulk Hogan found a much more receptive audience with Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Monday night.
And that’s a good thing, because the 71-year-old born Terry Bollea was in a partying mood with Donald Trump’s inauguration just one week away.
‘All I got to say, brother, is I got my Trump pump back on and I’m gonna be riding dirty all the way to that inauguration,’ Hulk told the grinning Watters while flexing his beefy, bronzed arms.
Hogan is, of course, an ardent supporter of the President elect. He endorsed Trump’s candidacy at the 2024 GOP convention and later spoke in favor of his fellow reality television star at a Madison Square Garden rally in October. He even pitched himself to be Trump’s Vice President before JD Vance was chosen.
But Hogan may have had an ulterior motive on Fox News, where he plugged his new beer brand as well as his restaurant in Clearwater, Florida.
‘Man, I cannot believe you pulled me out of the party, brother,’ Hogan said after opening the segment by inhaling a can of beer.
The 71-year-old Hogan was in a partying mood with Trump ’s inauguration one week away
‘We got Hogan’s Hangout, first night of karaoke, we’re drinking Real American Beer, made by real Americans,’ Hogan continued, holding up the can for Watters’ audience to see.
‘We got a real American president, brother, and we’re already celebrating the inauguration even before it happens because we know we’re getting our country back, brother. Wow.’
But when he wasn’t plugging karaoke night at his restaurant, Hogan was serving as a historian.
Asked where we ‘are as a nation,’ the long-time face of the WWF delivered a synopsis of America’s recent history, albeit in wrestling promo lingo.
‘I’ve seen the hills and the valleys, brother,’ Hogan began. ‘I was around back in the day when we had [Attorney General and assassinated presidential candidate] Robert Kennedy doing our thing, but the way it is now, we hit an all-time low.
‘When Trump won the election, all the sudden it was like this dark cloud got lifted off America,’ Hogan continued. ‘Everybody was happy. All the whiners and criers that are out there, they were the ones that created the problem in the first place. America’s back on track, we’re definitely gonna be greater than we’ve ever been, this is the greatest time to be alive, brother.’
Hogan rips his shirt as he speaks on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention
Hogan then doubled down on his claims about Joe Biden’s administration and the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency.
‘It was really close [to rock bottom], brother. I was really, really worried because, can you imagine if we had eight years of Kamala Harris?’ Hogan asked, mispronouncing the Vice President’s name. ‘Party over, out, done, see ya later brother.
‘The people stood up. They didn’t like the way things are going. And they voted to make America great again, man. This is the time to be alive.’
As for Trump’s January 20 inauguration, Hogan hinted he will be in attendance somewhere along the line.
‘Well there’s a little birdie that says I might just be there, pulling a few shenanigans, brother,’ Hogan said.
Before ending his segment, Hogan again plugged ‘Main Event Karaoke’ at his Clearwater restaurant as well as his ‘Real American Beer, brother.’
‘I cannot wait for him to be sworn in, brother,’ Hogan said while signing off. ‘It’s a new day, it’s a new country, and we’re gonna make America great again because we got a real American president, brother.’
It was just a week ago that Hogan was in a far different mood after being booed by WWE fans in Los Angeles.
The wrestling icon, who has a love-hate relationship with WWE fans after a series of controversial moments outside the ring, was a special guest as the company presented the first show of its $5billion deal with Netflix.
When he entered the Intuit Dome in California he was roundly booed by the crowd, much to the surprise of fans watching on at home, and DailyMail.com can now reveal the Hulkster himself was also stunned by the reaction.
Hulk Hogan, now 71, was a special guest on Monday Night Raw as WWE took Netflix by storm
A source exclusively told us: ‘Did Hulk think he was going to be cheered? Especially bringing out Jimmy Hart, who everyone likes, and who was also waving an American flag at the time… that is a resounding yes!
‘So, when he came out, got booed, and then went to the back after his promo, he was instantly disappointed that the fans turned on him. But he wasn’t p*ssed!
‘Had it not been for him being there to promote his beer, he would have leaned into it a little more, but he just had to get through the promotion of it all. But after thinking about it, a few good things came out of it.
‘The fact that he was booed, everyone talked about it, and he’s been in the wrestling business long enough to know, that even a bad reaction goes a long way, because if they aren’t cheering for you or aren’t booing you then they don’t care at all.
‘This has actually been a great promotion for his beer and as quickly as he was disappointed, he thought about it a little more and is actually excited by how it turned out. Hulk is a businessman, and he is going to take advantage of the fans’ reaction all the way to the bank.’
When he entered the arena on Monday Night Raw, Hulk tried to tell the WWE audience they were the best tag team partner he ever had. Their response was to boo him out of the building.
Hogan was chucked out of the WWE in 2015 after a tape surfaced of him making racist remarks, including the use of the n-word.
In a video made public by The National Enquirer, Hogan said: ‘I guess we’re all a little racist’ and used the n-word while referring to his daughter’s love life, and includes him repeating the phrase ‘f***ing n******’ several times.’
According to Radar , the audio features him using a number of racist remarks in a rant about his daughter Brooke, 27, who was trying to launch a music career, to Heather Clem, the wife of a friend.
He is reported to have said that ‘a black billionaire guy’ had offered to bankroll her, then speculated about her sex life’.
Hogan told Clem: ‘I don’t know if Brooke was f***ing the black guy’s son… I mean, I don’t have double standards. I mean, I am a racist, to a point, f***ing n******. But then when it comes to nice people and s***, and whatever.’
Despite having a flag-waving Jimmy Hart alongside him, Hulk Hogan was booed by the crowd
He continued: ‘I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f*** some n*****, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n***** worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player! I guess we’re all a little racist. F***ing n*****.’
He was initially kicked out of the WWE Hall of Fame but has since been allowed back in and has repaired his relationship with the power brokers at the company.
After his headline-making appearance in California last week, there is also now talk of further storylines, and them following a similar path to The Rock by making him a ‘heel’ – or bad guy.
‘Those in the back have listened to the fans as they do with most of their storylines,’ the source continued. ‘They listen to the audience and if they have a direction they want to go with something, they will attempt that first but if the crowd reaction is so different, they will make sure to steer it the way the tide is going.
‘There has already been discussion that the next time they put Hogan on TV is to make him a heel or a bad guy, because the last time he was a bad guy, it worked wonders for his career.
‘They might base it toward what they had to do with The Rock last year. The last few times The Rock came back, they made him the hero and the fans hated it. The Rock leaned into being bad, they changed direction and now after last night, the fans like The Rock again.
‘So by giving the fans what they want, you get what you want, and for them that is the adulation. Hogan and some of the writers have since talked and whenever Hogan comes back, if he were to be booed, they are going to expect it and lean into it 100%.
‘Plans are for Hogan to be a bad guy again and to help out a future storyline with another wrestler.’
