Hogan was no longer with the Evil Empire, he was in WCW so “he’s ok now” would have been a big part of the publications mentality there.
when Vince banned photographers and wrestler access to the Weston mags in 84, it set the tone for how those mags reported things for decades. WCW was always, always better, even when they reported something that sided with the WWF.
funny how those mags still ran Hogan on the cover (often in badly cut out photoshops) every second month anyways though.
I was as “i hate the territories dying” of a fan as anyone more than a casual fan could have been, but it was even ridiculous to me what those mags were doing with the “NWA/WCW is better” mantra.