flyonthewall2983 Posted July 15, 2018 Report Share Posted July 15, 2018 Good. Considering the reputations and actions of some other people who were inducted, and as of yet not kicked out, what he said was a drop in the bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maciej Posted July 15, 2018 Report Share Posted July 15, 2018 I'm gonna go ahead and say: bad. Very bad. This idea that fairness somehow means we have to let every racist asshole back on TV is wild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
...TG Posted July 15, 2018 Report Share Posted July 15, 2018 I don't particularly care one way or the other about Hogan, but this is surprising by WWE. They don't need him at all, so why have another potential problem on your payroll? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Enthusiast Posted July 15, 2018 Report Share Posted July 15, 2018 2 hours ago, ...TG said: I don't particularly care one way or the other about Hogan, but this is surprising by WWE. They don't need him at all, so why have another potential problem on your payroll? Yeah aside from the obvious problem, there's literally nothing to gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted July 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2018 I would agree letting him back on TV would not be a good idea at all. Aside from the optics of it, he couldn't adapt to the heavily-scripted nature of the interviews to save his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickH Posted July 16, 2018 Report Share Posted July 16, 2018 Reinstated? I didn't know he was out. Good for him. We cant punish people forever. He made a mistake, owned up to it, apologized. Lets move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted July 16, 2018 Report Share Posted July 16, 2018 His "apologies" always include caveats about how he should have been more careful about saying certain things when possibly being recorded. He also didn't just use terrible racist slurs, he straight up said "I'm a racist" and laughed about pretending to be friends with a billionaire only to call him and his son the "n-word" behind their backs. Whether you think that deserves blackballing from WWE or not, it's not like the past 3 years show any indication he's changed and learned from getting caught. When people tell you who they are, believe them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted July 16, 2018 Report Share Posted July 16, 2018 Elijah Burke 4 hrs · Pope's unfiltered thoughts on Hulk Hogan's Reinstatement into the WWE Hall Of Fame: So as we all have learned by now, Hulk Hogan is back with the WWE. This move has garnered a lot of attention as everyone knew it would, some good and some not so good. So before I give my stance on where I stand on this whole ordeal, I'd like to reflect back on the man behind the legend, the person I came to know somewhat personally over the years while we worked together in TNA, Terry Bollea, whom I'll refer to obviously as "Hulk or Hogan." I'd previously met Hulk during my stint in WWE at which time I had not even scratched the surface as far as getting my foot wet in the business. He along with Jimmy Hart and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake was walking around inside the arena checking it out before his big match with Randy Orton at WWE's Summerslam PPV. I went up and embraced Jimmy Hart who has always been a lovable individual and then introduced myself to Hogan and shook his hand. It was the first time I'd ever got to shake the hand of the legendary bigger than life superhero whom I grew up watching, and while I was on edge in the moment trying to be respectful of the man's time, he shot around some questions to me and gave some advice on "playing the game" before moving on. I walked away thinking, "Man, Hulk was mad cool." Fast forward four years later, if someone had told me that myself and Hogan would be working side by side, standing and posing in the ring together with blood running down the face of Hulk, I'd say they were insane but that is exactly what happened. The kid whom 4 years earlier was given advice on how to play the game was now IN the game saving this legendary hero from a beat down being led by another childhood idol and favorite, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. It was stuff that anybody who grew up watching the sport of wrestling could only dream of, to be in the ring with the 2 biggest superstars in wrestling history, truly an Amazing Moment in my career. I remember at the end of that night Hulk drenched in blood and sweat retreated to his private dressing room. I wanted to thank him again for the opportunity as I was still on a rush from the activities that transpired earlier. I started heading towards his room and saw that the door was wide open, I could see him sitting behind his desk but as I neared I noticed that he had company so I decided to make a U-turn as to not interrupt. All of a sudden, "Pope, where you going brother? Come on in and join me." I turned around and entered Hulk's private room where he was joined by, you guessed it, Brutus "The F'ing" Barber Beefcake and they were knocking down a couple of cold ones. Hulk, with his face and hair still soaked in blood offered me a beer to which I politely declined (I don't drink, but it would've been cool if I did just to say so but the offer was cool enough) and we sat and chatted before I left them to be and departed for the night. That was important for me to share because this became somewhat of a common thing with me and Hulk. It was during this time that Hogan was going thru a lot of personal hardships and struggles as detailed by the A&E documentary entitled "Finding Hulk Hogan." I had NO idea that over the next year or so that I'd become cool with Hulk and his family. Brooke and I joked and flirted on the regular. She would often sit beside Mama Pope and scream her lungs out for me during my matches. Nick was always fun when he was around, respectful too. But the really "cool" part was Hulk letting me in. The things he would share with me when he had time to talk I simply didn’t feel like I was privy too. He shared personal detailed accounts of things he was going thru at the time with me about his personal life, his business dealings, the dark place he was in and he would always acknowledge that he's in a better place now because of his current wife and him giving his life to Christ. So now through interacting with Hogan and talking with him more and more I've become aware that Hogan is a believer and to his knowledge or not, he'd been talking and confiding in not just a black man, cause his new pastor was black, but he was confiding in another believer, specifically Pope. He would often share with me what his Pastor spoke on the Sunday before. Now, being that Pope is a believer I personally believe in forgiveness. Not just from God above, but from your peers among you. To forgive is to release yourself from a certain stronghold moreso than it is for the individual you are forgiving. I do believe that we all at times in our lives have done and said things that are unbecoming of us and out of character. While consequences are often a result of such error, your error shouldn’t be your definitive story. It's what you are doing today that should determine who you are, not what you did 10-20 years ago. We as people believe in rehabilitation. We know that some can be reformed while others simply refuse to. With Hulk, I simply don't feel that is the case. While I was upset and disappointed just as many of you were (and maybe still are), try this: "think about the worst thing that you have done thus far in your life, post it on social media and see what the world thinks of you." Of course, no one would do such, and if so I doubt it would be a moment of truthfulness because we see ourselves thru filtered lenses, standing SO CLOSE to the mirror that we can't see ourselves in our own wrong. Therefore we find a certain level of escape by spending so much time wishing to destroy others in their fault instead of seeing them as we all are, imperfect humans, many who are simply in need of help or guidance. An example of my best friend for years who was a size 15 barefoot walking, 260lb redneck (wait, is that politically correct to say?) and I as well as him over the years said things to each other out of anger, but never once in my heart did I consider him a racist, or likewise. We didn't judge each other off of what we said during our heated moments of anger, but we judged each other off of our actions, and our actions dictated that we were two brothers of different colors that loved each other unconditionally who (as the term goes today) would "Ride or Die" for each other. I'll never forget taking him to my church and him coming to the front to sing with me the old gospel classic, "Sweet Home." Lol For me to hold hate in my heart for Hogan's "sin" would in turn cause me to be one of hate myself which I simply have no time or energy for. The man behind the legend made a mistake and unfortunately will have to live with it for the rest of his life. There's no need to take someone's lively-hood away from them because of there past mistake. Not an ideology, but an admitted mistake during the same time the man placed a gun in his mouth. So just take a moment to think about who your working with, or who serves you, or who's riding next to you, or who you're working for, etc. We are living in a world with all types of people who have done and said unthinkable things, HORRIBLE and VILE things, yet you know not of them, so you smile, laugh, and maybe even think the world of them. But furthermore think of yourself and how you look at yourself everyday in the mirror knowing your own faults...but I digress. Hulk, if you are truly the man whom I believe you to be then you know that "Whom The Son sets free, is free indeed." Go forward and live your life accordingly accepting the good, and weathering the bad while continuing to be a positive mark on humanity that you have been for over 3 decades. In closing, I simply want to say, "HULK HOGAN....I Forgive You." ~PHS (2 Cor 5:17) "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." #WWE #WWF #HulkHogan #EtremeRules #Welcome #Back #Hulk #Hogan #WWEHOF #Wrestling #Sports #Entertainment #ESPN https://www.facebook.com/elijahburke/posts/10157555229033976 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted July 16, 2018 Report Share Posted July 16, 2018 BTW, guess what was filmed for an upcoming Network special... Yup, Hogan's backstage appearance, speech, and apology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted July 16, 2018 Report Share Posted July 16, 2018 Still no Chyna, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted July 16, 2018 Report Share Posted July 16, 2018 Let's be honest, if Hogan was quietly added back to the website, continued to appear as a talking head on WWE documentaries, and still had merch come out every now-and-then, would anyone be upset with him not coming back? I just don't see what a Hogan appearance brings to 2018 WWE aside from emboldening Jessica Havok, Lufisto, Seth Rollin's old girlfriend, and others' beliefs that racial slurs aren't all that bad. With WWE being 100% cool with Trump, its not surprising. Just disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 The fact they are doing a WWE 24 on this is pretty horrible. It's not something I wouldn't expect from WWE, but it's still horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted July 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 I'll withhold judgment until I actually see it. Those docs don't shy away from touchy subjects if the programs on Angle and the Hardys are any indication. I would just hope they don't try to wrap it up with some kind of resolution and leave it a bit more open-ended here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPS Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 4 hours ago, fakeplastictrees said: I just don't see what a Hogan appearance brings to 2018 WWE aside from emboldening Jessica Havok, Lufisto, Seth Rollin's old girlfriend, and others' beliefs that racial slurs aren't all that bad. With WWE being 100% cool with Trump, its not surprising. Just disappointing. I'm familiar with the others but what did Lufisto do/say to lump her in with the people mentioned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 On 7/16/2018 at 1:07 AM, C.S. said: BTW, guess what was filmed for an upcoming Network special... Yup, Hogan's backstage appearance, speech, and apology. My God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 18 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: Still no Chyna, though. I think it's a bigger taboo for a consenting adult to do porn than it is to be a racist. Talk about a Real American story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 I've seen some talking points that Vince just picks names out of a hat and that we shouldn't bother that much with the WWE HoF, but considering how hard Chyna was blackballed in the company for something that seems so trivial, and actual murderers and racists are still there, you have to wonder that it might be a tad more complicated than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 Well, I remember it actually said somewhere at that time that explaining Joanie Lauer to Stephanie and Hunter's kids wasn't exactly a conversation they were itching to have. And I get that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 We all get not wanting to have an uncomfortable conversation with your kids, but that doesn't excuse them from this situation imo. Specially because their kids will find out eventually and will have to deal with it anyway, avoiding it is even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
...TG Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 WWE denied to Pro Wrestling Sheet that the Hogan locker room apology/speech thing was filmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye12 Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 Glad Hogan is back, his absence was way longer than it ever should've been for something that was almost a decade old by the time it came out. When CM Punk used a gay slur at a WWE event, one apology was good enough and everyone moved on. I don't think Chyna doing porn in itself is the reason she hasn't gone in, afterall they've done plenty to put over her role in the Monday Night War and the women's revolution. It's the way she died and her demons, a lot of those folks aren't in the HOF yet either (Pillman, Davey Boy, etc), they'd rather slip one in at a time like Rude and Hennig, which is fine. And she also did a porn parody that included Vince and Stephanie characters that probably hurts her case the most. Nobody cares that her and X-Pac had a video any more than Paige's stuff hasn't affected her, it's probably the other one that would be hard to explain to their kids if they saw it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 2 hours ago, Loss said: Well, I remember it actually said somewhere at that time that explaining Joanie Lauer to Stephanie and Hunter's kids wasn't exactly a conversation they were itching to have. And I get that. Also, given that the Hall of Fame has only one requirement - that Vince wants you in there - I think Vince sees "making a porn film with characters to represent me, my daughter and son in law" as a big enough reason to blackball her for good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 3 hours ago, ...TG said: WWE denied to Pro Wrestling Sheet that the Hogan locker room apology/speech thing was filmed. I think this is carny for, "It was, but we won't include any footage in 24 because we now realize there will be backlash if we do." If it doesn't pop up in something unrelated 5-10 years from now, only for apologists to be all, "What's the big deal?", I'll be shocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 If you google Hulk Hogan Titus O'Neil, some newz sites are reporting that Titus had a fit over Hogan's presence and stormed out of the building in protest. Take it with a grain of salt, obviously, but it wouldn't surprise me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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