It’s safe to say Hulk Hogan’s appearance on the Netflix debut of WWE Raw backfired spectacularly.
The iconic former wrestler was part of a star-studded line-up on the three-hour spectacular, the first Raw on the streaming platform following a $5bn broadcast rights deal.
John Cena and The Undertaker both made appearances on the episode to hugely positive fan reactions, Cena declaring his entry into the Royal Rumble match next month and Taker sharing a moment with newly crowned Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley.
But while that duo were warmly welcomed by the Florida crowd, the reception towards Hogan was decidedly more hostile.
Though not unanimously booed out of the building, the negative reaction was strong enough for the all-new Netflix subtitles to pick up.
The reaction to the news Hogan would have addressed the live crowd had already produced a strong reaction on social media, so plenty in WWE were expecting what eventually took place on Monday – a new report even suggesting some had planned for it.
‘Fightful’ in the US has detailed there had been a pitch to present Hogan as a heel – wrestling term for a villain – to explain away the boos, but this was understandably rejected as excessive.
“There were specifically a number of people that told us they brought up the possibility that he would get booed,” the site reported of Hogan’s appearance, which was primarily to promote his new Real American Beer product that he has partnered with WWE on.
“There were a number of people online who suggested he come out as NOW [heel] Hogan to lean into it, but one source within WWE said ‘that certainly wouldn’t have been the original plan. We’re trying to sell beer, not get a 70-year-old over [cheered] any way we can.”
The emphatic reaction to Hogan has certainly been noted by WWE who, ‘Fightful’ explained, may even reconsider how he’s used from here on.
The report added on the direction of the multi-time champ’s future: “That source said that they believed WWE would probably consider the context in which Hogan is used moving forward, and said that many knew the reaction was a possibility.”
X/@realamerbeerWhile Raw on Netflix rolled on, Hogan took solace backstage[/caption]
Monday’s incident may even have a knock-on effect on the way Real American Beer is presented, too, though it seems unlikely the promotion of it will halt altogether,
“WWE’s on-air partnership with Real American Beer is not expected to end,” Fightful went on to explain.
“One person in WWE indicated that they had personally mentioned the idea of using a more modern WWE talent or legend to help endorse the product.”
Publicly, 71-year-old Hogan appeared to brush aside the incident, recovering sufficiently to appear in a backstage video drinking his newly launched product with WWE legend Rey Mysterio soon after.
Sources nonetheless noted to ‘Fightful’ that Hogan was ‘surprised and disappointed’ to be booed, even if he kept up appearances backstage.
Hogan has appeared only sporadically for WWE in recent years, and had been embroiled in controversy after a recording appeared to show him using a racial slur.