WWE brought the stars to Los Angeles for Raw’s debut on Netflix, but fans weren’t happy to see one Hall of Famer.
Hulk Hogan made a rare appearance for the premiere show, but was booed out of the Intuit Dome.
The Hall of Famer, 71, who endorsed Donald Trump during his recent presidential campaign, made his way out to his ‘Real American’ entrance music.
Hogan appeared onstage alongside ‘Mouth of the South’ Jimmy Hart, his onscreen manager.
But it seems his involvement in Raw’s debut show was a miscalculation, as the boos started to rain down.
It should be pointed out that it wasn’t a complete hatred of the legendary wrestler as his fans could still be heard cheering over the boos. Announcer Michael Cole attempted to push on through the negative reaction and pander to those cheers coming from crowd.
He said WWE ‘wouldn’t be here tonight’ without Hogan – but eagle-eyed fans noticed Netflix provided a rather awkward caption shortly after.
The jeers were so loud as Hogan spoke that the streamer’s subtitles read ‘[crowd booing]’.
Fans quickly took to social media to respond to the appearance, in which he tried to hype up his own wrestling legacy and his Real American Beer’s new deal with WWE.
“I’m almost okay with Hulk Hogan being back on TV if he gets publicly humiliated like that every week. That was incredible. I didn’t give the WWE audience enough credit,” one person wrote.
“WWE not leaving Hulk Hogan in the past is extremely disappointing stuff,” another said.
“Hulk Hogan just got completely embarrassed and booed out of the building. You can tell he was shaken. I can’t remember anything like this in recent memory. Wow,” a third wrote.
“Hogan got cooked tonight,” a fourth wrote, referencing the Netflix subtitles.
While many revelled in Hogan’s awkward appearance, they were quick to share more positive words for Hart.
“No way WWE did it… they really brought him out! We got Jimmy Hart!” one said.
“Jimmy Hart is 81 years old, shame he had to be out there for this,” another posted.
A third wrote: “They should’ve just sent Jimmy Hart out there, he would’ve gotten a way better reaction than Hogan.”
Even Shannon Sharpe responded to the surprise appearance from the ‘Mouth of the South’ – and echoed the thoughts of other fans.
“Y’all could have just let Jimmy Hart come out by himself,” the official Nightcap account posted.
Monday night wasn’t the first time Hogan has faced a negative reaction from WWE fans. He was also loudly booed on his return at WrestleMania 37 in 2021.
Hogan – real name Terry Bollea – was cut from the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015 and had his contract terminated after a tape emerged of him using a racial slur.
He was reinstated three years later, with the company saying he deserved a second chance after making ‘numerous apologies’.
