At the Netflix premiere of WWE RAW on January 6, 2025, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan made an appearance alongside his longtime manager, Jimmy Hart. During the segment, Hogan cut a promo to hype up the event and promote his Real American Beer product. Despite his efforts to engage the audience and praise the fans, Hogan was met with significant boos from the crowd.
On his podcast, WWE NXT announcer Booker T addressed the incident, offering his perspective on the crowd’s reaction and Hogan’s appearance.
“One thing about the fans, heel or babyface, I think the fans know what we’re doing here. At the end of the day, they normally respect you for what you’ve done inside the ring, unless you’ve turned them off to the point to where it’s good heat, then it’s go-away heat. Maybe he’s created a lot of that go-away heat with a lot of people. I don’t know. It’s hard watching this Hulk Hogan compared to the Hulk Hogan that we watched in the ‘80s. It really is. It’s a totally different person that we’re watching. You say you put on the red and yellow, you’re the same person. No, you’re not [laughs]. It’s hard to look at people, especially these days with social media, everybody has an opinion, and today’s opinion is voiced very, very loudly, and we got a chance to see it in real-time. I think that’s what that was. To see where that dude is, it’s a fall from grace, it truly is. What was the lynchpin to make it all happen and make all those fans feel that way? It could be a multitude of things, man, but I tell you what man, I wouldn’t want to be that guy. I really wouldn’t.”
“For me, these days, if you’re just not real, people gonna try to find something on you to try to make you look a certain way. The thing with him, they don’t have to look for it. I say it all the time, you put yourself in a position, something will happen. With him, he’s put himself in a position where stuff can happen, and it’s a damn shame because I was a Hulkamaniac when I was a kid. I get it, I understand why people feel the way they do. I was one of the guys that was on the bandwagon once upon a time.”
The mixed reception highlights Hogan’s polarizing presence among modern WWE fans. Booker T’s comments add further insight into the evolving relationship between WWE legends and contemporary audiences.
