WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has mysteriously had any reference to him taken off the WWE website.
Hogan’s superstar page? Deleted. Hogan’s Hall of Fame slot? Gone. Any merchandise? Disappeared from the face of the earth. Any reference to his role of hosting the current reality show Tough Enough? That never existed.
WWE released this statement saying it fired Hogan and then gave a generic remark about celebrating diversity:
“WWE terminated its contract with Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan). WWE is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide.”
For his part, Hogan sent out this cryptic tweet in the early morning hours on Friday well before the WWE statement, which again is very short on details:
In the storm I release control,God and his Universe will sail me where he wants me to be,one love. HH
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) July 24, 2015
So what in the world could have happened for WWE to give its biggest superstar of all-time the Chris Benoit treatment? And what does it have to do with “celebrating individuals from all backgrounds”?
While both WWE and Hogan are obfuscating the exact source that led to Hogan’s dismissal, social media chatter (Hogan has been the #1 trend on Twitter all morning) is pointing towards an obscure radio interview Hogan did in 2012 where he said the n-word multiple times. Hogan begins by quoting the famous Botchamania interview of Booker T dropping the n-word in a promo towards Hogan and then continues with the references while admitting that he had “always said it.”
The bizarre thing about all of it is that the video was published on YouTube back in 2012, meaning it’s been living online for almost three years. NOTHING controversial lives on the internet for three years without somehow being seen by somebody. You can watch the video starting around the 1:45 mark. The host of that interview with Hogan even tweeted a defense of the former WWE star.
nothing racist about that @HulkHogan 2012 interview I did. He was just explaining the usage of the Nword amongst his rapper friends and WWF
— DJ Whoo Kid (@DJWhooKid) July 24, 2015
Is that video the real reason WWE has wiped Hogan from their past, present, and future? Is there another Donald Sterling-type audio or video that’s yet to make its way to the surface? Is there another reason entirely for WWE terminating Hulk Hogan? Something clearly doesn’t add up all the way, here and we’ll continue to follow the story as it develops.