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Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, is typically regarded as one of the most famous and beloved wrestling legends of all time, but his most recent WWE appearance might have proved the opposite.
Hogan made his return to Monday Night RAW on Monday, January 6 and was met with a surprising reaction from wrestling fans in a packed Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The 71-year-old made his entrance to the Inglewood venue and walked out to the tune of "Real American," but the crowd was seemingly not impressed as they audibly expressed their distaste with a chorus of boos.
The WWE Hall of Famer then delivered a speech over the attendees who kept booing as he powered through.
"You, the fans, have been my greatest tag team partner because you guys have stuck with me through thick and thin, dudes," he told the wrestling fans before revealing, "You know, I got a new tag-team partner right now. I got Hulk Hogan's Real American Beer."
Hogan continued as the crowd's boos got louder: "In the past, I've had a whole bunch of partners down the line. I've had incredible partners like, 'ooh ya,' the Macho Man Randy Savage. I've had giant-size partners, like Andre the Giant." He then added, "But the greatest partner the WWE has ever had is the fact that tonight, we're making history, and the WWE has tag-teamed up with Netflix, the greatest tag-team partner of all time."
The former professional wrestler couldn't catch a break from the crowd at the event as they kept seemingly condemning him for the entirety of his appearance. Fans of the WWE took to the comments section of a post about Hogan's appearance to share their thoughts on the cold reception from Los Angeles fans.
"You could tell he was NOT expecting it either. He even started going on about how great the fans are, and people booed him even harder. He was completely shook," wrote one fan. A second fan noted, "He deserves it." A third fan asked, "Why is WWE platforming him?" A fourth fan wrote, "He deserved every second of it. Politics aside he's made so many bad decisions," while a fifth crassly added, "Loved the crowd reaction last night. He deserves to look like the idiot he is."
Hogan was previously involved in controversy involving the use of steroids and a sex tape. A leaked audio conversation where he used racial slurs resulted in his termination from the WWE in 2015 and temporary removal from the WWE Hall of Fame.
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