Hulk
Hogan addressed the WWE locker room before Extreme Rules where he had an apology
in store for everyone following his reinstatement into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Hogan
recently discussed those events on The
Apter Chat where he described the process of getting him back into WWE once
again.
According
to Hogan, Triple H kept tabs on him during his time away from WWE, partly thanks
to Hogan's participation in the Boys & Girls Club Of America, who accepted
him into their own Hall Of Fame in June.
"Triple
H knew what I was doing with the Boys & Girls Club and there was a common
bond there so he kept a good eye on what I was doing and I kept him aware of when
I was doing appearances and what we had going.
"So
then we started talking about different things like Saudi Arabia and stuff like
that. I said, 'man I'd really just love to talk to Vince.' I'd texted Vince back-and-forth
on birthday and he texted me on New Years and stuff like this, but we never really
good conversation. So all of a sudden, my phone rings and it's 'hey monster, how
you doing?' So we talked and it was like, 'wow man,' we had been texting back
and forth but I hadn't heard Vince's voice and it was just so good to hear his
voice.
"He
hasn't changed a bit, same old intense Vince and we talked and it was a great
conversation."
Hogan
said he and McMahon spoke back-and-forth for a short time until Triple H called
Hogan and said it was time that he have a conversation with himself and ask if
he really wanted to do something with professional wrestling.
They
agreed to bring Hogan back, but McMahon and Triple H wanted him to speak to the
African American Superstars.
"No,
I'm not gonna do it," Hogan said as he retold the story. "I want to
talk to everybody because what I did not only hurt the business. It hurt white,
black, every athlete you have, Japanese, everyone who's involved in this business."
Hogan
wanted to speak to the entire roster and flew into Cleveland to make the drive
to Pittsburgh thinking he could stop by Extreme Rules and address the locker room,
but the fans figured out his plans. Hogan met with Pat Patterson, a man who helped
bring Hogan into the professional wrestling during his Florida days and it was
good for The Hulkster to see an old friend.
"I
get to Pittsburgh, but right before we got to the building my phone was blowing
up going 'congratulations, you're back in the Hall Of Fame," Hogan said.
"I had no idea they had put me in the Hall Of Fame. I thought we were just
gonna go there and talk.
"I
thought, 'wow, that's so cool,' it made me grin from ear to ear. I didn't start
crying because I had two other men in the car with me [...] I get to the building
and they had everybody in a room and I walked in the room and I made it very clear
in my head what I wanted to say."
Hogan
said there were two plans on what he would say to the locker room. The first idea
was to thank everyone for showing up in spite of their hectic travel schedules
and then admit to saying something twelve years followed by an apology. He wanted
to explain himself, saying he didn't even remember saying those racist remarks
over a decade ago.
Then
he switched gears to his second plan where he told the WWE locker room that they
are in the biggest spotlight in the world and everyone should be ultimately careful
not to even "slip on a banana peel," especially if they're a big star.
Hogan reminded everyone to be careful because cameras are on everyone's phone
at this point while closing with a message to learn from his own mistakes.
Hogan
then addressed some members of the WWE locker room who didn't accept his apology
in the way it was presented before Extreme Rules.
"A
lot of people accepted my apology," Hogan continued. "A lot of them
heard what they wanted to hear and a lot of the narrative that came out of the
meeting was on point. A lot of the narrative was really different because I was
surprised to see some people interpret what I said to say I was sorry I got caught
on camera or whatever they interpreted it. I never said that.
"I
guess the media and people go with the most negative narrative they can come out
of there. But that's pretty much what happened and that's how I got put back into
the Hall Of Fame. I was on the way to the meeting and I was put in before I got
there which is really, really cool."
Although
Hogan says he relayed what he wanted to during his locker room apology, not every
member of the WWE roster was willing to accept his public address and plea for
another chance. Hogan opened up about those wrestlers who were unwilling to accept
him back into the fold saying they don't understand the "brotherhood of wrestling,"
and they also don't know him very well.
"It
is what it is," Hogan admitted. "I said those words, it was totally
unacceptable and I just really wanted to get in front of all the talent and apologize
because I know I hurt this business. You know I just wanna move forward. I just
hope the brotherhood can get back to the way it was because you know, when you're
in the ring and somebody is bodyslamming somebody or piledriving somebody you
protect your brother and you make sure physically that they're safe.
"Outside
the ring you're supposed to protect your brother, you know? In this case it's
a situation where you know, 75- 80-90% of the wrestlers are protecting me, they're
giving me another chance to move forward. But, you know there's just a few wrestlers
that kinda don't understand the bond that the brotherhood of wrestling if someone
makes a mistake you need to forgive them and move on and try to let them prove
themselves.
"I
just feel that I wish I could kinda have one-on-one conversations with people
who really don't know me and try to maybe explain myself better. But, you know
all in all it was a great day. It's just a highlight of my life to be able to
be back in the Hall Of Fame and to be able to move forward. So it's been a great
time these last couple of weeks."
