Eric Bischoff Says WWE Handled Hulk Hogan ‘The Only Way They Could Have’
Like it or not, Eric Bischoff will always have two cents to chip in about goings-on in the world of pro wrestling. To that end, the one-time face — and mouth — of WCW has now turned his attention to the recent controversy surrounding Hulk Hogan. As previously reported by Inquisitr, WWE recently terminated Hogan following the revelation of transcripts in which he used racist and homophobic slurs. Hogan has acknowledged the comments and issued an apology.
Ryan Clark of E Wrestling News reports that Bischoff, a longtime friend and business associate of the Hulkster, spoke on the Hogan hubbub during an interview with Under the Mat Radio. He specifically addressed WWE’s quick response to the media storm, approaching the company’s actions from a decidedly business-oriented perspective.
“Well, first of all, I think WWE handled it the only way they could,” Bischoff said in the interview. “In the entertainment business, especially when you’re a publicly held company, you have to be sensitive not only to your audience, but you have to be sensitive to your advertisers. You have to be sensitive to your business partners. You have to be sensitive and respectful of so many different people within the business of the entertainment business that you have to be responsible and you have to take responsible action, and I think that’s exactly what WWE did.”
Eric Bischoff, who famously penned a book on wrestling entitled Controversy Creates Cash, noted that Hogan’s star power and his close association with WWE necessitated a clean break from the company, suggesting that the wrestling icon will be tainted in the eyes of fans and media for the forseeable future.
“I don’t see how they possibly could have kept Hulk in the position that Hulk was in as a quote-unquote ambassador of their company with the kind of horrible publicity that is surrounding him now and will like surround him for quite awhile given everything that is going on,” Bischoff said.
Hulk Hogan’s camp is attempting to hit back against a veritable tidal wave of bad publicity that began last week, publicly accusing Gawker‘s top brass of leaking sealed transcripts to undermine his pending $100 million lawsuit against the site. Earlier today, TMZ reported that Hogan’s representatives are specifically calling for the arrest of Gawker head Nick Denton over the recent flap. Gawker‘s attorneys have denied that the news outlet leaked Hulk Hogan’s inflammatory comments to the media.
[Image via WWE]
