Hulk Hogan has always had an on-again-off-again relationship with Vince McMahon, but he actually didn’t speak to McMahon prior to being fired from the WWE earlier this year.
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard , Hogan said that he called Triple H to let him know that news of the racist comments were going to surface. Triple H relayed the message to Vince McMahon, who sent word back to Hogan that he wouldn’t be needed in WWE any longer.
“I never talked to Vince. The only person I talked to was Triple H. I called him and told him there was some old news coming out from when TMZ first reported the tape and there were some racial slurs on it. Triple H said, ‘OK, thanks for calling. Let me talk to Vince.’ He called me back a half hour later and he goes, ‘I’ve got some news and it isn’t good. Vince said that you need to resign.’ I never heard from Vince or talked to Vince. In the middle of the night, they just fired me.”
Hogan also said that USA Network was instrumental in the decision as well. Hogan had been serving as a judge on Tough Enough , which aired on the channel. Hogan had appeared on USA Network programming since the 1980s.
“They had to do what was best for business. Triple H was telling me the USA Network was reacting very badly, and they had to make a quick decision, and that was to put me out to pasture. They were under heavy fire and they were scrambling.”
Hogan stated that he understood why the WWE had to let him go, as they couldn’t have their name attached to the type of comments that surfaced.
“That’s not characteristic of what the WWE does. Vince McMahon reaches out and helps people. If you’re a drug abuser or you abuse alcohol, Vince McMahon and the WWE reach out and help people. So what’s so uncommon about this was they took the symptoms, said, ‘Oh my god, there’s a symptom of being a racist,’ and threw me away. They usually go to the source. They’ve known me for over 30 years and they know I’m not a racist, so they should have went to the source. I don’t use the word, ever, except for in that moment of anger, so I wish WWE went to the source instead of the symptoms. I could have explained I’ve tried every day since then to be a better man.”
Hogan also said that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere but WWE at this point. What do you think? Will Hulk Hogan ever make it back to the WWE?
[Image via Michael Dodge/Getty Images Sports]