It was known for some time that WWE would not totally leave Hulk Hogan out of the business, and now it appears that he’ll be returning to the place that made him an icon. Hulk Hogan was released from the WWE during his lawsuit with Gawker. The media giant decided to release an audio clip from now nine years ago that had Hogan using racial slurs.
Clearly this was unacceptable, but WWE may have never removed Hogan if not for the money they began losing. Crazy stockholders began backing away from WWE due to this and the company lost $50 million in just a few hours after the tape was released. If WWE stood by the Hulkster, they could have risked losing far more. This despite Hogan not being an active member of the WWE roster and only appearing on the WWE Tough Enough TV show for the USA Network.
Obviously WWE had no real choice, and it seems Hogan understood this completely. Lucky for him, he managed to win his case against Gawker Media and now the company is having to sell. Hogan won over $100 million in the case, which meant his future was cleared good to go. Some even assumed he would never get back into wrestling, as it seemed as if he was having to do it for the money after his son Nick’s car wreck that injured another, and of course the divorce from his ex-wife, Linda.
This time around, he would have to want to return to the WWE. It appears that this is exactly what is happening. TMZ caught up with Brooke Hogan recently, the daughter of Hulk Hogan, and she was asked about a possible return for the Hulkster. She said he was being called by some people about WrestleMania, which means the WWE Hall of Famer is most likely making his return to the WWE next year.
This would be nearly two years after the racist tape leaked, and about ten years after the comments were made. Seriously. Obviously a return has been rumored for some time now, so it is no surprise that Brooke knew that her dad was in talks with people. We kinda already knew something was coming, mainly from the hints WWE has dropped as of late.
They have included him in WWE Network advertisements and have no issue in putting him in promotion for other things. Remember when WWE was hyping up Goldberg’s return a few weeks back? What match was seen as one of the biggest moments to remember about Goldberg? His match with Hulk Hogan, which they would have never shown last year even at this time.
It also goes to show that Hulk Hogan loves the WWE if he comes back. He doesn’t need the money and would be around because he loved the business and the fans. Often times it could be a combination of love, fans, and money. Some just do it for the money, which is fine because at the end of the day this is basically a job. You don’t always have to love your job. However, those that do tend to become icons and those that don’t can always be famous but never reach icon status.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon never wanted to let Hulk Hogan go, but he had no alternative due to the company being publicly traded. It made sense business wise and most can understand that. It was always said that once Hogan was let go, he would always be welcomed back regardless. Keep in mind, the comments were years ago and we got a small portion of a conversation. Regardless of the context, it was bad and things went the way it did for PR reasons. However, it does seem as if the return of Hulk Hogan will happen in 2017.
[Featured Image By WWE]