The boos came crashing down and it hurt inside.
Hulk Hogan’s longtime manager and friend, Jimmy Hart, revealed that the fans viciously booing the late wrestler during his final appearance on WWE television on Jan. 6, 2025 “devastated” Hogan.
The larger-than-life superstar — real name Terry Bollea — died on July 24 at the age of 71 after suffering a heart attack at his Clearwater, Fla. home.
“That devastated him,” Hart said of the jeers on an episode of “Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw” published Thursday, while noting the political undertones. “That always bothered him, it sure did.”
Hogan often drew massive cheers from the crowd during his career — even at times during his days in the villainous NWO stable — but the fans treated him like a true heel earlier this year.
To usher in the new era of “Raw” on Netflix, WWE turned to Hogan for an appearance at the live taping in Los Angeles.
Normally, this would result in a huge pop.
But the fans at the Intuit Dome didn’t have Hulkamania flowing through their veins and booed Hogan in a development that surely neither WWE nor Hogan expected.
WWE is usually not in the business of bringing back storyline heroes to get showered in boos, and it seemed that the fans rebelled against Hogan’s off-screen actions.
Hogan made racist remarks in 2007 that came to light in 2015, and he championed for President Trump during the Republican National Convention, among other endorsements.
Hart said he mentioned to Hogan before the appearance how they would be venturing into a liberal-leaning state, adding that Hogan did publicity wearing a Trump/J.D. Vance t-shirt.
“I’m going, ‘Oh, my God. This is going to be good,'” Hart said.
Hart noticed “something didn’t feel right” when fans started chirping at Hogan after landing in Los Angeles, mentioning Trump and Vance.
While Hart described the reaction as “mixed,” most would remember the night for the boos.
Hogan asked Hart what he think happened upon returning to the bowels of the arena, and his friend told him politics came into play.
“I said, ‘Hulk, it’s simple. Blue state, red state. Trump, Vance. I mean, really?'” said Hart, who noted Hogan received cheers the next week during an event in Texas.
Hogan later said during a Feb. 4 appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he expected that reaction, acknowledged his politics and unspecified past controversies factored into the reaction.
He curiously also believed the crowd booed him because of his time in the NWO.
“I think the politics had a whole lot to do with it, as you said,” Hogan said.
He added: “You got to realize, last time I ran hard in L.A. I was a bad guy, I Hollywood Hogan, man. I was riding dirty with the boys, (Kevin) Nash and (Scott) Hall, we were spray-painting people and crotch-shotting everybody and started out the ‘Too Sweet’ stuff. So, the last time I was there as a heel.”
Hogan, though, in contrast to Hart’s comment, said he didn’t mind the harsh reception since it generated massive internet engagement.
He added that he would have leaned into the jeers and cut a heel — bad guy — promo, but had to be a babyface — good guy — since WWE is a partner for his “Real American Beer.”
“But anyway, at the end of the day, we kind of looked at it the next day because I had like 11 billion impressions,” Hogan said of a video of his return, “and some of the other guys, some of the big stars that were on that card that night, only had like 3 billion. Don’t want to name names.”
WWE honored Hogan on both “SmackDown” and “Raw” since his death.
Hart, who made countless appearances alongside Hogan throughout the years, spanning multiple promotions, was stunned after learning of his friend’s death.
“It just hits so fast,” Hart told People. “It was like, ‘Oh my God.’ We thought he was doing so well, you know? We didn’t go to see him at the house and didn’t go to see him at the hospital, because we wanted to make sure that he didn’t get any infections or anything else, like if anybody had a cold or brought anything in. So, that’s what we all did.”