Hulkamania died on July 24, 2015, after media reports surfaced that Hulk Hogan went on a racist tirade. Depending on who you ask, Hulk was either fired from or left WWE. In addition, the company has further tried to distance themselves from his past by getting rid of all links to him on their site, including taking down his Hall of Fame profile.
What did Hulk Hogan do?
In 2007 Hulk had sexual relations with the wife of Bubba the Love Sponge.
Unknown to Hogan at the time, Bubba and his wife were recording him. In 2012 the tape was leaked and Gawker.com posted some footage from it. He has since sued Gawker.com for $100 million.
An investigation into the case by the National Enquirer and Radaronline revealed that Hulk Hogan used the "N Word" several times and made some bigoted comments on the tape when he was venting to Bubba's wife about the relationship his daughter, Brooke Hogan, was having with an African-American male.
How big of a deal is Hulk Hogan in the wrestling world?
WWE erasing the memory of Hulk Hogan from their company history is like the world of soccer no longer acknowledging that Pele played the sport. For over thirty years, Hulk Hogan has been the face of the wrestling industry. In the '80s he took the WWE from a regional territory to the biggest wrestling company in the world as a good guy. A decade later as a bad guy, he started another wrestling boom period, this time as a hated villain. Even in retirement, Hulk was a very popular figure in the entertainment world as the star of Hogan Knows Best.
In lists I made prior to this incident, I named Hulk Hogan as one of the faces of the Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling and also named him as the number one most patriotic wrestler in WWE history.
What does this mean for the WWE?
Wall Street was not a fan of this incident. According to Forbes, the value of WWE stock went down $50 million in trading on July 24. Wall Street has a very short memory though and a few days later the stock shot up when the company released their second quarter earnings. In addition, the company had to replace him as a judge on Tough Enough, a reality television show where contestants compete for a WWE contract.
In the long-term, I don't see this incident having any impact on the company. The company went through a steroids scandal, Owen Hart plummeting to his death during a pay-per-view event, the early deaths of a plethora of their former stars, and Chris Benoit murdering his wife and child before killing himself. WWE has not only survived these incidents, but they have continued to thrive despite them.
What does this mean for Hulk Hogan?
In addition to losing his job with WWE, this incident is sure to have an impact on his ability to be a spokesman for products and his merchandise sales. In the long-run, I predict that he will follow the same career arc of Paula Deen and Dog the Bounty Hunter. Just like Hulk Hogan, their uses of the N word cost them big-time in the short-term. However, both had enough of fans that were willing to forgive them and are back on television.
The multi-million dollar question for Hogan is how this is going to impact his lawsuit against Gawker. Does this bolster his case that they damaged his brand by releasing footage from the sex tape? Will the words used on the tape hurt him in the eyes of the jury? Is there even worse stuff on the tape that we haven't heard about yet? This is deja vu for wrestling fans that recently went through two high-profile cases (divorce and son's car accident) he was involved in.
What does this mean for wrestling fans?
2015 has been a horrible year for those of us that grew up in the '80s. First Bill Cosby and now Hulk Hogan. Two of the most iconic role models of the '80s have been forever tarnished.