WWE News: WWE Testing Waters For Hulk Hogan Return
In WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan’s own words, you can make a lot of little mistakes in his business, but you can’t make many big mistakes. That’s great advice for a current or future WWE Hall of Famer, but it proves that even “The Immortal Hulk Hogan” is human and capable of making mistakes.
Over the past year, some of his mistakes have come back to haunt him. Last summer, they directly cost him his position with WWE, and even his name has been scorched Earth since then. You’ve caught his face or a historic WWE moment here or there, but WWE has been distancing itself from Hogan as much as possible.
The combination of the sex tape, the audio that leaked of Hogan using some inflammatory language, and the trial with Gawker was too much for WWE to handle. There have been rumors of Hulk Hogan returning to WWE for Wrestlemania 32, but the rumors have gone up in smoke as opportunities continue to slip by for Hulk Hogan to bury the hatchet and move onto the future of WWE with Hogan by the company’s side.
Fortunately, there is the possibility that WWE may finally be warming to the idea of Hogan returning to the company. It has been reported and is well known at this point that the trial with Gawker is over, and Hogan has been rewarded an incredible amount of money that has bankrupted the company that was Gawker.
The majority of Hulk Hogan’s baggage is gone, and the support he gets from the WWE Universe shows that they have forgiven him as well. WWE officials may feel the same way because it was reported yesterday that WWE is testing the waters for Hogan to return to WWE programming because the backlash against him has died down significantly.
During the latest edition of Eric Bischoff’s podcast “Bischoff on Wrestling,” Eric gave his thoughts on the future for Hulk Hogan in WWE, and if The Hulkster is likely headed back to WWE soon. You can listen to the interview right here. Below is what Eric Bischoff has to say on the matter transcribed from Wrestlezone.
“I’m not surprised. When the WWE produced the documentary on me, when they came out to my home last summer, Hulk was a big part of that documentary. The fact that he was in the documentary suggested to me that they were probably going to, over time, reintegrate Hulk back into the WWE content. I’m not surprised. I’m happy. I think the fans want to see that. I don’t think the fans are nearly as sensitive to some of the obvious issues as perhaps the business side of the equation is. Look, there’s a saying, ‘Time heals all wounds.’ I believe it will.”
While many people assumed it would only be a matter of time before Hulk Hogan was welcomed back into the company, there are still many people who believe he should never return to WWE again. Essentially, the grounds are that Hogan doesn’t deserve to return to the company and enough time hasn’t passed yet.
An argument against Hogan returning to WWE is completely understandable, but a few mistakes shouldn’t be responsible for destroying one of the most important careers in wrestling history. WWE had every right to exile Hulk Hogan from WWE last year, but his career is too important to ignore forever.
The fact is that Hulk Hogan is getting older as well. It’s not an excuse. However, the Chyna situation taught people a lot of things about acknowledging a performer’s achievements while they’re still with us. At this point, Hogan has gone through the ringer, his personal life has been cleaned, he’s served some hard time in exile, so it’s understandable why WWE would be considering bringing him back. The question is when is the right time.
[Image via WWE.com]
