Vince McMahon, the embattled ex-chairman of WWE, recalled Hulk Hogan’s last appearance on the famed wrestling company’s airwaves and the anger he had over the reaction the Los Angeles crowd gave the Hulkster.
McMahon took part in a TMZ special set to air Tuesday night, examining the life and career of Hogan, one of wrestling’s biggest stars, following his death in July at the age of 71.
Hogan last appeared on WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” on Jan. 6 as the program made its debut on Netflix, but he was greeted by a chorus of boos from the Intuit Dome crowd in Inglewood, California.
“I was angry,” McMahon said in a teaser clip of the program, “he deserved much more.”
Hogan is one of the biggest names in professional wrestling history, but his legacy became more complicated after he was captured making racist remarks on a leaked sex tape more than a decade ago.
Hogan’s political leanings have also impacted how some have viewed him.
He appeared at a rally for President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden last October and told Pat McAfee on his ESPN show that he thought “politics had a whole lot to do with” his reception on “Raw.”
Tuesday’s TMZ special will be of significant interest, as it marks McMahon’s first televised interview since the scandal broke in January 2024 over allegations that he sexually abused and trafficked a former WWE employee.
Janel Grant alleged in a lawsuit that McMahon had forced her into non-consensual encounters with him and other people at the company.
McMahon has “categorically denied” the allegations.
Federal prosecutors dropped a criminal probe into McMahon in February over whether he had attempted to cover up numerous allegations of sexual misconduct.
McMahon, 79, resigned as executive chairman and board member of TKO Group Holdings, WWE’s parent company, in 2024 following the bombshell lawsuit.
