When Hulk Hogan died, WWE went above and beyond to pay tribute to one of the founding fathers of the company’s early national and international success.
At the time, it was reported that Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque gave talent the option, due to Hogan’s controversial past, not to be on stage when he was honored on WWE television with a ten-bell salute.
In the new Hulk Hogan: Real American docu-series on Netflix, Triple H’s speech to talent was included.
“Unfortunate passing of Hulk Hogan, yesterday,” Levesque stated. “Hard to say that there is a more influential figure, especially on the performing side. No one is perfect in life, and they have ups and downs, but we’re going to continue to remember Hulk Hogan as what he meant to this industry.”
Levesque would go on to make it clear that his contributions to the success of the company deserve to be recognized.
“His influence cannot be denied and cannot be overstated,” he said. “You can make an argument that we probably wouldn’t be sitting here today. This business might have gone the way of roller derby or some other shit that didn’t quite make it to the end, but here we are. We’re going to start this show off tonight with a ten-bell salute with everybody on stage. I don’t think it needs to be said, but anybody that has an issue and does not want to be on stage, no problem, no issue, no anything.”
The new “Hulk Hogan: Real American” docu-series is available now for subscribers of Netflix.
Also during the docu-series, Bret Hart had a different recollection of their memorable WrestleMania moment, calling Hulk Hogan a “back-stabbing piece of sh*t.
