It turns out Hulk Hogan knew exactly what could happen before stepping out in front of the crowd for WWE Raw’s Netflix premiere.
During a recent appearance on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes (full episode below), longtime Hogan associate Jimmy Hart opened up about the backstage atmosphere leading into Hogan’s controversial appearance on the January 6, 2025 debut episode of WWE Raw on Netflix.
The segment, which took place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, was meant to help promote Hogan’s Real American Beer brand. Instead, it quickly became one of the most talked-about moments of the night due to the overwhelmingly negative reaction from fans in attendance.
According to Hart, he had concerns from the very beginning, particularly because of Hogan’s public political support of Donald Trump.
“I said, ‘you know where we’re going? We’re going to California.’ And like I said before, I’m not a Democrat or Republican. I’m jabroni. But here’s the deal. I said, ‘I don’t like this.’ ‘Jimmy, don’t worry about it.’ I went, ‘Okay.’ We get out of the van there, nice town car puts us there. Some fans go ‘Hulk, we loved you, but you love them. We don’t like you anymore.’ You know. I said ‘Hulk, I don’t feel good about this.’ ‘Jimmy, don’t worry about it.’ We go in the back. You know what I’m worrying about it.”
Hart noted that Hogan still appeared calm backstage despite the warning signs.
A little foreshadowing.
Before the segment began, Hart said Hogan checked with him one last time before heading through the curtain.
“So we’re in the back and Hulk, he goes ‘Jimmy Hart, what do you think?’ He’d always ask before we do something. And I just said, ‘no, everything’s good, you know, everything’s okay.’ So, we went out and did the little thing with, rehearse where we were going to stand and help coming out, do his little deal. And I’m waving the flag.”
Once the segment ended and the two returned backstage, Hart said Hogan admitted he already knew the crowd reaction could go south because of his political stance.
“So we finish it, then we go in the back. And of course, then Hulk comes up going ‘hey, the radio was good on that segment we did.’ And I said, ‘well, I guess they should be because with all the commotion that happened on it, I guess we should have.’ And I said ‘but you kept telling me, don’t worry about it. Well, I was worried about it.’ And he goes, ‘Jimmy, look, sometimes you got to do what you got to do.’ And he said ‘I’ve made my bed and I’ve got to lie in it. That’s who I wanted to vote for. That’s what I wanted to do.’ He said ‘I knew in my heart going in there might be a catchy thing.’ But he knew it, you know.”
The reaction to Hogan’s appearance immediately went viral online and became one of the defining talking points coming out of WWE’s historic Netflix launch episode.
