Revealed: Hulk Hogan’s backstage reaction to getting booed at WWE’s Netflix debut in LA

Hulk Hogan was initially devastated by the crowd’s negative reaction to his surprise appearance at WWE’s Monday Night Raw Netflix debut in Los Angeles.

The wrestling icon, who has a love-hate relationship with WWE fans following a series of controversial moments outside the ring, was a special guest as the company presented the first show of its $5 billion deal with Netflix.

As he entered the Intuit Dome in California he was roundly booed by the crowd, much to the surprise of fans watching at home, and DailyMail.com can now reveal that the Hulkster himself was also stunned by the reaction.

A source exclusively told us: ‘Did Hulk think he would be cheered? Especially bringing in Jimmy Hart, who everyone likes, and who also waved an American flag at the time… that’s a resounding yes!

“So when he came out and was booed and went into the background after his promo, he was immediately disappointed that the fans turned on him. But he wasn’t p*ssed!

“If he hadn’t been there to promote his beer he would have looked into it a little more, but he just had to get through the promotion of it all. But after thinking about it, some good things came out of it.

“The fact that he got booed, everyone was talking about it, and he’s been in the wrestling business long enough to know that even a bad reaction goes a long way because if they’re not cheering for you or booing you then they don’t care at all .

‘This was actually a great promotion for his beer and just as quickly as he was disappointed, he thought about it a bit more and is actually excited about how it turned out. Hulk is a businessman and he is going to benefit from the reaction of the fans all the way to the bank.”

When he entered the arena on Monday Night Raw, Hulk – now 71 – tried to tell the WWE crowd that they were the best tag team partner he ever had. Their response was to chase him out of the building.

Hogan was kicked out of WWE in 2015 after a tape surfaced of him making racist comments, including using the n-word.

In a video made public by The National Enquirer, Hogan said, “I think we’re all a little bit racist” and used the n-word while referring to his daughter’s love life, dropping the phrase “f* **ing’ repeat. n******’several times.

According to Radar, the audio shows him using a number of racial slurs in a tirade about his daughter Brooke, 27, who was trying to launch a music career, against Heather Clem, the wife of a friend.

He allegedly said that “a black billionaire” had offered to finance her and then speculated about her sex life.

Hogan told Clem, “I don’t know if Brooke fucked the black man’s son… I mean, I don’t have double standards. I mean, I’m a racist to some extent. But when it comes to nice people and things and whatever.”

He continued, “I mean, I would rather she marry an 8 foot tall n***** worth a hundred bucks. million dollars! Like a basketball player! I think we’re all a little racist. Damn n*****.”

He was initially kicked out of the WWE Hall of Fame, but has since been reinstated and mended his relationship with the company’s power brokers.

Following his performance in California this week, there are now also talks of further storylines, and these follow a similar path to The Rock by making him a ‘heel’ – or villain.

“Those in the back have been listening to the fans, as they do with most of their storylines,” the source continued. ‘They listen to the audience and if they want to go in a direction, they try that first, but if the audience reaction is so different, they make sure they go in that direction.

“There’s already been discussion that the next time they put Hogan on TV they should make him a heel or a villain because the last time he was a villain it did wonders for his career.

“They could base it on what they had to do with The Rock last year. The last few times The Rock came back they made him the hero and the fans hated it. The Rock started going bad, they changed direction and now after last night, the fans love The Rock again.

“So by giving the fans what they want, you get what you want, and for them that’s the admiration. Hogan and some writers have been talking since then and if Hogan comes back, they will expect it and 100% be in favor of him getting booed.

“The plan is for Hogan to become a villain again and help a future storyline with another wrestler.”

Hogan cannot physically fight himself due to the condition of his body, but it is expected that he will appear as the manager of one of the WWE Superstars in a new role in the future.

In the 1980s, Hogan was the driving force behind WWE’s rise from a regional promotion around New York to an international brand.

He is undoubtedly one of the most popular and successful babyfaces of all time and the catalyst of what made WrestleMania so successful, main eventing eight of the first nine events.

More recently, Hogan became a celebrity endorser of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the United States, which he later won.

But he is adamant he won’t bring politics to the WWE, with a source telling DailyMail.com: ‘He’s open to almost anything, except for one story that won’t be used, and that’s anything about Trump .

“Both the WWE and Hogan don’t want to go down that road and make things political. “Hogan supports Trump, but he’s not going to combine that support with anything he does in the WWE.”