WWE’s flagship show, “Monday Night Raw,” made its much anticipated debut on Netflix on, well, Monday. Streaming live from the Intuit Dome, several former stars returned, giving the show a bit of a “Wrestlemania” feel.
After Paul “Triple H” Levesque opened the show talking about WWE’s rich history, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson came out to praise WWE and Netflix (Netflix was praised so often during the show it felt like WWE was Eddie Haskell and Netflix was Mrs. Cleaver).
John Cena returned as the first part of his farewell tour, with it already announced that this will be his last year as a wrestler. After telling fans there was no path to him winning the title for a record 17th time, he then remembered you can get a title shot if you win the “Royal Rumble” and declared himself an entrant in the match, to be held in three weeks.
After Rhea Ripley won the “Raw” women’s title from Liv Morgan, a familiar gong was heard. That signaled the return of the Undertaker, who rode out on his motorcycle and posed with Ripley.
Really, all that was missing was Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Steve Austin and Mick Foley to make the Attitude Era reunion complete.
But wait, there was one more old name who came out. A guy who helped pro wrestling reach new heights in the ‘80s, and again in the ‘90s as part of the NWO. After a commercial break, the familiar opening of “Real American” played and out came Hulk Hogan, with longtime manager Jimmy Hart waving the American flag.
Except Hogan, who probably has received more cheers than anyone in wrestling history, was met with overwhelming boos. On a night when the Intuit Dome crowd was cheering almost everything, the immortal Hogan was booed out of the building. Hogan began with his usual catchphrase, “brother,” and was booed. He talked about how great the fans were and was booed. He talked about Randy Savage and Andre the Giant and was booed. He talked about his new beer and was booed. He talked about how great Netflix is and was booed. He tore his T-shirt off, just like the old days, and was booed. Even the flag couldn’t save him.
Hogan seemed taken aback. He finished his promo, posed for a second, and shuffled off to the back, booed all the way.
Afterward, on social media, people were speculating it was because he came out in support of Donald Trump. But the Undertaker had Trump on his podcast and was cheered louder than anyone. Levesque and his wife, Stephanie McMahon, were at Trump’s New Year’s Eve party, and they both were cheered loudly.
In 2015, Hogan was embroiled in controversy after a tape was released of him using a racial slur to describe his daughter’s boyfriend. WWE removed him from its Hall of Fame, reinstating him when he apologized. He returned to live WWE events at the 2021 “Wrestlemania” and was booed loudly then too. Monday in Inglewood was his first live TV appearance in front of an audience since then.
Overall, it was a great night for WWE, which put on a strong show. But it will be a big surprise if we see Hogan live on WWE television again.
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