‘Rattled’ – Pat McAfee leaves Hulk Hogan embarrassed on air with four-word put down after Netflix controversy
Excitable and animated Pat McAfee isn’t often known for his subtlety and delicate hand. The former NFL star turned broadcaster showed quite the deft touch when interviewing Hulk Hogan this week that left the wrestling great a little red faced. Hogan was warmly received by some at Raw last month but booed by manyWWE The six-time former WWE Champion was left reeling last month after being greeted at the company’s Netflix premiere for Monday Night Raw by a phenomenally bad fan reaction. As the veteran desperately tried to promote his new line of beer, launched in partnership with WWE, he was drowned out by a wall of noise, most of which was of boos, though some retained their affection for the Hulkster. The strength of the reaction to Hogan forced WWE officials into a re-think as to how they may use the star going forward, and he was notably absent from the Saturday Night’s Main Event show he’d been expected to feature on. Despite being set for the broadcast, reports later emerged that Hogan’s son’s wedding cropped up on the calendar forcing the clash of commitments. Theories as to quite why wrestling fans have turned so bitterly against their former hero vary. Some believe it to be political – he campaigned heavily for Donald Trump in the lead up to the 2024 US Presidential Election. Equally, The Undertaker did so, too, but was warmly received by the same crowd at the Raw Netflix debut. As McAfee so cuttingly put it, though, it could be ‘also some other stuff.’ Some believe fans have less time for Hogan owing to the controversy stemming from his alleged historic use of a racial slur, and the subsequent belief by some wrestling stars stars that he’s failed to adequately apologise for it. Appearing on McAfee’s podcast, the issue inevitably came up, and Hogan outrageously offered a new theory as to why he was booed so heavily, saying it was because he was remembered in LA as a wrestling ‘bad guy.’ He explained: “You gotta realise, last time I ran hard in LA I was a bad guy, I was Hollywood Hogan, man. “I was riding dirty with the boys, you know [Kevin] Nash and [Scott] Hall, we were spray-painting people, crotch shotting everybody… the last time I was there I was a heel.” As if to acknowledge the idea fan reaction was based solely on his character work from decades ago might seem a touch far-fetched, Hogan at least then offered: “But think the politics had a whole lot to do with it.” Pat McAfee has forged a strong partnership with Michael Cole at the WWE commentary tableWWE McAfee had previously poked fun at the terrible reception Hogan got on the Netflix showWWE Quick as a flash, an alert McAfee threw in a grenade of sorts, saying: “Yeah, I would assume we get into politics, and also some other stuff.” Possibly without thinking, Hogan retorted in agreement: “Yeah, of course.” Seemingly realising what he’d stepped into, he then stopped mid-sentence and laughed awkwardly, before latter adding that, with four decades of performing: “…you slip a couple of times.” Undeterred, the leader of Hulkamania, ever the showman, trumpeted the social media figures garnered by his Netflix appearance, claiming they outperformed those of current WWE stars. He boasted: “We looked at it the next day and we had like 11 billion impressions, and some of the other guys, some of the big stars that were on that card that night only had three billion.” Some viewers, however, couldn’t look past the prior exchange, one posting on X: “Pat McAfee subtly cooked Hulk Hogan badly here.” Another curt reply simply said: “Rattled,” while another wrote: “Pat just out here lowkey wildin on Hulk.” Sympathising with the star, one user did counter: “…People should learn to forgive and move on. Though, I do feel that Hulk shouldn’t shy away from talking about it. He has addressed it before on multiple platforms, including Booker T’s podcast, but not a lot of people are aware. He would likely regain a portion of the fanbase if he was more transparent.” It took a moment for Hogan to realise what McAfee had saidYouTube/Pat McAfee show Hogan claimed he could burst into ‘heel’ mode again on Netflix after fans booed him@hulkhogan - instagram In agreement, a follow-up said: “I gotta hand it to Hogan, he does not shy away from these podcasts at all.” Hogan first won what is now the WWE Championship back in 1984 as wrestling ushered itself into pop culture with WrestleMania. He stayed with WWE until 1993 before joining WCW, a sixth and final world title reign with Vince McMahon’s entity coming in 2002.
Excitable and animated Pat McAfee isn’t often known for his subtlety and delicate hand.
The former NFL star turned broadcaster showed quite the deft touch when interviewing Hulk Hogan this week that left the wrestling great a little red faced.
The six-time former WWE Champion was left reeling last month after being greeted at the company’s Netflix premiere for Monday Night Raw by a phenomenally bad fan reaction.
As the veteran desperately tried to promote his new line of beer, launched in partnership with WWE, he was drowned out by a wall of noise, most of which was of boos, though some retained their affection for the Hulkster.
The strength of the reaction to Hogan forced WWE officials into a re-think as to how they may use the star going forward, and he was notably absent from the Saturday Night’s Main Event show he’d been expected to feature on.
Despite being set for the broadcast, reports later emerged that Hogan’s son’s wedding cropped up on the calendar forcing the clash of commitments.
Theories as to quite why wrestling fans have turned so bitterly against their former hero vary. Some believe it to be political – he campaigned heavily for Donald Trump in the lead up to the 2024 US Presidential Election. Equally, The Undertaker did so, too, but was warmly received by the same crowd at the Raw Netflix debut.
As McAfee so cuttingly put it, though, it could be ‘also some other stuff.’ Some believe fans have less time for Hogan owing to the controversy stemming from his alleged historic use of a racial slur, and the subsequent belief by some wrestling stars stars that he’s failed to adequately apologise for it.
Appearing on McAfee’s podcast, the issue inevitably came up, and Hogan outrageously offered a new theory as to why he was booed so heavily, saying it was because he was remembered in LA as a wrestling ‘bad guy.’
He explained: “You gotta realise, last time I ran hard in LA I was a bad guy, I was Hollywood Hogan, man.
“I was riding dirty with the boys, you know [Kevin] Nash and [Scott] Hall, we were spray-painting people, crotch shotting everybody… the last time I was there I was a heel.”
As if to acknowledge the idea fan reaction was based solely on his character work from decades ago might seem a touch far-fetched, Hogan at least then offered: “But think the politics had a whole lot to do with it.”
Quick as a flash, an alert McAfee threw in a grenade of sorts, saying: “Yeah, I would assume we get into politics, and also some other stuff.”
Possibly without thinking, Hogan retorted in agreement: “Yeah, of course.” Seemingly realising what he’d stepped into, he then stopped mid-sentence and laughed awkwardly, before latter adding that, with four decades of performing: “…you slip a couple of times.”
Undeterred, the leader of Hulkamania, ever the showman, trumpeted the social media figures garnered by his Netflix appearance, claiming they outperformed those of current WWE stars.
He boasted: “We looked at it the next day and we had like 11 billion impressions, and some of the other guys, some of the big stars that were on that card that night only had three billion.”
Some viewers, however, couldn’t look past the prior exchange, one posting on X: “Pat McAfee subtly cooked Hulk Hogan badly here.”
Another curt reply simply said: “Rattled,” while another wrote: “Pat just out here lowkey wildin on Hulk.”
Sympathising with the star, one user did counter: “…People should learn to forgive and move on. Though, I do feel that Hulk shouldn’t shy away from talking about it. He has addressed it before on multiple platforms, including Booker T’s podcast, but not a lot of people are aware.
He would likely regain a portion of the fanbase if he was more transparent.”
In agreement, a follow-up said: “I gotta hand it to Hogan, he does not shy away from these podcasts at all.”
Hogan first won what is now the WWE Championship back in 1984 as wrestling ushered itself into pop culture with WrestleMania. He stayed with WWE until 1993 before joining WCW, a sixth and final world title reign with Vince McMahon’s entity coming in 2002.
