Well…that was awkward.
The debut of RAW on Netflix Monday evening live from Los Angeles was a major success. Groups of celebrities were seen all over the Intuit Dome taking in the spectacle. Macaulay and Kieran Culkin, Vanessa Hudgens, Seth Green, Michael Che, Danielle Fishel, Will Freidle, Bill Simmons, Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and a host of current/retired wrestlers all took in the action.
To kick off the action, we saw a terrific Tribal Combat match between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. Promos from The Rock and John Cena had fans cheering for more. In a highly entertaining match, Rhea Ripley recaptured her title belt from Liv Morgan.
Travis Scott accompanied Jey Uso to the ring right before he bested heel Drew McIntyre in another banger of a match. The New Day continued their successful run as two of the most hated wrestlers in the company with multiple appearances backstage. The Undertaker rode out to the ring on a souped-up motorcycle before celebrating atop the ramp with Ripley after her match.
Lastly, the main event between CM Punk and Seth Rollins saw Punk narrowly coming away with the victory in what was an emotional yet physical display of aggression between the two wrestlers.
All of the above — including Triple H’s pyro-heavy entrance to kick off the show — went well.
What didn’t go well was the segment featuring Hulk Hogan. Hogan’s main reason for being at the event was to promote his company Real American Beer. The logo of the company itself was in the ring.
Once his music hit, Hogan came out on stage with Jimmy Hart waving an American flag. As Hogan ventured into his promo — which was essentially just to promote his beer brand — boos rang down from the entire Intuit Dome. The 18,000 sold-out house in attendance were simply not connecting with Hogan in any real way.
Hogan stood perplexed as he clearly rushed through his promo to get off stage. This wasn’t manufactured heat from the fans akin to what they give Dominik Mysterio…this genuine disliking of a man who was once atop the industry.
There are several reasons why Hogan received this reaction. One could theorize fans are a bit fatigued by his ‘schtick’ which really hasn’t changed in 40+ years. The alleged history involving Hogan and Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura’s hope to unionize wrestlers (which was stopped) had been revisited recently in Netflix’s Mr. McMahon documentary. Fresh in the minds of the fans, that also could’ve been cause for the booing.
Of course, there’s also the very public history that reportedly connects Hogan to the usage of racist language.
All in all, despite Hogan’s importance to the history of professional wrestling, those in charge of creative control quite possibly could’ve opted for another superstar to come out and make a promo for the fans. Among those include Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Trish Stratus.
