WWE Using Gene Okerlund’s Death For Hulk Hogan’s Benefit Is Tasteless

On Jan. 2, 2019, beloved wrestling announcer and interviewer Gene Okerlund passed away. WWE will honor Okerlund on the Jan. 7 episode of Raw by bringing Hulk Hogan back on television, and this reeks of the company exploiting Okerlund’s death in order to try and bring Hogan back to the product to a positive reception.

It’s no secret that WWE wants its fans to cheer Hulk Hogan again and make some more money off of a man who used to be the face of professional wrestling. After bringing back Hogan for an appearance at the distasteful Crown Jewel Pay Per View in Saudi Arabia, WWE has announced that he will make his first appearance on Raw since being fired, as a way of paying tribute to “Mean” Gene Okerlund.

Hogan was fired by WWE in 2015 after recordings of a racist tirade, which included the usage of the “n-word”, from 2007 were released. Since that time period, Hogan has never apologized for his hateful words, choosing instead to apologize for being caught:

"“People know me. I’m human being like anybody else, and sometimes, people make mistakes. When they do, you watch that person a little bit more closely than you did before to see what kind of person they really are. I just want people to judge me by my actions, not a few misspoken words.To those few fans who feel (hurt), I’m forever sorry, and I’ll do whatever I can to make them feel comfortable with me.”"

Notice how he referred to the usage of racial slurs and hate speech as “misspoken words”, and he referred to black wrestlers, wrestling fans, and employees of WWE as “those few fans”.

Mark Henry said a few months ago that Hogan would only be able to return if he apologized to black wrestlers in WWE, but it doesn’t appear that this has happened. Because around the time WWE announced Hogan’s reinstatement to WWE, The New Day – and Titus O’Neil – released professional, but pointed thoughts about the company’s decision, and their words reflect how many fans feel about WWE’s frustrating decision to remain associated with Hogan.

Using Okerlund’s death as a way to bring back Hogan to television is seemingly WWE’s way of getting the crowd to soften on the disgraced, unapologetic racist. Hogan has has years to construct a genuine apology and take steps to healing the wounds that he, himself alone, created, but this hasn’t happened despite ample opportunities, including in the months since his return at Crown Jewel.

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While Okerlund and Hogan may have been close friends and inextricably intertwined careers, bringing Hogan back to “honor” Okerlund takes away from the latter’s career and accomplishments in WWE. In the days since Okerlund’s passing, wrestlers and fans have flooded social media with positive words for “Mean Gene”, whose words and life touched millions around the world.

Okerlund deserves a Raw segment that only focuses on him and isn’t merely used to help propel Hogan, who still needs to make real steps towards apologizing and helping those he’s hurt with his hateful words. Time does not heal all wounds, yet WWE seems perfectly happy with forcing its fans to watch as Hogan honors a legend while not taking accountability for his bigoted comments.

Given that WWE has a history of excluding black wrestlers from its world title scene and has issues promoting women of color, it’s reasonable to wonder if WWE truly doesn’t care about non-white wrestlers or fans, specifically black wrestlers and black wrestling fans, in light of this recent announcement to throw Hogan onto Raw.

Recently, Kofi Kingston cut a promo on Raw about how hard he’s worked towards winning a world title in WWE, and he is among many black wrestlers who have yet to hold WWE Championship or Universal Title gold, let alone earn an opportunity at either. Meanwhile, women of color find it difficult to get on Pay Per View posters – the initial Evolution poster only featured white women – or enjoy long reign with title (Naomi is the only woman of color to have a title reign longer than 100 days since the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships were introduced in 2016).

These issues matter, because they show that WWE’s commitment to change is lacking, to the point where it can even be deemed “non-existent”, especially in comparison to how quickly WWE wants its fans to forgive Hogan in the absence of a sincere apology.

Hogan does not get a “free pass” for his comments, no matter how long ago they occurred. Apologizing and trying to do the right thing shouldn’t be difficult, especially since everyone around him, such as Henry, seem willing to forgive if he chooses to put some effort in. But with time, Hogan has shown no such resolve, and WWE seems all too eager to profit off of him, at the expense of an increasingly marginalized section of their fanbase, whose voices are almost never heard by the increasingly profitable company.

WWE using a beloved legend’s death to help bring a disgraced legend back into the spotlight is just par for the course. Holding WWE accountable and fighting for better from this company are paramount in 2019, and fans cannot sit idly by while WWE continues to turn a blind eye towards racism. It is up to us to make sure that accepting bigotry is not profitable, because WWE has shown, such as with their involvement in Saudi Arabia, that the bottom line – not morals – guide this company’s decision-making. They aren’t alone in this thought process, but, my goodness, the examples of this are becoming more and more egregious.

And it’s time we spoke up. Because this isn’t the “new era” we want from Vince McMahon and the company. We want real, meaningful change from WWE in 2019.