It's been a strange 24 hours for Hulk Hogan.
In that short time, Hogan has been completely dropped from the WWE, the organisation that he's worked with for over 30 years and made him a household name. The WWE has removed Hogan from their website, records and dropped him from every appearance and TV show in their roster and made public statements about Hogan that are pretty damning. So what exactly happened?
SOMETHING ABOUT TAPES?
Yes, that's pretty much the size of it. The National Enquirer, a tabloid in the US, claims to be in possession of tapes that involve Hogan ranting about his daughter, Brooke Hogan, and a relationship she was having with a black man. Hogan then discussed his daughter's situation and her music career, which he funded to the tune of $2,000,000 or more. Hogan allegedly uses the N-word repeatedly throughout the tape and makes several racist remarks regarding his daughter's relationship with the unidentified man.
SO WHY ISN'T THERE A TAPE THAT WE CAN ALL HEAR?
The tapes are under seal in a Florida court which is preventing them from wide distribution. How the National Enquirer and RadarOnline.com got a hold of them, we don't know. Obviously, the proof is in the WWE's reaction - who pretty much dropped him and blackbagged his entire career with them just hours before transcripts of the tape made their way online. This leads us to believe the tapes must be genuine and what's said on them is real - otherwise WWE wouldn't have taken such drastic steps to distance themselves from him, nor would have Hogan acknowledged what happened himself.
ISN'T HE SUING A WEBSITE?
Yes, Hogan is currently suing Gawker for $100,000,000 for publishing excerpts of a sex tape he was in with a woman by the name of Heather Clem. It's understood that the rant that's at the centre of all this controversy was on those tapes, which took place eight years ago.
BUT WHY DID THE WWE DROP HIM AND WHY DID THEY REMOVE HIM FROM THE WEBSITE?
The last time the WWE removed someone completely from their website and so forth was for Chris Benoit. The wrestler murdered his wife and child before killing himself in 2007. WWE's statement on Hogan seemed pretty final:
"WWE terminated its contract with Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan). WWE is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide."
SO WHAT'S HOGAN DONE SINCE THEN?
Hogan released a statement, apologising for what happened and what he said. Here's his statement in full:
"Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation. It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it. This is not who I am. I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs or otherwise. I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs."
As for his daughter, she penned a poem that defended her father, stating that "...Because I know my father, I can promise this - Just like you and I, things we don't mean can sometimes slip. We all continue learning."
It's reasonable to assume they've since reconciled with her, although if more comes out, it'll be probably not so easy.
AND WHAT HAPPENS TO HOGAN NOW?
Honestly, who knows. As mentioned, he's suing Gawker for $100,000,000 and there's a decent chance he'll win. As for his wrestling career, it's more or less finished. Hogan is 61, so it's unlikely he's going to be able to put his body through the rigours of professional wrestling for much longer anyway. That being said, Hogan's longevity and generations of fans might convince smaller organisation TNA Wrestling to take him back. They'll just have to contend with all of this.