In the debut episode of The Apter Chat, Bill Apter speaks with pop culture and industry icon Hulk Hogan in a compelling tell-all interview. In the first of this two part series, no topic is off limits as Hogan speaks candidly about some of the most controversial points of his career and private life (some never before heard on ANY program.)
Here are some quotes from Hulk Hogan. Thanks to CageSideSeats.com for the transcript:
Backstage reaction to his speech before the Extreme Rules PPV in Pittsburgh:
“A lot of people accepted my apology. And a lot of people heard what they wanted to hear and a lot of the narrative that came out of the meeting was on point. A lot of the narrative was really different because I was surprised to hear some people interpreted what I said that I was just sorry I got caught on camera, whatever they interpreted, but I never said that. But I guess sometimes the media and people go with the most negative narrative that can come out of there.”
Hogan on owning his words, being apologetic, and the forgiveness of others:
“I said those words, it was totally unacceptable and I just really wanted to get in front of all the talent and apologize because I know I hurt this business and I just want to move forward. I just hope the brotherhood can get back to the way it was. Because when you’re in the ring and somebody’s bodyslaming somebody or piledriving somebody, you protect your brother and you make sure physically they’re safe. And outside the ring, you’re supposed to protect your brother. In this case, it’s a situation where 75, 80, 90 percent of the wrestlers are protecting me and they’re giving me another chance to move forward. There’s just a few wrestlers that kind of like don’t understand the bond and the brotherhood of wrestling, and hey, if someone makes a mistake, you need to forgive them and move on and try to let them prove themselves. I just feel that I wish I could have one-on-one conversations with people who really don’t know me and try to maybe explain myself better.”
Does anyone have any questions? Please stand up.
“I’m not here to judge [anyone’s reaction to his comments or reinstatement] because it was just so crazy, inappropriate, out of context shocking that those words came out of my mouth. It was totally unacceptable. All I know is to move forward, to be able to work through this the last three years and to be able to meet people face-to-face. Even in the meeting when I was done talking, with all the talent in the meeting I said, ‘Does anybody have any questions?’ The only person that stood up was Mark Henry. And I just wanted to be able to, if anybody had any questions or anybody had anything to say at that time, I really just wanted them to say it to my face so I could address it.
Hopefully understand the issue and hopefully get them to understand me, that even if you don’t know me, this is a huge mistake. I just really want to try and prove to myself that I’m who everybody else knows I am. It was just something that, even though the WWE brought me back, I don’t even question their decision because it [my words on the tape] was so inappropriate – whatever happened happened and I’m just glad we’re on track moving forward now. And it just makes me want to work harder and if there are certain WWE Superstars that don’t know me or have questions, I would love to be able to sit down and talk with them. I would love to be able to sit down and let them get to know me and try to figure me out even more than they already think they have.”
Click the play button on the player below to listen to the show. Hogan comes on at the 32:00 minute mark if you want to forward straight to it, slide the blue slider at the top of the player.
